Wendy and I went to the 2 exhibits at the Academy of Motion Pictures, home of the Oscar...
the first, a mind-blowing collection of hand-drawn animation cels laid out in such a way that each looked like a jewel in a crown. from Bugs Bunny lathering the head of an unsuspecting victim with his toes...to the gorgeous 60's drawings of Gay Purreee...Sleeping Beauty's dragon battle...and Queen Malecifent...Lock, stock & Barrel from Nightmare...
SO many of these pieces I wanted to look at every day, no photos allowed though, so i can not show them here--but they will live in my mind. Amazing what a human can create.
Upstairs at the exhibit of set decoration, photography was allowed. They had assembled several set pieces from GET SMART, INDY 4, SPIDERWICK, MUMMY 3, IRONMAN and more. The attention to detail, incredible. Can you see the name on the checkbook on Indiana Jones' desk? The tiny labels in the Spiderwick set? The tiles on the floor of the Jet Li character in Mummy 3 are the only thing made here in USA, all the rest was crafted in China, as accurately as possible, copied from original pieces. The tile was reproduced from an original, but the work was done here. Going with Wendy was fascinating, as she was able to tell me, step by step, how things can be recreated.
Outside, we took off our shoes and put our feet in the sinky green grass outside the Academy, our version of Graumann's cement footprints.
These exhibits are free, up until August 24th. Go see them: 8949 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA.
your homework: go to the movies and help to support this kind of amazing work....
tomorrow I leave on tour, and i will not have many days of down time. Will try to post as often as I can.
