The Animation Podcast » Burny Mattinson

Show 019 – Burny Mattinson, Part Four

Clay — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:15:53 +0000

“And Joe always told me, he said, ‘Burny, keep drawing. Keep drawing. You know, because that’s where your ideas are all gonna come from.’”

In the fourth and final part of his interview, Burny Mattinson leads us through Disney’s second golden age of animation. He talks about his work on various films inlcuding Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Mulan, and he shares some great advice on story idea generation and pitching. Burny has worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios for close to 55 years as an animator, story artist, director, and producer.

Continue for Show Notes and audio file download links…

Get the MP3 here: Show 19: Burny Mattinson, Part Four

(19MB, 41:22 minutes)

Or get the enhanced version playable only with Quicktime, iTunes, or iPods. (Includes pictures and links in addition to the audio.)
Get the AAC here: Show 19: Burny Mattinson, Part Four

(20.1MB, 41:22 minutes)

00:00: The Intro Voice
00:04: Intro
00:36 Story on Aladdin with Ed Gombert [Amazon LINK]
06:21 Story from scripts vs. boards
09:17 Lion King [Amazon LINK]
15:02 The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Amazon LINK]
15:33 Pocahontas with Joe Grant [Amazon LINK]
17:17 Workflow with Joe Grant
21:05 Where ideas come from
23:52 Giving Pocahontas the cartoony treatment
25:39 Hercules [Amazon LINK]
26:33 Mulan [Amazon LINK]
29:13 Pitching boards
33:17 Current projects
36:11 Conclusion of Part 4
36:27 Voice messages [LINK]
39:47 Requested guests
40:05 Feedback info
40:18 Walt’s People Volume 5 [LINK to Didier Ghez's blog] [LINK to buy Vol. 5]
0:50:43: Closing

Show 018 – Burny Mattinson, Part Three

Clay — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:08:36 +0000

In part three, Burny Mattinson continues the conversation on his amazing career, from Mickey’s Christmas Carol, to the arrival of the Eisner era, through storyboarding on Beauty and The Beast. Burny has worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios for close to 55 years as an animator, story artist, director, and producer.

Get the MP3 here: Show 18: Burny Mattinson, Part Three

(23.4MB, 51:05 minutes)

Or get the enhanced version playable only with Quicktime, iTunes, or iPods. (Includes pictures and links in addition to the audio.)
Get the AAC here: Show 18: Burny Mattinson, Part Three

(24.8MB, 51:05 minutes)

Continue for Show Notes…

0:00:00: The Intro Voice
0:00:05: Welcome & Intro
0:00:52: Mark Henn on Mickey’s Christmas Carol (MCC) [Amazon LINK]
0:02:27: Directing MCC
0:03:18: Producing MCC & lessons from Woolie [Disney Legends Bio LINK]
0:05:11: Strike mid-production
0:06:04: Starting on Great Mouse Detective [Amazon LINK]
0:08:02: Ron & John’s initial sensibilities
0:08:46: Becoming producer, Ron becomes director
0:09:41: New regime in the 80s [Eisner at Wikipedia] [Katzenberg at Wikipedia]
0:13:43: Great Mouse and Black Cauldron [Amazon LINK]
0:08:02: Ron & John’s initial sensibilities
0:14:57: First use of computers
0:16:26: Stabbing Great Mouse in the back
0:19:35: Oliver & Company [Amazon LINK]
0:08:02: Ron & John’s initial sensibilities
0:24:34: Heading up shorts in Florida, The Bee Concert
0:28:55: Mickey at the Academy Awards [Oscars.org LINK]
0:32:55: Project marrying 2d to 3-D environment
0:34:49: Beauty and The Beast [Amazon LINK]
0:08:02: Ron & John’s initial sensibilities
0:39:29: Joe Grant on Beauty and The Beast [Disney Legends Bio LINK]
0:41:50: Boarding “Kill the Beast”
0:42:39: Conclusion of Part 3
0:42:49: Feedback info
0:43:32: Voice messages [LINK]
0:50:43: Closing

Show 017 – Burny Mattinson, Part Two

Clay — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 05:28:06 +0000

Burny Mattinson has worked at Disney Animation for well over 50 years on such titles as Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood, The Rescuers, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, The Great Mouse Detective, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan. In part two, Burny describes his transition from his short lived career as a full-fledged animator to a story artist and then to director. He also tells about the transition the studio made from Walt to the twilight of the careers of the Nine Old Men to the development of newer talent that has led the studio through the last 25 years.

Try the handy new built-in player (Thanks to Warren for the tip):

Get the MP3 here: Show 17: Burny Mattinson, Part Two

(22.0MB, 47:57 minutes)

Or get the enhanced version playable only with Quicktime, iTunes, or iPods. (Includes pictures in addition to the audio.)
Get the AAC here: Show 17: Burny Mattinson, Part Two

(23.9MB, 47:57 minutes)

Continue for Show Notes…

0:00:00: The Intro Voice
0:00:39: Theme Song by DJ Sweettooth (Joe Moshier)
0:00:45: Welcome
0:01:14: Intro
0:01:29: Winnie the Pooh and getting in to story
0:03:31: Story with Woolie Reitherman on the Rescuers
0:04:55: Creating the diamond
0:06:41: Rescuers rippling water
0:08:22: Experience with Walt Disney
0:12:47: Direction without Walt Disney
0:14:33: Still the young kid
0:15:20: Transition during Fox and the Hound
0:16:55: Boarding process on Fox and the Hound
0:19:25: Woolie’s flying experience applied to animation
0:21:33: Story artists
0:22:25: Woolie removed as director
0:24:52: Problems on Black Cauldron
0:28:17: Pitching Mickey’s Christmas Carol
0:31:42: Promoted to director
0:32:22: Finding voices for the cast
0:37:45: Glen Keane and Mark Henn animating
0:39:40: Ed Gombert getting in to story
0:41:11: Length of Mickey’s Christmas Carol
0:41:21: Union strike
0:41:52: Working under the radar
0:42:55: Wrapping up
0:43:18: Conclusion of Part 2
0:43:31: Survey Result: Favorite films 10-6 [LINK]
0:44:26: Voice messages [LINK]
0:45:00: Feedback info
0:45:56: Malibu Triathlon for charity [LINK]
0:46:35: Survey Result: Favorite films 5-1 [LINK]
0:47:41: Conclusion

Show 016 – Burny Mattinson, Part One

Clay — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:12:59 +0000

Burny Mattinson is the only person I know who started working at Disney Animation when Walt was alive, and has been there since. Here’s a SHORT list of films he has worked on: Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood, The Rescuers, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, The Great Mouse Detective, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan. Burny is a talented draughtsman, animator, illustrator, story man, producer, and director with first-hand stories and insights to share with us from his career which spans over fifty years. In part one, Burny recounts how he came to work at the Walt Disney Studios in the 50s, and eventually worked under many of The Nine Old Men there.

Get the MP3 here: Show 16: Burny Mattinson, Part One

(20.4MB, 44:32 minutes)

Or get the enhanced version playable only with Quicktime, iTunes, or iPods. (Includes pictures in addition to the audio.)
Get the AAC here: Show 16: Burny Mattinson, Part One

(22.9MB, 44:32 minutes)

Continue for Show Notes…

0:00:00: The Intro Voice
0:00:05: Theme Song by DJ Sweettooth (Joe Moshier)
0:00:49: Intro
0:02:02: How to get a job at Disney’s Studio
0:07:24: Working in the Mailroom
0:09:51: Getting in to animation
0:11:16: State of the Studio in the 50s
0:11:57: Training on Shorts – Casey’s Girls
0:12:36: Lady and the Tramp
0:13:57: Layoffs and Sleeping Beauty
0:15:19: D-Wing of the Animation Building
0:15:54: Scene 31 of Sleeping Beauty
0:18:41: Demands of drawing
0:19:56: The role of assistant animators
0:20:24: Instituting a drawing count
0:21:24: 101 Dalmations & Golden Books
0:22:57: Becoming Eric Larson’s assistant
0:23:42: Marc Davis’ animation style
0:25:17: Working on Milt Kahl & Frank Thomas animation
0:26:52: Ludwig von Drake with Eric Larson
0:27:55: Marc Davis leaving animation
0:29:00: More on von Drake
0:29:34: Getting out from under the Nine Old Men
0:33:11: Assigned to animate with Ollie Johnston on Robin Hood
0:34:49: Working with Woolie Reitherman – Eric Larson transitions to training
0:35:44: Conclusion of Part 1
0:35:53: Feedback info
0:36:16: Your Favorite Characters 10-6 [LINK]
0:38:10: Voice messages [LINK]
0:42:39: Your Top Five Favorite Characters [LINK]
0:44:07: Closing