Animation Theatre: Bill Plympton

1946- Present

Fig 1. Bill Plympton

American animator Bill Plympton is an Academy Award nominee and also a screenwriter, producer, director and cartoonist. Cartoons are actually where he started off having his own strip Plympton (1975), a political cartoon, published in the Soho Weekly News. Since then he has produced works for numerous magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and The Rolling Stone. His pieces of works have become known in his ever growing popularity, Plymptoons. Something highly rare about Plympton is that he alone produces each frame for his animations including his first animated feature length film The Tune (1992) which is thought to be the first feature length animation to be hand drawn by just one person! It is very uncommon for animators to produce such works along, especially when they become so popular. An early exception and someone who also made history in animation when it comes to firsts was Winsor McCay. However, it is not shocking that Plympton works in this way as he relishes in the freedom of being able to create whatever he wants especially as he has his own studio. He likes that he doesnt have to worry about what co-workers think about what he produces and so does whatever he feels like. Theres something exhilarating about getting up each morning, going to my drawing board and having the total freedom to draw whatever crazy, bizarre and offensive image that comes to my brain- theres no producer, director, lawyer or agent looking over my shoulder telling me to change the art because it might offend someone or hurt sales. (Plympton: 2000) This freedom of choice without fear of offending someone hasnt gone unnoticed though with some of Plymptons animations such as Hair High (2004) and 25 Ways to Quit Smoking (1989) having either very sexual scenes (Hair Highs mascot) or violent scenes (25 ways dynamite cure).

Yet, even with these shocking scenes Plympton seems to get away with it even beyond his freedom, people just seem to really enjoy his expressive way of animating.

Fig 2. 25 Ways to Quit Smoking

Bill Plympton s work is usually alive with the technique of boiling and unlike some animations which can use it unnecessarily and ineffectively, Plympton has a knack and flow for it that makes it suit the rhythm and flavour of his animations especially those filled with the rhythm and beat of music such as I Married a Strange Person! (1997), even if they do end up with you trying to find your bearings through dizziness after a viewing. His quick sketchy technique and bright colouring also stop his animations from being plain and dead. His technique- loosely drawn animated sequences on paper, transferred to cell and re-coloured and detailed- makes for a spontaneous, active mise-en-scene, even when seemingly at its most static and barren. (Allon, Cullen & Patterson: 2002) Something else that makes Plympton stand out from the crowd is his ability to make his frames flow so well into each other, a technique that takes a lot to master. A great example of this is Plymptons Your Face (1987) which combines Plymptons characteristic musical styling with his blending and fluid image change. This is also an example of Plymptons enjoyment of making exaggerative and complex things happen to his characters, especially their faces. Other great examples are How to Kiss (1989) and the punching scene of The Tune. Plympton really takes us into the emotion of his pieces through his exaggeration which includes lots of squash and stretch and perhaps this is what makes him so appealing and adds to the humour of his pieces, even when they can be anti-political and satirical. He always manages to get a laugh even if its hidden because people think its wrong to laugh at his views.

Fig 3. Your Face

There is one potentially life changing situation that Bill Plympton is extremely well-known for and that is his decision to turn down a $1,000,000 contract with Disney. In ways this shows that the art of his own animations matters more to him than the money and some people are inspired by his choice to do just what he did. It also shows how independence and freedom with his ideas he enjoys that he wasnt willing to turn his back on being his own employer after finding his spot in the animation industry. Plympton himself has explained that working with Disney would mean them owning his ideas and work and he just wasnt willing to lose his liberation to follow a dream he asked for when he was only 14 years old. They wanted me to work on the genie in Aladdinon all that crazy metamorphosis, fast humour theyre not really great at. At 21 he would have jumped at the chance, but at 44 it would have been a step backwards. He was already making a living off of his own wacky ideas without having to tailor them to some corporate board of directors. Disney contracts are so complete, Bill points out, that legally, any doodles you do, any jokes you tell, and any dreams you have during that 36 month period, they own. (Segall: 1999) After that major decision, Plympton continues to create work that viewers find highly entertaining, work that his ideas alone has taken hold of so much attention because of its individuality that he has been approached by many a client.

Bibliography
Allon, Yoram, Cullen, Del & Patterson, Hannah (2002) Contemporary North American film directors: a wallflower critical guide. U.S.A. Wallflower Press. (Accessed 31/03/2012) Plympton, Bill, (2000) Surviving in the World of Independent Film & Video http://www.awn.com/plympton/survive.html (Accessed 31/03/2012) Segall, Mark, (1996) Plymptons Metamorphoses http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.3/articles/segall1.3.html (Accessed 31/03/2012)

List of Illustrations
Fig. 1. Bill Plympton. [Online image].On imageshack.us http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/5877/billplympton.jpg (Accessed 31/03/2012)

Fig. 2. 25 Ways to Quit Smoking. [Online image].On wordpress.com http://ipernova.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/default_animation_now_exc_02_0706181751_id_493 39.jpg (Accessed 31/03/2012) Fig. 3. 25 Ways to Quit Smoking. [Online image].On loubrooks.com http://www.loubrooks.com/storage/files_blog/blog_posts/Plymp03_YourFace.jpg?__SQUARESPACE _CACHEVERSION=1320549527395 (Accessed 31/03/2012)