The Noble Approach California Mini-Book tour

With the talented Brooke Keesling at Cartoon Network.

 Things have been a bit quiet here on the blog as we have been traveling throughout California with "The Noble Approach." We gave various Maurice talks, and book signings throughout the region. Everywhere we went we were met with great questions and great enthusiasm! It was fantastic seeing old friends, and meeting new ones. A number of the Noble Boys joined our discussions, and a good time was had by all. A huge thanks to Disney Features, Disney TV, Cartoon Network, Pixar and CTN 13 for hosting us! A special thanks to Chronicle Books for believing in this project, and helping make it a reality!

 With Disney Vet and designer Cynthia Ignacio Gordon

 With the happy story man Julius Aguimatang who loves to goose people when he's happy.

 At the famous Lucky 7 pub with Andrew Gordan, Sirid Garff, and Scott Clark

 In the Pixar lobby, the closest I've been to having an Oscar in years

 At one of the Noble talks. You can see the excitement mounting. 

A complimentary shirt from the lovely ladies of The Cartoon Saloon!

Mike Giaimo on Maurice Noble

Art director Mike Giaimo (Frozen, Pocahontas) was one of my early design instructors at Cal/Arts. Though I had enjoyed Maurice's work for many years on TV, I had no idea who the man was. It was Mike who first introduced my class to the wonders of Maurice, and many of Maurice's ideas. 

Mike first met Maurice on March 12, 1974 at the Brand Library in Glendale, CA. At the library Maurice went through his work history, showed a few of his films, then discussed his thoughts about design in the Q and A session. In many ways his talk was basically a condensed draft of what would become The Noble Approach.  The chat made a huge impression on a young Mike; who recently said of the event, "I can remember it like it was yesterday. Maurice had the small gallery filled with easels on which he displayed bg's, layouts, etc. I distinctly remember a very long pan bg of the planets X, Y, and Z from DUCK DODGERS, as well as some practice watercolor bg's he'd done on SNOW WHITE."

Several years ago, Mike generously shared his feelings about Maurice and his art for "The Noble Approach." Unfortunately because of space issues I was only able to include a small portion of his essay in the book. (pg 47) I am pleased to present the text here in it's entirety.  


THOUGHTS ON A VERY NOBLE STYLE:


"What is the “Noble Style”? What makes Maurice’s work so distinctive, unique and appealing? The key to understanding his work lies in the world of opposites: his touch is light and easy, yet sure handed. It is fanciful and whimsical on the one hand, dramatic and bold on the other. It is decorative without being fussy, and solid without being overbearing. . It is never strained or overwrought.
In his work there are both masculine and feminine traits-a perfect design synthesis of yin and yang.


Maurice was a true modernist, and it’s no surprise that his work came into full flower during the mid 20th Century where a refined, minimalist aesthetic prevailed in architecture, painting, advertising, and applied arts. Maurice’s design sense folded nicely into this movement, and like all great modernists, his work remains fresh and contemporary today.

Above: A background set-up from Boyhood Daze (1957) Courtesy of Mike Giaimo.

It is hard to imagine a Witch Hazel cartoon without his subversive visual wit, where staircases, tables, sofas and curtains seem to defy gravity, and multi- point perspectives abound. Under Maurice’s deft touch, Witch Hazel’s quirky world seems right and reasonable.
In DUCK DODGERS, could anyone but Maurice have transported us so dramatically (and humorously) to the 21^st ½ Century with such a keen sense of cinematic scale and endless technological invention?
In the Ralph Phillips short BOYHOOD DAZE, Maurice proves his versatility segueing from the darkest depths of the jungle to the wide open reaches of space to the dank confines of a prison cell with ease. Indeed, the visual locales of the Ralphs Phillips shorts are stunning not because we see them as identifiable places, but because they are flights of Ralphs’ (and Maurice’s) vivid imagination.


As director John Ford found his visual muse in Monument Valley, Maurice found his particular brand of cinema language through the ROADRUNNER series, where his sense of staging and camera perspective came into full play. One senses in this series that not only is Maurice a master with camera direction and design, he’s having a heck of a good time as well.
It is interesting to follow the evolution of Maurice’s style thru the ROAD RUNNER cartoons. In the earlier entries of this series the desert landscapes are caricatured, but they pale by comparison to the more surreal and whimsical heights he would achieve with these environments by the mid-fifties. The visuals would evolve to reflect more and more the precarious relationship between the Coyote and Roadrunner, with huge boulders that rest unsettlingly upon the top of pin-point buttes, desert plant life that looks more like spiky specimens from another planet, and strange cloud formations that anticipate and punctuate the Coyote’s eventual demise.


Maurice’s ethos at Warner Bros. hit a high water mark in 1957 with WHAT’S OPERA DOC? Here his skills in layout, design and color came to its fullest fruition. Visual invention seems to burst from every frame. With grand, cinematic scale, expressionistic fauvist-like color, and decorative detailing, this is truly Maurice’s’ magnum opus. What’s truly surprising in WHAT’S OPERA? is how we are transported to a realm far beyond the common Looney Tunes world. Visually WHAT”S OPERA? seems to bridge the gap between fine and commercial art. It is a masterful piece of work with Maurice firing on all cylinders. Indeed, looking at Maurice’s output during his Warner years one could say that if it weren’t for his sly graphic wit, there would never have been a distinctive stand out style at Warner Bros. Without his touch, the Looney Tunes are polished and serviceable but visually unremarkable.


Perhaps Maurice’s most sublime effort was his styling for THE DOT AND THE LINE. The abstraction of the lead characters (literally a dot and a line) called for a non-representational approach to the production styling. This is Noble styling at its minimalist best; a modernist tone poem where line and shape and color are exploited to their fullest. Abstract, angular shapes visually support the rigid line character, while the frivolous dot is enhanced by graceful and decorative curves. Bold color blocks give mood and atmosphere, and though the shapes are simple, the world Maurice creates for THE DOT AND THE LINE is rich and full.


In the1966 television special HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, Maurice’s styling proved to be a beautiful compliment to the very popular Dr. Seuss book and illustrations. Maurice achieved a distinctive, whimsical look in GRINCH without treading upon the familiar Seuss style. Indeed, watching the film and then referring back to the book’s illustrations one feels that Maurice managed to further resolve and define the look of Whoville and its environs with his graceful use of curves, dramatic camera angles, and Noble “decorative touches” which are found on everything from snow capped peaks to garlands, bows, and stocking wire.


Smart cinema language and a confident use of line, shape and color all contribute greatly to the Noble style, but perhaps the most defining (and less tangible) key to understanding Maurice’s sensibilities lies at the inner core of the man himself-his integrity.
Though we see on the surface of Maurice’s work charm, sophistication and playfulness, there is an underlying sincerity and truthfulness that holds all the design elements together. This is why his work is so honest and engaging. With Maurice there is never a visual false note or misstep.


What is the noble style? It is artistic authenticity , which is timeless."




m. giaimo

Jan. 2011

all text © tod polson and Mike Giaimo

Maurice Noble and the Art of the Pan: Rhythm -On the Chronicle Books Blog

This week Chronicle Books features a few concepts from the Noble Approach on their blog. In the post I expand on some of Maurice's ideas about the rhythm of pans that I lightly touched on in the book. (see pgs. 159-160 of the Noble Approach for reference.) 

Above: An example image about spacing from the article. Please go to the blog HERE to read more.

As with many of the other ideas introduced in Maurice's text I was only able to cover a few basic Noble concepts in 175 pages. I will expand on Maurice's thoughts about pans, and other subjects in future posts.

Supplement to pg. 160 of The Noble Approach.

Simple Color Themes

Maurice often used simple color themes when designing his films. Many times he would carry variations of a single theme throughout an entire film. For each sequence he would often make one or another color from a color chord the dominant color. For example the blue accent of an earlier sequence may become the dominant color of a later sequence. In some of these examples Maurice has mixed things up with a yellow accent.

A rectangular color chord from "Much Ado About Nutting." (1953)

Supplement to pg. 104 of The Noble Approach.

AWN reviews "The Noble Approach."

Fred Patten of "The Animation World Network" gives a lovely review of The Noble Approach.

To read the article please go HERE.

Musician Billy "Keys" Benson enjoying his copy of "The Noble Approach" with friends in Northern California.

Color Keys and Color Sketches: Background Drop-off

A Maurice color key sketch (top) with a Phil DeGuard background from "Boyhood Daze." (1957) courtesy of Paul Bussolini

Phil's final backgrounds (as in the above example) were often painted lighter and with less contrast than Maurice's color keys. The reason being that under camera each background carried an average of 5 cel layers on top of it. Each cel layer would darken the background a certain percentage. 

 A background and cel set-up from "Boyhood Daze." (1957) courtesy of Mike Giaimo. 

It is easy to see the striking difference in value and contrast between a "naked" background, and one shrouded in its cel covering. Maurice would test background/ cel setups under camera to make sure all the elements looked correct BEFORE committing to a specific design approach. A pretty background painting meant little if it didn't work under the lens. Only once key shots worked to Maurice's satisfaction would Phil would move forward with the backgrounds on the rest of the film.

Supplement to pg. 146 of The Noble Approach

Disney Books Review

Disney Books makes a review of The Noble Approach, and likes it! Read the complete review HERE.

Photo credit- Sean Dicken
Taken at Oscar's Books, Canada