keyleedaud (REAL ESTATE)

If you have ever read a book about American animation history, the odds are that Mark Kausler 's name is in the acknowledgments. In fact, if his name isn't there, you probably shouldn't bother to read the book. Besides being one of the most knowledgeable people on animation's history, Kausler is also an animator himself who has worked on features such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? , Fantasia 2000 and Osmosis Jones ; TV series like Snookums and Meat and his own independent film, It's the Cat (you can view the pencil test here ). The Animation Guild, as part of its continuing series of podcasts , has interviewed Kausler. Here is part one and here's part two .

Watch Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Mouse - Tom and Jerry in Animation   |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com This cartoon is available on the DVD Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume 2 . Mark Kausler's animator identifications come from his blog .

Mark Kausler has updated the site for his independent film, It's the Cat . There are original cels for sale as well as artwork on display. One of the neat features of the cels for sale is that when you display them, you can flip between the cel and the drawing it is based on. If you buy a cel, Mark will throw in a DVD of the finished film for free. (If you just want the finished film, you can download it from MyToons for $1.99.) The real plum, however, is the complete pencil test online. I'm one of those people who loves pencil tests and prefers them to finished animation. I love seeing the pencil lines in the rough and even the grain of the paper animating. It's animation, unplugged. Run (or dance) over and take a look.

Mark Kausler 's animated short, It's the Cat , is now available for purchase at MyToons . Set to a 1920s recording by Harry Reser's Syncopaters, the cheefully amoral cat plays pranks on the moon, a dog and the three blind mice. You can see the above preview in a larger size at the MyToons link above. I love this film because of the intricate synchronization of the animation and soundtrack. While the actual cartoons of the time period often just bounce repetitively to the musical beat, Kausler is constantly animating accents to hit off beats and notes in a very sophisticated way. The above clip really doesn't do the film justice as it stops before the most interesting animation. As I'm going to be teaching a workshop on animating to music in May and June, I was interested in Mark's process for dealing with the synchronization. He gave me a very detailed description of his process here . Scroll down for his comment. Mark is known both for his animation on fi...