Thursday, March 05, 2009

AMERICA SINGS

My sincerest apologies...

Because of its "proposed project" status at the Disney studio, I was advised to postpone any postings on this subject pending confirmation as to whether this will go into production or not. If things go as planned, you 'America Sings' fans will be very happy!

I hope you have enjoyed what you have experienced so far. There will be more to come!

Thank You to all of my 31 followers for your kind comments, dedication and support!!!


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34 comments:

willipino said...

super cool! i can't wait for you to post more.

samacleod said...

Wow, so inspiring. I want to animate again so badly, you taking the initiative to do these is sUUUUUper inspiring, wish I coulda met you over here at dreamworks before you left. Awesome work.

Big Chunkz said...

awesome animation keep up the great work.

Anonymous said...

我要整形外科才會變美耶

Tealin said...

Wow, those are great! (I say this like I'm surprised, which could not be further from the truth...)

When did you have time?

thanks! said...

Joyously Splendiferous Work! So glad that Alice enjoyed it too!

Anonymous said...

Great Job and Great Idea!
I bet you could even get allot of our fellow Dis-alum to throw in there pencils. I know I'd help!

Dreemfinder said...

I can only echo all your introductory sentiments and marvel at what you've done. On behalf of all us cassette recorder-toting Disneyland fans of the seventies, thanks for recapturing the wonder of this amazing attraction!

Dhevil said...

Wow. You have inspired me to become an animator when I grow up. America Sings is just about my most favorite attraction ever. I never got to see it since I was born in 1995. I am proud to call myself an America Sings Freak, and to prove it, I have a big collection of America Sings items.

I keep checking back to this page to see if you update it. I'm dying to see more to this!

The Infernal Mr Adams said...

Wow! What a great idea :D I love America Sings and I love the idea of animating it :D I hope you are able to finish it :)

How were you planning on doing the transition sequences?

James Lopez said...

willipino, Thanks, man! It's been way too long! We'll have to get together sometime soon!

samacleaod, Thanks for your inspiring words. I wish we could have met, too perhaps sometime soon as well?

gerardo, Thank You I'll keep doing my best.

Tealin, mostly I work late at night after the kids go to bed.

Lon, Thanks, I know of a few animator buddies who said they would- As far as you, is that an offer?! Because I got inventory and approvals are on Friday!

dreemfinder, Yeah, it is like keeping something alive-mostly the spirit of it.

Dhevil, Wow, I can't think of a greater compliment than to inspire others to pursue their dreams. Thank You. I wish you were able to see the attraction first-hand. It's amazing that it appealed to you enough to take such an interest.

I have alot of time these days so I'll keep chipping away at it and posting stuff. Hopefully I'll finish it by the time I'm ready to retire...

To The Infernal Mr. Adams, in answer to you question, the transitional sequences would be a series of still photographs (black & white and color) portraying music and/or iconic performers that come from not so much of a particular period in time or region but maybe of the genre or classification. For example: The West, you'd may have imagery cowboys circling around a campfire singing or of Gene Autry, Johnny Cash or other Nashville recording artists--Modern Times I'm thinking images that could range from The Beatles to Micheal Jackson..Zepplin to ...Britney Spears?...I don't know! 'just sayin'...

I figure if it did end up being an official production, we'd probably see the Jonas Bros. in there somewhere.

I recently edited together a title sequence for an musical set in the 80's in which I did this montage and worked pretty good. I may post that later as a different post.

Oh, and I almost forgot...

To fengfk2008..."uh, Thanks" (I think)?

na9577cgftxasr said...

You really capture the '70s style here.

Hey, when you get to the rock 'n' roll section, would it be too much to ask if the band was actually the type of group to sing '50s songs? I've never heard of a bunch of hippies playing that sort of music...

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

This is terrific.
I found this while searching for reference photos from "America Sings" because I wanted throw in some cameos from the show into a project I was working on...
...and discovered someone else (you) was recreating the entire show.
Keep up the good work.

loosetoon said...

Thanks so much for posting this beautiful animation. I think I'll pick my jaw up off the floor now.

Dhevil said...

I can't help but keep looking at this. I know I said something before, but I can't help myself. This is just about the most amazing thing America Sings related that I have ever seen. I hope you will animate the entire thing. That's what I want to see. I will never forgive Disney for taking it out of the park. Aside from that, sorry if I ever have bothered you about this, but please animate the entire show as if it were a full-length movie. If you were capable of that, I'm sure I'll remember you forever.

I'm such a mess. I'm an austistic America Sings Freak.

Ron said...

Mr. Lopez-
The America Sings animation you did is awesome! Totally inspiring. By the way, congratulations on "Princess and the Frog" - I had the privelege of cleaning up (and inking and painting) some of your Facilier goodness over here in Florida. Pure magic, man! All the best.

Unknown said...

Anything new and exciting for this Halloween?

James Lopez said...

Well...let's see...I lent out my Halloween decorations this year to a fellow co-worker at Disney for their Halloween/Haunted Mansion-themed wedding and they refurbished alot of my props so that may be something new...

Besides that, I'm hoping make the vultures from America Sings but it's getting close to Halloween but yet it is still a month away...

We'll see. Thanks for checking in!

Dhevil said...

Me again. Can't keep away from this blog of yours. I just wanted to point out that everything on this blog you posted(especially the stunning illustrations) make me smile everytime I look at it. Now I can learn how to draw the characters better. I love to draw America Sings characters in my spare time, and I hope you don't mind if I use them as references to help me get better at them.
I want to see more to this so badly. Again, sorry if I bothered you at all.

James Lopez said...

No bother at all! Are you kidding? You are part of the reason I keep going!

I hear ya' about drawing the characters. I learn as I go, too. Actually, I animated the whole scene of Sam saying "Why, they were the songs that people brought from their native countries!". When I took a closer look at my animation and then back at the character design, I felt it could be more "on model". So I'm currently re-drawing it to look more like the color image of Sam posted on the site.

When I read how inspired people are to make and build their own things as a result of visiting this site, I get a smile, too. To me, those are the best comments. (Granted, the compliments are nice too!)

If what I do or what I post inspires anyone, to do anything...it makes all worth it!

Use anything you like. This for you and for all of you so please, enjoy!

Dhevil said...

Oh, then I'm glad I'm not being considered a nuisance. I'm odd like that, and always consider myself a burden.

When I get older, I'm going to be an animator like you, since you make me want to try starting out. Right now all I can do are little simple animations on the computer. My best one is a 50x50 avatar of Mr. Eggz of Kitchen Kabaret.

And I also want to build my own amusement park here in Nebraska, and I want to build an attraction similar to America Sings, but a lot different. My mom says when she gets really famous with her band, she'll buy me some land to start out with(I don't think she means it though). But I'm just some 14-year-old who believes just about everything she's told.

I can't blog, but I'm trying to make one and put up most of my AS art as well as some of my KK art. That is if I ever learn how. I'm not that experienced with the power of the interent.

willipino said...

hey jamie,

i just checked back and saw your update on the coloring process. you are a genius.

hope you're doing well. it's almost halloween!

-w-

Cinematog said...

Jamie, I am fully convinced that there isn't anything artistic that you can't do.Your truly unique skills makes you one of the few I have worked with in this business that have no boundaries.


Bert

Carrie said...

Wow... so awesome. Behind-the-scenes Disneyland stuff is rad... drunk bunny... niice.

Your work is fantastic!

I used to love books on records... "You will know when it's time to turn the page when you hear this *chime*". Ahhhh, memories!

Sculpey Space Mountain?? Where do I sign up? ;) hehe!

HenriekeG said...

When I found this post a few months ago I was SO happy, and now I'm happy I checked back to find an update! Thank you very much for sharing all this, I really can't wait to see more. I absolutely love the America Sings ride and listen to the soundtrack a lot, it's a shame it was already closed down before I was even born. I do hope I get to see some of the classic rides before they close those as well, but with a bit of luck I'll finally be visiting Disneyland next year.
Your animation looks amazing I must say, is there any place where I could see more of your work? I love animation but I have to admit I hardly know anything about the current animation business, and who draws what. I'd love to learn more, please keep on blogging!!

- Henrieke

James Lopez said...

Thank You for the compliments everybody!

"You will know when it's time to turn the page when you hear this *chime*"

You remember that, too?! The Disneyland long-playing record. (Is there a sound file of that somewhere for download?)

Henrieke, you can see more of my recent stuff on Michael Sporn's Blog:
http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?cat=35

I did all of the layouts and painted most of the backgrounds in this 15 minute short-film called 'Pups of Liberty' that was produced by some friends of mine.

I will be posting more stuff later this week. Thanks for your interest!

Dhevil said...

I request more to this. I can't stand waiting any longer. It's so inspiring. C:

Oh, I have a favor to ask of you. I was wondering(forgive me if I seem like a nuisance), if you could critique my very first traditional animation I did myself? I know it doesn't look so good, but I'm still a teen. http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs44/f/2009/105/d/c/J_C__Animation_by_DemonicDhevil.gif Sorry if I bothered you with this.

Dhevil said...

Sorry, I mean http://demonicdhevil.deviantart.com/art/J-C-Animation-119386763 Sometimes the links I have don't work.

na9577cgftxasr said...

A couple of dorky questions:
Mono or stereo?
Which version of "Who Shot That Hole in My Sombrero"?

James Lopez said...

tymime- Answers: "Stereo" and "the spanish version --did he do this because I keese his wife?"

Dhevil-I saw you're animation, it looks good. Keep it up!

Unknown said...

Hi James; We have alot in common. I also have worked for Disney for 20 years (and other studios} Please check out my website videos larryscholl.net and see how I built 2 theme park attractions (a darkride and an animatronic show) in my backyard. You stuff is fantastic! Marc Davis would be proud! Larry at larryscholl2005@netscape.net

James Lopez said...

Hi Larry,
Thanks for making contact with me. Your work is very exciting, fun and inspiring!

I'll definitely be in touch sometime soon and maybe we can compare notes!
-James

Thomas Novotny said...

I admit I've been watching this blog for quite a while, and it's time to comment now. My friend Henrieke showed me this a while ago and made me completely obsessed by the America sings attraction. The work you did here is absolutely fantastic and seeing this finished is the best thing that could ever happen to a fan of Sam Eagle!

I'm excited to see more updates!

Eric Scales said...

This is just about the most inspired thing I've ever seen. I really hope you finish it. Just the few seconds you have up here brought back such warm feelings for me.