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John Lamb is a film producer/director, animator and artist. From the first animated surf and skateboarding cartoons, to the first animated and rotoscoped rock n' roll video in America (before the advent of MTV), to an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement for invention of the Lyon Lamb Video Animation System (VAS), Lamb's work has consistently been in the public eye since the 1970s. |
John Lamb is a film producer/director, animator and artist. From the first animated surf and skateboarding cartoons, to the first animated and rotoscoped rock n' roll video in America (before the advent of MTV), to an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement for invention of the Lyon Lamb Video Animation System (VAS), Lamb's work has consistently been in the public eye since the 1970s. |
Revision as of 09:00, 14 April 2014
This article needs more links to other articles to help integrate it into the encyclopedia. (December 2012) |
John Lamb is a film producer/director, animator and artist. From the first animated surf and skateboarding cartoons, to the first animated and rotoscoped rock n' roll video in America (before the advent of MTV), to an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement for invention of the Lyon Lamb Video Animation System (VAS), Lamb's work has consistently been in the public eye since the 1970s.
In the mid 1970s, Lamb's animation was seen in many seminal surf movies. "The Forgotten Island of Santosha" by Larry and Roger Yates, featured Lamb's first animated film "Secret Spot" in that surf documentary [1](1974) and "Rocket 88" in "5 Summer Stories" by McGilivray-Freeman Films (1975) "Five Summer Stories". "Secret Spot" is the world's first known animated surf cartoon, notable for another first on film, the "air" maneuver where the surfer flies out of the wave into the air and lands back on the wave - a trick now standard in the world surf community. "Rocket 88" introduced Lamb's trademark character "Willy Makitt," which also features the first "shuvit" maneuver where the surfer kick flips the board, causing it to spin, and then lands it to continue the ride. Willy Makitt was also licensed by Hang Ten and featured on their first fiberglass skateboards, which can be seen in this 1975 NBC newscast on the new skateboarding phenomenon.[1]
Most recently, "Secret Spot" was honored by the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, Ca. with a dedicated installation space. Hand painted by Lamb, with a bigger-than-life wave scene and classic Lamb-style hot rods, tikis and palm trees, the iconic Willy Makitt is featured at the peak of the giant wave. Co-created with artist friend Brett Hazzard, Lamb's "Secret Spot" installation is an outdoor event, host to openings, premiers and surf extravaganzas of all types at the groundbreaking museum. See the mural's start and sky-bending finish on YouTube.[2]
History
With the success of the Lyon Lamb Video Animation System, Lamb set out for his most ambitious animation project: "Tom Waits for No One", featuring Tom Waits singing "The One That Got Away". Using the video rotoscope, Lamb animated live footage of Tom Waits, creating the first American rotoscoped animated rock video. Released in 1979, and largely hidden from the public eye since, the video went viral on YouTube in 2006.
In 1980, Lamb was honored with an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement for inventing the Lyon Lamb Video Animation System (VAS) - (shared with Bruce Lyon). The VAS is a single frame video device for pre-testing animation art before it's committed to final production.[3]
With the invention of the Lyon Lamb VAS, an animation revolution began. One example, a master animator uses the VAS to make animation history and demonstrate a first human "walk cycle" for his students.[4]
Companies
Lamb has cofounded several successful ventures, and has succeeded in widely varied fields - from animation, to print production, clothing line design, licensed cartoonist, to artist, Lamb's work has been featured in many different mediums over the past four decades.
In the 1980s and early '90s, John Lamb Productions merchandised and marketed Lamb's cartoon style drawings, meeting with wide commercial success. During that same period, Lamb also designed clothing for Adidas, Nike, L.A.Gear, Puma, Body Glove, Bugle Boy, Jimmy Z, Maui and Sons, Hog's Breath Saloon, Bear Surfboards and Hang Ten, among others.
In the '90s, Lamb co-founded Bobtown Ink, with veteran Disney director Russ Mooney, producer Brian Ray and award winning director John Kafka. They produced and created many original content shows for clients such as Disney, Universal, Nickelodeon, Sun Woo, Hanna Barbara, Cartoon Network, MGM, and Sony. The original content shows often featured Lamb's trademark style and humor, including shows such as Flamingo Court, Beach Bunnies, Cap'n Jack of the OSS, and Cyborg Pirates.
Presently, Lamb continues the pursuit of art. His first gallery opening featured his "Blast From the Past" series and sold out at the Linksoul Gallery in Oceanside, California (2013).
Animation or production
Lamb's animated works are now available via YouTube.
- “Secret Spot “ - premiered with “Forgotten Island of Santosha”
- "Rocket 88" - premiered with iconic surf movie classic "Five Summer Stories" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY_yhnTwKjE&feature=related
- Sesame Street, Electric Company, several educational films
- "Tom Waits for No One"- starring Tom Waits performing live, then rotoscoped into animation –singing "The One That Got Away".
- "Flamingo Court"- Bobtown Studios.
- "Hippy Motors" - with Tommy Chong, converting classic "Hippy" mobiles into green/electric machines. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvaGrXNGeeM