(up to)

11

FILMS

by Dan McLaughlin

Back around 2004 Dan McLaughlin, our dad, was retiring from UCLA where he had been a mainstay of the Animation Workshop, and he complied a cd of his 11 most famous and/or ones he thought of as significant.

Time has passed, and so has our father, and since its been decades since we have received any residuals from any of these films, we have decided to cast these films on the internet so that they become a more freely availbale part of our film heritage.

Very brief bio of dad: Dan entered the UCLA Animation Workshop in 1956. The Workshop had been created in 1956 by Bill Shull, a former Disney animator, who established a basic philosophy of "one person, one film and a strong commitment to content and quality. Dan graduated in 1958 and started working in the Worksop the same year. Starting in 1970 he has been a professor at UCLA and chair of the animation program in Animation. As an independent filmmaker Dan has made 26 films, mostly animation and experimental, that have been awarded 114 national and international honors. He is also the author of a 2 vol book ANIMATION RULES which a compilation of a series of lectures of the theory, practice, aesthetics, history and personal experience in the world of animation. Dan retired in 2007 and died in 2016.

as of now the following elements exist online:

1. Brief Statement on his over all filmmaking philosophy  

2. 9

9 O clock News (1968) Dad gets political with a very short film weeks within the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.

Dan's Commentary on 9 O clock News

3. Epiphanies

Epiphanies 1968 (the film)  Four stylized animation films, ranging from mythology to total abstraction in their visual content; originally produced as part of a mixed media stage presentation of the contemporary opera, EPIPHANIES. Music by Paul des Marais. Film by Dan McLaughlin.

Dan's Commentary on Epiphanies  I Highly Recommend that you see this first, otherwise this experimental opera/film hybrid will make even less sense.

4. God

God is Dog Spelled Backwards (1963) (the film)  the film that started the Kinetasis form of animation.

Dan's Commentary on God is Dog Spelled Backwards giving the idea, history, production, and rather detailed description how the Bastards of Hollywood tried to steal it. Those of you who knew my Dad later in life will not be surprised that this commentary is over three times the length of the film.

5 Montage of stills taken at the workshop around 2004 by Celia Mercer.

Dad's book, Animation Rules, is also available

Vol 1. Words.

Vol 2. Pictures. If you have ever have wanted to see a hand drawn rain cycle, this is the place.

 the back arrow should get your out of here is and here is stuff i have done