School of Rock Graduation Surprise! Congrats!

A graduation speech? Arrrrghhh...

Hey, I directed Donald Duck in Fantasia 2000. Sometimes a little Pomp and Circumstance is appropriate.

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Problem with school is that when we leave it we forget the things we've "learned". Why is this? Did we really learn it? What is learning?

I think of learning as not just acquiring knowledge, but learning what to do with it. It's a combination of How to and Why to. Theory and practice in the real world. Knowing the names of all the countries of the world is different than taking a trip through one of them.

But you also don't know what's going to prove important to you later in life, what kinds of problems you'll encounter. Well, now you have a road map for dealing with problems. Pay attention to the lessons offered. Face the consequences before they get overwhelming. And when your old methods of reality coping aren't working anymore, and you feel like your'e dying, trust the process. Allow yourself to grieve and let go of your old ways and you'll see rebirth in ways unimagined. I know this from experience.

In writing my new approach to story structure, I took ideas from every screenwriting book I've read, but also books about playwriting, novels, mysteries, drama. But in addition I added narrative theory, structuralism, semiotics, gestalt, Neurolinguistic programming, Eriksonian Hypnosis, Freudian, Jungian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, mathematics, rhetoric, fables, magic and tricks learned from my mentor- Scheherazade.

I hope I have demonstrated how easy it can be to write a story. The plot is where it gets complicated. But now there's a guide to help you along the way. We'll talk more about plot later. So how can I make it that you won't forget what you've learned?

It's time for you diplomas and surprise. Cue the music. Daaaaa da da da daaa da...

Do you remember this image of Iggy leaving Bunny behind at the Igloo. Look at it again. What do you see?

Image from:

Iggy's Incredibly Easy Way to Write a Story

Do  you see the dragon, perhaps? Did you see it the first time you saw the image? Or did the story of Iggy distract you from seeing? That's the good old misdirection technique in action.

Graduation surprise: The secret revealed Dewey traveled the secret path of the dragon!

Here is your diploma- a Ride the Dragon template, the golden roadmap to the heart of your story.
Feel free to print it out and use it well. Please retain the copyright information: ©Glebas2013

(I just looked and found the image was small on the blog page. If anyone knows a way to make it a downloadable file, please post a comment. Thank You.)

If you like working on index cards just lay it out the dragon way.

We'll look at my story theory criteria and see if it fits. I know that now you've gone through the journey with me starting back last November 2012, you'll never forget the image that sums it all up. Each part tells you what has to come after and before in a totally organic process. Give your audience a Ride on the Dragon they'll never forget.

In School of Rock, they sing, "The movie's almost over. But we're still on screen". Well, we're not almost over, we're just getting started...

Image from:

The Animator's Eye by Francis Glebas

Why a duck? Why an ark?

Here's a fun piece by art director, Dan Cooper, that he did for Pomp and Circumstance. Unfortunately, this old copy doesn't convey any of the incredible color and light subtlety of Dan's original. For a real treat watch Fantasia 2000's Pomp and Circumstance and pay attention to the color and light. 

If you look carefully you'll notice that the ark is actually shaped kind of like a duck. Only a great art director pays such attention to detail.

I learned so much from all  of my crew. Thank you all.

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You can see some of Dan's personal paintings at his blog: http://dancoopersblogsplotch.blogspot.com/

Fantasia 2000 Pomp Storyboards

Here's a sampling of storyboards and visual development from Fantasia's Pomp and Circumstance. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

This is the poster that I created to pitch the idea for Pomp and Circumstance at a Disney Gong Show. Originally, I called it Donald's Last Roundup.

This was an earlier design for the poster. I liked adding the umbrella. It helped tell the story more directly.

Here I was working on designing Daisy's costume.

This is an art direction page I gave to my wonderful art director, Dan Cooper. We wanted to show that the storm was enormous compared to the ark but the ark was enormous compared to all the animals and that all the animals were enormous compared to Donald and Daisy but they were all small compared to their love and God's love for them symbolized by the rainbow.

It was fun to play with the scale of this giant ark with all the animals naturally finding their place.

We looked at all kinds of reference to find simple shapes for the animals so they'd read in silhouette.

This next image is hysterical but almost didn't make it into the movie. Peter Schneider was concerned because Donald wasn't wearing his shirt which calls attention to the fact that Donald doesn't wear pants. Mickey does. What gives? Anyway we were able to come up with a precident that Donald lost his shirt in Saludos Amigos or Three Caballeros so we were OK. (Images © Walt Disney)

This is another favorite of mine. We put a metaphysical gag in Pomp. Is Donald really a duck?

We couldn't resist this gag of the mythological creatures not making it on the ark. It's probably been done in many guises in New Yorker cartoons.

In a classic twist on an old cartoon them. Donald doesn't see stars or birdies. He sees animals running around his head.

We struggled with this scene as much as Donald stubbled with the dove. Why didn't the dove want to go find the olive leaf? After many dead end approaches the answer was thematic to our movie. The dove was in love with is mate just like all the other animals on the ark.

This scene had an inside gag. When the storm is over all the animals race out to see the sun thus tipping the ark. If you look really close, on the roof you can see Mickey and Minnie Mouse. We originally were going to project the movie in 35mm but later it was decided to create it for IMAX. You can really see them when it's projected in IMAX.

My lead animator, Tim Allen, animated this scene and he visually showed how happy Donald was without using any words. He literally flies up when he kisses Daisy.

Pomp and uncooperative circumstances Storyboards

Fantasia 2000's Pomp and Circumstance began with a simple idea. What if Noah had trouble getting the animals onto the ark? This "what if?" led to tons of comic possibilities. Originally, we set it to the frantic music of the Barber of Seville. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)