J On The Spectrum - #AnimationIsForEveryone (Guest Star: Jerry Rees)

In light of the Oscars, Netflix, and now Warner Bros Discovery taking a dump all over the art of animation, I want to show that #AnimationIsForEveryone and #AnimationIsNotNothing. Part of my fascination for animation is that I tend to enjoy the oddball obscurities or really old stuff people have a tendency to overlook or forget. One of these little cult classics had the potential to change animation but it didn't quite turn out that way. It's called The Brave Little Toaster, I know some of you have heard of it, and today's guest is the director of that film, Jerry Rees.

In this episode, we find out how despite being initially rejected by Disney, the film ended up getting made anyway because it was made independently, along with a few other behind the scenes facts. Jerry agrees with me, but surprisingly, who also agreed with me that animation would be for everyone is Gary Kurtz, producer of Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back. Gary worked with Jerry in the early 1980s to bring an animated feature version of Michael Eisner's The Spirit to the big screen which would combine CG backgrounds with 2D animation. Every exec rejected the idea when they heard it was animated. However, an indie producer heard about Jerry's little film producing stigma and wanted him to make an animated feature out of the small novella known as The Brave Little Toaster, and only gave him a small budget, tight schedule, but complete freedom to work with. Jerry and the crew made the best animated film they could on such a tiny budget of $2.25 million at a time when Disney animated features cost north of $20 million. No micromanagement needed.

Back in the old days of animation, it was either go big or go home. Today, you can go big AT home, but skills are still needed, which is more valuable than money.