Latest / Of Mice and Main Street Men / Author & Illustrator Jason Platt (Episode 231)

Transcript

Author & Illustrator Jason Platt (Episode 231) · Of Mice and Main Street Men

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Shining at the end of every day.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Just a dream.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Nice Main Street Men.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I am Tristan.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: And today Sean is not with us, but I have a special guest.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's the one, the only, Jason Platt, my friend.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there, buddy.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Just fine.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me on.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thrilled.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I've been a fan of yours for probably over 20 years at this point.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we've worked quite a bit together in the local theater scene.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: And um I'm always a fan.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you're on Living Local every now and then, promoting you know, your various things.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I love it.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you're just one of my favorite artists on the planet.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's thrilled to be able to talk to you because, and we're gonna get to your book a little bit later.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I kind of want to know, you know, I always get so curious with creatives and like how this all started for them, and what was the earliest inkling that you knew you had to go into this artistic creative life?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, that's a really great question because I feel like there's a lot of like uh uh kids out there who are developing their own craft and uh parents who are witnessing their children uh with this spark.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it was it was funny with mine.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: If if you want to uh go back and and think about what maybe like the 1970s were like, uh so if that gives like a mental picture, I had uh this little uh it was it was a desk, like a school desk, but on the top it was like a a chalkboard.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: And um I was probably like three or four years old, and uh I was trying to draw this train, and I asked my mom if she could draw the caboose on it, because I didn't I couldn't quite figure it out in my in my head.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I saw my mom's face kind of go ashen and and this this look of dread came over her, and I was like, What did I say?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: And and she goes, uh I'll try.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so she she took a piece of chalk and she drew what she thought a caboose would look like, and it it it it did not look like a caboose, and so I took and you know, the children are the most honest of us, you know.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I took my eraser uh and I erased it, and I said, that's not a caboose, and I went and kind of drew what I thought I thought my version was better.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so that I I might apparently I was a rude child growing up.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's such a specific memory, too.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's crazy.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: It is, uh, and uh it was funny because I I remember it, but I also remember my mom later telling me uh that that was her clue of when I had I I don't know if I had a gift, uh I I had more of a drive to to create and draw something.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: And from then on out, uh uh she she helped water the seed of my passions as much as she could.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: So that was that was like the the inkling way way back in my my um laser suits and wide collars as a three-year-old, you know.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you were a classic three-year-old, that's the thing.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, so so then uh you found it at such a young age, and then obviously it continued.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh, you know, what was that kind of growing up with that particular artistic, you know, uh inspiration like?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And like how did you throw that into you know your because you obviously got into theater and things like that as well, right?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: Early on, yeah.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, but yes, I did.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: But uh it I think for a lot of us of of uh my generation, Generation X, of cartoonists that is, uh, I and much like even cartoonists today, early rising artists, uh like Charles M.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: Schultz with uh Peanuts was uh an immense influence on on all of us, uh with his uh with his storytelling, his jokes.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: His his drawings were uh I don't want to say that they were simple because they're very complex in their own way, but they were they were composed of shapes that a lot of us who were trying to study this craft um felt like they could mimic and try and replicate.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was it was this here is this giant that we all loved, and uh a lot of us were trying to you know draw Snoopy because he was he was awesome, you know?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um so you know, comic strips like Beatle Bailey, uh Garfield, of course, and uh and of course Disney.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know how many times I drew uh tried let me how much I'm drew, but tried to draw, let me get that straight.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: I tried to draw uh Mickey Mouse uh on my own, and it just it was so fascinating.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: It was like a magic trick, yeah.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: I wanted to figure out, you know.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and be you know, uh it's so cute.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just so fascinated by people that can do what you do, because I can't, as as as I have learned over because my daughter is a very skilled artist, and I am not, and sometimes I do still paint and draw with her, and she's like, Yeah, you don't have it, Dad.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Thank you.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and um, but when you're looking at stuff, you know, do you when you're as a storyteller, the way you are, do you see the shapes first or do you see the story first and then that all comes together?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's fascinating to me.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's it's kind of like very similar to when uh an author is asked, where do you get your ideas?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: And uh what what's so different about theater um is that in theater you have a script, the director has a script, and everybody has their the base of what they're doing from, you know?
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and so when you are like at the keyboard and you're writing or drawing, it's all on you.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: It is all right, especially from my standpoint.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: There are a lot of illustrators out there who uh illustrate other people's work, so they're they're kind of doing the same thing where they're taking the the work itself, the written work, and adapting it.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but when it comes like let's say with my latest series, uh Paw in Order, um it kind of actually came out with this a sketch.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_02: I did a sketch, you know what?
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: I will try and uh find that original sketch and I'll send it to you so you can show it.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um and it was just this this little portly uh cat and this dog and this this dog, um, a cat and a dog.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I thought, oh, this is kind of fun.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's it's almost like when when the sketches come out of my my uh imagination and into my sketchbook, it's almost like those sketches are auditioning for me.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, you know, it's like hey, look at me, and then suddenly it's like, oh, I could see you guys would work good together, you know.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's cool.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what you guys are gonna work in yet, but I got my eye on you, you know.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, and you know, so you know, I I'm gonna go back a little bit because I'm I'm kind of curious now, too.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: When you were watching, like you mentioned the Peanuts gang and things like that.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: When you were watching like some animated films or cartoons or something like that, were you trying to figure out okay, how so they did that to do this to that?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: You like you know, how were you piecing that together in your head?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because it had to be fascinating for someone that looks at the craft the way you do.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: So absolutely, I remember so uh uh let let's go back again, but now we're gonna go back into the 80s.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: And uh before uh VCRs were affordable, uh we had a uh a video disc player.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, if you if your listeners don't know what a video disc player is, it's almost like it's a video disc, okay, uh almost like on a record.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: And it's kind of crazy to think about looking it up anyway.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um I remember that from even when I, you know, I was younger too.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's crazy.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, it's it was a crazy time of technology.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it was so weird that even like if there was like a scratch on the disc, it would skip like a record.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, uh I I absolutely loved uh when Mickey's Christmas Carol came out, and it was a uh it was a short, it was a short in front of a re-release of The Rescuers.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: And and I absolutely love the rescuers.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh there's there's something about it with like its mystery and its tenseness, and the the music is really scary, but the short that Christmas, uh, I just it was just fascinating to me.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I loved seeing these classic Disney characters uh telling a brand new story at the time.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember we we actually purchased uh a copy of Mickey's Christmas Carol on video disc.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: And what was great is on the second side of it was the making of that that featurette.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow, yeah, and I remember it was it was all about the the adaption of the story, it was the uh the art and the voice acting, and literally every aspect of that little docky drama, and it's probably on YouTube somewhere, I would imagine, um, just fascinated me to no end.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like I I loved the inner workings of this production department and this this crew creating something together for all of us for entertainment, and it just it it was something that uh I remember watching and going, I want to do that.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, and it's uh I love that you know you have like a little Disney, you know, because I mean I I you had mentioned before we started recording that what artist hasn't been a little inspired by the story, of course.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: What do you remember when you became aware that Walt Disney was a dude who you know started all this?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because I know for me for a while I was like, Walt Disney is just a company, I don't know.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then eventually I was like, oh my god, this is a man, this is amazing.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I knew right away it was it's kind of like let's say Jim Davis and Garfield.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: Sure, you know, you you knew that he was the creator, and I knew early on that Walt Disney was the one who uh who created Walt Disney, and and I don't even know how I found out originally.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: It was probably from that documentary from Mickey's Christmas Carol that uh Walt Disney did the yeah, it was because they that Walt Disney was the original voice of Mickey, but then they had to in this documentary they had to search and find someone to do the voice for Mickey now, back in what 1983.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I just it just made it the lore all that more more thick and rich for me as someone who loved creating.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: And it and then I knew that while he wasn't like the there was no way that one man could create all of the animation and the music and whatnot of Ultra C.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: But there was something about it a little bit like saying George Lucas.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: I knew that he was the the the umbrella that covered everything that he that his production company created, yeah, and it was his vision and in uh and his voice that he wanted.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I and I I don't know if you classify yourself as a Disney adult, but um totally like I know you and your wife go down quite a bit.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: I know we have jet we like almost a like two or three years in a row, we have just missed each other by like days uh on trips.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, um, so you're a fan of the parks as well.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, you know, when was the do you remember the first time you visited those and when you became kind of a fan of that?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was actually uh um uh June 24th, 1989.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow uh was when I when I came down to Disney for the first time.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: And the only reason why I remember that is because uh Batman, the original Tim Burton Batman appeared, uh debuted the night before.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and I saw it, and the next day we we traveled to Disney.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um wow.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: But I remember we I stayed at Coronado, not Coronado, uh Caribbean Beach Resort.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and it was kind of brand new-ish.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: And it was literally like I think just like a a couple weeks after what was MGM Studios opened up.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: And um it was it was really fascinating.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: And uh my second visit was right after I graduated from high school in 1991.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I know you go quite a bit now.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you know, do you do you view the parks differently as a creator?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, as someone who is actively creating all the time, does your experience in the parks change because you're kind of looking at it in a different way?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm looking at all this amazing artwork and fiberglass statues, or especially like at um flower and garden time and these uh these toporaries like uh shaped as uh Disney characters, I just find so fascinating that all this attention to detail, uh much like let's say a theatrical production or even a uh a graphic novel or a movie is is put into art, our enjoyment.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's just something just fascinating to just walk around and just look at some of the details and just forget about the rides themselves.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, they how the care in how they make every world uh or even section of each park different.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's just so cool.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, now that we've you know established you're a Disney adult, we can get on with the podcast here.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um we go with a thorough uh vetting process.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, so I'm I'm thrilled to have you on today, though.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I could talk to you about all that stuff for another hour.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: But um so the topic today is we're counting down our top five breathtaking animated moments in the Disney Pixar history.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: And uh this was I so I'm the one that came up with this topic, and then I was like, oh my God, why did you do that to yourself?
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: This is was terribly difficult for me.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I'm fascinated as someone who you know is not an animator or an illustrator, and how I looked at it versus how you are, because you know, I I bet there's uh very different ways of looking at this.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna, since you are our guest, Mr.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Platt, um, I'm gonna let you kick us off with your number five.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: What what's what's on your list here, sir?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you know what's really uh amazing is that uh all of my five are uh very similar in in my choices because I I feel like uh story is the anchor of any solid film.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: And uh the the ones that I've chosen are just in in my opinion, just really solid in how they're constructed.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I I guess I should preface that my five, while they're my five, the these are in no particular order, I guess.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's okay.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: We don't have to put them in an order, yeah.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: Is that my out?
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: Can I do it?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: No, yeah, you're fine.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um so uh one of them, I guess, is I guess for my five, my fifth one, uh, I would would have to be soul.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man that came out in 2020.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: That's so great.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's it touches me in my my my inner being in a way that um when I got done with it, where I just stopped and I just needed to collect myself.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Underrated film, underrated.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: I really do believe.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like I loved it as well.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: My gosh, if you're an artist and you don't cry well, there's you're dead inside.
• 17:41
  unknown: Yeah.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because I I did.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, was it uh, you know, knowing it's interesting that you picked that, just knowing and viewer or listeners, you'll eventually find out the style that that Jason uh draws in.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: I find it interesting that you pick that because that is so like the it's an angular style that like is very you.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool, I think.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: I guess so, yeah.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't I didn't think about it like that, but yeah, I think you're right.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, soul's great though.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: I love soul.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, did you have anything else to say about soul?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Are you good?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the the music is uh top-notch and uh man the the there's the comedy in it is prequeled in a way that caught me off guard.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: I the first time I saw it was actually I was coming back on a trip from Paris and I was watching it and I I burst out laughing.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: And then 20 minutes later I was crying.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: It was like I'm sure someone sitting across from me was like, What the heck is going on?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: Is he okay?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody get him some help.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I do love soul myself.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so uh first on my list, I'm gonna mention uh Frozen, and there's a particular moment.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm a big Frozen stan, huge fan, saw it like eight times in the theater, no, no notes.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a particular moment that I think is really fascinating.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's when Elsa's building the Ice Palace because it's like architectural storytelling, if that's a thing.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because every single step Elsa takes changes the shape of the palace, and you're seeing it like built in real time.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the way they did it, it because it's like it's like uh ice is dancing in rhythm with if we can say that, I guess.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and the way the camera moves, because like Disney's gotten so cool with their camera moves and their animation.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's just like circling around her, and all the ice is like sprouting up, and it's such a cool like physical transformation.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And oh yeah, you know, and it's such a powerful moment with that song because it's kind of like a self-acceptance song in a way, but like I don't know, man.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: I the first time I saw that, I was like very moved.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: And even still when it plays in our house now, frozen just in general, like really gets to me.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: I love Frozen.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and it's so uh reminiscent of the Disney Renaissance with the music.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, it's a solid score.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's just fantastic, and those those songs, you know, you can't, you know, like you said, no notes.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, and Olaf is like the best thing to come out of Disney.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: But again, that the whole thing about like that sprinkling of comedy to make up some of the seriousness, yeah.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: So frozen is is uh number five on my list.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: What's next on yours, man?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I would have to say uh the 2006 classic cars.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: Oh good.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um there obviously it's been talked to death uh online, but I I knew right away, even as I was watching it, I said this reminds me of Doc Holiday, uh that um uh Michael J.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: Fox film from 1992, I believe it is.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I recognized the similarities right away, however, I felt like it was very much its own entity, and the the ending when uh McQueen stops on the tracks, spoilers, and uh helps the other car across.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: It was just uh just an amazing moment of selflessness, and I I think that's what just really uh just you know, you're watching it and you're going like, oh, you just I cry every time I see that.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and it translated so well into a land at Disneyland.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: My guy Cars Land is one of the prettiest, and I cannot wait for Piston Peak.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's gonna be great.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um Cars is something I have not revisited in a while, so I I do need to because Harper kind of got out of her cars phase, and then I sure got out of mine, I guess.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um next on my list is Coco.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um uh Coco, we just watched it recently we were staying at Coronado Springs and so we were watching like Coco and Encanto and all those and Coco for me uh is just stunning the whole time but there's a moment and um it's the land of the dead cityscape reveal when uh Miguel arrives at the land of the dead it like um he's on that uh what would you what do you call it the uh is it like a sky what a cable car maybe a cable cable car uh where it's like it's like the city is like rising into the sky with all of the colors and the music and like you can feel like just the generations of memory and there's just it's like a simple cable car glide across like the glowing skyline but it like it feels like you're like almost floating through a mural maybe yeah that might be overthinking it but it's it's just it's not overwhelming because it's busy but it's overwhelming because it's like so alive.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that was one of those moments in Disney animation where I was like oh my God.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt that way multiple times during Coco and who doesn't cry during Coco uh but cocoa has to be on the list for me because I I really that that story got me.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh absolutely all right what's next for you Mr.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: Platt all right um I speaking of crying uh I would have to say the whole first segment of up oh god yes ripped my heart oh my yeah um I'm I'm watching it for the first time and once the the first m segment got done it's like okay I'm I'm ready to go you know this is this is all I need the short before the actual movie that's all I needed yeah I know and then there's more of it and you're like oh okay I'm ready it's right and it's like I don't know how much more my heart can take I know right oh god yeah I don't even know yeah oh yeah and it's just it's the the love story that they portray in that along with Michael Giachino's wonderful score in that it's just iconic and it's it sets up everything that you need as an audience member for the end with the Ellie pin.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: And it just it's it's everything you need to know because you feel like you lost Ellie along with him and you understand his loss because you watch their romance blossom anyway it's just uh moving.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah oh my god yeah well now everybody's in their car crying so um I'll lighten the mood with my next one because that was so beautiful uh no uh mine is Oliver and Company particularly because I just love Oliver and Company underrated nobody talks about it but it everyone should it's uh particularly the why should I worry tune where he's walking through the Billy Joel.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: The Billy Joel tune like and it's Billy it's Billy Joel right isn't he doing the voice too oh totally yeah yeah and it's like Dodgers walk through your city turns like it's like the sidewalks become the stages and the streetlights become spotlights and stuff and like there's a certain pulse and a rhythm to that animation that I really dig and it's like kind of quick cuts but like expressive movement and the city feels like so massive and like kind of dangerous but also thrilling and you're like man this dude is it like it's a Disney swagger and I think that's why I like it so much.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I love Oliver and Company.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: What a good score too man like oh without a doubt and the that opening shot of like uh the the city and it's very uh yeah the the background artists back then were just uh they knew what they were doing with their wallet they really did Oliver and Company it's underrated it should be give more love I agree I agree just lovely film I think I saw that I think three times in the theater yeah when it first came out it's a terrific movie and I it's it came out a weird time and I think that's why it has not blown up the way it should have but um it's good so if you haven't seen it if you're listening you gotta go check out all of our company oh it's terrific and it was right before the Renaissance with uh Little Mermaid too yeah yeah so I don't know it's a good one it should make a comeback all right what's your next one you're up to your number well kind of your number two but just yours just another one thanks uh um I don't want to number them for you but I I limited mine honestly to uh just Pixar movies but um I I I'll throw some uh honorable mentions uh before I do number one um but my my number two uh Pixar movie uh probably have to be the original Incredibles from 2004 um with Brad Bird uh at the helm and uh the the voice acting the the I the the the costumes in it were just straight up 1960s yeah and again to to bring him up but uh Michael Giachino's score with those hard brass notes oh yeah it was just like watching a James Bond movie without James Bond and the the whole thing was just so exciting um and what I love too was the the inner turmoil that he was Mr.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: Incredible was having by keeping his mission secret from his wife and his wife investigating what was wrong with him and it I don't have a specific with the incredibles but it was just it's one of those movies I can watch I can put on nearly any time and just fall into place.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah I do love that when we recently watched the second one and I forgot how funny that is that sequence with Jack Jack is one of the funniest things I've ever seen um yeah the first incredibles is really like I love the mid-century modern take that they had on that too I think it's that's a really great one to bring up oh yeah um and I do love that you're you've covered more of the Pixar I've covered more of the Disney so it's all working out well um when uh so my next one is uh Encanto uh those musical sequences in that uh oh my gosh like the songs are like the storytelling engine of that one and you know what they do with that house and I cannot wait to see what Disney does at Animal Kingdom with that.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh absolutely I mean it's the controlled chaos of like we don't talk about Bruno or I mean surface pressure like or you know the the one sister doing all the flower work and all that I mean it it's so fantastic what they've done and it's like the choreography and the animation does not deserve to go as hard as it does.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that they have dancing animators and like if you've watched me the behind the scenes of that it's really fascinating to see like the dancers that they brought in to like do some of that.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it's Disney animation like moving at like full emotional speed in like such a different way that I remember seeing that on Christmas day and thinking oh my gosh this is a classic already like it's incredible.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: And we don't talk about Bruno what a catchy tune well they they really just nailed down uh for years the the Broadway element of of song and dance and bringing a musical to the big screen again yeah and it's a yeah man what a good good one all right so you have some and honorable mentions before we get to our big one number one so uh finding Nemo uh yes again uh I feel like the just the storytelling is just rock solid uh uh going just to Disney I mentioned it before but uh the rescuers uh I guess the the comedy the the acting and um uh probably just a hair past the rescuers and mostly admittedly for sentimental reasons uh Pete the original Pete's Dragon oh yeah just Passimaquadi Passimaquidity but I I just love that one oh man yeah Pete's Dragon is not something I've seen in a long time I gotta go check that out it's it's a slower paced movie but uh it's uh like I said pure sentimental and I I will take it to my grave so then what's top of your list then after your honorable mentions so uh I would have to say uh as I said uh concentrating mostly on Pixar but uh the original Toy Story oh back in 1995 yeah um 31 years ago that's crazy by the way uh anything specific I think it's mostly just it was something brand new and something that we it's hard it's hard to imagine but back in 1995 audience never audiences never saw anything like that before ever right yeah and it was a full movie and it it made me just find the wonder in in the possibilities in storytelling and animation again um and I remember uh if if anyone can remember this there was no toy line when it came out and the only things that you could find and I was a full-fledged adult let's let's get that straight uh I I went to Burger King and I got I got Burger King's version of Happy Meals just so I could get uh a Woody figure and a uh Buzz uh light year figure because that's the only place where you can find them that's crazy to think about now because you know as soon as a movie comes out there's a full you know shelf line of things um and that's so interesting too did you find though you know because were you by that point were you uh out of college by that point or were you what was you where were you like what were you at in your life at that point when that came I was uh actually still in college and I was trying to you know uh like a lot of us trying to figure out uh my direction and I decided to go into uh the uh visual arts and uh I think this the the movie just really hammered in my my focus okay uh desire if that can make sense no and that was what I was wondering if that had any impact on you know your your inspiration to just kind of go for it absolutely I I actually wondered for a little while if I should go into computer animation for a stretch.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wow that's so crazy to me and you know like you said that art that was that was so that was so top of like that was like top tier at that point.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: I mean it still is let's be honest but again like I said like uh you can look back at the original Toy Story uh 31 years later and see its imperfections of how how advanced our technology has come since then yeah but for the time it was just it was just jaw dropping amazing and then with Randy Newman's score you you can't imagine a Toy Story film no without his his specific style of music obviously uh uh story and music for film just really impact me I've said it I think a few times so far so yeah um my number one is is very similar but um it's beauty and the beasts but particularly the ballroom dance scene because um I recently watched a documentary about um Disney animation but they talked about how that was the moment that kind of changed everything because it was hand drawn characters gliding through a ballroom as like a camera you know sweeps around them and it was something animation had never really done with the CGI.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: But for me and like while I think that the achievement technically is so cool I think it's such a cool moment in that film because it's such an emotional turning point because you see these two characters really see themselves and it's there's no dialogue but it's just movement and music and what kind of storytelling can actually happen.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think in a little bit of a way it was like kind of Disney animation going back to some of its you know the Snow Whites and Cinderellas and it's just breathtaking but it was really like the moment for me like seeing that in the theater even you know I was younger then.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: But every time I watch it now it's like oh my God this is what Disney is capable of.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's sublime storytelling and oh I just I love Beauty and the beast so much.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_02: I really the the first movie to be nominated for animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah and and that had never been done before.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was listening to a documentary um well it was it's an audio book but anyway uh they were talking about how Frank Rich uh dubbed uh the Beauty the Beast movie the best Broadway show in New York except for it was just a film at the time and I love that like little quote I was like oh my god um I love that and you know of course there's like Little Mermaid and there's Snow White and there's you even brought up Mickey's Christmas Carol which I think is brilliant.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like there's so many moments from like Disney animation or Peter Pan is another one that I was you know um their canon's pretty good you know I think they're doing okay um but you know as an illustrator yourself you know you know what kind of inspiration do you still draw from the Disney canon like you must still see animated films and be like okay this is incredible and to be honest with you again again it it comes down to story and the uh the acting by the animators there's sometimes like what one of the things as as an actor uh that I try to do in my own performances is to give a honest performance if I can uh because the audience will will appreciate it and so whenever I see uh a moment that just is an honest moment I can you got me in that like like the opening sequence of up um it was uh especially when they're in the doctor's room and you're you're witnessing this heartbreaking moment between them is like they they captured it and they didn't pull back no and I think that's when it comes down to it you you will see like children's books out there that are very expressive or uh expressionistic with sure they're styled drawings but the the story and the characters are what push it forward and I think that's what's really important.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so we kind of teased it to the beginning but I I kind of want to get into it now like talk to us about you know you you're an author you're an illustrator and you have a series you know that's doing very well and you just the the latest the third one I think it's the third right yeah it is yeah it was just released.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: So talk to us about the the Pawn Order series man.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah so uh along with uh watching a lot of Disney films when I was a kid I also really just dug uh mysteries as uh Tristan is uh and I have talked many times before about uh I I just really loved like the Agatha Christie esque era of mysteries along with like uh the uh time of like Philip Marlowe uh back in like in the 50s but I was really hoping to try and like do something similar because when I was like seven years old I read like uh a lot of like Hardy Boys in Encyclopedia Brown's oh yeah okay but it wasn't until I read uh Ellen Raskin's book uh The Westing game when I was in the sixth grade where I was like oh this is exactly what I've been hoping for where it was like a bunch of like uh suspects and there's like a uh a crime that happens and everyone's trying to figure it out and you as the reader were trying to figure it out at the same time and so I really wanted to uh come up with an idea uh of a graphic novel series of doing that in a very small scale and so that's where I came up with that original sketch and I'll try and find it for you um of Perlock and Marlowe and uh Perlock obviously a pun on Sherlock Holmes and Marlowe is based off of Philip Marlowe uh Raymond Chandler's private eyes uh but in each case uh there is a uh they go to a scene of a crime they look at all the clues uh and then they go interview all of the suspects that are involved and with just the images and what the suspects say uh and show our heroes per like a Marlowe try and figure out what happened and why and who did it obviously um and I always give the opportunity for the young readers an opportunity to solve this too and this is like geared like for seven to twelve year olds and I I just really want kids who are looking for something like this to just have a good time with it and uh whether they they are able to figure out who it is or not at the end just like in an Agatha Christie they explain what really happened and uh why they did it and how.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah that's so cool.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you and what's and you were just in Chicago at a big conference there.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh talk to us about that a little bit because that's a real big deal.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah it's the American Library Association it's it's a conference just for librarians and educators and uh within that uh conference there are publishers from all sides of the realm you have like the publishers from the big five and you have like uh people uh who are showing like new technology to help the librarians uh and I I was there uh in coordinates with uh my publisher paper cuts uh promoting my latest book uh Paw and Order volume three The Night of the Comet but I was also there uh sitting at the National Cartoonists Society table uh where I was representing uh my organization that I've been a part of for the past 11 years and um I first and foremost I love all the conventions that I go to but the ALA the American Library Association conference is just there's an energy that yeah surpasses all of it because you have all these librarians who are excited about books and excited to uh share books uh with their with their audiences uh adults or kids and it's just an amazing energy that I can't I can't quite explain but it was um I never take it for granted and uh like there was a a moment where um I was in a panel talking about uh uh with my with the organization that I'm in uh and it was the moment where you know tell us who you are and I I explained like my name and uh the series that I was working on and there were uh some librarians sitting in the in the audience and they were just like like clapping for me like because they knew my my work that's so cool it's it's such a an amazing experience that uh and for these people that should be rewarded and thought of yeah yeah I and then go ahead so oh no that's just like it must be just a very inspiring experience oh totally and like uh Lavar Burton was there Rachel Meadow was there Jill Biden was there oh wow uh who else was there actually I saw Jill Biden's motorcade drive right by me and I I still kind of stood up straight and I was like I hope I'm not doing anything wrong Dr.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: Biden might come after you.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's it's so cool like what's the best way for people to kind of I mean obviously you have a presence on on social media but if they wanted to get the book it's available in in stores nationwide right um and they can also order it online I would assume and what's the best website to go to you know I I encourage people to buy books
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: Books wherever they are comfortable buying books.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to find out where specifically, you can go to my website, Jasonplattbooks.com, and you can find out uh places where you can order, uh, whether it's of course Amazon, uh, Walmart, Target, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but I would also, if you can, uh go find uh your favorite independent bookstore and and give them some love and uh order a book through there.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would recommend that as well.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: So as we start to wrap up here, Mr.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_00: Platt, we um we have a what we call our individual lightning lane round.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_00: Oh um, it used to be called something else, but every time they change this name of this thing, we changed we're like individual, I don't know.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even know if individual lightning lane works anymore.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, it's called a fast pass.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_00: I know, right?
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: So uh it's a series of uh rapid fire questions, and uh, you know, don't think about them too much.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_00: You can just but here we go.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'll I'm gonna do them for you.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: So uh question number one Have you ever tried the Sleepy Hollow Corn Dog?
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh no, I have I I I this is the first time I'm hearing of it.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so one of the things that we are known for on this podcast is our sleepy hollow corndog love.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I highly recommend it.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's the best corndog you'll ever have.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I will tell you on uh uh Saturday if I have had it or not.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, good.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_00: So you're going down there like this week, right?
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_00: I I can't say, but I will be, yeah.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you can't say, yes.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so your uh favorite uh Disney character?
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I have to say Mickey.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: Mickey Mouse, that's a great answer.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh yeah.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean he's the classic.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: So uh okay.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: What's your favorite Disney attraction?
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I would have to say uh right right now, I would have to say uh uh Ratatouille, the right of uh Remy's ride.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, that's great.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have no, I love that.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um okay, Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck?
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: Mickey Mouse.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh your favorite animated film?
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh 2D or 3D?
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: You can give one of each.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: How about that?
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_02: Well, let's say uh uh I I have to stick to my guns and say Toy Story for 3D and uh 2D, I'll say the rescuers.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, rescuers such a good one.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: Underrated a little bit too.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: A little bit Disneyland or Disney World?
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_02: I've never been to Disneyland, so I guess by default I'll say Disney World.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you need to get to Disneyland, especially if you like cars so much.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um your favorite park snack.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh tough, I know.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh um I guess the um oh this is so hard.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh can I pass?
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_02: This is just this is uh, it's too you know what uh you know what?
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, the uh I guess uh the cheeseburger pods at uh uh Sluli's canteen or whatever it's called.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, great great uh what's your uh the best Disney villain or your favorite Disney villain, I guess.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um okay, so again I'm going with the rescuers with Madame Medusa.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_02: She even today, she just freaks me out.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I there's something about her.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know what?
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_02: That's the first time anybody's mentioned that character, but honestly, she answers the phone, and and she and when I was a kid and she took her false eyelash off, it it was like I don't know what's happening, but I don't like her.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's very fair.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what's your favorite Disney song?
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: I know these are not these are not easy questions.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_02: You didn't warn me.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I think uh I would have to say uh part of your world.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's a really good one.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a good one.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: I like that one.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're drinking around the world, which uh if you're like me, you don't drink a whole lot, but let you're going left or right.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_00: Coming from like spaceship earth, let's say, not uh international gateway.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um uh uh the Coca-Cola station.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you're gonna go to Club Cool before you do anything else.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so you know what?
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody's answered Club Cool, and I'm gonna let you have it because I love Club Cool.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_02: What is the out and Beverly all day long?
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, the Beverly all day long.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'll never forget the first time we had Harper try that.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: That was fantastic.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um okay, so as we wrap up here, three words you think of when you hear Disney.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh my family, uh, my childhood, and uh first and foremost, the the smile on my wife's face.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love that.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful answers, JP.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, as we wrap up here, you know, for any creatives that may be listening, and we have quite a few that do, you know, what advice do you have um for them as you know, they're if they're younger, they're trying to decide what to do, if they're older, looking for a change in it.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, as someone who lives a full creative life, what advice do you have uh for them to follow their own passions, man?
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, this is like the best question.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for asking.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I would say follow your heart.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_02: And it sounds so cliche, I know, but there's a reason why you wanted to go in this direction, and there are inspirations that are yours and yours alone.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_02: And and just follow those insp inspirations and just follow it, ask questions, and uh it especially as uh as an artist, if you're an artist, it's really hard because you're it's usually a solitary moment and it's just you.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I would I would encourage you to find others who feel the same way about uh visual storytelling and communicate.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_02: And you you never know, you might be teaming up with your your lifelong career partner, or even encourage each other to persuade or to follow your dreams because dreams are are yours to create and build from, yeah, and only you can do it.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's beautiful, JP.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Jason, thank you so much.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_00: Again, it's jasonplattbooks.com, right?
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_00: Is that the website we need to go check out his books, support this fella.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I really do appreciate you joining us uh and joining the pod.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: I've been trying to do this for a while, and we finally did it.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you so much, man.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_00: I really do appreciate it.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_00: And uh to all of our listeners, I say bye, friendly three