I’ve seen other companies and they sort of have the same answer, whether it’s a car, a lawn mower or a piece of cheese," says Bob Kurtz, referring to the way some animators approach assignments. "I try to change my ideas every time we come to a new project. I say, ‘Let’s not repeat ourselves. What would answer the assignment in a new way?’"
Kurtz is the writer/director/designer/producer/founder of animation house Kurtz & Friends, Burbank, Calif.. Having worked with Kurtz before, Foote, Cone & Belding, Los Angeles, went to his company in an effort to revitalize the venerable Smokey Bear public service announcements for the Ad Council’s United States Forest Service campaign. The result is a humorous, funky musical approach to the tried-and-true message of teaching people that they are the ones who can prevent forest fires.
The most recent spot in the effort, "Smokey N’ Da Boyz," is an inspired parody of pop idols ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys. The :30, directed by Kurtz and designed by Robert Peluce, a staffer with the company, features a variety of forest animals singing a catchy but instructive rhythm and blues ballad as they dance in an idyllic forest. The song, with its inventive lyrics, builds up to its closing line, "if a gorgeous forest is what you desire/don’t play with matches, don’t play with fire." Then Smokey Bear makes his signature appearance, pointing his finger and saying his signature line: "Only you can prevent forest fires."
Foote, Cone & Belding originally intended to use a barbershop quartet in the spot-an idea Kurtz was less than enthusiastic about. "The agency checked it out, and kids don’t even know what [a barbershop quartet] is," explains Kurtz. "So it was a quick switch, which made me very, very happy."
To prepare for the project, Kurtz "watched a lot of MTV. I went through stylizing that sort of [dance] pattern that manufactured boy-groups do. People break up [with laughter when they see the spot]. If you’re at all familiar with these groups, you [recognize] the choreography when these wild-looking animals suddenly break into song and have all the moves.
"I must say that the Forest Service and the agency were a pleasure [to work with]. What makes an agency a pleasure is when they leave us alone," Kurtz continues. "They just have to be clear on what their vision is, and what they have to communicate. [The spot has] a really strong, solid message. There are some jobs we get and you go, ‘How are we going to save this one?’ There are other jobs-and ‘Smokey’ is one-where you know you’re doing something good."
Communique
After spending the early part of his career at Disney and a number of other studios in Los Angeles, Kurtz opened Kurtz & Friends in the ’70s. "I’m into communication," says Kurtz. "What’s the idea? How can I communicate it? Whether something sells or not, that’s up to the agency. Basically, I do funny. I think comedy gets a multi-level message across to people. If you tell a joke well, people want to see it again. That’s one of the charms about animation. When it’s good, you want to see it over and over again."
Kurtz and Peluce, who have collaborated for 20 years, teamed up again for the recent "Santa Claus Roof," for Comcast/Suburban, a cable television service, through agency Red Tettemer, Narberth, Pa. The commercial opens with Santa and his reindeer soaring through the night sky, delivering Christmas presents. Santa spots a house with a satellite dish on its roof and guides the reindeer in for a landing. On their downward descent, the reindeer suddenly panic. At the last second, they veer up and away from the house, as Santa shakes his head disapprovingly at the satellite dish he’s just bumped into. A voiceover follows: "You better watch out. It’s tough to land on your roof when there’s a satellite dish on it." A shot of Santa and the reindeer silhouetted against a full moon freezes and becomes an image on the front of a Christmas card. The card flips open and reads, "Get everything you want from Comcast Digital Cable."
"If I remember right, we had very little implied for visuals [from the agency]," says Kurtz. "They had this concept that Santa Claus can’t land. That was pretty much it. [They] may have had one or two sketches. It didn’t have the dynamics that you see in the spot.
"We didn’t want it to look all nice and sweet," he continues. "That’s why we have the black sky and the very limited color palette. The agency didn’t want it to be a traditional-looking spot. We understood and from there we just built on it."
In addition to spots, Kurtz & Friends works on television and feature projects. The company was responsible for the animated DNA sequence in Jurassic Park, the opening titles for City Slickers and its sequel, City Slickers II: Curly’s Lost Gold. Kurtz is currently working on an animated sequence for Bryan Singer’s (The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil) upcoming feature, X-Men.
Kurtz points out that unlike commercial assignments, where he works with a team of agency creatives, film work usually involves collaboration with just one person. "When I’m working with people like [Steven] Spielberg or Billy Crystal, they’re very open. You’re only working for one person, and that’s it."
Another of Kurtz’s latest spot efforts was "NBA 2Ball," via NBA Entertainment, Secaucus, New Jersey. Kurtz & Friends went outside of the company to find director/designer Phil Kimmelman, a designer and director of Schoolhouse Rock. The :30 promotes NBA 2Ball, a National Basketball Association competition for children. The spot features two kids shooting hoops in the NBA competition. The promo is accompanied by a score that describes the contest in the style of the Schoolhouse Rock shorts that explained multiplication and the lawmaking process.
"Phil and I had wanted to work together for years. The NBA wanted to do an updated take-off of Schoolhouse Rock, so we went to the source. Why not have the man who created and directed it work with us?" Kurtz says.
Currently, the company is working on the aforementioned X-Men, as well as a possible 2000 Christmas special. Kurtz & Friends is also developing a relationship with Scott Johnston, a CG artist who worked on The Iron Giant.
