Renowned Animator and Former Cartoonist, Bill Plympton and His Team to Help Restore Winsor McCay's animated short film "The Flying House" (1921-2011)
NEW YORK -- (SPW) --
Yessian’s newest Sound Designer / Mixer, Weston Fonger, is working on a project that’ll help make a classic fly. For the past few months Fonger has been busy collaborating with renowned animator and former cartoonist, Bill Plympton and his team to help resurrect and restore Winsor McCay’s animated short film “The Flying House” (1921-2011), with the fundraising being generated through Kickstarter.nnFonger is working with famous animator, cartoonist, director and screenwriter Bill Plympton, who, with some assistance from his crew and animation students from the New York area, has been devoting time to completely update The Flying House, an animated film by the legendary and prolific cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay. The film is currently getting a makeover using the latest renovation techniques along with colorization, added music and sound design, as well as the addition of Patricia Clarkson and Matthew Modine, whose voices bring life to the dialogue which had originally been created using only dialogue balloons.nn
nView The Flying House restoration KickStarter project pagehere.nn”I remembered seeing Gertie the Dinosaur as a kid, and that was really my first experience with the work of Winsor Mccay,” says Fonger. “It’s been a privilege to help restore The Flying House. It’s a rewarding challenge to create a soundscape for a silent film that was meant to have the accompaniment of live musicians and actors and I’m honored to have been a part of restoring this film so that it can be enjoyed by future generations.”nnAs a Mixer/ Sound Designer, Fonger has built an extensive career working with clients including Coca Cola, DirecTV, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Colgate and Lexus and his spots for Carmax and Hyundai aired during the 2011 Super Bowl. He was chosen as the winner of the 2009 Post Magazine & Blastwave FX’s Sound Design competition judged by Oscar winning Hollywood sound designers. Fonger also served as a judge for Sound Design at this year’s AICP Award Show.nnMcCay may be considered by many to be the “father of animation.” His groundbreaking animated film Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) is said to represent the first ever cartoon character to have a personality. He was well known for his newspaper comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905-1914 and 1924-1927). Unfortunately his animation career was cut short when his employer William Randolph Hearst expressed he felt McCay was neglecting his drawing duties with the newspaper. The Flying House was his last film.nnPlympton’s work has a highly recognizable and distinctive style. He may be best known for his animated short Your Face (1987) that was nominated for an Academy Award. His cartoons and illustrations have been published in trades including The New York Times, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Penthouse and Vanity Fair. Plympton, his political cartoon that began in Soho Weekly News in 1975 was eventually syndicated and appeared in over 20 newspapers.nnFonger is a big fan of Plympton’s work and will also be lending his talents for an original short for a Showtime Network summer campaign.nnTo help fund or spread awareness for “The Flying House” restoration please visit the KickStarter project page.nnAbout Yessian: With offices in New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Hamburg Germany, Yessian is a global collective of producers, composers, music supervisors, research creatives and recording artists. With six full service recording studios and Dragon Licks, a music licensing and research division of indie bands and well-known artists, the studio offers a complete source for music, sound design and soundscapes. This powerful combination has allowed Yessian to enlist some of the world’s best-known brands in film, television, advertising, gaming and theme parks as clients.
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