Aria For An Animator

Years ago, a guy named Dan Lund contacted me for rights to a song written by Howard.  He didn't know the song but had heard of its existence and thought it might be good for animation. I didn't think that song was right but I asked if he'd be interested in something else.  A song that Howard wrote with Alan before Little Shop.  It was something they thought they could shop to Children's Television Workshop.

The song was called Aria For A Cow.

It turned out Dan knew what he was doing.  He's an animator who has worked on Disney films from Mermaid to Frozen.  And he has the most amazing energy and enthusiasm.  And he likes projects that no one else wants to take on.

Dan toiled on Aria, got bumped and bruised and kept going with help from some incredible young talent like art director Amos Sussigan.  Even more incredibly, Dan and Amos recruited an international group of animation students for the project.

That's the part that moves me most.  I am so happy that a song of Howard and Alan's, written when they too, were struggling, has been given life in animation by a new generation of talent, also waiting and working for their break.

Next week, I'm going to Burbank to what sounds like a terrifyingly large convention of animators (CTN Expo) where Aria will be screeend and I (even more terrifyingly) will be interviewed by John Musker.

I'll let you know how it goes, but in the meantime, you might want to take a look at some of John's posts for this site from a few years ago.

Here's my fave: post by John.