If you’ve listened to our interview with animation director, Mark Kirkland (Episode #25), he gives a wonderful description of the production flow of the weekly Simpsons television series. The photo to the right is of Mark hard at work, stopping only long enough to smile at the camera. The other thing he touches on in the interview is his long friendship with Ollie Johnston, one of Disney’s original Nine Old Men. He was the last to leave us, a few months ago, at his home in Sequim, Washington.

Mark is presenting a slide show of his many photographs of Ollie, at the historic, El Capitain theater (6838 Hollywood Blvd), at 7:00 pm, on Tuesday, August 19th. I imagine it will be quite a wonderful evening, because Mark is a great storyteller, and had a close working relationship with one of animation’s giants, not in physical stature, but in his contribution to the art of animation, and his legacy to the history of animation. And, if that’s not enough to get you down to Hollywood Boulevard that evening, there’s also the photos themselves.

Mark’s father, Douglas Kirkland, was among the very top Hollywood photographers, with a long careen during the Golden Age of Hollywood, shooting almost every top star in the business. We may not even need an “almost” in that sentence. The Motion Picture Academy had a one man show of his work a couple of months ago, in the lobby of the Wilshire Blvd. building, and so many of the famous Hollywood star photos were up there on the walls, that it was hard to imagine any great photos left to include.

So, next Tuesday evening has three things going for it, great photographs, about a legendary animator, by a terrific raconteur. See you there.

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