I’ve spent my adult life making cartoons. As a kid I planted myself in front of the TV to watch cartoons. In high school I made a stop motion film for my final project. I used my time in film school to teach myself animation (this was before animation became the "hot" thing at universities). I made my first cartoon in my parents’ basement that went on to win some international awards. I was flown to Germany to work at a studio in Munich where I lived for two years. I came back to New York City to pick up whatever animation work I could find. Not very much it turned out. I was a cab driver for a bit and waited on many tables. I set myself up as a studio taking on full projects. Whatever I didn’t know about a technical aspect I figured out. I call it my “earn while I learn” period.
I finally got myself out to Hollywood where I was pleasantly surprised to find out some studios were impressed by my knowledge and experience. Long story short: I’ve spent the last 25 years working for Disney, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon and all the other major (and not so major) animation studios in Los Angeles.
When asked, in polite conversation, "So what do you do, Frank?” my reply of “I work in animation” was almost universally met with great interest. I found myself talking about my career and some animation history. People liked it. I found local a local ToastMasters meeting and got good audience appreciation when I spoke of animation. I formalized this information into "A History of Animation: Cartoons in our Culture”.
A mentor in the group described my speaking style as that of a professor mixed with a comedian.
A History of Animation: Cartoons in our Culture is the story of humans' fascination with creating the illusion of motion, technical milestones, show business in America, the rise of cartoon studios, and the serendipity and bad breaks that make history happen.
Please go to: fweiss0511.wixsite.com/franktalks to see me in action.
