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The Ethical Method of Repair
The Attention is in the Details
the Lost and FOUND series
RON BARBAGALLO:
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
When the situation arises, I have put on some presentations involving my work. On other occasions, I have been fortunate enough to showcase the work of other artists who work in animation. Here is a list of some of them:
Monday and Tuesday, November 18th and 19th, 2019
Padova University
Padua, Italy
Maurice Noble and the Folder of Discarded Treasure
If there is a thread that runs through working at the Walt Disney Studio, it’s an inability of management to think long term about talent that doesn’t fit into the rigid theme of “do what you’re told” corporate ideologies. The particulars of these stories vary but the underscore is always the same: Some politician at the studio with an inflated impression of their power sent someone with unique talent to another company where they would prove their worth. On November 18th and 19th, 2019, join Ron Barbagallo, the Director of The Research Library at Animation Art Conservation, at Padova University. In an educational lecture that runs 2 hours and 15 minute, Barbagallo will focus one such discarded Disney treasure: Production designer, background artist and layout designer Maurice Noble.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2019
Univesidade Lusófona de Lisboa
Lisbon, Portugal
The SAS 2019 Conference "Animation Is A Place"
THE SHRINKING TRUTH ABOUT DISNEY plastic
The mythos surrounding Disney acetate is rooted in the accepted fact that the shrinkage of that plastic is largely owed to something called “the vinegar syndrome,” an exchange of water and acetic acid molecules that result in shrinking plastic, and as a secondary action - a flood of plasticizers that emerge from the plastic shrinks. But what if the latter effect was the main culprit ? By way of examining Disney Di-Acetate cels in 1995, Ron Barbagallo published: “It is not uncommon for an image (a trimmed cel or cel sheet) which is 6 inches tall to lose 3/8 of an inch during a 40 year period.” [Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pluto: What's Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine]
In 1999 - 2018, seven Di-Acetate cels came into his care and during that time, the collection was maintained in a recommended environment. Over that time period, Each piece of plastic lost approximately 1/8th of an inch (give or take) in mass over a 14-18 year time period and yet the corresponding IPI acidity strips put in each housing were found to be largely unaltered. High Res scans were made at the time of rehousing. By animating these scans, The Research Library at Animation Art Conservation was able to show the world for the first time - Disney plastic as it shrinks. In this way, THE SHRINKING TRUTH ABOUT DISNEY plastic turned science fiction into science fact by showing how this plastic shrinks.
Wednesday, July 5th, 2017
Padova University
Padua, Italy
The SAS 2017 Conference "...and yet it moves..."
Destino, and the fate of assembling plastic truths into a greater whole
The Research Library at Animation Art Conservation used single images and unique films to create the lecture for this one hour class. Lecture started by bringing the class up to date on the current state of the materials used to create Walt Disney Production Cels and Backgrounds. In progression, images were displayed to the class showing how Disney Cellulose Nitrates and cellulose Di-Acetates degrade into twisted, dried fragments of shrinking plastic and the effect that type of degradation has on the paint media placed upon those plastics. Conservation 'afters' were displayed and warnings were given on how these cel setups will eventually fall apart.
August 22nd, 2016
Looking at the Movies with Jimmy Guerts
Episode 14: Stop-motion animated films and Kubo and the Two Strings with Ron Barbagallo
Stop-motion may not be as prevalent as digital animation, but it still has its admirers, including acclaimed directors like Wes Anderson and Charlie Kaufman, who used it for Fantastic Mr. Fox and Anomalisa. Jimmy Geurts and Animation Art Conservation director Ron Barbagallo discuss those works, as well as stop-motion films by Tim Burton and Henry Selick, Aardman and Laika, including their newest film Kubo and the Two Strings.
December 1th, 2015
Salvador Dalí's Destino: Lost, Found and RESTORED to Dalí's original intent
Moulton Hall, Modernism class
Chapman University
1 University Drive
Orange, California
In front of a class of art history students at Chapman University, I unveiled two films based on a collection of production art that appears to be from Salvador Dalí's abandoned Disney short Destino. The first film was a side-by-side analysis using the production art and storyboards and uniting them to the areas that match within the 2003 Disney version of Destino. The second film shows the effect of flowing the storyboards faithfully and putting the drawings into proper order.
Here are a few articles written about the lecture:
Cartoon Scoop / IndieWire
Hudson Reporter
Animation Obsessive
Impero Disney: Exclusive: Unique Art Uncovered
The Journal of the Society of Animation Studies
September 8th, 2015
Ron Barbagallo: Restoring Animation, Photography and Finding Los Angeles
Only in LA / Onlyinla.libsyn.com
Jody Belliveau owns and operates a Podcast called Only In LA. She interviewed me on my career repairing classic animation art, and asked questions about my work for Disney, Warner Bros., and Hanna-Barbera. She also asked me about my work as a Fine Art Photographer and the creator of the Found in Los Angeles project. The Only In LA podcast Ron Barbagallo: Restoring Animation, Photography and Finding Los Angeles can be found here.
September 11th, 2012
Collection Intervention, Yabba Dabba Don't!
SYFY Shows
Elyse Luray, ex-History Detective and ex-head of the Animation auctions for Christie's East, asked me to appear with her on her new SPFY TV show Collection Intervention. The episode was about David Nimitz and his massive collection of licensed Hanna-Barbera collectibles. You can see the Yabba Dabba Don't! episode, here on YouTube.
March 1, 2011 - DVD Release Date
Bambi, the Two-Disc Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo
Classic DVD Bonus Features: Meetings and
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
The Blu-ray boasts an enhanced version of Meetings, which offers branching video at certain times during the film. Notes from Disney artists Tyrus Wong and Mel Shaw, animators Will Finn and Eric Goldberg and Disney historians Paula Sigman, JB Kaufman, and Charles Solomon, and animation art restorer Ron Barbagallo.
Also included is the documentary called The Making of Bambi: A Prince Is Born which includes notes from author/film historian John Culhane, Disney producer Don Hahn, Pixar Director and Executive Vice President John Lasseter, animator Andreas Deja, story developer Mel Shaw, author/historian Paul F. Anderson, animation historian Charles Solomon, environmental historian Dr. Ralph H. Lutts, clinical psychologist Dr. Maxine Harris, story artist Joe Grant, supervising animators Eric Larson, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas and Milt Kahl, animator Marc Davis, supervising animator Milt Kahl, Disney art director Ric Sluiter, background artists Rob McIntosh and Tyrus Wong, Disney Feature Animation director Aaron Blaise, Disney Feature Animation art director Cristy Maltese, animation art historian Ron Barbagallo, film historian Miles Kreuger, composer/author Ross Care, conductor John Mauceri, and actors Peter C. Behn, Donald R. Dunagan, and Cammie King Conlon. This Blu-ray is available at Amazon.
February 1, 2011 - DVD Release Date
Alice In Wonderland, the Two-Disc 60th Anniversary Blu-ray/DVD
Classic DVD Bonus Features: Through the Keyhole: A Companion’s Guide to Wonderland
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
On this Alice in Wonderland Blu-ray, you will find an extra called Through the Keyhole: A Companion’s Guide to Wonderland. During this extra, you hear from film historians Charles Solomon, Paula Sigman and Brian Sibley, Victorian literature expert Morton Cohen, former Disney Imagineer Daniel Singer, animator/story artist Will Finn, and animation art historian/conservator Ron Barbagallo. This Blu-ray is available at Amazon.
March 8th, 2007
On Point with host Tom Ashbrook
wbur.org
Boston's NPR® news source
Radio host Tom Ashbrook held a one-hour round-table in support of The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts exhibit "Once Upon a Time Walt Disney." Bruno Girveau, curator of The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Charles Solomon, critic and animation historian and myself joined Tom in a discussion that delved into the European roots within Disney artwork. For more information about the talk and the exhibit, please check out Disney Magic.
October 5th, 2005
Maurice J. Noble
Bijou Theater
CAL Arts
24700 McBean Pkwy
Valencia, California
After Maurice Noble died in 2001, his estate was left with a large collection of art found in his house in La Canada, California. Left in arbitrary piles, the art was relocated to my facility where with the help of Larry Ishino it was assembled into inventoried boxes of art which included every facet of Noble's career -- art from his childhood, from Pamona High School, from Chionard, to his work at Disney, from his collaborations with Ted Geisel at the Frank Capra World War Two Film Unit, and ultimately to his work with Chuck Jones on the Looney Tunes films at Warner Bros. and at MGM on to the paintings he created in his retirement.
This presentation used images and my observation from working with this collection to trace Noble's aesthetic.
June 17th, 2005
Howl's Moving Castle, the American one-sheet
Disney Publicity
Through the kind guise of Howard E. Green, something I had to say about Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle made its way onto the US theatrical one sheet: "Completely original. Miyazaki's journey down the rabbit hole creates a Wonderland that surpasses anything Alice could expect." The American one-sheet can be seen here: Howl's Moving Castle.
March 1, 2005 - DVD Release Date
Bambi, the Two-Disc Platinum DVD Edition
Backstage Disney: The Making of Bambi: A Prince Is Born
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
There are nine different the “Backstage Disney” components to this DVD. First is a documentary called The Making of Bambi: A Prince Is Born that include notes from author/film historian John Culhane, Disney producer Don Hahn, Pixar Director and Executive Vice President John Lasseter, animator Andreas Deja, story developer Mel Shaw, author/historian Paul F. Anderson, animation historian Charles Solomon, environmental historian Dr. Ralph H. Lutts, clinical psychologist Dr. Maxine Harris, story artist Joe Grant, supervising animators Eric Larson, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas and Milt Kahl, animator Marc Davis, supervising animator Milt Kahl, Disney art director Ric Sluiter, background artists Rob McIntosh and Tyrus Wong, Disney Feature Animation director Aaron Blaise, Disney Feature Animation art director Cristy Maltese, animation art historian Ron Barbagallo, film historian Miles Kreuger, composer/author Ross Care, conductor John Mauceri, and actors Peter C. Behn, Donald R. Dunagan, and Cammie King Conlon. This DVD is available at Amazon.
June 30th, 2001
A Tribute To Maurice J. Noble
Stephen J. Ross Theater
Warner Bros. Studios
Main Studio Lot
Burbank, California
I put together this program of films for a tribute to the career of Maurice Noble for a ceremony on the Warner Bros. Lot. Maurice Noble got his start at Disney during the inventive heyday of the mid 30’s and worked on several of their best animated features, including Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia and Dumbo. Leaving Disney after the union strike, Noble found his way to Warner Bros. and began a very long and successful collaboration with Chuck Jones. Maurice’s lasting impact on the world of color and design of background art for animation is among the finest and most prominent within the genre. This program included two discussion panels surrounded by screenings of some of his films, which amply highlighted his contribution to background design.
October 22nd, 1997
Sutton Place Hotel
Newport Beach, California
Conservation presentation at the Sutton Place Hotel. Presentation was part of a Linda Jones Enterprises Gallery Event.
June 8th, 1997
The Lido Theater
3459 Via Lido
Newport Beach, California
Conservation presentation at the Lido Theater before the screening of Chuck Jones Film Productions short subject “Father Of The Bird” and other Chuck Jones shorts. Presentation was part of a Linda Jones Enterprises Gallery Event.
Saturday, March 4th, 1995
The National Gallery Of Art
Washington DC
1995 Winter Meeting of the American Institute For Conservation
Photographic Materials Group
Mickey, Donald, Goofy & Pluto - What's Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine?
A half hour speech with slide show based on my observations repairing damaged Disney Animation Art. This presentation was a chronological narrative which followed the evolution of the precise types of materials used to create Disney Animation Cels and how they aged was created.
