iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Toby the Pup, aka the cooler Bimbo the Dog (/j)

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Huemer, you sneaky sunnuvagun you

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Today also happens to be the birthday Otto Messmer!! The true creator of Felix the Cat and a wonderful, legendary artist, too. If you want to make a connection between these two GOATs, then it could be argued that Messmer's style had a quiet, indirect influence on Grim that lingered for a good while

Otto Messmer tribute from 1979, along with a Felix strip

Bill Nolan posing with a cutout of Felix, of which a friend of mine believes he drew. Bill picked up a lot of drawing traits from Messmer while working for Pat Sullivan's

Grim Natwick drawing sent to a friend while he was working for Bill Nolan's Krazy Kat Studio in 1926. Nolan's influence is evident in how very similar in style and design these cartoons were to Felix

Grim scene from "Reducing Creme" (1934). Messmer's indirect influence is still apparent after many years, most notable in the way the chef's eyes are drawn

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I love these photos of Dick Huemer "dicking" around with Ward Kimball. They were references for the character of Bacchus in the Pastoral Symphony segment of Fantasia. Though he was spearheading Disney's high-art project, at his heart he was still the guy who brought Koko the Clown to life in the 20s

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

So, Ollie Johnston: First scenes of Mickey pouring water into vat Grim Natwick: Mickey approaching steps, puts the hat on Fred Moore: Mickey runs to hat, broom chop scene and the next two shots of Mickey Bob Wickersham: Initial commands for the broom to scoop and pour water Big shoes to fill, huh?

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

It's because his job consisted of finishing what other animators started, with the dream sequence likely being the one thing that was his from start to finish. His other scenes were not just originally "assigned" to different animators. Those different animators actually did their work to a degree

In all the Fantasia books out there, it's been said multiple times that while Fred Moore was heavily involved with the animation, his role extended to that of a supervisor rather than an animator. However, this isn't the case as a July 1938 production draft proved that he DID animate on the film; more specifically, that the scenes of Mickey chopping the broom were originally assigned to him, whereas in the final draft, these scenes are credited to Riley. Moore did in fact complete some of his work and it can be seen in the finished film, where it's stylistically just like Moore's work rather than being similar to Riley's own animation or the scenes he reworked. It's most noticeable in the shots when Mickey does a sigh of relief and then does a take from hearing the broom army's steps.

Source: Walt Disney Film Archives: The Animated Movies 1921-1968

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

There's something about the animation of the Sorcerer's Apprentice that I've never seen talked about in any of the Fantasia retrospectives out there, and it's about Riley Thomson's animation. He's responsible for more than 60% the character animation, but there's an oddity; his style is inconsistent

This shot and the other three bear Riley's name on the production draft

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

At age 85, Grim was as good as he was when he 35

Rough drawings by Grim Natwick of the Witch from Richard Williams' ill-fated magnum opus the Thief and the Cobbler, sourced from the Recobbled Cut Facebook group

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Exactly WHAT does it say that all of these screencaps come from the same cartoon (Room Runners)

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Grim Natwick's BGs on the Krazy Kat shorts directed by Bill Nolan/Jack King are good examples of why Grim's work has deeply resonated with me. You really get to observe his fine arts draftsmanship and raucous cartoonist's edge all at once, it's an aesthetic that remains seldom seen 100 years later

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Elegant murals by Dick Huemer, drawn in the nursery of his family home in 1935. How lucky his children must’ve been to have their walls with these art!

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

this took me three days to finish

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

By the way, can someone tell me exactly what was going in that vacuum bag? I think I know, but I'd prefer to have someone else verify 'cause hoo boy... (masterfully animated by Grim Natwick)

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Was rewatching Rodrick Rules (goated film btw) and I noticed the cool sheet music covers that were on display in the theater lobby scenes, and I (predictably) couldn’t help but wonder if they had any of Grim Natwick’s covers in there

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Can’t get enough of this scene. Grim Natwick’s animation in this cartoon for has mostly been cool and solid, but fittingly, his surreal Fleischer side shines animating a wobbly old drunk. Also, the way that car smacks her lips is one of few animations that succinctly capture post-beverage relishment

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

I can't think of any other animator at Disney's during that time who could animate like this with exactly four frames

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Related, Grim's scenes in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood are fascinating because even if hes very constricted here, the timing and the effects animation are still verifiably his work. He animated a foot per day (4-16 drawings) on this film, perhaps he might've been willing to tie himself down like this

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Natwick celebrities (& Disney characters)

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

I've never understood why so many Super Mario 64 ARGs/Creepypastas/urban legends use the beta textures and sprites because I personally find them to be significantly less garish and uncanny than the final game's

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Grim Natwick, who sadly did not draw the classic Disney characters long enough

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

merrry christmas :3 (anim. by the very underrated jack zander)

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Very fascinating to see Nick Park's own style in something he didn't direct. From War Story (1989, dir. Peter Lord)

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

BlueSky Challenge: Post your favorite works of art/animation from 50 years before you were born These are FAVORITES, not what I think is the greatest of all time. That would be much different and would take considerably more time. They are just life-affirming, tonic after a particularly rough day

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (and by extension, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh)

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Definition: Jersey sakuga (noun) Animation where freeform movement is of the essence. Courtesy of/ rooted in styles of idiosyncratic animators who either were from New Jersey or worked there. Examples include Dana Parker, Tissa David, Irv Spence, and Grim Natwick. This is what I want to draw like

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

I wonder if willie whopper and his friend were admiring the giant fossil replica in the fourside museum

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Next up on my 000s cg Xmas binge are probably the ever-uncanny zemeckis mocap duology. Tho I’m gonna be talking abt them a bit later because they’re a little longer than the other ones and I’m tired

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

And so that was the popeye dtv christmas special. If you’re fascinated by 2000s cg christmas movies or just interested in popeye then give it a whirl. It’s one of a few retellings of popeye finding his dad, cg’s cursed and the plot meanders a bit but I like most of the voices enuff to bear thru it

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Thisd be cool if it were a fleischer cartoon but instead it’s just. weird.

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

now there’s a popeye moon

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Of all the things to reference, jfc…

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

This is also a christmas special in case you’ve forgotten abt that

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Getting the same people who made scary godmother and those dtv Barbie movies that have 4.0 averages on Letterboxd to emulate fleischer is a choice alright…

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

This looks like an all cutscenes video of a game that came out around the same time. It’s unpleasant but I’m somewhat drawn to it, and Billy West and Garry Chalk are really fine as Popeye and Bluto

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Im glad a lot people have enjoyed my contemplations on Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. I've decided that for the next month I'll be reviewing an assortment of uncanny Christmas specials. My next sight is Popeye's Voyage: the Quest for Pappy, which I've only seen once

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

One more bit of musing: my mouse and duck comics binge has made me find out that apparently David Gerstein wrote a comic adaptation where Max outright admits that he ditched Roxanne. This stupid dtv special is the gift that keeps on giving

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

You’d never think that the same animation studio released these within a year of each other

Fun fact: Jeff Fowler was a layout artist for the segments Blur Studio worked on, which were Donald’s Gift, Mickey’s Doggone Christmas and the one pictured here, Belles on Ice

Fowler is also credited for Shadow 05’s cutscenes as “CG Movie Production”. I assume he was also a layout artist given the proximity between this and Twice Upon a Christmas

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#8th SPACE!! @8thspace.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

“Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas” is a nostalgic 2000s classic, but a GOOD film, it is not Its also one of few versions of Mickey that actually reflects what the Walt Disney Company stands for

Mickey berates Pluto for ruining what was a pretty garish, unsightly and overall very materialistic Christmas display. Note how in the earlier “Once Upon a Christmas”, he is a mouse on the poverty line and stops a family from paying more than what they can afford, even though he and Minnie are struggling to make ends meet on top of both striving to give each other a decent present. With his only motivation in his ethic being decades-old unfulfilled dreams of being a sorcerer, Michael Rat has become a symbol of consumerist corruption and materialism, much like the company he’s supposed to represent. Gottfredson and Nomura’s mouse would beat the shit out of this little fucker any day

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