Drawing, Comics, Animation and Pedro Eboli

original posting, May 10, 2008
updated, October 18, 2012

With much of its focus on stereotypes and ethnic American theories of subjectivity, it's easy to forget that a fair chunk of Tex[t]-Mex looks at the history of Warner Brothers animation teams--in particular, it's third chapter, "Autopsy of a Rat," pries into the work of Isadore, I, Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson, whose efforts on Speedy Gonzales are memorable to say the least.

Dan DeCarlo's Latina spy femme fatale.
source: http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/2010/01/yardbirds-by-dan-decarlo.html

Before I was ever a writer, I was a cartoonist--thrilling to the sweet, sordid lines of Basil Wolverton (right), Bill Elder, Al Jaffee, Don Martin (Splorf!), Sergio Aragones, Wally Wood, Harvy Kurtzman, Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson, Jim Aparo, Mort Drucker, Antonio Prohias, and Dan de Carlo (above, center), just to name a few. So while the motivation for my autopsy of Speedy Gonzales in the book might have been to out "the man" for making miserable "Mexican" mise-en-scènes, the desire to root out the workings of animators also belied my Walter Mitty dream of working on the Pixar "back-lot." Here's a page of crude pencil sketches I did in 2003:

And, here, in splendid profile, an india ink and watercolor rendition of "dawg," my "signature" alter-ego who is tagged in dive bar bathroom stalls from San Diego to London, from Paris to Austin--this particular version is a screengrab from the colophon of The Hurt Business: Oliver Mayer's Early Works [+] PLUS:

Lastly, here, a page from my graduate school notebook.

All of this as a preface to a well-wrought piece of animated delight from the eyes, mind, pen, and computer of a Mr. Pedro Eboli snagged from drawn.ca:

Rodriguez, aka Jesus SIXTO Rodriguez: SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

official trailer:

 

 Here's the official site for the movie:

Here's a recent interview: