In 2017, I interviewed WA-based filmmaker Marq Evans about his documentary The Glamour and the Squalor about influential DJ and tastemaker Marco Collins. In our interview, I was super excited when he mentioned that his next film was going to be a documentary about Will Vinton, the father of claymation and known for such characters as the California Raisins, the Noid, and the PJs. When I was a kid in the 80s, I was a big fan of Vinton’s innovative clay animation, so this project remained on my radar. Sadly in 2018, Vinton passed away at age 70. Evans completed the documentary and after some festivals in 2021 (including Tribeca Film Festival), ClayDream was released by Oscilloscope Laboratories earlier this month to a very positive response. It is one of the most visually enchanting documentaries I’ve seen in a long time.
I recently caught up with Mr. Evans via email about ClayDream. This marks the second time I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Evans.
Me: When I interviewed you in 2017, you mentioned at the time that you were working on a documentary about Will Vinton. I took an interest immediately because I used to love Vinton’s claymation when I was a kid in the 80s. How did this documentary come together?
Marq E: In 2015 I was finishing up my previous film, The Glamour & The Squalor, and looking for projects. I came across an article called ‘How the Father of Claymation Lost His Company to a Rapper Named Chilly Tee.’ The headline forced me to take a look, and when I saw pictures of Will Vinton and his characters I was immediately interested. I grew up watching the California Raisins and the Noid and watched the Claymation Christmas Special every year. And being from the Pacific Northwest I knew the name Will Vinton and knew of the guy with the great mustache, but I didn’t know his story. When I read this article, it felt like a movie and pretty quickly I got obsessed about making it. I found an email address for Will online and reached out. He got back to me pretty quickly and told me that we could meet, but that he wasn’t interested in doing a film. We hit it off pretty quickly but it took about six months before he finally agreed to the film. By the time you and I spoke in 2017, I would have interviewed him a few times and about 30 other people.
Me: Did you have a favorite claymation from Vinton? I loved California Raisins and the Noid, but my favorite was Festival of Claymation, where the dinosaur film critics Herb and Rex showed various Vinton shorts.
Marq E: I loved all those as well, but my favorite has to be Great Cognito. It just hits on all levels. The metamorphosis of the claymation is great, the writing is sharp, the picture and sound editing is so tight, and the performance is spot on. I just love that show. We’re getting the bonus materials gathered now for the blu-ray release, and I’m happy to say we’re going to be able to include most of the early Vinton shorts with 2K and 4K scans that were preserved by the Academy.
Will Vinton surrounded by his claymation creations
Me: In October 2018, Vinton passed away at age 70. Where was the documentary at that point (mid-production? post-production?)? How closely did you work with Mr. Vinton? Did he see some early cuts of the film before he passed away?
Marq E: We were pretty much done with production when Will passed. In fact, the footage of him getting treatment at the end of the film was the last time I saw him. I knew he was sick, but as you see in the film he never let on to his actual condition, so I didn’t think that would be the last time I saw him. After that, I kind of got away from the project for a few months, just being sad and not knowing exactly which way was the right way to proceed. But then we picked ourselves back up, got a couple final interviews that were important and started to work towards completing the edit. I’m happy that Will got to see a rough cut of about 15 minutes of the film. I know it changed a lot from what he saw, but it was at least in good enough shape for him to like it and feel like his story was in good hands.
Me: This doc is clearly a respectful and affectionate tribute to Vinton and his legacy of work. Was it hard for you to complete the film following the passing of your subject?
Marq E: We took a couple months away from the film just to mourn a bit and be able to come back to it with clear eyes. And I didn’t know how to best tell the end of the story. At first I wrestled with if he should pass away in the film or not. But after he died, it was even more important and urgent to get the film finished and released. One thing I was kind of surprised about when we did release it was that most people have never heard of the name Will Vinton. They know the characters and the work of his studio, but not the man. I’m glad that is changing with this film.
movie poster for Claydream
Me: From a cinematic standpoint, you are documenting a visual medium. So much of Vinton’s work was eye-popping and exploding with creativity. But in addition to being a doc about an animator, it is actually a doc about a business and showing what worked and didn’t work and you framed it through the lawsuit. Can you tell me about the legal challenges you faced in what you were able to show in this doc?
Marq E: We had great lawyers at Donaldson Callif that we worked with every step of the way to make sure we were protected. The deposition footage for the suit between Will and Nike founder Phil Knight is an interesting story. I always knew that part of the story would be in the film, but I didn’t know how we would tell it. It wasn’t until about two years into the project when Will casually asked, “Did I give you the deposition?” I thought he meant a transcript, and then he told me that he had hired people to shoot the whole thing. So he gave me a big box of beta tapes and I had them digitized. I knew when I got the footage back that not only did we have the perfect way to tell that part of the story, but it was also something that was really going to elevate the film.
claymation version of Marq Evans
Me: Your previous doc The Glamour and the Squalor was about Seattle radio D.J. Marco Collins. This one is about a Portland-based animation studio. What do you think it is about the Pacific Northwest that attracts so many artists and creative people?
Marq E: The Pacific Northwest is a great place to be an artist, and I know a lot of people like to point to the weather and say since it’s raining all the time all artists do is stay inside and create. I’m not sure if I really buy into that, but Seattle and Portland have great cultures for artists and there’s lots of like minded people around to collaborate with. And being from the area myself I’m attracted to stories from this part of the world that may be overlooked.
Marq E: I have about 10 projects in various phases of development right now, but a few I’m most excited about and that are looking good are a baseball documentary, a true crime story based in Kodiak, Alaska in the 80s, and a Dracula film that is so hard to explain you’ll just have to see it when it comes out!
For info on Claydream: https://www.claydream.film/
