SH ELFI ES: T H O M A S W ASSO N , A N IM A T IO N A R TIS T
by ERIN CAREY
news & culture editor
Animation instructor Thomas
Wasson takes much o f his moti­
vation from both past and present
- the people who have perfected
the art he teaches for the future
generations, and also the many
adventures of pirates that sailed
the oceans a very long time ago.
The Clackamas Print sat down
with Wasson to discuss some of
his favorites from his bookshelf
and more.
The Clackamas Print: What
is your favorite book from your
bookshelf and why?
Thom as W asson:
The
A nim ator’s Survival Kit by
Richard Williams, who was the
director of animation for “Who
Framed Roger Rabbit?” The
reason that I love it so much
is because Richard Williams
learned everything he knows
about animation from all the
old masters, and it’s a balance
between the science of animation
and the art of animation. So it has
just about every important trick
that the animator needs to under­
stand, synthesized down into its
essential components. So it’s a
wealth o f knowledge. It’s years
of the history of animation, and it
just tells you everything you need
to know. So in that sense it’s so
informative for the practitioner,
and it’s very informative for the
students as well, the content is
kind of a bottomless abyss of
information. I also have a thing
for Herman Melville’s “Moby
Dick,” I remember reading that
over and over.
The Print: What writers have
influenced you?
Wasson: William Burroughs
and David Foster Wallace. Those
two just really got me.
The Print: What have you
been reading lately?
Wasson: Lots of technical
books about my field. I tend to
go back and forth between really
focusing on gathering knowledge
and getting out of fiction for
awhile and getting back into it. I
tend to redd a lot more fiction in
the summer when I ’m not work­
ing. I’m really into historical
books about pirates, and I’ve just
been re- reading a book about the
foundation of Jamaica and the
piracy surrounding the Caribbean
during the lawless times of the
privateers. It’s called “Empire of
Blue Water” by Stephan Talty.
It’s probably my third time
through this book, but that’s the
one that’s lying by the bed right
now. Especially with historical
fiction, it’s packed with infor­
mation and it’s written in such
a great way that you get into it
as a story, but there’s also just
tons o f history there, it’s really
interesting. Basically anything
T' i
A-?
_
Thomas Wasson, animation instructor fo r Clackamas Community College, shows o ff his collection o f books in his office.
that has to do with ships and the
sea and piracy, I’m pretty into.
The Print: What was your favor­
ite book as a kid?
Wasson: It sounds kind of
cheesy now, but I was really
into the “Lord of the Rings,”
“The Hobbit” and J.R.R. Tolkien
as a kid. I suppose I read those
quite a bit.
The Print: Name one book
you’d love or hate to see be made
into a movie.
Wasson: I would love to see
“Infinite Jest” by David Foster
Wallace made into a movie, or
any of his short stories would
make really good, crazy little
short films. You could probably
get a film out of any one of his
short stories, too. It’s the density
o f content, and there’s tons of
layers that you could add. There
would never be a filmmaker that
« ■ ■ A R T S & CULTURE CALENDAR
r
Wednesday
4/30
-Lucky Number
j Bring your student
ID card CC152 to
participate in a fun
prize giveaway!
~
- i
,1
Thursday
5/1
j -May Day patio
grand opening!
The cougar court is
located outside of
the bookstore.
112pm-3pm
Friday
5/2
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j
-
-Pioneer Family
Festival
J Clackamette Park
2pm-10pm
Food, Skate comp,
lazer tag arena, rock
climbing, pony rides,
and go karts!
L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
r
Saturday
5/3
Sunday
5/4
- j
-Farmers market
2051 Kaen Rd.
-Teddy Bear
Parade
Downtown OC,
I Main St from 10th to
Clackamette Park
| 10:30am
| -Last day of
Pioneer Family
Festival.
Clackamette Park
2pm-10pm
1 r
'
r
could do it right, but if they did
it, they could do it really well,
I think.
Monday
5/5
-
-ASG elections
Q&A
10am Community
¡Center
'
L _ -----------------------—
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Tuesday
5/6
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-$5 Tuesday at
Regal
Hill Top Stadium 9.
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