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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016
Illustrator: ‘I consider myself exceedingly lucky’
Continued from Page 1A
how to shoot it — while giv-
ing producers an idea of how
much the ilm will cost and
how long it’ll take to produce.
“The amazing thing is how
many directors don’t have,
really, a visual idea of this pic-
ture they’re going to direct,”
he said.
But many do, and Johnson
has drawn for ilmmakers who
are renowned visual artists in
their own right, including Tim
Burton.
“He’s probably the best I
have ever worked with,” John-
son said. “He loves artists,
because he was one himself.”
On “Edward Scissorhands,”
a ilm about a young man built
by an inventor who dies before
completing him, Johnson drew
the stages of Edward’s devel-
opment. He was also involved
in designing the famous topi-
aries that the character sculpts
with his scissor-hands.
And on Burton’s later ilm
“Big Fish,” Johnson stepped
up as art director, designing
and overseeing the creation of
Spectre, a small town the pro-
tagonist stumbles upon.
With dozens of titles to his
credit, Johnson has worked
on ilms that became critical
and commercial successes,
like “The Color Purple,”
“Pleasantville” and “The Per-
fect Storm.” Other ilms, like
“Toys,” “Congo” and “The
A photo of Jack Johnson’s sketches for the skull cavern
in “The Goonies.”
Photos by Erick Bengel/The Daily Astorian
Jack Johnson, who worked as an illustrator on “The Goonies,” arranges prints of his
sketches from the film production — along with the original artwork itself — for prospec-
tive buyers at the KOA Campground.
Shadow” didn’t fare so well.
But both good and bad
ilms require world-class art-
ists, like Johnson, to crank
out pages of detailed, well-re-
searched, imaginative illustra-
tions, many of which stand on
their own as stunning speci-
mens of art and design.
“Jurassic Park III,” for
example, may not be a mas-
terpiece, but the ginormous
pterodactyl cage — for which
Johnson doodled some con-
cept art — is inarguably awe-
some. And despite the nega-
tive reviews “Toys” received,
Johnson called the ilm “prob-
ably the best movie I worked
on as far as imagination and
really having fun.”
‘Exceedingly lucky’
Johnson retired in 2003.
By then, the technology in his
department had shifted deci-
sively away from hand-draw-
ings. “I was getting out just
in time, relatively, because
everything was being done on
a computer,” he said.
Though he could sketch
his designs by hand faster than
someone using a computer, “the
problem was when the director
came along and he wanted to
see it from a different angle,”
he said. “The guy on the com-
puter just turned a wheel, and
there it was. I had to start over.
“So, unless I was going to
decide to join the crowd and
sit at a computer all day, it was
time for me to go,” he added.
Outside of his ilm work,
Johnson’s paintings have won
awards in regional and national
shows, including the National
Watercolor Society and the
American Watercolor Society.
He organizes a yearly art com-
petition for sixth through 12th
graders in the Paso Robles
area, near his ranch on the cen-
tral California coast.
Using his presentation as a
rough outline, Johnson hopes
to write a book on his career
in ilm — though he may have
trouble acquiring the rights to
reproduce the artwork owned
by movie studios.
Johnson doesn’t glorify the
ilm industry; it is often rife
with disappointment. Films
may get changed, cut down or
called off altogether, wasting
the energy that the illustrator
poured into his projects.
In fact, Johnson estimates
that roughly 20 percent of the
ilms he worked on got can-
celed after he and his co-illustra-
tors inished the initial sketches
and paintings, and made it abun-
dantly clear that the budget
would not cover the costs.
“One out of ive times, I’d
get all worked up, get some
good ideas and then have to go
on to something else,” he said.
He doesn’t miss Holly-
wood. But “it can be a wonder-
ful place that, in my case, paid
me very well to do what I enjoy
doing,” he said. “I consider
myself exceedingly lucky.”
Warr: Retired U.S. Coast Guard captain will run for Warr’s seat
Continued from Page 1A
Under the previous admin-
istration, Warr said, “the City
Council, working as a team,
was able to really accomplish
some wonderful things.”
He pointed to the partner-
ship between the city, Recol-
ogy, the Astoria School Dis-
trict and Columbia Memorial
Hospital on CMH Field at the
former landill, the develop-
ment of the Garden of Surg-
ing Waves at Heritage Square
and the sister-city relation-
ship with Walldorf, Germany.
“I think the new coun-
cil, hopefully, can ind a way
to get together as a team and
realize that you can do really
wonderful things if you’re not
concerned about who gets the
credit for it,” he said.
Warr, as the councilor
with the longest tenure, often
brings historical perspec-
tive to debates. He is a long-
time supporter of a highway
bypass and other regional
transportation
improve-
ments. He has scolded the
city for failing to live up to
the promise of perpetual care
at Ocean View Cemetery in
Warrenton.
The Uppertown resident is
also an advocate — and occa-
sional target — for neighbors
who complained to the city
about the legion of movie fans
who lock to the house made
famous in “The Goonies.”
Warr has not shied away
from taking contrary posi-
tions. He was the only vote
last year against a resolution
opposing the Oregon LNG
project and the only dissenter
on a ban against smoking in
city parks.
Warr’s acidic verbal duels
with City Councilor Drew
Herzig, a progressive, have
become a routine feature at
City Hall.
Warr had said previ-
ously he would not run for
another term but was reluctant
earlier this year to make a
deinitive public statement.
At Monday night’s City
Council meeting, Herzig
announced that Bruce Jones,
a retired U.S. Coast Guard
captain, would run for Warr’s
seat.
“Astoria has been the
most welcoming community
among the dozen I’ve lived in
around the United States as a
working adult,” Jones said in
an email. “We’re blessed to
have so many residents who
roll up their sleeves and work
to make Astoria a better place.
I am excited about the oppor-
tunity to serve the community
in a new capacity in a time
of so many challenges and
changes.”
Warr said he signed Jones’
candidate petition. “I think the
city is very, very lucky that a
person of his quality and his
experience and his intelli-
gence is willing to step in and
replace me,” he said. “I think
the city is getting the best deal
it can get.”
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