D'oh! Yellow Fever Hits The Art Scene in Culver City at Get Inked With Homer Charity Event - LA's The Place

At the Wonderful World of Animation Gallery on Thursday night, a young female aide strolled through the crowd holding a clipboard and wearing a powder blue T-shirt that simply read "Homer&Marge&Bart&Lisa&Maggie." The event was "Get Inked With Homer", and the Wonderful World of Animation Gallery in Culver City certainly got into the Simpson spirit for this charity event. Not only were the walls bedecked with original production cels and drawings from the show, but Fratelli’s pink-frosted donuts were stacked on every snack table and the bar served up Flaming Moes and Duff Energy Drinks.

Joe Mantegna (the voice of Fat Tony), Tom Arnold and Fred Willard were on hand to host the festivities, which included a silent auction of Simpsons memorabilia (with the proceeds going to charity) and a brief presentation on the animation process by veteran Simpsons animator Steven Reis.

The Simpsons have had such a presence on American television for so long and have become so deeply entrenched in the culture that one can almost forget that they’re not real. Television is a highly collaborative medium by nature, but animation takes it to a whole new level. The amount of dedicated, coordinated work necessary to bring the characters to life week after week is staggering. The staff at The Simpsons has conjured over 400 episodes of a family-based sitcom out of thin air. There are no sets, no studio audience, no cameramen, no locations, no laugh track, no props. Every episode quite literally begins with a blank sheet of paper. Springfield has always been a two-dimensional world, but we all see it (and its colorful cast of inhabitants) as clearly as any place we’ve ever been, thanks to the unseen hands of hundreds of people working in tandem.

Reis, an 11-year veteran of the show as both an animator and assistant director, provided some insight into the process from script to screen by unveiling a soon-to-be-released television ad timed to coincide with The Simpsons movie premiere on July 27. Reis demonstrated the steps that the commercial went through – from its initial concept and rough animation to the smooth, polished final product – and described the 30-second spot as a microcosm of what is constantly taking place behind the scenes of the show, which at any time has eight to ten episodes in some phase of production.

It is the peculiar magic of the art of animation that is celebrated by the Wonderful World of Animation Gallery on a regular basis. While The Simpsons was in the spotlight on Thursday night, the gallery also has an exhibit on display entitled "What the Deuce Are You Staring At?" a 21-piece collection of interpretive work inspired by "Family Guy," one of a handful of animated shows currently on air that owes its success in large part to the groundbreaking work of The Simpsons. Homer SimpsonThe pop surrealist artwork is quirky, provocative, and occasionally disturbing, featuring works by Luke Cheuh, Kathy Olivas, and Brant Peters. (Cheuh’s portrayal of Brian, the Griffin family pet-slash-literate alcoholic, is particularly haunting in its simplicity.) In addition to this special exhibit, the gallery’s regular collection includes a wide variety of vintage Disney and Warner Bros. art, as well as several works by Dr. Seuss – another very gifted artist with a powerful visual imagination.

But this night belonged to The Simpsons, and when I asked one of the girls running the silent auction what the current bid is for a set of bobbleheads and she said $250, I knew that this night would belong to charity as well. A portion of all proceeds was set to benefit the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center, Actors and Others for Animals, and Camp del Corazon. The Simpsons can now add philanthropy to its long list of accomplishments. And for one night, everyone was yellow with pride.