Hello, monster mavens. Let me introduce myself to all you cognescenti of the creepy.
I’m Max Cheney, better known by my onscreen moniker of “The Drunken Severed Head.” I’ve been given some space here to write about many things: the intersection of the screen and the scream, the mad monsters of movies and magazines, the art of alternate worlds and the dark denizens of the diabolic. In short, if it’s something that belongs in the dark, I’ll talk about it here. I’ve been taking a cockeyed look at such stuff for over three years at my blog (the winner of a Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award, he said modestly), and now I’m happy to have more corners to explore at Famous Monsters.
If you want to know more about me (and perhaps you’re just strange enough to), I was interviewed for Famous Monsters, and you can read my answers to the eerie queries here.
I’m a very social sort of severed head, and prefer to sharing the spotlight to hogging it. So I’d like to share some space here with acclaimed artist Frank Dietz, a former Disney features animator whose art graced the convention program for this year’s Famous Monsters Convention.
MC: Hi Frank. How did you come to be the artist for the FM Con program?
FD: Jessie Lilley, the editor of the new FM, approached me about it while we were both appearing at Monsterpalooza. She told me that there were going to be a lot of “famous zombie” guests at the con, and I immediately envisioned a crowd of zombies, a mash-up of old and new. From Bela to Bub and beyond. I managed to squeeze in five actual convention guests as well. I wanted the cover to have the “feel” of the programs from the New York FM cons of the 70′s, which I still have to this day.
MC: Whose likeness on it was the hardest to capture and why?
FD: I decided that I really wanted to include Forry Ackerman in the design, and recalled that he had done a cameo as a zombie in Return of the Living Dead 2. But when I couldn’t find any photos to reference, I had to just use my imagination to “zombify” Uncle Forry.
MC: What “famous monster” would you like to draw or paint for a Famous Monsters cover?
FD: Which “famous monster” wouldn’t I like to do! Oliver Reed’s werewolf is a favorite, as is Vincent Price as Dr. Phibes. I’d love to do Andree Melly from The Brides of Dracula. The scary Blind Lady from House on Haunted Hill. Chris Sarandon from Fright Night. And Lina Leandersson as Eli from Let the Right One In.
MC: What are some of your favorite covers of the past, and why?
FD: There are so many great Basil Gogos covers, it’s difficult to chose. But I love the Karloff Frankenstein and Lugosi Dracula portraits, the March Hyde, and that wonderful “scene” from The Mummy’s Tomb. I also love Sanjulien’s Karloff from The Bride of Frankenstein. Beautiful, subtle colors. The Kong versus the pterodon and the Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man covers also did it for me.
MC: Any monster of film history, or horror film actor, that has never had a cover that you think should?
FD: Aside from the several that I’ve already mentioned, I’d say The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, The Thing, General Ursus from Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Cushing as the Grimsdyke ghoul, and just for fun, Trog!
MC: You went from Disney to Dracula. How did it happen that you left animation for drawing monsters?
FD: I was drawing monsters long before I started at Disney! But while I was there, during Hercules, I think, I developed the “Sketchy Things” signature style that I’ve become known for. When the traditional animation era ended at the studio, I returned to screenwriting and just continued the Sketchy Things series. By that time I had built up a strong fan base, and was appearing at conventions all over the country, so it wasn’t a difficult transition!
MC: Talk about what you drew as a kid. Were you noticed for it? Did monster magazines or monster movies inspire you then?
FD: Alice Cooper said to me, “I know you! You were one of those kids that were always drawing monsters on your desk in grade school! Me too!” And he was right. I was sketching monsters since I was five years old. My art teachers recognized my abilities, and were always encouraging me to draw something other than monsters, with very limited success! Once I discovered Famous Monsters, I had a whole library of images to incite me. FM was so inspirational, because it not only told me of movies I had yet to discover, it showed me how they were made. Seeing photos of Jack Pierce applying makeup and Ray Harryhausen animating made me realize that people actually made a living creating all this wonderful stuff. And I decided early on that I was going to work in the film industry, one way or another.
MC: Any medium you haven’t tried yet that you’d like to?
FD: I’ve worked in pencils, ink, oil paint, watercolors, markers, pastels and even crayons. I love them all. I’m more excited about the subject matter than the medium. I’m always thinking about what would make a really cool piece, that my fellow Monster Kids would look at and smile.
MC: Frank, I appreciate you answering some questions here in my inaugural Famous Monsters post.
FD: Thanks Max!
Thank YOU, Frank! And thank you, reader, for taking time to read this.
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