Mike Milo's Journal

Here’s a pic of another of my relatives, I beleive this was my great grand uncle Archie Tanguay.

Three years ago I created a seven minute animated film called “Flavio” for Nickelodeon/Frederator Films, about an over-emotional goat who works as a dishwasher in a pizzeria and longs to be a famous inventor like his hero Leonardo DaVinci.

I have not been able to post it on my site because it had to air on telivision first to be eligible for Emmys and Annies and all that stuff that only animators care about. Anyway, I can finally show it. Please check it out and as always I love to here your thoughts!
You can see a production blog about the making of Flavio at Frederator.com and learn more about Flavio here.

I want to say a hearty (and belated) congratulations to my brother Andy and his wife Heather on their brand new baby Nathaniel! May he be have as lovely as Heather, twice as kind as Andy, and almost as good lookin’ as his awesome Uncle Mike! ;-)

Yay Nate!

A wind-storm blew into town last might and caused havoc at our home!

This is a portrait of my ancestors taken around 1914 or 1915 on the occasion of Eddie ( the young man in the center) going to what I imagine is the first World War.

Left to Right

Top Row: Omar, Emedy, Emil, Eddie, Fred, Francis, Lillian

Seated: Louie, Louie Sr., Felixine (Talbot), Archie.

I am fascinated at looking at these people and knowing they are my family yet I do not know them. They were my Wilfred’s family; my grandfather on my mother’s side. The woman at the top right of the picture is Lillian Tanguay, my great-grandmother. I do slightly remember her from when I was a small boy and have memories of her fuzzy chin and her one blue eye and one green eye, but that’s not who she really was. I only saw the husk of the woman that was. My wife says I look most like Archie (seated on the right). How I would loved to have known these people.

I think about it and it’s really sad, we as a people for the most part, do not know where we came from anymore. We have no heritage anymore. At least I really don’t.

I mean, this is my great Uncles and Aunts and that’s about how far back it goes for me. But who were they? Was Archie a funny guy? Could Eddie draw? Was Lillian a good cook? Did Emil like to read? Was Papa Louis Sr. a baker? A lawyer? A farmer? A handyman? Who was before them?

I just don’t know and sadly I never will because the people who can tell me are dead themselves. The Sixties Generation killed all that sense of family with their “Me Generation” bullshit. But then, it’s best we don’t get me started on how the whole Sixties Hippies crap ruined America or I’ll never stop.

Of course some people believe the Bible teaches that someday I will see all of my family and so I suppose that one day I will get to meet them. I can’t wait for that day if it’s true. Others teach that once in Heaven we won’t care about the family down here because we are all family at that point. I sure hope I do get to meet them and spend time with them. I have so many questions for them. So if they’re looking down on me, are they disappointed in me? Did I live up to their name? Are they proud? Do they even care? My mother died a few years ago and I wonder if she ever checks in on me.

We all have people dating back to the beginning in some way, for me that would have started in France and Italy so somewhere back in time my ancestors were gauls and Romans and fought bloody battles with each other. Who were they? Did I look like any of them?

Maybe a thousand years ago there was a guy on the battlefield that looked exactly like me yelling out obsenities to a Gaul who who looked just like me as well! Amazing to think about. Most likely that’s not the case but you see what I mean. there are millions of people who made us who we are and yet we know only smidgens about them and their lives.

I really wish they would hurry up and build a frickin’ time machine already.

I am so glad that I had kids! My daughters are beautiful and sweet and funny and smart. They make me a proud father.

It’s interesting to note that being a father is really the only thing that has allowed me (forced me) to grow up. It’s alos given me a way to understand God’s grace for us, or for me at least. I have often wondered how God can forgive me for being the ass that I am, the things that I repeatedly do wrong and the trouble that I cause myself and His Kingdom. then I look at my daughters and mine reationship and I suddenly understand ti all. god feels the same way about me that I do about my kids. Sure they do stuff that ticks me off and that I think is bone-headed. sure, sometimes I want to yell at them. sure they annoy me at times. But even if they drove a car through our home and in to the pool I would still love them.Still forgive them and still eventually be fine with it. I believe God is the same way.

Yeah He hates when you act like an idiot, yeah He hates it when you do something He specifically told you to not do. Does He still love you? Sure! Does He still want to be with you? Of course! Is He mad at you? Sometimes. But He still loves you no matter what you do. some people think that there is no way that God can forgive them for the stuff they have done in ther lives. “Oh I could never go to church, it’d fall down when I walked inside.” I have heard that phrase more than once but the truth is that God, like a true Father, you no matter what sort of crap you get yourself into and He’s always ready to give you a hug when you need it.

So this Fathers Day, I say thank you to the original Father… God.

…and of course to my own Father who never yelled at my brother and I when we crashed through a hallway wall and into a closet. Or when we yell at him for not visiting us enough or not taking our advice when we all invested in a restaurant and he lost it.

I love my dad, regardless, just like he loves me.

Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads out there., it is one of the greatest gifts you can receive.

It’s the end of an era.

Warner Bros Animation, after almost twenty years of cranking out hits and more than 22 Emmy Awards is shutting it’s doors. I have heard they will restructure on the Warner Lot in Burbank and I am sure they will succeed yet again but for me it’s still the closing of a huge chapter of my life.

WBA started the 2nd Golden Age of Animation and really in a lot of ways ushered in the way for studios like Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network to start up themselves. Back in 1989, they OWNED kid’s TV and I am extremely proud to say I was a part of it.

It’s really sad to see WB close it’s doors. For me it is like a family moving away, one you’ll never see again. The kind folks at WB gave me my first break on Tiny Toons way back in 1989 freelance in-betweening for a studio called Kennedy Cartoons (when they sub contracted the work out to them) while I was still in NJ. Then again they gave me my next big break when they hired me to work full time on Tiny Toons, Animaniancs and Tazmania doing layout for them. They yet again helped me when they gave me first directing job years later on Pinky and the Brain (I moved up) Histeria and Detention.

They next gave me yet another big break when they collaborated with Cartoon Network to help me make Swaroop, the first cartoon starring an East Indian boy. But wait! There’s more! A few years later, they hired me to not only direct Xiaolin Showdown, but also picked up TWO development projects (Knights of Sherwood and The Jackalope Boyz)  with me at the same time!

I spent 8 years there off and on during my career and some of the memories were the best I’ve had professionally and personally. I met my wife through a P.A. working on Tazmania. I got married while working on Animaniacs, my wife had our first daughter while I was working on Pinky and the Brain and I lost my grandmother as well during that show’s production. We had our second daughter during the production of Histeria. I lost my mom during production of Swaroop.

A large part of my personal memories are tied in some way to that studio. I owe quite a debt to Warner Bros. and Jean McCurdy, Tom Ruegger, Christopher Keenan, Linda Steiner and Sander Schwartz. They have helped to keep me employed and gave me many good years of memories.

That’s all Folks!

In getting ready for my start on the Flavio short, I have been trying to learn more about Italian hand signals. everyone knows about Italians and they’re overuse of hands when they speak. An old joke tells of the best way to stop an Italian from talking is to tie his hands together. Here’s a few really interesting articles on Italian hand gestures. Here’s an excerpt from one of the articles:

After telling the press he was an expert in hand gestures, President
George Bush senior, gave the “V-for Victory” sign as he drove in his
limousine past demonstrators in Canberra, Australia’s capital in
January 1992. In Australia, holding up two fingers to from a “v” has
the same vulgar meaning as the middle-finger gesture in the United
States. The Aussie demonstrators were enraged, and they signaled in the
same manner back at the U.S. President. President bush later had to
apologize for his faux pas.

Body Gestures: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly – Italian Memories – Italiansrus.com
Italian Hand Gestures

I may live in L.A. but that is not where I am originally from. Read on to see how famous where I come from truly is! Esepcially the part about all the celebrities! I am amazed at how many come from good ol’ Joisey!
I think you will be too.

AMEN!!!

If you’re from lil Italy, Bwooklyn, Joisey, Longgyeland or South Philly,
you’ll really appreciate this!

Eye-Talian

American

Why do Italians hate Jehovah’s Witnesses?
Because Italians hate all witnesses.

Do you know why most men from Italy are named Tony?
On the boat over to America they put a sticker on them that said – TO NY.

You know you’re Italian when . . . . You can bench press 325 pounds,
shave twice a day and still cry when your mother yells at you.

You carry your lunch in a produce bag because you can’t fit
two cappicola sandwiches, 4 oranges, 2 bananas and pizzelles
into a regular lunch bag.

Your mechanic, plumber, electrician, accountant,
travel agent and lawyer are all your cousins.

You have at least 5 cousins living in the same town or on the same block..
All five of those cousins are named after your
grandfather or grandmother.

You are on a first name basis with at least 8 banquet hall owners.

You only get one good shave from a disposable razor.

If someone in your family grows beyond 5′ 9",
it is presumed his Mother had an affair.

There were more than 28 people in your bridal party.

You netted more than $50,000 on your first communion.

. . . . . . .

And you REALLY, REALLY know you’re Italian when . . .

Your grandfather had a fig tree.

You eat Sunday dinner at 2:00.

Christmas Eve . . . only fish.

Your mom’s meatballs are the best.


You’ve been hit with a wooden spoon or had a shoe thrown at you.

Clear plastic covers on all the furniture.

You know how to pronounce "manicotti" and "mozzarella."

You fight over whether it’s called "sauce" or "gravy."

You’ve called someone a "mamaluke."

And you understand "bada bing".