(Click the picture to expand it)
Way back in 1992, I worked for a short and enjoyable while in Dublin, painting backgrounds for one of Don Bluth’s animated films called “Thumbelina“. I stayed in Dublin for about three months, having a great time enjoying the craic, working with some great people, and learning the super seekrit Disney wet-into-wet background painting technique.
I returned to London with a sheath of layout drawings in a huge cardboard drum, so as to continue painting backgrounds for the film. I sent my paintings back to the Dublin studio by courier, and more layouts would arrive, along with a cheque. I can’t remember the details exactly, but after completing one batch of paintings, I rang the Irish studio to find out why my last payment had failed to arrive. I was told that the production had gone into bankruptcy, and that my invoice had been added to the pile of unpaid bills waiting for a firm of liquidators to sort out the mess.
I remember stomping round my flat kicking things in anger (but not so hard as to do myself or my targets any real damage). After a short while I gave up any chance of recuperating the money ( quite a big sum that I could ill afford to relinquish) and hunkered down to the business of making a living in London again.
Long story short: A colleague, Jane Smethurst, alerted me a couple of years later to an Irish insolvency solicitor who was amassing details of Don Bluth (Thumbelina) Ltd’s creditors’ claims, and I duly added my name and claim to the list.
A couple of weeks back (sixteen years on), I finally received a tiny percentage of my invoice, that was already diminished in value by 16 years of inflation and then even further eroded by exchange rates and fees. My invoice had taken so long to be settled that the original currency, Irish Punts, was no longer in existence and had been replaced by the Euro.
# 1. It was a colleague, Jane Smethurst, who told me about the bankruptcy claims procedure. I never heard a single peep from the company that had employed me and still owed me money.
# 2. If anyone knows the present whereabouts of Jane Smethurst, get in touch with me through the contact form (In the “About” link just below the header image) so that I can arrange to buy her a drink.
# 3 The estimable Mr Hans Bacher once confided to me that Don Bluth’s backgrounds always looked like “An out-of-focus-pizza”. The image above supports this analysis perfectly!
