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Artscene Oakville Beaver · WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2006 29 celebrities, who have in some way been touched by Ed Roth ­ he's a counterculture icon, and all of these people have been touched by his existence." Matt Groening, who created The Simpsons, credits Roth's Rat Fink for helping him generate some of the ideas for his show. "Matt Groening says Rat Fink was partial inspiration for Bart Simpson ­ he was very much born out of the Rat Fink ideal," said Roberts. "Roth had this profound effect on pop culture that I think a lot of people Sheridan animation graduate don't understand." Mike Roberts That's what Tales of the Rat Fink seeks to shed light on. "It's a film about an artist. It's documenting his life and where he was important," said Roberts. "He was really influential, he basically made it so that custom cars and custom motor bikes are considered art." Very little footage of Roth exists, so much of the film ­ about 60 per cent ­ is animated. It took Roberts, who's worked on various commercials and other projects, three years to bring Tales of the Rat Fink to life. "We were trying to animate a look and feel respective of the early '50s to mid '60s, while using modern animation to make it look a little more alive," he said. "There's almost no traditional documentary footage in it ­ there's lots of old newsreel footage and scenes of actual cars." The film is visually similar to Fantasia, Roberts says, and features several animated musical montages. "There's one scene that's a montage with animated pin-striping. It's meant to look like you're watching the mind of someone creating pin-striping, and it has come alive and is moving around the car and drawing itself. It's dancing along to the music." The Rat Fink, who doesn't speak, but "kind of grunts," says Roberts, is on-screen each time there's a change of focus in the documentary, and is used in animated scenes as chapter headings for the film. "It's a really fun film, and it's a unique way of looking at the life of an artist," said Roberts. "Ron has such a unique vision, he's a really interesting guy, and he was really obsessed with the final product." Tales of the Rat Fink is playing at Oakville's 5 Drive-In on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7:50 p.m., followed by Jet Li's Fearless and The Protector. For more on the 5 Drive-In, visit www.5drivein.com. Tales of the Rat Fink Sheridan grad has hand in documenting life of '60s icon Ed "Big Daddy" Roth By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Mann later sought out Roberts, a freelance animator, to help bring his vision to life. "I think it's probably the most unique documentary I've ever seen in terms of its execution," said Roberts. "Ron's a pretty cool filmmaker, he's really innovative from a style perspective." Instead of talking head interviews, Mann uses old cars as interview subjects, animated and backed by voices including Jay Leno, Matt Groening, Tom Wolfe, Beach Boy Brian Wilson and wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin. "It's as if you're talking to the cars about how they felt about Ed. It's a bit hammy, but in a very deliberate way. They're telling Ed's story," said Roberts. "The interviews are of A documentary about the man behind custom cars, monster T-shirts and the `anti-Mickey Mouse' of the 1950s and '60s has its drive-in premiere Friday in Oakville. After playing at the Toronto International Film Festival, Tales of the Rat Fink is coming to the 5 Drive-In. It's a largely animated film that looks at the life and influence of American counter-culture icon, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, who's played by John Goodman. In the late 1950s, Roth was the first to turn custom cars into art, combining mechanics and art to create works of art on wheels, making aesthetics equally important as road performance. "There would have Roth financed his passion been a lot of angry by selling T-shirts he designed featuring monsters people if I didn't do driving cars ­ his most poputhis character lar, an ugly rodent named Rat exactly in the spirit Fink. and the way he Animator Mike Roberts, a Sheridan College grad, was did." given the task of not only animating the documen tary-style feature film, but Tales of the Rat Fink of recreating Roth's charanimator Mike Roberts acters. "I had to become sort of a disciple of his style of art, and try to draw as much like him as I could," said the 28-year-old Roberts. "There would have been a lot of angry people if I didn't do this character exactly in the spirit and the way he did." By the early 1960s, teens across America were buying Rat Fink model kits and t-shirts, and dozens of people were working out of Roth's California-based garage ­ which was more like an art studio ­ creating custom cars, t-shirts and model car kits. "He sold the Rat Fink kind of as an anti-Mickey Mouse for kids who were getting their first taste of anti-establishment," said Roberts. "A lot of the car guys liked it. They felt they were very counter-culture. "Rat Fink seemed to sort of laugh in the face of Mickey Mouse." Producer and director Ron Mann started working on Tales of the Rat Fink in 2000, but walked away from the project after Roth's death in 2001. Oakville Christian Youth String Ensemble preparing for new season The Oakville Christian Youth String Ensemble starts rehearsals Monday, Sept. 25 from 4:30 p.m. ­ 6 p.m. and is open to string players between the ages of 12-18. The string ensemble will be performing music this upcoming season including Eastern European music featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Mussorsky, Bartok, RimskyKorsakov and a hymn medley of Polish and Russian Orthodox sacred music and chants. All of the music has been custom arranged for the abilities and musical tastes of young string players by local composer, Ronald Read, who works with the ensemble's artistic director to select interesting music that presents challenges yet introduces the players to a wide range of repertoire. The ensemble is conducted by Robert Miskey, a well-known violinist who plays with several major orchestras and ensembles throughout Ontario and has an established violin studio in Oakville. Joan Browne, a professional flautist, is the artistic director and rehearsal pianist. Members of the ensemble are also mentored by members of the Oakville Symphony. There are a few openings left for interested players. For registration and rehearsal details, call Joan Browne at 905-339-1489 or email oakvillechristianstrings@cogeco.ca. See www.oakvillechristianyouthstrings.ca for more information.