Puedes leer esta entrada en español aquí.
How many times I left my little painting to see the children's programs on TV! In one of them, "Sabadabada", which soon became "Dábadabada", I discovered a wonderful and endearing artist, José Ramón Sánchez. With a prodigious ability he performed, for all children, illustrations of the stories that he was telling at the same time.
How many times I left my little painting to see the children's programs on TV! In one of them, "Sabadabada", which soon became "Dábadabada", I discovered a wonderful and endearing artist, José Ramón Sánchez. With a prodigious ability he performed, for all children, illustrations of the stories that he was telling at the same time.
The two entries that I write about him are dedicated to its most Riquiño side, in other words, its children's book illustrator and animator side, so that you know him a little better and complete as far as possible the gaps in this regard. In this particular entry I focus on previous work to join the television world.
José Ramón Sánchez was born in Santander in 1936. Since tiny he felt a great fondness on cinema. In fact his first assignments, being still very young, were cinema billboards.
In 1957 he moved to Madrid and worked for two years in the animation department of the Estudios Moro, the most prestigious advertising studios of the 50’s and 60’s, especially remembered for many animated ads, and mainly "La Familia Telerin". There he met two titans of the Spanish animation, Cruz Delgado and Pablo Nuñez with which he collaborated later. At this time he began to make illustrations for various publications, posters and exhibitions.
In 1966 he illustrated his first book, “Como nace una familia” (As a family is born), dedicated to a young audience.
However, it will in 1970 when he actually starts his hard work as an illustrator of children's stories and animator. In that year, in addition to realize several covers for Santillana editorial stories books, he fully illustrated several educational books from the same publisher, the "Veleta" (Weathercock) workbooks and the three read and write method books "Saeta," with texts by Fernando Alonso , which were entitled “El Molino” (The Mill) , “La Piragua” (The Canoe) and "La Noria" (The Big Well).
But that´s no all, also in 1970 he is the responsible for the artistic direction of the short educational cartoon “Como nace una familia” (As a family is born), based on the illustrated book from 1966,and “¿Conoces las señales?” (Do you know the signs?). Both shorts were conducted in the Cruz Delgado studios.
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| Como nace una familia |
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| ¿Conoces las señales? |
In 1971, he beautifully illustrated Jaime Ferran books “Angel en USA. Norte” (Angel in the USA.North) and “Angel en USA. Sur” (Angel in the USA. South ) and is responsible for a short film called "El Gripoterio" or “La Pandilla” (The Gang) starring the animated version of a very popular children's band in Spain, La Pandilla, which earned him the best animated short Golden Pelayo in the IX Gijón International Film Festival for Children and Youth.
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| Inside illustration from "Angel en USA. Norte" |
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| Stills from "El Gripoterio" |
The reading book “Senda 3” illustrations, from 1972, were also done by him. Click on the image bellow to enjoy the full book:
Francisco Macián, director of the animated film starring the Famila Telerin, “El mago de los sueños” (The Dreams Wizard,1966), was charmed by "El Gripoterio" and decided that Jose Ramon had to take charge of the film he had in mind for many years, "Candelita", the story that happens to one of the shepherds who goes to worship Jesus Child on Christmas Day. A book from this project with the same name was published in 1973 with Gloria Fuertes texts and trailer was introduced with great success in the Gijón International Children and Youth Film Festival held in that year. Unfortunately the project was unfinished, and today is a thorn for Jose Ramon.
From 1973 are also the short films commissioned by TVE “Paco Pum” and “Juegos” (Games).
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| Paco Pum |
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| Juegos |
In 1974 he illustrates one of the books from the “Yo soy” (I am) collection created by José Luis García Sánchez y Miguel Ángel Pacheco, “Soy un pez” (I´m a fish) and starts a strong collaboration with them. But that belongs to the second part dedicated to José Ramón Sánchez. ;D
Documentation:
“José Ramón Sánchez. El aprendiz de brujo”. Colección Animadrid. Nº6. 2010 Begoña Vicario y Jesús Mª Mateos.
“El dibujo animado en España hasta 1966. Proyectos cinematográficos de Francisco Macián en los Estudios Macián”. 2011. Trabajo de Investigación de Susana Rodríguez Escudero para optar al D.E.A.
Susana Rodríguez Escudero personal collection.
