John Lamb (producer)

John Lamb is an American artist, author and animator. He is known for advancing rotoscope technology with the invention of the Lyon Lamb Video Animation System alongside Bruce Lyon; he and Lyon have received an Academy Award and an Emmy for this achievement. Lamb also created early animated surfing and skateboarding cartoons, as well as Tom Waits for No One, the first American animated, rotoscoped music video.

Lamb's first animated film, Secret Spot (1974), introduced Willy Makitt, Lamb's trademark surfer. Secret Spot features an aerial maneuver where the surfer rides up the face of the wave, into the air, and lands back on the wave to continue surfing. This maneuver was pure imagination at the time, and is now a standard trick in the world surf community. Lamb's animated short Rocket 88 also features Willie Makitt doing a "shuvit" maneuver, which would later become a standard trick among skateboarders. The "shuvit" shows Willy Makitt kick-flipping the surfboard, causing it to spin - he then lands it to continue the ride. In 1975, Willy Makitt was licensed by Hang Ten and featured on their fiberglass skateboards, which can be seen in an NBC newscast on the "new" skateboarding phenomenon.

In 1976, Lamb created a psychedelic animation sequence for the feature film documentary Spinnin' Wheels, by Chris Carmichael. The title sequence includes a blond-haired guy blazing a joint, while snaking up a mountain road in his yellow Porsche (modeled after Chris Carmichael's own Porsche). At the top, he steps out of the car barefooted, grabs his skateboard and bombs the hill at top speed. Going so fast, he flies off the road into mid-air, and through Spinnin' Wheels logo. The film includes surfing and skateboard greats, like Rabbit Bartholomew, Larry Bertleman, Bruce Logan, Brad Logan and many others.

In 2010, Lamb and Secret Spot were honored by the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, CA with a permanent installation. Hand painted by Lamb, with a bigger-than-life wave scene and classic hot rods, tikis, palm trees and jungle scene, Willy Makitt is featured at the peak of the giant wave. The Secret Spot installation plays host to art openings and premieres of all types at the groundbreaking museum. The installation also features the work of Brett Hazzard, who created the "footprints in the sand" and breathtaking beach effect, which completes the installation's unique experience. See the mural's start and sky-bending finish on YouTube.