Instagram story viewer> @roblence> Posts

Robert Lence

@roblence

1.5K

followers

2146

following

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Welcoming (former Michigan) quarterback J.J. McCARTHY to my hometown NY GIANTS. Hoping that his great track record of success with the HARBAUGH family continues in the Big Apple! 🍎🏈⭐️💙❤️💪 by @roblence

66

7

18 days ago

REMEMBERING RIK MAKI- My fellow Disney artist Rik Maki and I also connected over the mutual love of both drawing/cartooning and sports. As such, we were both big fans and admirers of the legendary sports cartoonist WILLARD MULLIN. Mullin had once done a newspaper cartoon about my father, EMIL LENCE, when my Dad was a prominent boxing promoter. This cartoon ran in the New York World-Telegram in 1957. It features my Dad with his contemporaries, heavyweight boxing champion FLOYD PATTERSON and his manager CUS D’AMATO. This fight did ultimately wind up taking place, and my father promoted Patterson’s first heavyweight title defense vs. Tommy “Hurricane” Jackson at the Polo Grounds on July 29, 1957. 🥊🏆⭐️✨ by @roblence

17

0

a month ago

REMEMBERING RIK MAKI- Was so saddened to hear of the recent passing of Disney artist RIK MAKI. I worked with Rik on several films, and he was one of my closer friends at the studio.

Rik was such a colorful, one-of-a-kind, iconoclastic guy. Besides animation and drawing, baseball was his great love and passion. Signed by the NY Yankees
Rik’s sense of humor could best be described as “Canada Dry.”

When we were working at the studio, I was playing football at the time, and at lunchtime, we’d throw a football around in Griffith Park or in tiny Griffith Manor Park, just across street from the nondescript Feature Animation Development building on Flower Street, on the other side of Sonora from the main animation buildings.

Boy, with those long, lanky arms, his throws still had a lot of “zing” on them, and it hurt my hands to catch them! The old pitcher hadn’t lost his fastball! Even though baseball was his primary love, he told me he did also spend one year as a quarterback for a semi-pro team up in Canada.

Our other favorite lunch break was to drive up to Dodger Stadium. In the off season, they would keep the gift store open, and you could even still go inside the stadium. We’d sit in hushed silence in the empty stadium’s upper deck, taking in those majestic, iconic LA views of the mountains in the distance. It was not unlike paying respects at a famous cathedral during off hours.

Humble, self-effacing, low key, in a very under-stated way, Rik never took himself too seriously, belying the respect and demand for his talents that he commanded at the studio.

Rik was incredibly prolific. In fact, he was one of the most prolific artists I’ve even seen! He was an absolute drawing machine. So focused, he could crank out tons of designs, yet all thoroughly researched and all done with great thought and care.

I always thought that some of his particular best work on “The Lion King” were his early character designs for the hyenas, which greatly influenced their final look in the film.

R.I.P. RIK MAKI, a “gentle giant,” and an incredibly respected, impactful, and prolific artist, who, despite his enormous stature in the industry, never stopped being a “regular guy.” by @roblence

70

1

a month ago

At the Michigan Champions Circle fundraising event at FAU, with fellow M Alumni CHARLES RUTHERFORD and BLAKE CORUM. Blake was a 2-Time All-American, and one of the stalwarts on Michigan’s 2023 National Championship team. He is currently a RB in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams. 💛💙🏈🏆🎉💪#michiganalumni #michiganfootball #michiganfootballalumni taken in FAU Boca Raton by @roblence

26

0

2 months ago

At the Michigan Champions Circle fundraising event at FAU in Florida, with our 2023 National Championship quarterback, J.J. McCARTHY, who currently plays QB in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings. 🎉🏆🏈💛💙⭐️ 💜#michiganalumni #michiganfootball #michiganwrestlingalumni #michiganfootballalumni💛💙 taken in FAU Boca Raton by @roblence

35

0

2 months ago

At a Michigan Champions Circle fundraising event at FAU in Florida, with the recent Michigan National Championship Trophies, Basketball (2026) & Football (2024) 🏆🏆🎉🏀🏈💛💙🎉⭐️ taken in FAU Boca Raton by @roblence

44

1

2 months ago

On this date, my graduation from Forest Hills High School in Queens, NY. With my Mom and my Aunt Tessie. 🎉🎓⭐️🏆💙💛❤️ taken in Forest Park, Queens by @roblence

94

5

4 months ago

BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO MICHIGAN’S YAXEL LENDEBORG, who was chosen with the 11th pick of the First Round in last night’s NBA Draft, by the Golden State Warriors! 🎉⭐️💛💙🏀 Here with Yaxel, former M Football Captain John Arbeznik, and current M Basketball F Harrison Hochberg, at a Michigan Champions Circle fundraiser event at FAU last month! #michiganalumni #michiganfootballalumni #michiganbasketball #mclub #michiganwrestlingalumni taken in Florida Atlantic University by @roblence

31

2

4 months ago

DUSTY MAY TO MAVS- Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. 😕 Thanks for the Championship, Dusty! You got the job done in Ann Arbor! 🎉🏀🏆Best of luck in Dallas! 🐴💙💚🏀 At a Michigan Athletics fundraising event last month at FAU in Florida, with M footballers OG John Arbeznik, QB David Hall and (now former) M Basketball NCAA Champion Coach Dusty May. 💙💛🏀⭐️✨ taken in Florida Atlantic University by @roblence

29

0

4 months ago

CTN WORKSHOP TODAY- To my LA based Animation friends, I’m going to be doing a story workshop today Saturday June 6 at Tina Price’s CTN Studio in Burbank from 2-4 pm. 847 Hollywood Way Suite 100, Burbank CA 91505. We’ll be doing a recreation of a studio story room! It will be proceeded by a live sketching session from 11am- 1 pm. Please join us for a fun day of brainstorming and sketching at CTN!💡✍️🎨🎉 taken in CTN Happenings by @roblence

52

1

4 months ago

Outside Walt Disney’s first home in Los Feliz. 🏡✨ taken in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California by @roblence

42

3

5 months ago

REMEMBERING TED TURNER- I was sorry to hear about the passing of pioneering media mogul TED TURNER last week.
I worked for TURNER FEATURE ANIMATION after he bought Hanna-Barbera in the early 1990’s. We made two films under that banner: “The Pagemaster” and “Cats Don’t Dance”
Right after he bought the studio, I remember he wanted to meet everyone, and addressed us in an all-hands meeting in the old H-B building parking lot. That same day, I had the privilege of pitching our “Pagemaster” storyboards to him, in a small private meeting with him and David Kirschner, the head of the studio.
Ted was great with the larger group, and equally terrific in a smaller setting. He had a wild, maverick, freewheeling spirit about him. Swashbuckling and debonair, with a heaping helping of that “Rhett Butler-like” Southern charm. He was enthusiastic about my pitch. “You’re like a little point guard! I’m gonna bring you out to Atlanta to play for my Hawks!” He owned two pro teams at the time: the MLB Atlanta Braves and NBA Hawks. As a generous side bonus, whenever the Braves were in town to play the Dodgers, all studio employees were gifted with tickets plus $200 in Dodger Dollars, to spend on food and merchandise at Dodger Stadium. (Or as one entrepreneurial young animator soon discovered, and shared with us, to buy a $1 Dodger pencil and get $9 in cash in change.) 😉
Rest in Peace to an incredible visionary leader and boss, a man of tremendous influence, who changed the entire landscape of media as we knew it, the irrepressible, and one-of-a-kind TED TURNER. 🙏🌟📺🎞️🎥🏆⚾️🏀✨ by @roblence

35

0

5 months ago