Animation alum Mack Williams delivers 2024 Jack Davis Lecture for Centennial Celebration at Special Collections

The Lamar Dodd School of Art and the UGA Special Collections Libraries welcome animator and director Mack Williams, UGA alum and 2024 Bulldog 100 recipient, to deliver the 2024 Jack Davis Lecture on the occasion of the centennial of Jack Davis’ birth.

A renowned cartoonist and founder of MAD Magazine, Jack Davis was born in Atlanta in 1924. He has been beloved by the UGA community for decades for his quintessential illustrations of the Georgia Bulldogs and Bulldog fandom. Mack Williams, a 2003 BFA alum in digital media from the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences, expresses deep admiration for Davis’ ouevre as inspiration for his twenty-year career in animation.

Mack recalls, “I remember attending football games with my dad, and I’d pay closer attention to Jack’s illustration on my souvenir Coke than the game itself. They were some of the most energetic and exciting cartoons I’d ever seen.” He shares that this inspiration continues today, “Jack Davis’ work is the Northstar in everything I do, especially my illustration work.”

His lecture on Thursday will punctuate a three-day visit with students in graphic design and animation courses.

The 2024 Jack Davis Lecture will be hosted in the auditorium room 271 of the UGA Special Collections Building on November 7 at 6 pm, followed by an on-site reception from 7 – 7:45 pm and a pop-up exhibition of collection highlights drawn from the Hargrett Library’s Jack Davis collection. All are welcome to attend; parking is available in the Hull Street Parking Deck.

About Mack

Mack runs a boutique New York City video production company Pig Apple with business partners and fellow UGA alumni Ed Mundy and Trevor Williams. With over two decades of professional experience, he has transitioned from ‘kid doodling in the back of class’ to a seasoned animation pro. Mack has worked on hit shows like Archer, Saturday Night Live, and the cult favorite Sealab 2021, and collaborated with industry heavyweights like Baz Luhrmann, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. As a co-founder of Pig Apple, Mack has expanded his expertise from cartooning to mastering comedic storytelling, eye-popping motion graphics, and seamless visual effects. His work has reached audiences worldwide, appearing on television and digital platforms for clients including Netflix, Amazon, Apple, ESPN, and Univision.

About the Jack Davis Lecture

The Jack Davis lecture is given annually by an outstanding professional illustrator in an effort to recognize Davis’ extraordinary contribution to the field of illustration. This year’s lecture is co-sponsored by the UGA Special Collections Libraries.

This event is part of the 2024 UGA Spotlight on the Arts Festival. Spotlight on the Arts is the University of Georgia’s annual celebration of the literary, visual and performing arts. Held each November, the monthlong festival highlights the arts and humanities on campus with dozens of events and exhibitions. Find more information about the festival here.

Enjoy a brief interview below highlighting Mack’s storied career in art and animation influenced by Jack Davis.

On his upbringing

I grew up going to Georgia football games and always planned to attend UGA after high school. Once I made it to Athens, I began editorial cartooning for The Red & Black. By my sophomore year, I was drawing five cartoons a week and kept up that pace until I graduated. Once accepted into the IDS Digital Media program, I began taking animation and digital art classes through Lamar Dodd and the drama department. I have remained a Dawgs fan my entire life and indoctrinated my Brooklyn-born wife into the cult as well.

On his connection to Jack Davis

I don’t honestly remember the first time I encountered Jack’s Bulldog art. It was simply always around growing up in Georgia in the 1980s. On cups in our kitchen, on posters in the barber shop downtown, and on game programs my dad bought. I had a poster from the 1980 national championship season, which has remained on my wall for at least three decades and hangs directly above my desk today. I remember attending football games with my dad, and I’d pay closer attention to Jack’s illustration on my souvenir Coke than the game itself. They were some of the most energetic and exciting cartoons I’d ever seen. When I was in college, my dad actually reached out and arranged for me to meet Mr. Davis at his studio on Saint Simons Island, a brief drive from my hometown of Blackshear, GA. Eventually, upon graduating from UGA, this geographic coincidence led to my first professional animation job – as a runner/go-between for a documentary about UGA – “Damn Good Dawg”. My job was to help Mr. Davis understand Adobe After Effects and how to create layered art for digital animation. Mr. Davis would provide the art, but it would be animated in a digital puppet style at Wild Hare Studios in Atlanta. To be quite clear, I was not qualified to explain anything to Jack Davis, but he was extraordinarily kind to me during the handful of visits I made during that project.

On Jack Davis’ influence on Mack’s art practice and career

Jack Davis’ work is the Northstar in everything I do, especially my illustration work. I fall short of his skill and talent, but it’s always something to shoot for! A more general way he influenced my career is through his kindness and generosity. I want to emulate him in that way as well, treating everyone I work with as well as he treated me.

On Mack’s excitement to return to UGA to celebrate Jack Davis’ centennial

I genuinely can’t express how honored I am to speak at Jack Davis’ centennial celebration. To be asked to give a guest lecture at my alma mater is a huge honor in and of itself, but for the topic to be my hero and idol? It’s quite surreal to be totally honest. I am really excited to talk with the professors and students there today and see what’s going on. It’s been far too long since I’ve been back on campus for anything other than football, and I’m really excited to spend a few days in the Classic City.