Italian animation legend Emanuele Luzzati has died at age 85. He collaborated with Giulio Gianini on numerous cut-out animation shorts including the Oscar-nominated films THE THIEVING MAGPIE and PULCINELLA, as well as AN ITALIAN IN ALGIERS and THE MAGIC FLUTE. Luzzati also had a prolific career outside of animation, both as a book illustrator and a theatrical set designer. Animation director Michael Sporn is offering some worthwhile insights about Luzzati on his blog. Be sure and check out Mike’s post about Luzzati’s passing as well as the image set from THE THIEVING MAGPIE. More Luzzati art will be posted on Sporn’s blog in the coming days.

The new edition of the Animation Show arrives in LA tomorrow, February 7. It’s playing for one night at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Showtimes are 6:30pm and 9:30 pm and ticket prices are $10. The program is, of course, quite excellent.

Best of all, the first ten folks to email me will receive a FREE ticket to tomorrow’s LA screening, courtesy of the fine folks at the Animation Show. OUR FREE TICKETS ARE ALL GONE NOW.

“Hi! I’m Mr. Mo Cap! I’m the future of animation!”

I woke up this morning to the news that Disney is entering a partnership with Robert Zemeckis to create a new in-house studio to produce motion capture films.

Mo-Cap? Oh-Crap! In a parallel universe, (the one in my mind, anyway) Disney was supposed to make a deal with Aardman for clay films… not with Zemeckis and motion capture. There is a part of me that would like to think that Disney bought in with Zemeckis just to keep him and his future “performance capture” projects off the market… but I doubt it. The grosses (and Oscar prestige) of Happy Feet and Monster House are too great for Disney to ignore.

I’m guessing this is an Iger-led business decision, not a Lasseter-led creative one. Let’s not forget the studio’s mandate: Disney must dominate animated features. Number 1 - buy Pixar. Number 2 - buy any other technique or filmmaker encroaching on our dominance in the market. Teaming with Zemeckis is part of that plan.

I hated the look of Polar Express, but could see some potential for the technique in Monster House. However, neither film can be compared to the true art of hand-drawn Disney animation. John Lasseter is commited to reviving traditional hand drawn character animation at the studio and this new business deal does nothing to slow those plans. While this new arrangement doesn’t bode well for Disney’s own (non-Pixar) CG feature projects, it does keep Disney at the forefront of digital filmmaking - with a new twist on an old technology. I can’t help but think that Max Fleischer is looking down on all this and having the last laugh.

Finally, somebody has combined two of my passions: coffee and cartoons. Flip Cafe is a coffeeshop in Bangkok that, according to their site, “is a place for animation and film lovers to get together, to get inspired, and to explore the world of moving images.” Their space looks comfy and inviting, and besides serving coffee, Flip Cafe hosts free animation screenings every Wednesday as well as animation workshops for kids. Best of all, their screenings aren’t randomly selected cartoons but nicely curated film programs. For example, their show tomorrow evening includes stop motion works by Ladislaw Starewicz, Barry Purves and Ray Harryhausen. Upcoming screenings include a program on pixilation and a screening of THE CORPSE BRIDE. I have no idea if the place is as cool as the website makes it look, but I’d definitely be checking it out if I were in Thailand.

Romain Segaud (b. 1980) is one of France’s most exciting up-and-coming animation talents. He was the co-director of the awesome student film TIM TOM (mentioned here earlier) and the music video BIP BIP (pictured above). Now he has a website - RomainSegaud.com - featuring most of his animated films and commercial work. I love all the fun inventive movement he manages to get into his digital photo cut-out style.

(via Fous d’Anim)

Below are the striking titles for the Madonna film WHO’S THAT GIRL (1987). The titles, which reimagine Madonna as a Betty Boop-ish figure, were designed by Daniel Melgarejo (1948-1989), an Argentinean cartoonist who did a lot of work at Disney’s Character Merchandising division in the 1980s. Among the artists who animated on this opening were John Canemaker and Elinor Blake. Last year, Oscar Grillo posted some of Daniel’s illustration work on his blog and there’s a tribute site to Melgarejo here.

UPDATE: A reader, who prefers to remain anonymous, wrote in to say that the Madonna character in the video was animated entirely by Doug Frankel, who is currently an animator at Pixar.

UPDATE #2: Animator Norma Rivera-Klingler, who worked on the titles, writes to say that the Madonna character was not animated entirely by Doug Frankel, as mentioned above. Norma writes:

The scenes Doug animated were the ones where she turns around and lip syncs to the song, then she dances with the local hookers, then the one where she steps in front of the store with multiple images of herself walking…the walking animation was animated by Bob McKnight and he animated quite a few of her scenes as well. Dan Haskett, Bill Plympton, Bob Scott, Rick Machin, Ed Rivera and I, Norma Rivera (his sister, not wife), also animated on the titles. I animated the opening where she steps out of the Warner Bros. shield, strikes a pose then drops. Bob McKnight’s animation picks up from there. I also animated when the thugs are running and one gets stuck in the manhole and when the thugs toss the body in the trunk as Madonna gets in her car…Bob Scott’s animation picks up from there. Ed animated the crowd of blue people who ogle at Madonna as she passes…those are caricatures of some of the people working at the studio….Broadcast Arts, now Curious Pictures NY…Ed is the curly haired guy, Rick Machin is the Smooth haired guy and I think Daniel was one of them…the bald guy. I don’t remember exactly who animated what in the rest of the title, but I’m sure there will be someone else to pass on any information.

(Thanks, Marc Crisafulli)

I can’t explain MUGGY-DOO BOY CAT, but I feel compelled to acknowledge its existence.Animator Hal Seegar (1917-2005) had a prolific career, as a Fleischer animator (Mr. Bug), a Hollywood screenwriter (several forgetable B pictures in the 1940s) and a latter day producer of TV cartoons (Milton The Monster, Batfink, Out Of The Inkwell, etc.). In the 1950s he wrote comic books (Leave it to Binky and A Date With Judy for DC) and briefly partnered with publisher Stanley Estrow to start Stanhall Comics (G.I. Jane, The Farmer’s Daughter, et al). Seeger apparently created all the humor comics for this line. The one “funny animal” entry was Muggy-Doo Boy Cat. The character had a strange combination of inspirations - not the least was his “Yellow Kid” sweat shirt which would have a different zany slogan in each panel. Cartoonist (and animation storyman) Irv Spector drew these books in a funny Milt Gross meets Walt Kelly style.Apparently Seeger had big plans for the Boy Cat. Ten years after the comics made their debut, Seeger, having hit it big producing low budget animation for TV, made a pilot with Muggy Doo in 1963. It failed to sell, but he did however sell it to Paramount Pictures who, strangely enough, released it as a theatrical short subject! Seeger revived Muggy Doo one more time - this time as a Boy Fox - as a back up feature on The Milton The Monster Show (ABC, 1965).Muggy-Doo Boy Cat, we salute you. The public never did catch on to your comic genius despite your creator’s persistence. Below is the first three minutes of the 1963 pilot, animated by Myron Waldman. The film credits Seeger’s wife, Beverly Arnold, as creator - but don’t you believe it. This is Seeger’s masterpiece. He deserves all the credit. UPDATE: Kiddie Record expert Greg Ehrbar adds this additional tidbit: “Muggy Doo sounds like New York actor Herb Duncan, a stage actor who did lots of commercials, some TV, some animation (The Ballad of Smokey the Bear) and records (he was George and Elroy on the Jetsons on Golden Records and Mike on MAD’s “Gall in the Family Fare” flexi-disc.”• Previous Forgotten Cartoon Legend - SUPERKATT

Toronto-based animation studio Cuppa Coffee Studios has always struck me as a decent outfit, but I’ve lost a lot of respect for them after hearing about their latest endeavor. ZooTube is an “animation contest” essentially designed to screw filmmakers. Here’s the description of the contest taken from their website:

Cuppa Coffee Animation is offering a real opportunity to get your foot in the industry door. We’re looking for exciting talent to be part of a new animated television and web series for a teen and up audience. Submit your short animated film for a chance to showcase it online and on television!

A select group of Cuppa Coffee Development Executives and Directors will choose the best to be part of our new show and then viewers wil be invited to vote for their favourites. The creators of the films that receive the most votes get a shot at the big time with a development deal with Cuppa Coffee Animation.

A development deal with Cuppa Coffee? Cuppa Coffee is neither a major studio or a TV network. They still have to pitch their shows to Disney Channel or Nick, just like everybody else. In other words, a development deal with Cuppa Coffee is about as useful as a development deal with your Aunt Agnes. The deal is seemingly designed to exploit the young artist with no connections to the industry because an artist with any level of experience doesn’t need an intermediary to get their project shown to the networks.

Now this “contest” would perhaps be a little more innocent if it was set up in a fair manner. The problems begin, however, when you examine their Submission Release Form (download PDF here). The submission release basically states that if Cuppa Coffee likes your short, they will take every right they can to your film. Forever. Without guaranteeing you anything in return.

In legalese, they get the rights to “to reproduce, exhibit, distribute, promote and otherwise exploit the Series including the Short or any part thereof, in all media and formats now or hereafter known (including without limitation, theatrical, non-theatrical, telecast, DVD and other video devices, mobile telephone and other wireless devices, MP3 players and other hand-held devices and Internet transmission, including without limitation, posting the Short or any part of the Short on Producer’s website (and the website of any broadcaster or distributor of the Series)), in all languages, throughout the universe, in perpetuity.” And on top of that, “If Producer does use the Short in the Series in accordance with the rights granted in this Submission Release, I acknowledge that I will not be entitled to any compensation.”

Sweet, huh? Who in the hell would ever be stupid enough to enter a contest like this? Such a contest would have been atrocious ten years ago, but today, it’s absolutely unacceptable. It used to be that filmmakers were willing to enter lopsided deals, with places like Spike & Mike, because touring festivals were often the only way they could get exposure for their independent animation.

Thankfully, those days are long over. With the emergence of video on the Internet, filmmakers now have the unprecedented opportunity to have their work seen by millions. Take, for example, Dony Permedi, who a few months ago posted his student short film KIWI! onto YouTube. It has already been viewed over five million times. Granted, Dony didn’t make any money by having his work on YouTube, but he got his work and his name out there to a huge audience without giving up a single right to his work.

The Internet has opened new doors of opportunity for creators, artists, and filmmakers. The power has shifted to the animators’ corner, not the producers or studios trying to exploit your work to establish their brand. You can post your work on your website (Homestar Runner, JibJab), onto YouTube, or make deals with AtomFilms or Revver that don’t strip away your rights. You can publish your work onto dvd and distibute it via the Internet. You can contact development execs at Nick, CN, Disney and elsewhere - it’s their job to seek out your work - and if they like it, you can get a legitimate development deal.

Bottom line is that if you’re going to give your film to anybody, make sure that you’re compensated in a way that is fair, transparent and benefits you as much as it does the other party. As for Cuppa Coffee, let’s hope they seriously rethink this ripoff-disguised-as-contest. It’s embarassing for any studio to so openly and blatantly attempt to dupe filmmakers in this manner.