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POSTS FOR “July, 2007“Cartoon Brew's home for up-to-the-minute, unedited announcements and press releases direct from industry sources.
July 11, 2007 12:01 am
If you live in L.A. you really have no excuse not to go out and have a good time tonight! Today we are shooting our forthcoming CartoonBrewFilms.com original web series, Cartoon Dump, at the Steve Allen Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. (near Vermont). We’ll be letting the public in for a sneak preview of what we are up to, tonight at 8pm, when I’ll screen some of my very best WORST CARTOONS EVER, and Frank Conniff and our cast will perform some bits of bizarre musical comedy. Tickets are $10 and we think we are going to have a full house. Call (800) 595-4849 to reserve a ticket. If you can’t get in to see Cartoon Dump, you can trek a quarter mile west to the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre for an event promoting the new Woody Woodpecker DVD.
Leonard Maltin, June Foray, Tom Kenny and others will be holding a panel discussion about classic cartoons and the Walter Lantz studio. That’s at 7:30pm and it’s free! This too will be recorded for a podcast to be anounced later. So take your pick… and meet us in Hollywood! 7 Comments » posted in Events July 10, 2007 9:34 am
I’d heard good things about Claude Chabot’s Apnée but unfortunately missed its screening at Platform. Luckily the film is posted online over HERE. While the film is little more than a graphic gimmick, it’s a well done piece proving that even photorealistic CG can be effective when applied in the proper artistic context. Also worth noting: it’s been pointed out that Apnée bears more than a passing conceptual resemblance to a 2001 animated short: Daniele Lunghini and Diego Zuelli’s Le Foto Dello Scandalo. You can judge for yourself by watching that film on YouTube. 11 Comments » posted in CGI, Shorts July 10, 2007 7:23 am
Greg Lawson, owner of Amsterdam-based animation studio Lawson & Whatshisname, is directing a series of 40 interstitials for the Dutch TV station BNN. The 8-second spots, which depict humorous moments in the lives of three twenty-somethings, are being broadast daily on BNN as well as on the site DennisenDylan.nl. I’m digging the loose feel of the hand-drawn spots, which are designed by Johan Klungel and animated by Lukas Krepel, Dario van Vree and Liaf Lijbers. 1 Comment » posted in Advertising July 10, 2007 1:40 am
Vanity Fair has published an extensive oral history about The Simpsons. The piece includes the thoughts of everybody from cartoonist Gary Panter to Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch, as well as many people who have worked on the series including Brad Bird, Gabor Csupo, Kent Butterworth, Bill Oakley, Larry Doyle and Hank Azaria. The same issue of VF also has an interview with Conan O’Brien discussing his time working on the series. I think the following comment from Conan really hits the nail on the head about why the humor on the Simpsons more often than not feels so tired and lacking in spontaneity:
43 Comments » posted in TV July 9, 2007 4:03 pm
ASIFA-San Francisco president Karl Cohen forwarded a note to let us know that UPA co-founder and one of the last of the truly great animation legends, David Hilberman, passed away on July 5. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1911, Hilberman began his animation career at Disney in 1936. In a little over a year, he had advanced to the layout department where he worked on shorts such as Farmyard Symphony, The Ugly Duckling and Beach Picnic. In 1939, he became the first production layout artist to begin working on the feature Bambi but it wouldn’t last long. Unhappy with the precarious job situation of some of his friends at the studio, like Zach Schwartz, Hilberman became involved in union organizing efforts and eventually became one of the artist leaders of the 1941 Disney strike, along with Art Babbitt. Six years later, in a HUAC hearing, Disney singled out Hilberman for instigating the strike and claimed that he was “the real brains of this and I believe he is a Communist…I looked into his record and I found that, number one, that he had no religion, and number two, that he had spent considerable time at the Moscow Art Theatre studying art direction, or something.” Hilberman told John Canemaker in a 1980 magazine interview that “up to the war, for about three years, I was a Communist. Once the war came along everybody plunged into the war effort, everybody’s on the same side, and I of course went into the Service. The strike itself was not Communist-led. I was floored when some obviously Communist-inspired material was put up on the bulletin board.” Disney was also correct that when Hilberman was 21, he had spent time traveling through Russia, and worked backstage at the Leningrad State People’s Theatre and attended classes at the Leningrad Academy of Fine Art. After the strike, Hilberman cemented his place in animation history by founding United Productions of America along with Zach Schwartz and Steve Bosustow. Hilberman told the origins of UPA to Canemaker as follows:
By 1946, Hilberman had served a brief stint in the Army, and he and Schwartz had sold their shares in UPA and moved to New York to set up a TV commercial animation studio called Tempo Productions. Schwartz and Hilberman soon split up, and Hilberman partnered with Bill Pomerance to continue Tempo. By the early-1950s, Tempo had become one of the largest TV commercial studios in the US, but was shut down by the blacklist around 1952, at which point Hilberman moved to England. One of Hilberman’s more prominent animation projects during the 1950s was directing the Ronald Searle-designed industrial film Energetically Yours (1957). Eventually Hilberman returned to the United States, where he helped start the animation program at San Francisco State College in the 1960s. He finished his animation career working at Hanna-Barbera on shows like The Smurfs and The Kwicky Koala Show, and the feature Once Upon a Forest. UPDATE: * UPA director and designer Gene Deitch wrote us the following about Dave Hilberman:
11 Comments » posted in Animators, Classic July 9, 2007 12:00 pm
They’ve just posted the complete schedule of programming for the San Diego Comic Con, July 26-29. Below I’ve extracted the animation related programming highlights – this is by no means the only programming of interest to our readers (we highly recommend Mark Evanier’s comics history panels, for one), nor does this represent a complete listing of all animation related activities. You’re advised to plan ahead and check the full schedule yourself. Thursday 11:30-12:30 Nickelodeon: Making Fiends An animated web series which is becoming a new Nicktoon. A panel and sneak peek with creator Amy Winfrey. Moderated by Claudia Spinelli, executive in charge for Nickelodeon. Room 2 12:30-1:30 Cartoon Network: Ed, Edd & Eddy: The Final Goodbye Danny Antonucci, the creator of the show says goodbye. Joining him are Samuel Vincent (voice of Edd), Peter Kelamis (voice of Rolf), Janyse Jaud (voice of Sarah, Lee Kanker), Scott “Diggsâ€? Underwood (storyboard director), and “Big Jimâ€? Miller (storyboard director). Room 1AB
5:00-6:00 Cartoon Network Sneak Peek A behind-the-scenes look at Cartoon Network’s newest project. Room 3 5:00-6:00 Bill Plympton Goes to the Dark Side Plympton will screen a couple of his brand new shorts, including Shuteye Hotel, and then show selected clips from his newest film, Idiots and Angels. A Q&A session will follow. Room 5AB
7:15-8:45 The Pixar Story: To Infinity and Beyond – a the latest film by Oscar nominated documentary director Leslie Iwerks. Room 6CDEF 8:30-10:30 Superman Doomsday – the world premiere of Warner Bros. Animation’s made-for-DVD movie with panelists Bruce Timm, writer Duane Capizzi and members of the voice cast. Ballroom 20 Friday 1:30-2:30 Nickelodeon’s The Mighty B! A sneak peek at The Mighty B!, a brand new Nicktoon with co-creators Cynthia True and Erik Wiese as they screen the pilot episode. Art director Seonna Hong will join the Q&A moderated by Nick exec Claudia Spinelli. Room 2 2:30-3:30 Filmation Spotlight A panel with legendary Filmation founder Lou Scheimer, voice actress Erika Scheimer (She-Ra’s Frosta and Loo-Kee), actor and SF legend Bob Burns, animation director Tom Tataranowicz, voice actor Ron Dante (lead singer of The Archies) and actors from Filmation’s live action. Room 5AB 3:30-4:30 American Dad Seth MacFarlane and the entire cast of American Dad (Wendy Schaal, Rachael MacFarlane, Scott Grimes and Dee Bradley Baker) will read an episode live with exec producers Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman. Room 6CDEF
5:00-6:00 Pitching an Animated Show Eric Coleman, VP animation, development & production at Nickelodeon; Heather Kenyon, senior director of development original animation for Cartoon Network; Jill Stewart, manager, original series, Disney Channel Animation, as well as creators Jorge R. Gutierrez (El Tigre) and Gabe Swarr (Big Pants Mouse), moderated by animation writer/creator Jon M. Gibson. Room 3CDEF 6:00-8:00 Ray Harryhausen and 20 Million Miles to Earth Stop-motion animation genius Ray Harryhausen will speak briefly, answer a few questions, then do live commentary while the film 20 Million Miles to Earth is screened. He’ll also answer more questions as the screening proceeds. Room 6B 6:30-7:30 The Chiodo Bros: Stop-Motion Animation in the Computer Age The Chiodo Bros. look at the surprising changes that computer technology has brought to stop motion. Room 5AB
Saturday 10:30-12:00 Animation Writers Caucus: Holy Bleep, Batman! or Censorship and Animation What can’t you say in a cartoon? What can’t you show? Why? Who says? Writers and producers of animated television series tell tales out of school about what they didn’t get to do and what they got away, in a panel sponsored by the Writers Guild of America’s Animation Writers Caucus. Featuring panelists Alan Burnett (Batman), Aaron Ehasz (Avatar), Eric Kaplan (The Drinky Crow Show), Craig Miller (Curious George), and Patric Verrone (Futurama). Room 8
11:30-12:30 BET Animation Reggie Hudlin (president, BET) and Denys Cowan (senior VP, BET Animation), share their vision for this new venture. Room 5AB 12:00-1:15 Cartoon Voices 1 Mark Evanier hosts his yearly panel with some of the greatest voice talent in the cartoon business. Today’s panel includes Neil Ross (GI Joe), Wally Wingert (Invader Zim), Kathy Garver (Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends), Will Ryan (Disney voice artist), and more. Room 6B 1:30-2:30 Family Guy Creator/star Seth MacFarlane, showrunner/executive producer David A. Goodman and the creative team behind Fox’s sucessful animated comedy. Room 6CDEF 2:00-3:00 State of the Animation Industry Industry experts assess the year in animation and take a look at the future. Panelists include Tim Johnson (co-director, Over the Hedge), Bill Plympton (independent animator extraordinaire), Sarah Baisley (editor, Animation World Network), Aki Umemoto (creative director, Mattel for 25 years and currently creative director of Base Station), Stephen Chiodo (Chiodo Bros. Studio), Aubry Mantz (formerly of ILM, chair of animation at Laguna College of Art & Design), and Kent Braun (DigiCel animation software). Room 8 2:15-4:00 WALL•E – Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) introduces Pixar’s newest star, WALL•E. Stanton and sound designer Ben Burtt (Star Wars) present a first look at Disney·Pixar’s next animated adventure! Hall H 2:30-4:00 Scott Shaw!: Oddball Comics Room 5AB 2:45-4:00 Cartoon Network: Class of 3000/My Gym Partner’s a Monkey – Tommy Lynch and Joe Horn, the men behind Class of 3000, talk about the upcoming season and answer questions. Also Tom Kenny (voice of Philly Phil) and the man himself, Andre Benjamin will appear. Plus, the creators and lead writer of My Gym Partner’s a Monkey, Tim Cahill, Julie McNally Cahill, and Tom Sheppard will fill you in on what’s new for the coming season. Plus, a sneak peek of the upcoming show Flapjack. Room 6A
6:00-7:00 Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions – Author/animator Tom Sito discusses the secrets behind the animation labor movement, from his new book, Drawing the Line. Room 4 6:30-7:30 The Animation Production Process – What goes into bringing an animated script to screen? Producers Stephanie Graziano (X-Men: The Animated Series), Tad Stones (Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms), and Greg Weisman (Spectacular Spider-Man) take you behind the scenes and into the trenches. Moderated by Shannon Muir, management coordinator at Animation World Network. Room 3 Sunday 12:00-1:15 Cartoon Voices II – Back for more with some of the greatest voice talent in cartoons today! Moderator Mark Evanier talks with Tom Kenny (Spongebob Squarepants), Michael Bell (Rugrats), Gregg Berger (Transformers), Joe Alaskey (Duck Dodgers), and others in this second installment. Room 6B 1:30-2:30 Cartoon Network: Ben-10 – Creator Alex Soto answers the questions you’ve been dying to know. Meagan Smith (voice of Gwen) will be on hand to liven things up. Room 6B 16 Comments » posted in Events July 9, 2007 8:13 am
The word genius is thrown around a bit too frequently nowadays (admittedly, I’m guilty of it myself), but true animation geniuses the caliber of director Tex Avery are few and far between. A 1988 documentary about the man, which I’d never seen, has turned up on YouTube. While it covers familiar ground, it’s a well done tribute that reminds one why Tex was such an incredible director. It also includes interviews with some of Tex’s colleagues who aren’t seen often in documentaries, such as Heck Allen, Mike Lah and Ed Love, as well as commentary from Joe Adamson, June Foray, Chuck Jones and Mark Kausler. I’ve compiled the entire film into a playlist below. (via Animation ID) 17 Comments » posted in Animators, Classic, Tex Avery July 9, 2007 3:03 am
Last week, Pixar story artist Enrico Casarosa finished his personal watercolor comic The Venice Chronicles. For much of the past year, Enrico has been uploading the comic page-by-page to his blog, and at 124 pages, he finally considers the project completed. The entire thing is available to read online, either as a Flickr set or in Slickr gallery format. I’m a fan of Enrico’s distinctive sense of storytelling and humor, and I’m delighted to hear that he’s also looking to release the Chronicles in book form, either as a self-publishing project or through a mainstream publisher. |
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