This has to be one of the worst animated films I’ve ever seen.

Animal Soccer World is apparently a Sony PlayStation 2 game that liberally rips off character designs from various Disney films (Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Lion King, Bambi, et al) and produced on zero budget. Does anyone have the scoop on who made this atrocity? The people behind the music, voices, drawing, and animation (check those walk cycles) deserve to be recognized for their contributions to the art. Check out part one (below), if you dare.

Not enough? Click here for Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four.

(Thanks to Matt Wilson for pointing me toward this)

Jazz legend Oscar Peterson passed away last Sunday at age 82. Below are a couple of his animated collaborations with Norman McLaren and John Hubley. There are a couple articles here and here about Peterson’s collaboration with McLaren.

Begone Dull Care directed by Norman McLaren

Tender Game directed by John Hubley

Persepolis, opening today in New York and Los Angeles, is as far from the Hollywood status quo as you can get. It’s an important film, not only for its brilliant presentation of an incredible true life memoir, but for its artistry and its courage to take animated features toward a new path of personal, autobiographical storytelling.

Autobio is common in alternative comics and animated shorts, but rarely at feature length. Bakshi’s Heavy Traffic certainly blazed this trail over 35 years ago, but that was then and this is now. If animated features are to progress, animators need to feel comfortable to tell stories beyond the commercial constraints required by the Hollywood motion picture industry. Stories must get deeper, visuals must evolve, and all the techniques available to animation artists should be used (let me note that Pixar stands unique among the major animation studios, artfully pushing the medium in a commercially entertaining way acceptable to both Hollywood and to mainstream audiences).

Sony Pictures Classics deserves kudos for taking a chance on releasing this (and The Triplettes of Belleville several years ago) in a country weary of cartoon features and less demanding of its motion picture entertainment. Already garnering rave reviews, Persepolis is positioned to influence the medium and may inspire further independent animated features.

But will it? I’m not sure. It’s not that I’m looking for more films to look or feel like Persepolis, rather, I’m hoping for more artists and cartoonists like Marjane Satrapi who will bring their passions to animated films. That’s how our artform will grow — and what I hope Persepolis will do.

Love it or hate it, I encourage you to see the film. Below is video of creator/co-director Satrapi discussing the influences of comic books on her life and work. Merry Christmas.

A rollicking version of “Jingle Bells” courtesy of the Firehouse Five Plus Two, which includes two of Disney’s Nine Old Men. The lineup: Danny Alguire, cornet, Harper Goff, banjo, Ward Kimball, trombone, Clarke Mallery, clarinet, Monte Mountjoy, drums, Ed Penner, tuba and Frank Thomas, piano.

(via Swing, Jazz & Blues)

Our buddy Ward Jenkins has a holiday treat posted up at Drawn!

It’s a tiny mouth-watering clip from the new Henry Selick/Neil Gaiman stop motion film Coraline, now in production at Laika. The film is on track for release (in 3D) in late 2008 from Focus Features and should be one of the highlights of the year. Can’t wait!

Once again I’ll veer off topic to plug my favorite comedy troupe outside the realm of animated cartoons.

As mentioned here previously, the main brains behind Mystery Science Theatre 3000 have regrouped to create a new series of movie commentaries under the banner Cinematic Titantic. The first one has just been released on DVD and is only availble for purchase through a website called EZ Takes. There are clips and customer reviews posted there, but based on what I’ve seen and know, the first film, The Oozing Skull, is as hilariously skewered as anything on the original MST3K. Be one of the first to check it out, it’s a great way to kick off the new year.

A British internet magazine, The First Post, is hosting the first online animation festival on its site.

What does that mean? It means they’ve post 27 independent animated shorts, including such festival favorites as Tomek Baginski’s Fallen Art, Pes’ Kaboom, Pat Smith’s Drink and Lesley Barnes’ Herzog and the Monsters; it means articles, links and clips relating to Aardman’s The Pearce Sisters; it means they discuss Anime; it means they post a retrospective of the best animated ads of 2006 and 2007; and they host a gallery of art from TVC’s production of Raymond Brigg’s The Snowman. Check it out, it’s totally worth a visit during the Christmas break.

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