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NY animation studio PandaPanther, whose work I quite enjoy, completed a quirky three-minute short called Zodiac Race for the Onitsuka Tiger line of Japanese shoe company Asics. It celebrates the company’s 60th anniversary with the re-telling of the Zodiac Race Legend. A director’s cut of the film can be seen on the PandaPanther website along with a ‘making of’ video that gives a sense of how they combined miniature backgrounds with the CG characters.

Here is more about the project from PandaPanther:

We were approached by Amsterdam Worldwide, previously known as Strawberry frog to produce a short film, along with an in-store display of an actual 1 Meter Diorama Sneaker which is currently showing in Amsterdam. The actual shoe was used in parts of the film as a backdrop and environment and functions in real life as a miniature race track with moving parts. We were given tons of creative freedom with the characters and environments, and also worked together with a great creative team at Amsterdam Worldwide to expand their script into a full epic. Because the film is for an online campaign, we were not restricted by a set time length and thus the film expanded to 3 minutes in order to give each character some screentime and to hit on all the key moments in the story. A big challenge was to make sure everyone involved felt their Zodiac Sign was represented in some way. We really enjoyed this project, it felt like it perfectly suited us, and we got the opportunity to use many of our techniques, combining miniatures, CG and cel animation.

4 Comments »   posted in Advertising, CGI, Shorts

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Oscar Animation Screenings

February 3, 2009 6:30 pm

On Thursday February 19th, in Beverly Hills, Tom Sito will moderate an Oscar Nominated Animated Feature Symposium celebrating the work of the 2008 Feature Film nominees. The nominees (subject to availability) will discuss their film’s development and their creative process as well as present clips illustrating their techniques. This is the first year the Academy is hosting this event as a part of its Oscar Week festivities. Admission is free, but advance tickets are required.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is also screening all the Oscar nominated shorts publicly in New York and Los Angeles. New Yorkers can take a look at the live action and animated nominees this Saturday at either 12 noon or 4pm at the Academy Theatre at Lighthouse International on 59th Street. Details on the NY show are posted here. The Los Angeles screening will be held on Tuesday February 17th, 7:30pm, at the Goldwyn Theatre on Wilshire Blvd. – L.A. details here. Admission price for the Academy screenings on both coasts is $5.

In case you feel left out, Magnolia Pictures is distributing a program of this years Oscar nominated shorts to movie theaters all over the U.S. (to over 100 cities) beginning this Friday. A complete list of playdates and locations is posted here.

P.S. Check out an audio podcast I did today with Dave Dubos, film critic for ABC in New Orleans, where I discuss the Oscar nominations.

5 Comments »   posted in Events

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“Densya Kamo Shirenai” by Kondoh Akino

February 3, 2009 12:11 pm

This music video by Japanese artist Kondoh Akino (gallery website in English) constantly surprised me with its playful use of the human form and its strikingly designed movement. As best as I can discern, it appears to be from 2002 and was created when Akino was a student in art school.

(Thanks, Susie Wilson and Saschka Unseld)

2 Comments »   posted in Music Videos

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St. Trinian’s Titles

February 3, 2009 11:05 am

The Submarine Channel’s subsite Forget the Films, Watch the Titles has posted the opening titles to the recent live-action film St. Trinian’s, based on Ronald Searle’s classic print cartoons. Title was designed and directed by Paul Donnellon and animated by Petria Whelan. It looks like a low-budget job and points to how difficult it is to capture the spirit of Searle’s drawings in animation. Searle has been faithfully translated into animated form before, as in the 1957 industrial cartoon Energetically Yours and various commercials from the 1960s, but it requires a sensitivity for design and draftsmanship that isn’t evident in these titles.

10 Comments »   posted in Titles

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The Life of a Disney Secretary

February 3, 2009 10:09 am

Disneyana collector and historian David Lesjak has done a remarkable bit of investigation into the life of Carolyn Kay Shafer. Who you ask? Shafer was one of Walt Disney’s first secretaries in the early-1930s, married Frank Churchill (composer of classic songs like “Whistle While You Work” and “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”), and died in 1977 penniless and nearly blind. There’s enough twists and turns in her life worthy of a soap opera.

(via Disney History)

3 Comments »   posted in Disney

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Afternoon of Remembrance

February 3, 2009 4:00 am

Once each year, at the DeMille Barn in Hollywood, the Animation Guild, ASIFA Hollywood and Women In Animation present An Afternoon of Remembrance, “a non-denominational celebration of departed friends from our animation community”. This year it takes place this Saturday, February 7th, at 1pm. Tributes will be paid to:

John Ahern, Gus Arriola, Phyllis Barnhart, Gordon Bellamy, Harriet Burns, Greg Burson, John W. Burton, Jr., Vivian Byrne, Joyce Carlson, Bob Carr, Rose Di Bucci, Charlie Downs, Ray Ellis, Joni Jones Fitts, Etsuko Fujioka, Steve Gerber, Fernando Gonzalez, Yoo Sik Ham, Larry Harmon, Margie Hermanson, Ollie Johnston, Ted Key, Eartha Kitt, Andy Knight, Harvey Korman, Lyn Kroeger, Brice Mack, Bill Melendez, David Mitton, Gary Mooney, Jim Mueller, June Nam, Ethan Ormsby, Bill Perez, Richard Pimm, Oliver Postgate, Denis Rich, Dodie Roberts, Irma Rosien, Gerard Salvio, Gina Sheppherd, Robert Smith, Jim Snider, Al Stetter, Dave Stevens, Morris Sullivan, Emru Townsend, Pat Raine Webb, Chiyoko Wergles, Bob Winquist and Justin Wright.

The Afternoon of Remembrance is free of charge and is open to all. No RSVPs necessary. Food and refreshments, 1 pm * Memoriams, 2 pm
Hollywood Heritage Museum (Lasky-DeMille Barn)
2100 N. Highland (across from Hollywood Bowl), Hollywood, California.

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