November 05, 2005

KIMBA THE WHITE LION

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Next Thursday, November 10th, ASIFA-Hollywood is staging a tribute to the pioneering anime series KIMBA THE WHITE LION at the Glendale library.

KIMBA (aka Jungle Emperor Leo or Jungulu Taitei) was based on Osamu Tezuka's epic 533 page serialized manga first published in 1951. After the success of ASTRO BOY as Tezuka's (and Japan's) first animated TV series, KIMBA was financed by NBC Films and produced by Tezuka's own Mushi Productions, and became the first Japanese cartoon series produced in color. Ever since its debut in 1965, KIMBA has attracted a loyal cult following.

The ASIFA event next Thursday is being presented by KIMBA's original English-language producer, Fred Ladd. He will present clips from the series and discuss its origins with animator Sadao Miyamoto (an alumnus of Tezuka's Mushi Productions), Jared Cook, translator & interpreter for Tezuka himself, Hollywood animator (and KIMBA expert) Shawn Keller, and Ms. Sonia Owens, an original voice-cast member from the classic series. For more information (admission prices, location, starting time) see ASIFA-Hollywood.org.


Posted by JERRY at 10:04 AM

November 04, 2005

Jamiroquai's (Don't) Give Hate A Chance

JAMIROQUAI

Jamiroquai's first-ever animated music video is an old-school tribute to Osvaldo Cavandoli's LA LINEA mixed up with mo-cap CGI. The video was directed by Partizan Lab UK's Alex and Martin. Nothing revolutionary here, but the animation has nice snappy timing, and I like the fact that the CG characters are designed to have both eyes on one side of the head. Check out the Quicktime version HERE or Windows Media and Real versions HERE.
(Thanks, Edward B.)


Posted by AMID at 03:13 AM

November 03, 2005

ACADEMY EXAMINES LIVE ACTION & ANIMATION

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With the recent SCOOBY DOO movies and the upcoming KING KONG remake, combining live action and animation has certainly come a long way from Pete's Dragon.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is preparing a panel of experts (names to be announced) to discuss the dynamics of using animation in live action films, exploring the history of the technique(s) and past films - and current challenges of creating a realistic animated performance in the digital age. This screening and panel discussion will be held December 6th at 7:30pm in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. For more information click here.


Posted by JERRY at 07:58 AM

November 02, 2005

JANET KLEIN

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As usual on the first Thursday of every month, I'll be showing several 16mm films at the Steve Allen Theatre (at 4773 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Feliz) November 3rd at 8pm, preceeding a live concert by Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys.

I usually run a few Fleischer cartoons to set the mood, then Janet and the band perform a few songs from the golden era. It's a madcap, zany, fun-for-all good time.

Join us!



Posted by JERRY at 12:14 PM

November 01, 2005

Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets

Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets

The ever-innovative Michel Gagné has posted the twelve INSANELY TWISTED SHADOW PUPPETS interstitials and bumpers that he created for Nickelodeon's "Halloween Shriekin Weekend." They are short but ingenious pieces of Flash animation. Michel's kinetic, in-your-face style of timing and animation creates an energetic mood unlike any other animated film I've seen recently. As part of his contract with MTV, Michel wisely negotiated that he be allowed to show the unedited spots on his website, and these "Director's Cuts" versions currently on his site differ significantly from what aired on Nick. After watching them my only thought is, I want to see more Gagné animation!


Posted by AMID at 10:45 PM

A Response to the LA TIMES

Canadian cartoonist German Shible offers an eloquent visual response to TV critic Robert Lloyd's clueless piece in the LA TIMES. German writes:

I just read the article at LA Times you listed on the brew and well... it pissed me off. Since I'm not a fella fer words, i decided to release my distaste via a lil' doodle. i call it Portrait of a Critic (Kidz Club).

Kidz club


Posted by AMID at 10:11 PM

Welcome to Cartoon Modern

Cartoon Modern

Today I'm launching a new blog, Cartoon Modern, dedicated solely to 1950s animation design. It is a supplement to my forthcoming book of the same name, CARTOON MODERN: STYLE AND DESIGN IN 1950S ANIMATION, which will be released by Chronicle Books in April 2006. I'll be updating regularly and sharing all sorts of rare research and visual material that I've gathered during the course of writing the book. Over the coming year, expect to see lots of great artwork by the likes of John Hubley, Ward Kimball, Mary Blair, Tom Oreb, Eyvind Earle, Maurice Noble, Ed Benedict and many other lesser known (but equally talented) 1950s-era animation designers. The site address is:

cartoonmodern.blogsome.com


Posted by AMID at 01:23 AM

October 31, 2005

Bugs Bunny vs. America

Rebel Rabbit

Jaime Weinman has posted some thoughtful insights on the Bugs Bunny films of Bob McKimson, and specifically REBEL RABBIT (1949), which is included on the just-released LOONEY TUNES: GOLDEN COLLECTION, volume 3.


Posted by AMID at 11:39 PM

Cartoons Get No Respect in LA TIMES

There was an article by TV critic Robert Lloyd in last Sunday's LA TIMES about the upcoming BOONDOCKS animated series on Cartoon Network, and television animation in general. It's a positive piece, but what was particularly jarring was Lloyd's condescending (and unfortunately, all too typical) attitude that animation is primarily a children's medium. The final point he makes in the piece:

Like the comics, cartoons are children's things made by adults who are not finished with children's things. The reason the best of them have cross-generational appeal is not that they contain jokes for adults and jokes for children but that everything in them represents that doubleness: The dumbest jokes are there for the adults too, just as the smarter ones are there for the kids who know enough to get them — and for the kids who don't, they stand for the fact that there are things still to know, that (pace Homer Simpson) there is something to aspire to: Bugs Bunny cool. And in the meantime, like Huey and Riley, you try to think for yourself. That's what the cartoons tell us.

It's exasperating that in 2005, after one hundred years of animated films, mainstream critics still can't wrap it around their thick skulls that just because something is animated doesn't automatically mean it's a product intended for children. To this critic, the best cartoons have "cross-generational appeal" as if a piece of animation that didn't appeal to both children and adults would somehow be deficient. Granted, most of the shows he writes about in the column are cartoons geared specifically towards children, but it's a gross disservice to animated discourse to lump adult-oriented animation like THE SIMPSONS and "Adult Swim" shows into the same pot as DANNY PHANTOM and THE BUZZ ON MAGGIE, and judge them all on the basis of whether they appeal to both children and adults. If a critic ever said that comics by Crumb, Spiegelman, Ware and Seth are "children's things made by adults" and something that merely provides "a release for adults," that critic would be run out of town, but sadly, this misinformed mindset persists about the animated film.


Posted by AMID at 09:32 PM

Chicken Little Belittled

SLANT MAGAZINE's review of CHICKEN LITTLE begins:

A better name for Chicken Little might have been My First Spielberg Movie given how this mostly innocuous computer-animated contraption takes the childlike but mature feelings of E.T. and War of the Worlds and repackages them as childish sitcom tosh.

And it only gets worse from there...

[Earlier on the Brew: VARIETY's negative review of CHICKEN LITTLE]


Posted by AMID at 04:37 PM

The Boy, The Beer and the Bus

What better way to document a film festival than to make a film about it? That's exactly what Rita Street's friend, Gayle Ellett, did to document this year's Ottawa Animation Festival. Gayle doesn't work in animation, but his laugh-out loud "home-made" film accurately captures the Ottawa flavor, complete with goofy-looking artist types, lots of drinking, and inane animation show pitches. Watch THE BOY, THE BEER AND THE BUS HERE.


Posted by AMID at 04:20 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLLIE!

Ollie Johnston is 93 today. Congratulations.


Posted by JERRY at 03:11 PM

CHANNEL FREDERATOR

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Today Fred Seibert launches Channel Frederator, the world’s first cartoon video podcast, established to distribute commercial and eclectic cartoon content to portable video devices such as the new Apple iPod and the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP).

Released weekly, Channel Frederator will contain several short form original and classic cartoons submitted by producers from around the world, packaged into 10 to 15 minute episodes by Seibert's programming team.

The first episode features four submitted cartoons beginning with “Barrista,” a 2D student film by Pendelton Ward, a director currently completing his first Nickelodeon animated short. Next up is Santa Monica-based Blur Studio’s computer generated short “In the Rough.” Independent filmmaker and musician Eileen Brennan adds the flash production “Go Spy Go.” The last cartoon in Episode #1 is Dave Thomas’ flash film “Mantelope” from Wild Brain, San Francisco’s largest animation studio.
Cartoon producers are invited to submit their short films for inclusion in weekly episodes. For a free subscription to the Channel Frederator podcast, go to the iTunes Podcast Directory and search for Channel Frederator, or go to the web site www.channelfrederator.com and click 'Subscribe.'


Posted by JERRY at 08:24 AM

CANEMAKER ON BOTH COASTS

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John Canemaker will give lectures and screenings in both New York and Los Angeles to celebrate the revised edition of his book WINSOR McCAY. Both the book and Canemaker's lectures are highly recommended by us at Cartoon Brew.

In New York, you can catch Canemaker at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art, 6:30pm, Titus 2 Theatre) on Thursday November 17, 2005 in a special talk about McCay, illustrated with images from Canemaker’s newly expanded biography, and a screening of four of McCay’s greatest films: Little Nemo (1911), How a Mosquito Operates (1912), Gertie the Dinosaur (1914), and The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918). Following the presentation, Canemaker will sign copies of his book.

Canemaker will also present this lecture at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) on January 14th, 2006. More details on his Los Angeles visit as we get closer to the date. If you live on the east coast or west coast - mark your calenders now.


Posted by JERRY at 07:56 AM

JOBS CONSIDERS SELLING PIXAR - TO DISNEY?

Trick or treat?

Got $5 billion plus? Pixar may be for sale. It's the perfect gift for the media conglomerate that has everything!


Posted by JERRY at 06:42 AM

October 30, 2005

Uh Oh...

A negative review of CHICKEN LITTLE in today's DAILY VARIETY.


Posted by JERRY at 09:57 PM