Author Archives: Amid Amidi

About Amid Amidi

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How Disney Bought Lucasfilm

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Good long-read in Businessweek about how Disney bought the Star Wars franchise and Lucasfilm. The article is short on major revelations, but contains some cute stories, like an overview of the meeting in which Disney CEO Robert Iger first asked George Lucas if he’d be interested in selling Lucasfilm:

In May 2011, Iger flew to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida for the opening of Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, an upgraded Star Wars ride offering patrons the illusion of traveling through space to visit planets like Tatooine. Lucas was deeply involved in the attraction, personally reviewing its progress every two weeks for several years.

On the morning of the Star Tours opening, Iger met Lucas for breakfast at the Hollywood Brown Derby, one of Disney World’s restaurants. It was closed for the occasion so the two men could speak freely. Fresh from his daily workout, Iger ordered a yogurt parfait. Lucas treated himself to one of the Brown Derby’s larger omelets. The two exchanged pleasantries. Then Iger inquired whether Lucas would ever consider selling his company. Lucas replied that he’d recently celebrated his 67th birthday and was starting to think seriously about retiring. So perhaps the sale of his company was inevitable. “I’m not ready to pursue that now,” he told Iger. “But when I am, I’d love to talk.”

The Big Question: How To Make Money From Short Films

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If you read just one article this month about short film distribution, make it this piece at Short of the Week. Written by filmmaker Ivan Kander, the piece is ostensibly about the changing game of short film distribution, but it also contains a sharp critique of short film distributor Shorts International.

Nobody denies that Shorts International works for a handful of high-profile short films—think Oscar-nominated—but, as the article makes clear, their model simply doesn’t work for the average animation filmmaker, a complaint that I’ve heard often throughout the years. Their business model might have been relevant as recently as five years ago, but in 2013, they are an anachronistic presence on the short film circuit. They take far too many rights for the limited financial reward and exposure they offer in return.

Solutions exist, but companies in the short film community have been slow to implement them. Firstly, filmmakers need something like Bandcamp that facilitates the sale of digital downloads and merchandise, the latter of which is a major part of the income stream of established indie animators like Don Hertzfeldt and Bill Plympton.

Vimeo, by virtue of its name-recognition and user base, is perhaps in the best position to make a major impact in the film distribution game. Their recent introduction of the “tip jar” was a step in the right direction, but what I’d really like to see them do is introduce a micro-payment system. For example, a filmmaker on Vimeo could charge 5 cents per film view. As a viewer, I’d purchase a $5 credit from Vimeo, and then everytime I watch a film that requires payment, the site would automatically deduct a nickel from my account. Vimeo could charge 10% for the service (that’s half a penny on a five-cent film). A film with 500,000 views at a nickel apiece would earn $22,500 for the filmmaker and $2,500 for Vimeo. Add in downloads for 25 cents, and you’ve instantly created a more effective model for short filmmakers than Shorts International, iTunes and YouTube’s Partner Program combined.

(Rich man smoking money photo via Shutterstock)

The Tactile, Physical Labor of Classic Cartoonmaking

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Animation director Michael Sporn has posted a fantastic treasure trove of images from the Golden Age MGM animation studio. The thing that I love most about these photos—and what makes them so different from any modern form of 2D animation production—is the tactility of the work.

The energy of classic Hollywood cartoons was initiated by the intense manual labor needed to produce the films. Every step of animation production required some kind of physical exertion or interaction with a physical object, from jumping on a desk to act out a scene to mixing paints with a blender to searching through boxes of sound effects to making facial expressions at a desk. With computers, we can never return to such an era of cartoon filmmaking—and, in fact, we shouldn’t—but these photos are lovely memories from an earlier period.

Regina Pessoa’s Flipbook Puts Other Flipbooks To Shame

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Filmmaker Regina Pessoa (Tragic Story With Happy Ending) has put out a flipbook for her latest short Kali, the Little Vampire. This is not your typical flipbook though. Depending on where you flip it, the flipbook displays six—yes, SIX—different scenes from the film. Even after watching the video, I can’t figure out how it works, but I’m guessing voodoo magic. You can purchase your own magical Kali flipbook for 7.50€. Email ciclope (at) ciclopefilmes (dot) com for info.

CartoonBrew.com Hires Four New Writers

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Cartoon Brew is expanding its editorial staff. Today we welcome four contributing writers to the website. The new contributors each promise to bring passionate knowledge and a unique point of view into the animation discussion.

Cartoon Brew’s investment in editorial talent allows the site to further position itself as the leading animation news and commentary website while reaffirming its commitment to covering a wide range of ideas and issues related to the animation community.

The four writers will focus on specific areas of the ever-expanding animation art form: Chris McDonnell will explore the intersection of animation and illustration art, Chappell Ellison will look at design culture in animation, Michael Ruocco will explore the development of animation techniques and classic animation created by the art form’s masters, and C.Edwards will provide coverage of industry trends and the lighter side of animation’s impression on popular culture.

As the site’s 9th anniversary approaches next week, we’re thrilled to mark the beginning of a new era in Cartoon Brew’s ongoing evolution. But first, let’s do some introductions:

CHRIS MCDONNELL works on television and book projects. He has created animation for shows such as Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!, Eagleheart, Portlandia, Yo Gabba Gabba, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, and Tom Goes to the Mayor. Chris’s books include Sasquatch’s Big Hairy Drawing Book and Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi. He teaches an “Intro to 2D computer animation” class at the University of the Arts and works from his studio, McD Workshop, in Philadelphia. Chris is a founding member of the Meathaus comics/art collective and posts at Meathaus.com and publishes anthologies of sketchbooks and comics.

CHAPPELL ELLISON is an award-winning design writer and critic based in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to contributing to various publications, she has lent her editorial skills to several visual arts-based institutions and companies, including the Museum of Modern Art, Design Observer, Etsy and the Museum of the Moving Image. Chappell regularly lectures at universities and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts. She blogs often and tweets twice as much.

MICHAEL RUOCCO is a recent graduate from the animation program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He lives in Burbank, California where he works as an artist in the animation industry. As an aspiring animation historian, Michael has assisted on several animation-related books including The Art of Brave and the forthcoming Full Steam Ahead: The Life and Art of Ward Kimball. He founded and edits Smears, Multiples and Animation Gimmicks on Tumblr, which has over 100,000 subscribers.

C.EDWARDS is a New York-based writer and cartoonist who has animated on award winning projects for national broadcast on a variety of networks, including ABC, CBS, PBS, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. He served as a contributing writer of arts and culture editorial for publications like the New York Press, CityArts and The West Side Spirit as well as the websites Out and Queerty. He spends his time tweeting, singing songs from Don Bluth’s Thumbelina, hunting down the perfect Ursula statuette, and writing and drawing his nationally syndicated alt-comic strip, Abel Boddy.

Talking Cartoon Brew on the Frenzer Foreman Podcast

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I have rarely—if ever—participated in any podcasts, which is why I have to point out that I recently put in an appearance on the Frenzer Foreman Animation Forum podcast. In the show, we talk about the time I attended an animation high school, how I got into blogging, where Cartoon Brew is headed, and, of course, what’s happening with the Ward Kimball biography.

Disney Releases “Planes” Trailer

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The trailer announces “From above the world of Cars…Disney’s Planes.”

Now that Disney owns Pixar, the calculated blending of brand identities has begun. Note, however, that Pixar’s name isn’t mentioned in the trailer—even though Planes is rooted in their style and creative universe. There’s a reason for that: nothing in the Planes trailer suggests the originality or artistry associated with the Pixar brand. To be fair though, quality filmmaking appears to have hardly been the motivation for this licensing and merchandising money grab.

The film, directed by TV vet Klay Hall (King of the Hill, Father of the Pride), will be released theatrically on August 9. Here’s the synopsis:

From high above the world of Cars, flies Planes, Disney’s upcoming animated action-packed comedic adventure starring Dusty (voiced by Dane Cook), a big-hearted, fast-flying crop duster who dreams of competing in the most exhilarating around-the-world air race in history. There’s only a couple of not-so-small problems—Dusty is not exactly built for racing and he also happens to be afraid of heights.

Despite his fear and with encouragement from his mentor, a naval aviator named Skipper, Dusty narrowly qualifies for the big competition. Dusty’s sportsmanship and speed begin to rattle the defending champ of the race circuit, Ripslinger, who will stop at nothing to see Dusty fail. When disaster strikes during the climax of the final race, Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test. With the support of friends old and new, Dusty reaches heights he never dreamed possible and in the process, gives a spellbound world the inspiration to soar.

LOST FILMS: “El Sombrero by Bob Balser

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Fans of classic animated shorts are undoubtedly familiar with John and Faith Hubley’s 1964 short The Hat, but there was another short released in the same year that was also called The Hat. This short, El Sombrero (retitled The Hat in English) was one of the few entertainment shorts produced by the Spanish outfit Estudios Moro, which I wrote about yesterday.

According to the 1967 book Film & TV Graphics, it’s “the story of a social outcast and his troubles with a hat…the hat is here a status symbol, but the hero never masters it, for it happens to be a hat that talks.”

Despite being animated in Spain, the film’s principal artists were all Americans. The director, Bob Balser, who I’m happy to report is still with us, had been floating around European studios in Denmark and Finland before landing at Estudios Moro to make this film. A few years after this short, Balser went to England where he would assume his most high-profile role as the animation director of Yellow Submarine.

The story was written and designed by Alan Shean, who was a fixture of the Fifties animation scene. He had worked for most of the major LA commercial houses and had also been an instrumental artist in the early years of Rocky and Bullwinkle. The background artist on the film, Dean Spille, who just turned 85, also worked on TV commercials, primarily at Playhouse Pictures. Following El Sombrero, he began working with Bill Melendez on the Peanuts specials and features, and became one of Melendez’s key artists for the next 35 years.

If the overriding trait of Fifties animation was an emphasis on formal design, then the defining element of Sixties animation was the desire to break away from formulaic ways of drawing characters. Shean, like so many other artists of the era, embraced a freer, more illustration-oriented approach to drawing. The poses and expressions in the stills below don’t look like they belong on any traditional model sheet; they are tailor-made to meet the requirements of each scene. The fluid graphic quality of the line is reminiscent of Robert Osborn’s illustrations and there’s a lovely, improvisational feel to the drawings. It would be a real treat to see drawings such as these in motion.

If you’ve seen El Sombrero or have more to share about the film, please comment.

Call for Entries: Animation Block Party

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Celebrating its tenth edition this summer, Animation Block Party will take place between July 25-28 in Brooklyn. The festival, which is the largest series of animation screenings in New York City, has announced a call for entries. The regular submission period ends on April 29.

Animation Block submission bumper by Zach Williams.

Till Shrek Do Us Part

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DreamWorks cosplay is hardly as widespread as Pixar cosplay, but when people dress up as DreamWorks characters, it’s a thing of beauty. This Shrek-themed wedding happened on the British island of Jersey. There’s an article and video about it on the BBC website and more photos on Yahoo’s Shine.

(Thanks, Nathan Wilkes for the post title suggestion)

What’s Up, Ward Kimball?

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I’ve received dozens of emails this week asking about the status of my Ward Kimball biography. Apparently, Amazon sent out emails to the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who had pre-ordered the book telling them it had been cancelled. To clear up any confusion about what is happening with the book, here are answers to the most common questions I’ve received:

1. Yes, Chronicle Books nixed the publication of my book.

2. Yes, it’s my opinion that Disney’s pressure caused Chronicle to kill the project.

3. Yes, I am amused by the Disney Company’s inept attempt to control the personal histories of its artists.

4. And most importantly, yes, Ward’s story will be told.

Stay tuned to Cartoon Brew for the latest developments.

Viva Ward Kimball!

The Spanish Cartoon Modern of Estudios Moro

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Estudios Moro was a Madrid, Spain animation studio started in 1955 by brothers Santiago and Jose Luis Moro. Their approach, while not strictly modernist, was heavily influenced by the Cartoon Modern approach of the era. There is little written about the studio in the English language, but from what I can discern, Moro appears to have been Spain’s leading producer of animated commercials. The studio’s success allowed it to open satellites in Barcelona and Lisbon during the Sixties.

Below are a few examples of theatrical commercials produced by the studio. If Spanish Brew readers know about Moro’s history or how to see more of their work, please share.

Starting Tomorrow: New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival

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Tomorrow is the opening night of the New York International Children’s Film Festival. The festival is a terrific way for New Yorkers to see foreign animated features that would otherwise be difficult to catch stateside. The opening night film—the much-anticipated Ernest and Celestine—is sold out, but it’ll screen again at the festival on Sunday, March 17. Other highlights include the US premiere of Goro Miyazaki’s From Up on Poppy Hill, the intriguing Euro-anime The Day of the Crows, and the English-language world premiere of French animation legend Jean-François Laguionie’s The Painting.

Other features that might be worth checking out include Welcome to the Space Show, Zarafa and Kirikou and the Men and the Women. See the full festival line-up HERE.