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VIEW POSTS BY “amid”Cartoon Brew's home for up-to-the-minute, unedited announcements and press releases direct from industry sources.
December 18, 2006 1:06 pm
No Comments » posted in Old Brew 
December 18, 2006 3:15 am
Last Wednesday, December 13, Disney’s feature animation division experienced layoffs that affected all departments from artistic to production support. That is not news. The announcement that the studio was laying off approximately 160 people had already been made a few weeks before. What surprised many though was that on the same day, Chris Sanders was relieved of directing duties on AMERICAN DOG. Having spoken to some people who are close to the production, the decision to separate Sanders from his “baby” most likely came from John Lasseter and Ed Catmull. Even though MEET THE ROBINSONS (scheduled for release in March 07) will be the first film released during the the new Lasseter/Catmull era, it was in production long before they arrived and neither of the Pixar bosses will be under scrutiny for how it performs. AMERICAN DOG, on the other hand, has fallen clearly under their creative supervision, and they know that their first outing at Disney Feature Animation has to result in a high-quality, commercially successful product. It’s unclear exactly why Sanders wasn’t allowed to stay on the picture. Last October, Jim Hill suggested on his site that Lasseter thought the film was “too quirky for its own good” and had asked Sanders to make significant story changes. Or perhaps the pre-Lasseter/Catmull management had fiddled around with it too much and the film had deviated from Sanders’s original vision. Whatever the reason, Lasseter and Catmull apparently felt that the best way to get the project back on track was to start with a clean slate, much like what happened with Pixar’s upcoming RATATOUILLE when Brad Bird took over directorial duties from Jan Pinkava. One Disney artist I spoke to suggested that after everything Sanders has had to put up with on AMERICAN DOG, he may be feeling a bit of relief knowing that he no longer has to deal with this project. At this point, there’s still every reason to be hopeful for AMERICAN DOG. It’s unfortunate that it won’t be Chris Sanders’s original vision, but when Lasseter and Catmull remove an unquestionable talent like him, one has to assume that they are doing it in the film’s best interest. As for Sanders, I certainly don’t think he’ll have any difficulties getting a new project off the ground, whether it’s at Disney or elsewhere. UPDATE: An individual who knows a lot about the situation wrote to take issue with the statement that Chris Sanders felt “relief” at being taken off AMERICAN DOG. Sanders had apparently been informed before last Wednesday that he was no longer going to be the director, and according to this source, was deeply disappointed, hurt and angered. The source also writes, “Chris felt like his heart had been ripped out, and he didn’t expect if from someone (Lasseter) who always talks about a director-driven studio model. This was totally Chris’ project from the start, he was pouring himself into it, and now he’s fired.” UPDATE #2: Animation director Mark Mayerson writes on his BLOG about the AMERICAN DOG situation: “I do not expect Pixar to make any public statements about this, but I think they should. If they don’t, Pixar’s reputation within the business may be seriously damaged.” No Comments » posted in Disney
December 18, 2006 12:55 am
I wrote about the charming pilot for the TV series MINUSCULE back in September. MINUSCULE is a new CG series from France created by Hélène Giraud and Thomas Szabo at Futurikon. The show is comprised of seventy-eight shorts chronicling various (mis)adventures in the insect kingdom. When I wrote about the first short, I said, “If the rest of the episodes hold up to the quality of this pilot, I think we’re in for something special.” Well, two more of the shorts have been posted onto YouTube and I’m happy to report that they’re absolutely wonderful. The visual mixture of live-action backgrounds, semi-realistic characters and cartoony animation works flawlessly, and the storytelling and pacing of these shorts are things of beauty. In the “Catapult” short, the grasshopper’s snickering laugh seems like a tribute to Tex Avery’s bulldog character, which is only appropriate since these shorts remind me of Golden Age theatrical shorts more than anything else I’ve seen recently. The show is currently airing on the Disney Channel in the US, and if I read the schedule correctly, new shorts air Sunday nights at 7:55pm. The show’s official website is Minuscule.tv. The Catapult (Thanks, Graham Finch) No Comments » posted in Old Brew
December 18, 2006 12:41 am
 This is a nicely designed Flash holiday greeting from the British cg/vfx house Framestore CFC. Plus, at the end of the piece you can help Framestore CFC choose which charity they’ll donate money to. (Thanks, Giannalberto Bendazzi) No Comments » posted in Old Brew
December 15, 2006 5:10 pm
A four-and-a-half-minute compilation of every Ray Harryhausen creature in feature films, presented in chronological order. Pure 3D awesomeness! (Thanks, Nathan) No Comments » posted in Old Brew
December 15, 2006 5:02 pm
ASIFA-East president David Levy has an interesting interview with fellow Brewer Jerry Beck in this month’s ASIFA-East newsletter. I particularly enjoyed reading Jerry’s answer to this question: “If you could only save one short from each vintage cartoon studio below, which would it be, and why?” No Comments » posted in Old Brew
December 15, 2006 12:33 am
 Can you guess who the scientist on the left is? Steven MacLeod has the answer on his blog, and it may surprise you. No Comments » posted in Old Brew
December 14, 2006 11:01 pm
 This has nothing to do with animation but it’s a delightful character design project worth noting. Last month, LA-based graphic designer Stefan Bucher started a “Daily Monster” videoblog. Every day, he throws down a random inkblot onto a piece of paper and then transforms that blot into a wonderful little creature. Each monster’s creation (there are 26 so far) is documented with a short video. And recently, his blog readers have started to come up with back-stories for the monsters. How’s that for innovative character development – artist and audience working together to create new characters. No Comments » posted in Old Brew
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