This could be good… or not. Leiji Matsumoto’s manga (and anime) character is being brought to CGI life in a new theatrical movie from Toei Animation. Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed) is directing from a budget of over 30 million in U.S. dollars. The film will open in Japan this fall. Here’s a peak:
Journeyman animator Shako (aka Shibabrata Chakraborty) created this beautifully creepy short. It tells a disturbing tale, via a rich textured-print look evoking old kitschy paintings. Or at least, it looks that way to me. I love it.
A girl named Mary has a dark past. She lives in her foster home but her painful past never leaves her. She suffers from a rare mental disease called Attachment Disorder. Will she get well? Will she be able to feel love again?
Directed by John Kahrs – and talked about frequently here on the Brew – Disney has just posted the complete film online (perhaps to influence Academy voters).
The latest short from UK’s Trunk Animation director Rok Predin is a haunting little art film starring some nasty cat-demons and a rather cute car.
Composer Ivan Arnold drives Rok Predin’s latest project for Trunk Animation.
Long-term collaborators director Rok Predin and composer Ivan Arnold have worked on a number of great shorts including ‘Winter Poem’, ‘Inside’ and Rok’s comical short ‘Curiosity Killed The Cat’. Normally Rok has been the driving force on these projects bringing in Ivan to compose to his finished work. Yet for their latest short ‘The Chase’ the initial concept came from Ivan. He wanted to work on a score that had as he notes a “dynamic travelling rhythm” that is a strong and central presence in a short rather than a score that sits in the background.
Naturally Ivan turned to his reliable collaborator Rok to work on this concept. The resulting short is a treat. Rok has filmed a beautiful and determined chase sequence. In the video a rather cute toy-like car gradually starts to disintegrate while it is being pursued by huge cat demons that look as though they have escaped from a nightmare Alice in Wonderland. Ivan’s score uses a softly played Asian gamelan to set the tempo of the piece overlaid with a soundscape that creates a haunting melody that drives the short forward.
Rok chose the toy look of the car and colour palette to promote the dream like, unreal nature of the video. Rok also noted that “ A single shot was used throughout the video to keep the viewer engaged and to keep up the suspense while Ivan’s music provided the pace for the chase”.
The 3D car and cats were created in Cinema 4D while the texture, pyro-effects, beautiful colour grading and composition were created using After Effects.
In typical Rok style I can reveal there is a dark ending for the cute car!!
Animation/Director: Rok Predin
Music: Ivan Arnold
Producer: Richard Barnett
Here’s a gorgeous little graduation film from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design out of Jerusalem, combining hand drawn animation with live miniature sets.
The filmmakers are Revital Laufer, a Stop-Motion Animator, Director, Artist, Photographer and Art Designer; and Guy Garibian, a Classic Animator, Director, After-Effects Animator and a Character Designer, working as a graphic artist in the Israel Broadcasting Authority.
They describe describe the film this way:
Our movie describes a young new couple, arriving to their new and modest house, whose construction is still in progress. The house resides in the center of a secluded forest.
During the movie the hero notices a high structure in the forest, towering above all the trees, and desires to make his house even taller.
The hero abandons the task of ending the construction of the roof of his house, and instead puts all his energy and time to the task of constructing more and more levels to it.
Meanwhile, the hero’s relationship with his family gradually degrades, reaching a point where the only way of communication between then is through the hole in the ceiling of the house. While the family spends it’s days on the lower level of the house, the hero stays on the upper levels, busily attending his construction work up to the point where he is abandoned by his family and left alone.
Technique: Classic Animation and Stop Motion Animation.
The Annie Awards ceremony takes place on Saturday night (2/2/13) at UCLA’s Royce Hall. VIP Tickets are sold out, but General Admission tickets ($30) for the ceremony still can be purchased directly through the UCLA Ticket Box office. Live streaming will only be available this year through the Annie website.
Asifa-Hollywood has just announced that Leonard Maltin, voice actors Rob Paulsen & Maurice Lamarche and actor/producer Seth Green will host the event. Complete Press release below:
MALTIN, PAULSEN & LAMARCHE TO SHARE
HOSTING HONORS AT 40TH ANNIE AWARDS – SATURDAY, FEB. 2
Animation’s Most Prestigious Night!BURBANK, CA (January 29, 2013) – Why have just one when you can have four! Former Annie Awards host and movie reviewer Leonard Maltin and voice actors Rob Paulsen & Maurice Lamarche will share hosting duties, along with a special appearance by long time Annies presenter-favorite, actor and animation industry professional Seth Green at this year’s 40th Annual Annie Awards set for Saturday, February 2 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Celebrating the best in animation, this annual black-tie evening will begin with a pre-reception at 5 p.m. followed by the Annie Awards ceremony at 7 p.m. and an after-party celebration immediately following the ceremony. All events will be held at Royce Hall.
“We are very excited to have our hosts share in the 40th celebration of the Annies and know they will bring great energy and excitement to this year’s ceremony,’’ says ASIFA-Hollywood President Frank Gladstone. Joined on stage by a lively mix of animation luminaries, celebrity presenters and comedic talent including animation legend June Foray are Jessica Walter, James Patrick Stuart, Kristen Schaal, Mae Whitman, Sean Astin, Greg Cipes, Jason Biggs, Jessica DiCicco, Lucas Grabeel, Darren Criss & Joey Richter, Kevin Shinick, Jim Cummings & Diedrich Bader, Atticus Shaffer & Tucker Albrizzi, Jamie Bolio, Kevin Michael Richarson & Loretta Devine, Alan Tudyk, Mo Collins, Max Charles, Jon Olsen & Fred
Tatashiore, Sam Witmer & Matt Lanter, Tony Anselmo.This year’s Winsor McCay recipients are Terry Gilliam, Oscar Grillo and Mark Henn. The Winsor McCay Award stands as one of the highest honors given to an individual in the animation industry in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation. The June Foray award will be presented to Howard Green and the Ub Iwerks Award will be presented to Toon Boom Animation.
Often a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 30 categories ranging from best feature, production design, character animation, and effects animation to storyboarding, writing, music, editing and voice acting. Entries submitted for consideration were from productions that originally aired, were exhibited in an animation festival or commercially released between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012.
ASIFA-Hollywood is the world’s first and foremost professional organization dedicated to promoting the Art of Animation and celebrating the people who create it. Today, ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest chapter of the international organization ASIFA, supports a range of animation activities and preservation efforts through its membership. Current initiatives include the Animation Archive, animation film preservation, special events, classes and screenings.
Created in 1972 by veteran voice talent June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for the past three decades.
The talk of the town this morning is this friggin’ brilliant short – The Reward – an epic “hero’s journey” in nine minutes (take that, Peter Jackson). This graduation film was directed by Mikkel Mainz and Kenneth Ladekjaer (and their team: Glenn August, Jonas Andreassen, Josefine Hannibal, Karen Bennetzen, Ole Christian Loken, Paolo Giandoso and Tanja Nielsen) at Denmark’s Animation Workshop.
Animator/teacher Mike Nguyen (Iron Giant) recently forwarded this and links to five other great films and trailers from this year’s graduating class. Mike gives a a 2-3 week workshop on character animation to first year students. (Mike is currently based in Korea, teaching traditional animation there).
Go to the link to explore further work from this outstanding school. Below I’ve embed a few of my other favorites.
Under The Fold (Director: Bo Juhl Nielson)
Memoria (Director: Elisabit Yr Atladottir)
The Odd Sound Out (Directors: Pernille Sihm, Ida Maria Schouw Andreasen)
Here’s all the nutritional information about Good & Plenty candies you’ll ever need, spelled out by the candy itself. Animated by New York-based David Amichai with 4 boxes of candy, 3 lights, 2 poster boards, 1 animator, and about 100 hours of work. Shot with the Canon 7D using Dragonframe.
First they took our Cocoa Pebbles, and now they want our cartoons!
It was announced back in August that WWE (Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment) was teaming up with Warner Bros. to make a new Scooby Doo movie guest starring several wrestling superstars and divas.
Yesterday the WWE sent a survey to its fans (posted below) which – if you read between the lines – might say something its future plans in animation… Wrestlers versus The Justice League? The Smurfs? The Looney Tunes?
They also ask about non-Warner characters such as The Rugrats, He-Man and Alvin and The Chipmunks (???).
We all remember Space Jam. Sports figures and cartoons – What’s your opinion?
“Thank you for participating in the survey. Your complete and honest answers will help us better serve you and other members of the WWE Universe in the future.
What is your exact age?
Do you have any children under the age of 18 living in your household who are WWE fans?
How many times in an average month do you watch cartoons or animated programs?
Do you like any of the following cartoons or animated programs?
The Smurfs
The Rugrats
Alvin and the Chipmunks
The Flintstones
Justice League
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Looney Tunes
Scooby Doo
Tom and Jerry
None of the aboveDoes your household own any of the following cartoons or animated programs on DVD? Select all that apply.
Looney Tunes
Alvin and the Chipmunks
The Rugrats
Tom and Jerry
The Smurfs
Justice League
Scooby Doo
The Flintstones
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
None of the aboveWWE will co-produce an action packed Scooby-Doo animated movie that will feature WWE Superstars and Divas including Triple H, John Cena, Kane, The Miz, Santino Marella, AJ, Brodus Clay, Sin Cara and WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon. These WWE Superstars will appear in an animated form helping their friends Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne and Fred solve an exciting mysterious case at WrestleMania.
If WWE Superstars were to appear in another animated program, which of the following properties would you be most interested in seeing partnered with WWE?
The Smurfs
The Flintstones
Looney Tunes (e.g., Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, etc.)Which of these three properties would you be most interested in seeing partnered with WWE?
The Rugrats
Justice League (e.g., Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc.)
Alvin and the ChipmunksAnd which of these three properties would you be most interested in seeing partnered with WWE?
Tom and Jerry
Scooby Doo
He-Man and the Masters of the UniverseOf the three animated programs you selected, which would you be most interested in seeing partnered with WWE?
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
The Rugrats
The FlintstonesWhat is your race / ethnicity?
Which of the following ranges best describes your total annual household income (before taxes)?”
(via Wrestling, Inc.)
I first posted about the animation collective Late Night Work Club back in November. The group was started by Scott Benson with Charles Huettner, Eimhin McNamara and Eamonn O’Neill, who then we reached out to other people they knew and respected.
They’ve just released the trailer for their first shorts anthology, Ghost Stories, which will be released this coming Spring. In addition to the collective’s founders mention above, the anthology features the work of Sean Buckelew, Dave Prosser, Jake Armstrong, Erin Kilkenny, Alex Grigg, Daniella Orsini, Joe Orton, Conor Finnegan, Louise Bagnall and Christen Bach. Based on the trailer, it looks terrific:
This year, Warner Home Video is releasing several DVD boxed sets designed to celebrate the film studio’s 90th anniversary. A few of them will actually compile cartoons. They’ve just announced one of these: The Best of Warner Bros.: Hanna Barbera 25 Cartoon Collection, a 2-DVD set available on May 21st, for $26.99 ($18.89 on Amazon). It includes selected H-B cartoons from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70′s. The contents are:
1950s
The Ruff & Reddy Show (1957) “Planet Pirates” (episode 1)
Huckleberry Hound (1958) “Spud Dud”
Yogi Bear (1958) “Snow White Bear”
Hokey Wolf (1961) “Castle Hassle”
Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks (1958) “A Wise Quack,”
The Quick Draw McGraw Show (1959) “Masking for Trouble”
Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy (1959) “Gone to the Ducks”
Snooper and Blabber (1959) “The Lion is Busy” with Snagglepuss
Loopy De Loop (1959) “Wolf Hounded”1960s
The Flintstones (1960) “Love Letters On The Rocks” 30 mins.
The Yogi Bear Show (1961)
Snagglepuss “The Roaring Lion”
Yakky Doodle “Hasty Tasty”
Top Cat (1961) “T.C. Minds the Baby” 30 mins.
Wally Gator “Gator-Napper”
Touché Turtle and Dum Dum “Rapid Rabbit” with Ricochet Rabbit Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har “Hick Hikers”
The Jetsons (1962) “Rosie the Robot” 30 mins
The Magilla Gorilla Show (1964) “Makin’ with the Magilla”
Punkin’ Puss & Mushmouse “Callin’ All Kin”
Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long “Will ‘O the Whip”
Jonny Quest (1964) “The Robot Spy” 30 mins.
Peter Potamus (1964) “Cleo Trio”
Breezly and Sneezly “Stars and Gripes”
Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey “Black Bart”
Atom Ant “The Big Gimmick”
Secret Squirrel “Cuckoo Clock Cuckoo”
Squiddly Diddly “Way Out Squiddly”
Precious Pupp “Precious Jewels”
The Hillbilly Bears “Do The Bear”
Winsome Witch “Have Broom will Travel”
Frankenstein, Jr. “The Shocking Electrical Monster’
The Impossibles (1966) “The Spinner”
Space Ghost “The Heat Thing”
Dino Boy “The Sacrifice”
Space Kidettes (1966) “Moleman Menace’
The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show “Gadzooka”
Birdman (1967) “Birdman Meets Birdboy”
The Galaxy Trio (1967) “Revolt of the Robots”
The Herculoids (1967) “Attack from Space”
Cattanooga Cats (1969) “Witch Whacky”
It’s The Wolf (1969) “Slumber Jacks”
Motormouse and Autocat (1969) “Wheelin’ and Dealin’”1970s
The Funky Phantom (1971) “The Liberty Bell Caper” 30 mins.
Jabberjaw (1976) “Dr. Lo has Got to Go” 30 mins.
Sounds like quite a bargain to me. Sharp-eyed CB readers Rodrigo Tramonte and Homero Bender noted on Cartoon Brew’s Facebook page that the rabbit pictured on the box between Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw is not a familiar Hanna Barbera character (see below). It’s actually “Rapid Rabbit” from a late Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical short, Rabbit Stew And Rabbits Too (1969).
Apparently the artist meant to use a Ricochet Rabbit (the particular Ricochet Rabbit cartoon on this set is titled “Rapid Rabbit“). I’ve been told Warner Bros. will correct the artwork on the final package.
(Thanks, TV Shows on DVD)
The show may be cancelled, but this list of animation rules – “60 and counting” – for artists on Fox’s King Of The Hill is a great read.
Some of this is show policy, some of it is good common sense. All of it gives us insight into how the visual sense of show was achieved – and what the “guidelines for life in Arlen” were like. No “limp wrists”, no “Josey (sic) and The Pussycats” action, and lots of rules for eating and drinking…
Click here to see the whole list.
(Thanks, Kiff Knight)
This just in from downtown Los Angeles gallery GRspace.
Their upcoming Ladies of Animation show is the latest in an ongoing series centered on the art of animation. Curated by a former artistic manager at Pixar and Disney, Gennie Rim, the exhibition underlines the personal work of more than a dozen female artists from major studios including Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks. Character designers and animators, story and visual development artists from films such as Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie and Paperman will be featured.
Opening Reception will be held on Saturday, February 9th. The show will run through March 2nd. Here’s the official Pres Release. My advice: Go!
“Ladies of Animation” Art Show Showcases Female Talent in Animation
Show Runs from February 9th to March 2nd, 2013
Los Angeles, CA – Gennie Rim, former artistic manager at Pixar and Disney, picks up her ongoing series centered on the art of animation with a new exhibit, “Ladies of Animation,” underlining the personal work of female artists from major studios including Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks. The Opening Reception will be held on Saturday, February 9th from 6 – 10 p.m at GRspace (114 W. 4th St. Los Angeles, CA 90013). The show runs through March 2nd, 2013.
Featured in the show are: Victoria Ying, Sho Murase, Helen Chen, Nicole Mitchell, Clio Chiang, Griselda Sastrawinata, Anna Chambers, Lorelay Bove, Claire Keane, Fawn Veerasunthorn, Brittney Lee, Kendelle Hoyer and Lissa Treiman.
The women’s contributions span many disciplines within the world of animation from the design of feature characters to story and visual development in films such as Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie and Paperman. The reach of their work extends beyond the studios into the arenas of toy design, graphic novels and advertising.
Of these artists, Rim says, “All of these women are world-class talent, and their personal work should be seen and recognized within the community of animation, and also within the world of fine art.”
A portion of proceeds will be used to support GRworks’ free monthly art workshop for kids — Rim’s simultaneous effort to foster interest and support for youth arts in Los Angeles. The next workshop, taught by animation artists, is scheduled for Saturday, February 23rd from 1 – 3 p.m. at GRspace. For more information, please email info@GRworks.com.
About GRworks
Founded by animation professional Gennie Rim, GRworks was conceived in 2012 to bridge the gap between the creativity in commercial animation and fine art. Integral to the vision and philosophy of GRworks is the desire to create a space for highly talented production artists to pursue and exhibit personal works to the fine art and contemporary art communities. GRworks-curated shows have showcased many of the animation industry’s top talent. Rim brings more than 15 years of experience in animation and film, working at such industry titans as Disney and Pixar.
Plympton is coming west – again!
One of the most entertaining ways to spend an evening is to see Bill Plympton, watch his films and hear him talk about animation. He’ll be making one of his rare West Coast appearances on Friday February 1st at The Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood.
Trepany House and Muybridge International Present an evening with Oscar-nominated Animator, Bill Plympton! He will present clips from his latest feature film, Cheatin’, screen classic animated short films, and a Q&A session you won’t want to miss!
*FREE ORIGINAL SKETCH FOR ALL TICKET HOLDERS!
PLUS: Special appearance by actor Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket, The Dark Knight Rises) who narrated Santa The Fascist Years and voice Bertie in Bill’s re-imagining of Winsor McCay’s The Flying House.
AN EVENING WITH BILL PLYMPTON
Friday February 1st at 8pm, $20. Get Tickets here.
Director Chris Sanders (How To Train Your Dragon) is posting while in post-production on The Croods. He’s letting us see some of his deleted boards, of scenes that were cut or altered, on his new Dreamworks film. Sanders art is magnificent – his storytelling is superb. Head on over to Chris Sanders’ blog now and check it out!
