2011 is not quite done, but that doesn’t stop the studios from promoting its upcoming 2012 fare. Here’s the clever one-sheet (and a new name) for Disney’s latest Studio Ghibli release, The Secret World Of Arriety.

(via The Ghibli Blog)

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The latest from Laika, via Focus Features, Paranorman, opens next August 17th. The teaser poster is quite striking:

(Via Immersed In Movies)

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And finally, for all you Bronies, this scary looking poster spotted on Ventura Blvd (at Barham Blvd.):

We’ve come a long way since The Reluctant Dragon. Here’s how Disney’s Phineas and Ferb is made. Except for the rap music, it’s a pretty accurate account.

The team at Dallas based Element X Creative animated this 5-minute long sponsor reel for last week’s Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Southwest Awards show. If one has to sit through dozens of company logos, this is the way to go – weaving the sponsors names into a haunting and beautiful Twilight Zone-like story about a little boy who stops time and sees his home town in a whole new way. It stands on its own as one of the best CG shorts I’ve seen this year.

Complete credits for this piece after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

(Thanks for the loan, Mike Van Eaton)

Just in time for Halloween, UK’s A Large Evil Corporation produced this spooky retro-cool puppet-like CG sample piece, The Gawper:

(Thanks, Brian Lonano)

Creators of Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing, United Productions of America (UPA) was the most significant animation studio of the 1950s. Ushering in a whole new way of making cartoons, combining modern art with slapstick comedy, UPA challenged the way Disney made toons and dominated the Academy Awards during that decade. There’s no doubt of their inspiration on international and independent animators for decades to come.

Charles Solomon (who did a great job hosting the Mary Blair tribute last night at the Academy) recorded an audio editorial championing UPA that will run on L.A.’s public radio station KPCC (89.3 FM), Off Ramp, Saturday at noon and Sunday at 7pm. Solomon points out that a current local art show cooperative – Pacific Standard Time, which celebrates southern California’s contributions to pop culture – omits the UPA studio’s significant influence on art and animation. KPCC has just posted his piece online, in advance of its broadcast: Download or listen to stream here.

Meanwhile, I will be doing my part by mounting a tribute to UPA at my next Animation Tuesday screening, on Tuesday November 1st at 8pm. I will be introducing rare 35mm prints of the studio’s undeniable classics on the big screen — including their acclaimed adaptation Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, Oscar winner When Magoo Flew (in wide screen CinemaScope), and rarely shown The Jaywalker, Willie The Kid and Fudget’s Budget and more — along with a selection of rare commercials, industrial films and TV films not seen in public for over 50 years. More info and tickets: click here.

AWESOME+modest, the small Brooklyn-based animation studio who did all the animation for Waiting For Superman, the new U2 doc From the Sky Down, and the animated music video for The Mountain Goats posted here a few months ago. Their latest music video is for the very talented Dan Wholey. Amateur Rocketry is probably NSFW:

Director: AWESOME+modest

Animators:
Sean Donnelly
Vanessa Appleby
Jane Samborski
Abbey Luck

Take a look at WindMills, a beautifully stylish graduation film from France’s Georges Méliès school, directed by Guillaume Bergère, Guillaume Coudert, Maria Glinyanova, Bruno Guerra and Charlotte Jammet.

Synopsis: It is a dead, lightless world, where a little girl, despite her father’s renunciation and despair facing the death of his wife, maintains their dream of building a machine powered by magic winds to fly and reach the sun.

Talk about your “adult swim”: this anime-inspired music video for DyE, directed by French animator Jérémie Périn, is clearly Not Safe For Work (NSFW). A group of teens break into the local pool for an innocent nighttime swim, or so they think…

CREDITS
Directed by Jérémie Périn
Written by Laurent Sarfati & Jérémie Périn
Artistic Direction by Mikael Robert
Produced by Excuse My French / PH & Tigersushi
Executive Producer : Constance Guillou
Production Coordinator : Perrine Schwartz

(Thanks, Mike Gettel via the Cartoon Brew Facebook page)

I have never seen a bad piece of merchandise from Bob Clampett’s Beany & Cecil. All of it looks incredibly appealing to me. These pieces (above and thumbnails below – click to enlarge) are currently available via the latest auction at Hakes. The current bids are a bit rich for my blood, but at least we can live vicariously through the photos.

(Thanks, Billie Towser)

On Monday October 24th Cartoon Brewmaster Jerry Beck will once again be hosting Cartoon Dump, his monthly live comedy and worst cartoons showcase, in Hollywood. Join him, Frank Conniff (MST3K), Erica Doering and special guest comedian Andy Kindler for their our annual Halloween special. There’s nothing spookier than Mighty Mr. Titan… except maybe Moodsy, the Clinically Depressed Owl, Compost Brite, and Dumpster Diver Dan.

Join them Monday (10/24) at 8 PM, for an evening of hilarious comedy, demented songs, and really, really crappy cartoons. It’s again at the Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Blvd. (two blocks west of Vermont). Map here, see you there!

Here’s another clever stop motion music video for Jesse & Joy, directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada (Chocolate). Cameron Clark was the director of animation and Charles Pieper was lead animator on the piece, made with 3500 individual photographic paper cut outs, animated all in one month. Go behind the scenes here.