Perhaps this should be subtitled: “How an animator sees the world.” The visuals in this delightful short film are, according to the filmmaker, from the POV of a very imaginative child wandering through France. Filmed with a mobile phone with integrated 2D animation by David Martins da Silva, a student at EMCA (Ecole des Métiers du Cinéma d’Animation) the famed animation school located in Angoulême, France.
Another year, another funny little film from graduating student Brian Carter (I posted his Give Me Space last year). Here is his final film (4th year) at CalArts, Princess of the Magical Tears:
Thank you Facebook, for allowing us to to see another side of Disney – off model Mickeys, awkward Donalds and suggestive Pigs – courtesy of postings from around the world. Just had to share some of my favorites:
There are people who hate stuff like this — and then there are the rest of us. Ethan Clarke‘s wonderful and disturbing thesis film from CalArts:
If you ever hated (or loved) the Hanna Barbera feature length Charlotte’s Web (1973), you owe it to yourself read the latest two entries in Gene Deitch’s Roll The Credits blog. It’s the full heart-breaking account – throughly documented with personal letters between Deitch and author E.B. White – of how Hollywood producers went from John Hubley to Gene Deitch to ultimately using Hanna Barbera to bring this literary classic to life.
Read the full story here, then drool over the complete never-before seen 792-panel storyboard Deitch had drawn by the masterful Czech artist Mirko Hanák, who passed away shortly after creating it. Deitch says E.B. White was forbidden (by producers) to see his storyboard (though White died shortly after seeing the Hanna-Barberra version. Coincidence?). A must-read!
Samuel L. Jackson leads a team of flying heroes in… no, not The Avengers… in South Africa’s first 3D animated feature Zambezia. Produced by Capetown-based Triggerfish Animation Studios, the film is scheduled for release this winter in Africa – and next year by Sony (according to this report in The Hollywood Reporter). The cast also includes Jeff Goldblum, Abagail Breslin and Leonard Nimoy. Here’s what it looks like:
The Netherlands based Junaid Chundrigar (previously featured on Cartoon Brew with Sheeped Away) made Disassembled after drawing some Marvel characters in a cartoony style. It’s the perfect response to The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil and the X-Men (all of which I love – and I love this too).
Our friends at TVShowsOnDVD have reported on Warner Home Video’s plans to release Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. I guess that means it’s okay for me to discuss it here.
Because I’m involved as a consultant on certain Warner DVD projects, I have to sign a non-disclosure form preventing me from talking about them before the company makes them public (That said, I wish I could tell you about the stuff coming out later this year. Consider this a hint that some of the most sought after animation the company owns is headed to DVD and blu-ray within the next year).
This Mouse Chronicles set contains 2-discs and runs 133 minutes long, includes an all-new featurette (Of Mice and Pen) and audio commentary by several historians and animators. This collection began life as one of the series of Looney Tunes Super-Stars and was designed to showcase only Chuck Jones’ Hubie and Bertie and Sniffles cartoons. While some of these have already been released on previous collections, most of this material is new to video – and beautiful restored. The DVD & Blu-Ray come out on August 28th – $18.89 on Amazon.com. Restored cartoon titles listed after the bump.
Continue reading
Recent Sheridan grad Abe Taraky (who gave us Knighty Night, last year), has been working on his thesis film for his final school term – a combination of 2D and 3D CG – and it looks very intriguing:
Morgan Miller (Teela!) and his quirky sense of humor are back:
(Thanks, Andrew Misha)
Owen Dennis, an English teacher working in China, took about 6 months in his spare time to create this 4 minute animated video for his band, Galactaron. The group’s new album is a musical “about an alien band that travels to Earth and meets their first human, Emily Wong.”
Says Dennis: “The reason the video looks reminiscent of a VHS is because I wanted to bring a childlike feeling to it. For me, childhood was the early 90’s. That means people had non-earbud headphones and they watched things on VHS.”
“It’s not exactly like a VHS however, because I wanted the audience to feel now what it felt like back then. Therefore, it’s HD, but with elements of the time period added in (film flicker, mild tracking issue, hand painted lens flairs, etc). It is voiced by myself and Delilah Zhang.”
Congratulations, June Foray!
It’s only taken over fifty years for the Television Academy to recognize the “First Lady of Animation”. This morning, June received her first-ever Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program. It’s for her role as Mrs. Cauldron on Cartoon Network’s The Garfield Show.
And additional congratulations to writer/producer Mark Evanier for directing June in this performance!
June’s competition in her category are:
Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program
June Foray, The Garfield Show
James Hong, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesome
Jeff Bennett, Penguins of Madagascar
Rodger Bumpass, SpongeBob SquarePants
The complete list of 2012 Daytime Emmy Nominations are posted here.
Continue reading
Delta Heavy by Get By
Stop-mo. Directed and animated by UK based Ian Robertson. Illustrations by Annie Ward.
Mr. Overtime by Punks Jump Up
This music video was produced by ChezEddy and directed by Maxime Bruneel, a French director known for his psychedelic videos. And it shows!
Ten by Ten by Bluebrain
I just caught up with this mini-masterpiece, directed and animated by Gabe Askew.
Martin Scorcese made Hugo and, due to its success, might decide to revise his classics for a more family friendly audience. San Francisco based artist Bryan Boyce imagines this mash-up:
(Thanks, Steve Menke)
From the moment Cartoon Brew was established, no film has gotten the coverage that Threshhold Entertainment’s ill-fated CG animation feature, Foodfight, has recieved.
To recap: In 2004, CG animation studio Threshold Entertainment and Motion Picture Magic (a product placement company in Encino) teamed up to produce a “food” version of Toy Story. Foodfight would team 80 name-brand products and their associated characters, including Mr. Clean, Cap’n Crunch, Charlie the Tuna, the Engergizer Bunny and the Brawny paper towel man, in an adventure set in a supermarket city — with a voice cast including Charlie Sheen, Eva Longoria, Ed Asner, Chris Kattan and Christopher Lloyd. In 2007, Lionsgate announced they were picking up the film – for a release that never happened. In 2010, a Brew reader spotted some licensed merchandise from the film. Last year, International Film Gauarantors auctioned the film to the highest bidder when Threshold defaulted on their loans.
The latest word is that England’s Boulevard Entertainment has picked up the rights for DVD – in Europe. At least (and at last) we are a step closer to seeing how terrible this thing is. I can sleep easier now, knowing that paying consumers will soon enjoy this lost masterpiece!
(Thanks, Dave Silva)
