Author Archives: Jerry Beck

“Disney Infinity” trailer

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Here is the trailer for the forthcoming Disney video game, Disney Infinity:

Welcome to Disney 2013, where synergy rules – or perhaps, runs amok! Imagine a similar game in a few years mashing up the Muppets, Marvel Superheroes and The Lion King.

For now, click here to see a “cast photo” of the characters involved in Disney Infinity and their redesign for the game.

From the press release:

DISNEY INFINITY unlocks the freedom to play with some of your favorite Disney and Disney/Pixar worlds like never before! You can experience adventures in the worlds of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles and Monsters University – take on the role of Sulley, the naturally gifted ‘scarer’; become Captain Jack Sparrow, the sword-wielding pirate; or transform yourself into Mr. Incredible, one of the world’s greatest crime-fighters. Battle enemies, solve puzzles, overcome obstacles and complete a variety of other unique quests.

Or create your own world! Unlock virtual toys, characters, buildings, weapons, gadgets and more — and bring them into the Disney Infinity ‘Toy Box’ where you can mix them all up to create your own game. In the Disney Infinity Toy Box, there are no rules and you can create any adventure you want. Share your creations with your friends with up to 4-player co-op play.

The more you play, the more you unlock so the story never ends. It’s up to you and your imagination — infinite possibilities, infinite ways to inspire your imagination!

Disney Infinity will be available in Summer 2013 on all major gaming platforms including PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS.

Oscar Nominated Short Films Will Play Theaters Feb. 1st

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Once again, the only way the world gets a chance to see the Oscar nominated short films – before the Academy Awards – is through the theatrical program released by Magnolia Pictures, this year in conjunction with ShortsHD.

The program will screen in over 260 theatres on February 1st and the release includes the animation, live action and documentary shorts. It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway): Go!

The Press Release is posted below.

Los Angeles, CA, January 15, 2013 – ShortsHD™ The Short Movie Channel (www.shorts.tv), working with Magnolia Pictures, will release The Oscar® Nominated Short Films 2013 in over 260 theatres across the United States, Canada and Europe on February 1, 2013. This is the 8th year of the Oscar Nominated Short Film Theatrical Release. The announcement comes on the heels of last year’s record-breaking release, which was one of the top 50 grossing independent film releases in North America, earning over $1,700,000 nationwide. Since its debut in 2005, the Oscar® Nominated Short Films theatrical release program has grown 800%.

A key fixture of the awards season, the theatrical release featuring Live Action, Animation and Documentary short films is the only opportunity for audiences around the country to watch the nominated shorts prior to the 85th Academy Awards® ceremony on February 24, 2013.

This year’s release breaks new ground: a past Oscar winner in that category will host each film. Hosting the Live Action program will be director Luke Matheny, who won the Academy Award® for his Live Action Short film God of Love (2011); hosting the Animated Shorts program are Bill Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg who won the Academy Award® for their Animated Short Film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011); and hosting the Short Documentary program is Daniel Junge, co-director of last year’s Academy Award® winner for Best Short Documentary Saving Face.

This year’s release includes the following Nominated short films:

ANIMATION

Adam & Dog – (director: Minkyu Lee, USA) The story about the dog of Eden. What happened in those first days of Creation that made Man and Dog so inseparable? The dog, as he lives through this curious world, encounters a strange creature; a human being named Adam – and with that discovers a new found connection to the world.

Fresh Guacamole – (director: PES, USA) Learn how to transform familiar objects into Fresh Guacamole!

Head Over Heels – (director: Timothy Reckart, UK) After many years of marriage, Walter and Madge have grown apart: he lives on the floor and she lives on the ceiling. When Walter discovers a long-lost memento of their wedding day, he tries to reignite their old romance. But it brings their equilibrium crashing down, and the couple that can’t agree which way is up must find a way to put their marriage back together.

Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare’ (director: David Silverman, USA) Maggie Simpson spends a day at the Ayn Rand Daycare Center where she is diagnosed at an average intelligence level. Longing to be grouped with the gifted children, Maggie finds her destiny by rescuing a lonely cocoon from Baby Gerald, who is busy smooshing butterflies.

Paperman -(director: John Kahrs, USA) Paperman follows the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City, whose destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a beautiful woman on his morning commute. Convinced the girl of his dreams is gone forever, he gets a second chance when he spots her in a skyscraper window across the avenue from his office. With only his heart, imagination and a stack of papers to get her attention, his efforts are no match for what the fates have in store for him.

LIVE ACTION

Asad – (director: Bryan Buckley, South Africa) Set in a war-torn fishing village in Somalia, an all Somali refugee cast brings to life this coming of age fable of a Somali boy who is faced with falling into the pirate life, or rising above to choose the path of an honest fishing man.

Buzkashi Boys – (director: Sam French, Afghanistan) Set against the dramatic landscape of contemporary Afghanistan and the national sport of Buzkashi – a brutal game of horse polo played with a dead goat – Buzkashi Boys tells the coming of age story of two best friends, a charismatic street urchin and a defiant blacksmith’s son, who struggle to realize their dreams as they make their way to manhood in one of the most war-torn countries on Earth.

Curfew – (director: Shawn Christensen, USA) At the lowest point of his life, Richie gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his nine-year old niece, Sophia, for the evening.

Death of a Shadow – (director: Tom Van Avermaet, France and Belgium) Soldier Nathan died during World War I. A strange collector imprisoned his shadow and gave him a new chance: a second life against 10,000 captured shadows. It is love that guides him, as his purpose is to meet Sarah again, the woman he fell in love with before he died. But then he discovers that she’s already in love with someone else, jealousy clouds his mind and pushes him towards a bitter decision, not without consequences.

Henry – (director: Yan England, Canada) Henry, a great concert pianist, has his life thrown in turmoil the day the love of this life, Maria, disappears mysteriously. He’ll then discover the inevitable verdict of life.

DOCUMENTARY

Inocente – (directors: Sean Fine and Andrea Nix, USA) An intensely personal and vibrant coming of age documentary about a young artist’s fierce determination to never surrender to the bleakness of her surroundings. At 15, Inocente refuses to let her dream of becoming an artist be caged by her life as an undocumented immigrant forced to live homeless for the last nine years. Inocente is both a timeless story about the transformative power of art and a timely snapshot of the new face of homelessness in America — children.

King’s Point – (director: Sari Gilman, USA) Kings Point tells the stories of five seniors living in a typical American retirement resort-men and women who came to Florida decades ago with their spouses by their sides and their health intact, and now find themselves grappling with love, loss and the universal desire for human connection.

Mondays at Racine – (director: Cynthia Wade, USA) Every third Monday of the month, in brassy Long Island, sisters Cynthia and Rachel open up their hair salon, called Racine, and offer free beauty services for women undergoing chemotherapy. The sisters are determined to give women who are losing their hair, eyebrows and eyelashes a sense of normalcy and dignity in a traumatic and uncertain time. The story of what hair means in our culture quickly unfolds into an unexpected look at womanhood, marriage and survival.

Open Heart – (director: Keif Davidson, USA) Eight Rwandan children leave their families behind to embark on a life-or-death journey seeking high-risk heart surgery in Sudan. Their hearts ravaged by a treatable disease from childhood strep throat, the kids have only months to live. Open Heart reveals the intertwined endeavors of Dr. Emmanuel Rusingiza, Rwanda’s lone government cardiologist, as he fights to save the lives of his young patients, and Dr. Gino Strada, the Salam Center’s head surgeon who must convince Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir’s government to keep Africa’s only link to life-saving cardiac surgery free of charge for the millions who need it.

Redemption – (directors: Jon Alpert & Matthew O’Neill, USA) In the documentary Redemption, filmmakers Jon Alpert & Matthew O’Neill closely follow this growing army of New Yorkers whose treasures are in the trash. The film is a chance to meet the marginalized masses we often rush past on our way to catch a bus or make a meeting. They are poor but proud New Yorkers – people who don’t ask for a handout – people whose hands rake through the discards of our lives – building their lives one nickel at a time.

Ruby and Spears on “Stu’s Show”

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This week on the internet radio program Stu’s Show, a return appearance by animation writer/producers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. Ruby and Spears essentially created Scooby Doo for Hanna Barbera, then went on to form their own studio in 1977 to create such Saturday morning “masterpieces” as Fangface, Turbo Teen and Rubik The Amazing Cube.

Joe and Ken made their first appearance on Stu’s Show last May, and they discussed their early Hanna-Barbera days. This time they’ll talk about the projects that came forth from their own studio; which includes working with Roy Thomas, Jack Kirby, Steve Gerber and Alex Toth on Thundarr the Barbarian, adapting Plastic Man, and recording sessions with Mister T.

Stu’s Show will be broadcast live at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific at StusShow.com. It’s free to listen live today – but after that you can download the show anytime for a mere 99 cents. They’ll take questions via phone – but if you have a question I encourage you to email Stu in advance of broadcast (email address here). Listen in here.

“Heart of The Country” clip from Paul McCartney

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Nothing like having Paul McCartney tweet your latest viral animation. It’s speculated that this mysterious (and delightful) piece is tied into promoting the line of vegetarian products for Linda McCartney Foods. Paul is a longtime fan and supporter of animation – but the director of the video has yet to be identified. C’mon, whoever you are, fess up!

UPDATE – I knew my plea would get results. The animation is by Jordan Bruner.

“Goodnight, Sweet Pak Man” By Chris Weller

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Animator Chris Weller has brought the concepts of Pac-Man up-to-date in this clever reinvention of the “Pakkuman” mythos…

Here’s what Chris told us of about the production of this short:

I am a Los Angeles based independent animator (I used to work with Jerry Beck at the small animation house RubberBug), and this is my newest short, Goodnight, Sweet Pak-Man – a stylized, (unauthorized) animated parody of the classic 8-bit video game we all know and love.

For the last 2 years I have been putting this together in what little spare time I have between paid jobs (I worked previously on Season 3 of HBO’s ‘The Life and Times of Tim’ and have animated dozens of web videos) and it is finally ready to share.

In conceptualizing this piece, I was inspired by the “Gallery 1988” art exhibits that pop up frequently, which feature nostalgic and familiar 80’s cartoon and video game characters re-contextualized in various thoughtful and artistic ways. Even though those exhibits are mostly paintings, I wanted the aesthetic of this piece to be worthy of inclusion, and felt I really had to dissect the game and study its core. My big question before starting was, “After more than 30 years, why is Pac-Man still so widely recognized? What is it about Pac-Man that connects with people so well?“

I broke the game down to its basics: You’re a mouth, stuck in a never-ending maze, trying to eat all the food while evading death at every turn. Every 3 levels there is an animated ‘cinema scene’ of Pac-Man meeting a Ms. Pac-Man. They fall in love and every 3 levels produce another Pac-Man Jr. So the game is analogous to the very primal basics of life: Eating, procreating, and trying not to die. In Pac-Man, as in life, nobody “wins,” you just play until the ghosts are faster than you. Or you get really, really good and make it to level 256 and glitch out and break the Matrix.

Anyway, that is the core of what I wanted to preserve from the game while adapting it and rendering it in a much more complex style. I have been working a variety of different jobs within the animation and VFX industry for the last 8+ years, and I wanted to combine all the various skills and techniques I have learned (as well as figure out a bunch of new ones) and roll all them up into an explosive little short.

The piece was animated and composited entirely in After Effects, with a little Photoshop to allow me to hand-color the characters’ bodies. The Backgrounds were modeled in the free CAD program SketchUp.

Hope you enjoy, it was a blast to make. But after 2 years I’m glad it’s done so I can move on!

“Notebook Babies” by Tony Dusko

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Tony Dusko is a grade-school teacher in Pennsylvannia who, for the last five years, has been using animation to communicate with his students. This film explains:

He has since made dozens of 1-minute or less Notebook Babies films – all of them teaching gentle lessons about behavior, encouragement and friendship.

Dusko has studied animation under Paul Fierlinger, and has since sold one of his little films to Sesame Street. Here is his latest one:

(Thanks, Yvette Kaplan)

FIRST IMAGE: Sylvain Chomet’s “Swing Popa Swing”

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The first image from Sylvain Chomet’s upcoming prequel to his film The Triplets of Belleville, titled Swing Popa Swing, was posted on the Cartoon Movie website.

Cartoon Movie is an international conference for producers/distributors of feature-length animation, mainly children’s films for theatrical release. The conference (with about 600 participants) takes place every year in March in Lyon, France. The Chomet project, listed as “in development”, will be looking for co-financing partners at this year’s event.

(Thanks, Liam Scanlan)

JibJab hosting “Loop de Loop” event in LA

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The video above is Opposites by Scott Benson. It’s one of dozens (hundreds?) of entries to Melbourne Australia based Loopdeloop, a monthly showcase-and-friendly competition involving themed animation loops. Check out some of the past winners here.

Loopdeloop will be having its first “star spangled super special” screening in their new home, Hollywood, CA, on Thursday January 31st – and I’ll be there.

The screening will feature a star studded cast of celebrity judges:

- Weird Al Yankovic

- Dane Boedigheimer (Creator of Annoying Orange)

- Alex Hirsch (Creator of Gravity Falls)

- Jerry Beck (Co-founder of Cartoon Brew)

Location:
Dim Mak Studios
6356 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028

7 – 10 PM

Cash Bar
All Ages welcome, 21+ to drink
Valet – Cash valet is located on the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Cosmo Street
Or there is street parking

It’s not too late to enter the contest. If you’d like your animation be part of the event, please read the submission guidelines posted here. And here’s the Facebook page for the event.

“Half A Pantaloon” by Hector Herrera

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Half-a-Pantaloon is the second instalment in the ‘Beastly Bards’ collection and a companion piece to Typesetter Blues which we featured here last October.

It’s a cautionary tale the pitfalls of wearing short pants in the wrong situations. Produced by Hector Herrera and writer/producer Pazit Cahlon at Toronto-based content creators Together: Words + Pictures for Art & Culture in partnership with Varipix.

CREDITS
WORDS: Pazit Cahlon
PICTURES: Hector Herrera
VOICE: Jayne Eastwood
MUSIC: Jayme Stone & Grant Gordy
PRODUCER: Pazit Cahlon
ANIMATION: Hector Herrera and Jeanette Seah
PRODUCTION PARTNER: Blaine Philippi/Varipix
MUSIC: Jayme Stone (Banjo, foley), Grant Gordy (Guitar), Rich Chiaraluce (Clarinet, saxophones), Mark Diamond (Bass, foley), Justin Peacock (Recording & mixing)
VOICE RECORD: Richard Segal at Voodoo Highway Music & Post
SOUND MIX: Richard Segal
VOICE DIRECTOR: Dee Shipley at Dee and Company
RECORD ASSISTANT: Josh Hagen

Animation Dominates the Top 20 Highest Grossing Features of 2012

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Variety printed (sorry, it’s not online) it’s annual list of the Domestic Top 250 Films (of 2012) and animated features were very well represented. Of the top 20 films, six were completely animated pictures. Only three films (#17 Taken 2, #18 21 Jump Street (directed by animators Phil Lord and Chris Miller) and #19 Lincoln) had little or no animation.

The six purely animated features were #7 Brave, 10 Madagascar 3, 11. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, 13. Wreck-it Ralph, 14. Ice Age Condinental Drift and 16. Hotel Transylvania – all grossing over $145 million apiece. The remaining films all made ample use of special effects CGI. The list of the Top 20 with U.S. grosses is listed below.

1. The Avengers $623,357,910
2. The Dark Knight Rises $448,139,099
3. The Hunger Games $408,010,692
4. Skyfall $290,904,271
5. Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 $286,422,893
6. The Amazing Spider-Man $262,030,663
7. Brave $237,262,307
8. The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey $228,546,604
9. Ted $218,665,740
10. Madagasgar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted $216,391,482
11. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax $214,030,500
12. Men In Black 3 $179,020,854
13. Wreck-It Ralph $175, 990,019
14. Ice Age: Continental Drift $161,990,019
15. Snow White and the Huntsman $155,136,755
16. Hotel Transylvannia $145,321,690
17. Taken 2 $138,936,379
18. 21 Jump Street $138,447,667
19. Lincoln $134,189,097
20. Promethus $126,477,084

Just the animated films alone in the Top 20 contributed over $1 billion dollars gross – $1,150,135,597 – to the major studios involved. All told, it was an incredible year at the box office for animation. May it continue into the new year.

P.S. It may have been a financial disappointment, but Rise Of The Guardians will gross over $100 million at the US box office sometime next week. I wish more “failures” did this sort of business.

“A Monster In Paris” going direct-to-DVD

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One of the most interesting looking French theatrical animated features still unreleased in the U.S. is finally coming out here – straight to video. On April 16th, Shout Factory will release the English dub of Bibo Bergeron’s A Monster in Paris on DVD and blu-ray.

Check out the trailer above, featuring voice cast including Catherine O’Hara, Bob Balaban, Sean Lennon, Adam Goldberg, Jay Harrington, and Danny Huston – it film certainly looks commercial enough to have earned a theatrical release. Certainly more that Escape From Planet Earth…

Here’s the Shout Factory press release:

Venture into the delightful Parisian cityscapes 1910s and spellbound by the visually opulent family adventure of A MONSTER IN PARIS, directed and written by Bibo Bergeron (Shark Tale) and produced by world renowned filmmaker Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp and Bergeron’s Bibo Films. With an exceptional English-language voice cast of French singing sensation Vanessa Paradis, singer/song writer Sean Lennon, Catherine O’Hara (Penelope), Adam Goldberg (A Beautiful Mind), Bob Balaban(For Your Consideration), Danny Huston (Hitchcock) and Jay Harrington (Private Practice), A MONSTER IN PARIS harkens back to the classic tale of beauty and the beast, and delivers vibrant storyline packed with elegant characters, unforgettable song-and-dance musical numbers and beautiful CG animation that the whole family will enjoy! This critically acclaimed international major motion picture also features enchanting, honey-toned vocals by Vanessa Paradis and Sean Lennon, with music score by popular French singer/songwriter Matthieu Chedid (aka M) and Patrice Renson.

On April 16, 2013, Shout! Factory, in collaboration with EuropaCorp, invites kids and families across America to a whimsical world of Parisian adventure and fantasy when Shout! Factory, in collaboration with EuropaCorp, unleash A MONSTER IN PARIS on DVD and on two-disc Blu-ray™ 3D Combo Pack. The Blu-ray™ 3D Combo Pack allows viewers to enjoy A MONSTER IN PARIS on the platform of their choice and includes spectacular movie presentation on Blu-ray 3D and 2D, DVD and a digital copy of the movie compatible with PC, MAC, iTunes, iPhone and AppleTV.

SYNOPSIS
A wacky inventor, his camera-crazy best friend and a madcap monkey make a massive mistake when let loose in a mad scientist’s laboratory. With lotions and potions spilling everywhere, the troublesome trio accidentally creates Franc, the product of a reaction between a common flea and one of the scientist’s mystery concoctions. What they fail to realize, however, is that this ‘monster’ is actually a soft-centered soul with an astounding talent for music.

With the help of an enchanting nightclub singer Lucille, Franc becomes the talk of the town, just as stories of Paris’s newest monster attract the attention of the egotistical police commissioner, hell bent on securing a big prize to help his battle to become mayor. The unwitting scientists and the singer must team up to protect Franc, a monster with more than a musical career to protect!

EXCLUSIVE TO TWO-DISC BLU-RAY™ 3D COMBO PACK
Movie presentation on Blu-ray 3D and 2D, DVD and a Digital Copy of the film

Technical Information – BLU-RAY™ 3D COMBO PACK
Street Date: April 16, 2013
Running Time: 1 Hour, 27 Minutes
Layers: (BD25)
Aspect Ratio: 1080p 1.78
Language/ Subtitle: English / English SDH
Sound: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

ON DVD

Technical Information – DVD
Street Date: April 16, 2013
Running Time: 1 Hour, 27 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Language/ Subtitle: English / English SDH
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Academy Award Nominations

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This morning The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominees for Best Animated Feature. The nominees are:

Brave (Pixar-Disney) Directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman

Frankenweenie (Disney) Director: Tim Burton

ParaNorman (Laika) Directors: Chris Butler, Sam Fell

The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Aardman-Sony) Directors: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt

Wreck-It Ralph (Disney) Director: Rich Moore

Nominated for Best Animated Short were:

Adam and Dog, Minkyu Lee, director (Lodge Films)

Fresh Guacamole, PES, director (PES)

Head over Heels, Timothy Reckart, director, and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, producer (National Film and Television School)

Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare, David Silverman, director (Gracie Films)

Paperman, John Kahrs, director (Disney Animation Studios)

Reactions from the nominees themselves are coming in:

From Sam Fell and Chris Butler, directors of ParaNorman

“We are overjoyed that our movie has been Oscar-nominated! We made it with the unending support of brilliant producers and an amazing crew at LAIKA, a unique and cutting-edge studio. On behalf of all of them, we are so proud that the enduring craft of stop-motion has been acknowledged by the Academy — and that the individuality of Norman himself is being celebrated.”

From Peter Lord co-director of The Pirates: Band of Misfits

“This is amazing! We tried to do something a little different with THE PIRATES, in terms of tone and comedy, and it’s just brilliant that the Academy has responded to it in such a wonderful way.”

From Wreck-It Ralph director, Rich Moore:

“To have the Wreck-It Ralph team’s passion and years of hard work acknowledged by the Academy is an honor like no other. We are so proud, so grateful – I can’t wait to congratulate everyone in-person.”

From David Silverman, director of Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare:

“This amazing recognition from the Academy is the craziest wake-up call I’ve ever received. I’m very grateful to Jim Brooks, Al Jean – and especially Matt Groening, for creating “The Simpsons.” They all gave me the opportunity to explore the world of pantomime with what are normally very verbal characters. I also have to give a shout-out to my parents – who I just spoke to – and thank them for allowing me to draw on the walls as a child. It kind of worked out!”

From Minkyu Lee, director of Adam and Dog:

“I am very thankful to be nominated! I couldn’t wait to share it with my wonderful crew. I kept reading the list over and over to make sure that it’s really there and I’m not imagining it!”

From Paperman director, John Kahrs:

“It’s beyond an honor to have Paperman nominated for an Oscar. I can’t thank everyone on the team enough for their passion and hard work in making this dream project a reality.”

Congratulations to all the nominees. The winners will be announced on Sunday, February 24th, 2013.

New Poster for “Epic”

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20th Century Fox has just released its latest poster for Blue Sky’s next feature, Epic, coming out in May. At first glance, you might mistake it for live action teenage adventure flick. What’s your response?

I also like how the Blue Sky Studios logo is getting prominent placement in the title treatment – perhaps to differentiate it from the Dreamworks releases Fox will begin handling this year? Whatever the reason, it’s about time!