"The Snow Queen" trailer
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How Much is a Ward Kimball Painting Worth?
Ricky Garduno, RIP
, but I did speak to three of their colleagues on the technology side—Alvy Ray Smith, Eben Ostby and Bill Reeves. Of the hundreds of interviews I’ve conducted over the years, I’ll admit that these were the only times I’d ever felt intimidated. These folks are brilliant minds who are smarter than I could ever hope to be. I have a layman’s understanding of how computer animation works, but I can’t pretend to grasp the nuances of how they write code that translates ones and zeros into fantastic computer animated imagery. I’d be willing to wager that very few of the artists who work in computer animation have any clue either. The technology is taken for granted; we simply accept that these programs enable the creation of wonderful images.
. According to the date on the envelope, Bob would have been thirteen years old at the time. It’s amazing that these childhood sketches have survived for over eighty years.
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TAG FOR “Classic”Cartoon Brew's home for up-to-the-minute, unedited announcements and press releases direct from industry sources.
September 2, 2011 3:29 am
Anyone interested in the history of computer animation and the roots of Pixar is in for a treat. Headlining this post is a forty-year-old video created by Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull and classmate Fred Parke at the University of Utah. The animation of the hand, which is among the earliest examples of rendered 3D animation, was reused in the 1976 feature Futureworld. It was the first use of computer modeled animation in a feature film. The backstory of who had a copy of the entire film and why it’s posted on Vimeo is also fascinating and worth a read. Next up is Vol Libre by Loren Carpenter. The film is considered a classic of early computer graphics and caused a huge stir when it debuted at SIGGRAPH in 1980. In fact, Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith walked up to Carpenter after the screening and offered him a job on the spot in George Lucas’s Computer Division, which eventually became Pixar. Carpenter has been with the studio ever since. Here’s what he wrote about Vol Libre in the video description on Vimeo:
I didn’t interview Catmull or Carpenter when I wrote The Art of Pixar Short Films The software didn’t exist four decades ago though. Watching these early pieces of computer animation only heightens my sense of awe and admiration for the scientists and technologists who have made computer animation possible. In a mere blip of time, they’ve built the technological platform that makes possible every one of today’s computer-animated and effects-laden films. Not to mention that their discoveries have led to the development of entirely new forms of entertainment like video games. They are some very smart people indeed. (Thanks, Brian Hoary, for the Ed Catmull link) 25 Comments » posted in CGI, Classic, Pixar, Ed Catmull, Loren Carpenter 
August 31, 2011 9:30 am
For the Pink Panther fanatic who has everything…
When the Pink Panther theatrical shorts were first broadcast on NBC’s Saturday Morning in 1969, DePatie Freleng created a live-action opening title segment (see below) using a customized “Panthermobile“, designed by Jay Ohrberg. Now, the original car is now being offered for sale via an online auction from September 4th through October 14th. I was never sure what they thought creating such a vehicle would do for the Pink Panther – other than create publicity at car shows around the world – but it’s a pretty cool car. If you got the green (and the pink) for it, a once in a lifetime opportunity could be yours. (Thanks, Charles Brubaker) 29 Comments » posted in Cartoon Culture, Classic, pink panther
August 24, 2011 12:05 am
Here’s something I’ve never seen before – and you won’t be seeing it on DVD (or in color) anytime soon yourself. Cartoon historian David Gerstein is one of several animation archaeologists (along with colleagues Steve Stanchfield, Tom Stathes and Thad Komorowski) determined to hunt down lost Hollywood cartoons the major studios have long abandoned or forgotten. This includes missing bits and pieces – like title sequences and cut footage – and all have succeeded in recent years by locating such footage, both important and obscure, found collecting dust in private collections or neglected at major archives. Gerstein’s latest find is the original opening titles and credits (albeit in black and white) to Warner Bros. Oscar winning 1947 short, Tweetie Pie. Even Warners doesn’t have this opening – having been cut from the original negative long ago, for a 1955 Blue Ribbon reissue. Let David tell you about it (and see it and hear it) on his blog. And keep his page book marked – David’s found several more which he’ll post in later weeks. 8 Comments » posted in Classic, Looney Tunes, Tweety
August 23, 2011 12:05 am
Check out this really cool Felix the Cat female tee-shirt line from Korean apparel maker Spao. Be sure to see the designs on all four pages and take 30 seconds to enjoy this nifty promo clip… UPDATE: @YamMag points out that the girls in the promo clip are performers in the group Girls’ Generation (aka SNSD). 10 Comments » posted in Cartoon Culture, Classic, Felix the Cat, South Korea
August 21, 2011 5:15 am
Bob Schuldt was going through his grandfather’s possessions when he discovered an envelope addressed to his grandfather from Robert J. McIntosh:
Click on the image above to see all the drawings. Bob McIntosh was, of course, a superbly skilled background painter who worked on Bambi and dozens of UPA theatrical shorts. One of Bob’s background paintings appears on the back cover of my book Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation The lesson: always look through your grandparent’s belongings, and when you find something, email Cartoon Brew. 4 Comments » posted in Animators, Classic, Comics, Bob McIntosh
August 11, 2011 1:00 am
Yesterday, during commercial breaks on Stu’s Show, I was going through Stu’s complete collection of vintage TV Guide magazines. There I found this intriguing 1955 article (below), written by animation producer Paul Terry, called “How To Make Children Laugh” – subtitled “A Cartoonist Tells The Brutal Truth”. What is that “brutal truth“? That “children react best to situations in which there is a slight suggestion of violence“. Terry, who had just sold his studio to CBS, was hyping his ancient Terrytoon shorts then being screened on Barker Bill’s Cartoon Show. It’s a strange little article and his conclusions are debatable – but he got one thing right, the last line: “…the popularity of animated cartoons will live on and on; the humor in them is visual and, therefore, universal.”
26 Comments » posted in Classic, Paul Terry
July 21, 2011 12:37 pm
Love this never-before-seen image of Walt Disney that popped up on-line recently.
(via Disney History) 39 Comments » posted in Animators, Classic, Disney, Walt Disney
July 15, 2011 12:30 am
A funny thing happened on TCM last night. A scheduled broadcast of Popeye The Sailor Meets Ali Baba and his Forty Theieves (1937) didn’t air. An introduction discussing the racist aspects of the Arab caricatures in the cartoon preceded the scheduled showing with TCM host Robert Osborne and “Media Critic and Author” Dr. Jack Shaheen. “This cartoon probably did more to denigrate Arabs than any cartoon ever”, claimed Shaheen who, to be fair, went on to praise the Fleischer animation. “This one was particularly offensive in the manner in which Arabs are portrayed.” Following this introduction (embed above) the channel ran 15 minutes of promotional filler, then a two-reel MGM Dogville comedy, Love Tails Of Morocco – which, despite its Middle Eastern title, had nothing to do with the Arab-based theme of the evening. So what happend? Did TCM get cold feet and have second thoughts about the Popeye short? Did the Hearst Corporation request TCM pull the film? We don’t know – but here is the film, courtesy of You Tube, that didn’t run last night: UPDATE: This just in from TCM Content Manager (and regular Brew reader) John Miller:
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