I was thinking today, If Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel has enough animation in it to be eligible for Best Animated Oscar, and A Christmas Carol is considered animation, then Avatar most definitely qualifies as an animated film too. The only reason Avatar isn’t on the list of animation Oscar contenders is because the studio didn’t want it to languish in the “animation ghetto.” That doesn’t change the fact, however, that it’s an animated film and should be acknowledged as such.

This spurred me to do some research on the subject, and I discovered I’m not the only one who’s been thinking about this. Brad Brevet did an excellent in-depth report on the subject at Rope of Silicon where he discusses the blurry line between visual effects and animation and how it leads to a double standard at awards time:

[I]t has pretty much been agreed upon around the Internet Avatar will be taking home the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, which creates an interesting conundrum. Why is the CG in Avatar considered visual effects while the CG employed for a Pixar or DreamWorks film simply considered animation? If Avatar is up for Oscar’s Best Visual Effects award shouldn’t Up and Monsters vs. Aliens be as well? The fact they aren’t, but A Christmas Carol is, interests me. Perhaps the real question is When is CGI no longer considered visual effects and when is it considered animation?

There are serious problems at the Academy if they consider A Christmas Carol to be both animation and vfx, Avatar only vfx, and Up only animation. As animation matures and evolves as an art form, it is vital for those of us within the industry to recognize it in all its many forms, and not allow organizations like the Academy to make arbitrary value judgments about different forms of animation.

47 Comments »   posted in CGI, Ideas/Commentary, James Cameron

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Die Konferenz der Tiere

January 10, 2010 6:15 pm

The trailer for an upcoming German CG feature, Die Konferenz der Tiere, co-directed by Reinhard Klooss and Holger Tappe at Constantin Film:

It’s based on a 1949 children’s book by Erich Kästner that took an Animal Farm-esque approach to Germany’s East-West conflict. The book was previously adapted into an animated feature in 1969. A clip from that earlier film can be viewed on YouTube. Which version would you rather watch?

21 Comments »   posted in CGI, Feature Film

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Furry Vengence

January 7, 2010 12:05 am

Monkey Bone. Dudley Do-Right. Looney Tunes: Back In Action. Brendan Fraser: “Why?”

Yeah, I know this is mostly OT, and it’s mainly live action with some hybrid CG elements, and it doesn’t look funny — but this trailer has an important message:
“You can’t escape the furries!”

75 Comments »   posted in CGI, Feature Film

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Avatar talkback

December 19, 2009 3:00 am

I saw James Cameron’s Avatar last night and I feel a talkback post here would be appropriate.

Did I like the film? Yes, very much so. Eye candy galore! We’ve seen this movie before, but never like this. The film is an awesome, epic spectacle – a classic “western” told through a pulp sci-fi prism.

The film also changed my mind about motion-capture. It turns out I don’t hate mo-cap after all… I just hate the mo-cap films of Robert Zemeckis.

76 Comments »   posted in 3-D, CGI, Talkback, James Cameron

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Alma by Rodrigo Blaas

December 19, 2009 12:12 am

For a limited time during the holidays, Rodrigo Blaas has made his spooky CG short Alma available for viewing online. Blaas is an animator at Pixar who took time off from the studio and returned to his native Spain to make this independent film. His brother, Alfonso Blaas, served as the film’s art director. The film’s official website is AlmaShortFilm.com.

35 Comments »   posted in CGI, Shorts

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Panic Attack

December 18, 2009 4:00 pm

According to this BBC report, Fede Alvarez uploaded his short film Ataque de Panico! (Panic Attack!) to YouTube last month, on November 3rd, and now has a $30 million dollar contract to make a feature length Hollywood film — to be produced by Sam Raimi!

Alverez’s four and a half minute film (embed below) was made for $300.

30 Comments »   posted in CGI, Shorts

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Cats and Dogs 2

December 18, 2009 9:00 am

More CG/live action hybrid features are expected in 2010… such as this:

28 Comments »   posted in CGI, Feature Film

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TONIGHT: Pixar Shorts on ABC Family

December 2, 2009 3:59 pm

Tonight on ABC Family, a two-hour presentation of almost all of the Pixar shorts produced to date. It’s the first time that most of the shorts have appeared on TV. The program runs from 7-9PM ET/PT (and again from 9:00PM-11:00PM ET/PT). Two encore presentations will air on the network on Friday, December 18 at 10PM ET/PT and Saturday, December 19 at 6PM ET/PT. The shorts stretch back to the pre-Pixar short Adventures of Andre & Wally B all the way through Presto. A complete list of shorts being aired can be found in this press release. Of course, I can’t let this opportunity slip by without suggesting that you pick up my book The Art of Pixar Short Films, which was created to serve as a companion to the dvd Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 1.

20 Comments »   posted in CGI, Pixar, Shorts

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