Good news: Popeye Vol. 3 goes on sale September 30th. Will contain all the rest of the black and white Popeye cartoons including all the wartime cartoons uncut, uncensored.
Popeye Vol. 3
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Monthly Archives: June 2008
Kung Fu Panda credit sequence
The awesome 2-D end credit sequence from Kung Fu Panda has been posted by Shine Studios in high quality Quicktime. Shine produced this section in collaboration with James Baxter Animation.
“Michael Riley, Shine’s creative director, composed images of traditional Chinese landscapes, calligraphy and 2D character animation set in a 3D landscape all choreographed to the classic Carl Douglas song “Kung Fu Fighting”; remixed by Cee-Lo Green, accompanied by Jack Black. Riley’s concept included reprising the film’s main characters in original cell animations by finding them hidden in a gigantic Chinese calligraphy character.
(Thanks, David Netherly)
Animation Show Vol. 3 CONTEST!
Rabbit by Run Wrake, City Paradise by Gaelle Denis, Everything Will Be Okay by Don Hertzfeldt, Guide Dog and Shuteye Hotel by Bill Plympton, Game Over by Pes, Learn Self Defense by Chris Harding, ten other amazing shorts and a brand new intro by Beavis and Butt-head. The Animation Show Vol. 3 has just been released by Paramount Home Video, and it’s a must-have.
We have three copies to give away today. The first three people who submit the correct answer via the comments link below will win the prize. CONTEST CLOSED! We have our winners!
Joanna Quinn’s Dreams and Desires is part of Vol. 3. What toliet tissue product did Ms. Quinn do TV commercials for?
And don’t miss The Animation Show 4 coming soon to a theatre near you.
Interactive Animated Wall Projections
“Chase” is an art project from 2005 that I only heard about recently. In it, animated cartoon characters participate in a never-ending chase in which their speed and actions correspond to the speed of a moving car. It’s a modest experiment but I could see the idea being applied to more interesting and ambitious marriages of interactivity and animation in real-world environments. The artist, Karolina Sobecka, offers the following artistic statement about the work:
Danger, violence, fear, persecution are popular themes driving the children’s cartoons. Such infantilized representation of these concepts stands in absurd contrast to the stark reality of the urban LA context.
Live Action/CG “Smurfs” film
What hath Alvin and the Chipmunks wrought?
It’s being widely reported today that Sony is co-financing a live action/CG Smurfs feature film. I’m not usually the pessimist around here, but this can’t be any good – can it?? Variety reports that David Stem and David Weiss (Shrek 2, Jimmy Neutron) are being hired to write the screenplay, and Sony Pictures Animation has certainly made some good films (Open Season, Surf’s Up)… maybe they can pull it off?
(Image above from ComingSoon.com)
The Pogo Special Birthday Special
Speaking of Chuck Jones, as we were yesterday, here is his infamous 1969 TV special based on Walt Kelly’s classic comic strip Pogo. Kelly, who wrote the special, allegedly hated the final results and felt that too much of his personal vision had been subverted into that of Jones’s. Both artists voice characters in the film: Jones is the voice of Porkypine, Bun Rabbit and Basil the Butterfly; Kelly is Albert, P.T. Bridgeport and Howland Owl.
Stay Awake in concert
Hal Willner’s 1988 Disney tribute CD, Stay Awake, is going live.
Stay Awake: the Official 20th Anniversary Concert will take place at UCLA’s Royce Hall on October 30th. Willner has previously staged live concert versions in London and New York over the last year. For its LA performance Willner will attempt to bring in as many of the record’s artists as possible. Artists on the original album included Herb Alpert, Los Lobos, Natalie Merchant, Aaron Neville, Harry Nilsson, Sinead O’Connor, Buster Poindexter, Sun Ra, Bonnie Raitt, The Replacements, The Roches, Ringo Starr, Michael Stipe, and Tom Waits. Who will appear in person? That info will be revealed closer to show time. For now, you can order tickets here.
Will Finn Analyzes Chuck Jones
Animator and director Will Finn recently watched the entire Warner Bros. output of Chuck Jones and has composed a thoughtful blog post analyzing the work of Jones. Lots of good insights throughout, especially this spot-on comparison between the work of Jones and fellow WB director Bob Clampett:
“Unlike his arch rival Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones wants to prove to us that he is smart, tasteful and always in control of everything. Clampett of course is ultimately “in control” too, but his genius is for giving the genuine impression that all Hell is breaking loose onscreen. Much like that other Jones, namely bandleader Spike, Clampett makes us feel (frequently throughout an entire film) that every person in his troupe has gone out of their minds. This never happens in Jones’ world because he won’t allow it. Clampett’s embrace is wider: he can grasp the highbrow world of surrealism in one hand and the lowbrow crudeness of burlesque with the other–he has no boundaries. Boundaries are Chuck Jones’ stock in trade, his main theme is pitting the rational against the irrational. Even when he adopts the point of view of an irrational character, (as with the Coyote), he only does so to mock himself.”
Animation Show contest
The fourth edition of The Animation Show continues it’s rollout across the United States with openings in Los Angeles (The Nuart), Boston (Kendall Square), Washington DC (E Street Cinema) and San Diego (Ken Cinema) this week.
I’ll be in attendance at the Nuart on Friday where filmmakers Mike Judge (King of the Hill) and Steve Dildarian (Angry Unpaid Hooker) will do a Q&A after the 7:30pm show.
In honor of the theatrical release of Vol. 4 we will have two trivia contests this week. The winners will recieve a copy of the just-released MTV-Paramount Home Video DVD of The Animation Show Vol. 3. The contests will be posted here Wednesday and Thursday at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. For more information on The Animation Show and when it’ll play in your town, visit the website.
Three Books Worth A Look
Here are three cartoon and film-related books that aren’t on my bookshelf but will be soon.
The Adventures of Herge: Creator of Tintin by Michael Farr appears to be a well researched and nicely illustrated volume about the legendary comic artist.
Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels by David Berona came out last month and it is packed with STUNNING artwork that falls somewhere between comics, illustration and fine art. The book also discusses the work of Milt Gross and Fleischer animator Myron Waldman, who created the 1943 graphic novel Eve.
I’ve always wanted a copy of Amos Vogel’s influential Seventies book Film as a Subversive Art and didn’t realize until recently that it had been reprinted. The book is inspiring and packed with lots of black-and-white stills. Animation filmmakers are also sprinkled liberally throughout the text.
Flip The Frog coloring book
Chris Lopez has posted all the pages of a vintage Flip The Frog Coloring Book on his ComicCrazy blog. The beautiful artwork for this rare licensed piece was certainly done by the cartoonists at the Ub Iwerks studio. Says Chris:
The remarkable thing about this coloring book is that the colored pieces are original to the printing. They are beautifully done, too. The back cover is the same as the front, so I only posted one side. The cover is holding together by the slimmest of pieces. I dare not scan this book again. It’s stored away for safe keeping.
Chris also posts scans of complete comic book stories on his blog – including this Mighty Mouse classic by Jim Tyer!
Awards Night at the Insectarium
My “uncle” in New Orleans, Wayne Daigrepont, has just checked out the new Audubon Insectarium (“the first major attraction to open after Katrina!”). He reports that:
“…within its giant & wonderful splendor is a CGI animated film (with interactive seats!!), starring caricatured bugs with the voices of Jay Leno, Joan Rivers, & others! The 10-min. film is quite fantastic….(not unlike the “Tough to be a Bug” film at Disney).”
The CG-animated film, produced by Hollywood-based computer graphics studio Super 78, features a bug-like Rivers performing her typical preshow red-carpet interviews. The show, called the Awards Night Theater, was commissioned by Audubon Studios, and created by Technifex, a theme park ride producer. It’s described as a “sophisticated multisensory theater presentation is a 4-D experiential theater that pokes, prods, spritz’s, buzzes and shakes guests while teaching them about the wonders of the insect world.” CG Supervisor Robert Rose has some images and video clips from this project up at his website.
Quick Draw artist
My friend Fred Patten owns this original Quick Draw McGraw painting (click on it above, or here, for enlarged image) created for a frame tray puzzle. Both of us are stumped as to who may have painted it. I’m no expert on merchandising art, but it doesn’t look like the usual suspects at Western Publishing to me (Pete Alvarado, Mel Crawford, Hawley Pratt, etc.) – or is it? Anyone have any theories?
Demystifying Motion Capture
“Performance Capture technology is here to stay!”
Or so says the Visual Effects Society who will be holding a seminar on motion capture techniques on Saturday night, June 29th. Demystifying Motion Capture Techniques will be held at the Sony Pictures Imageworks studio in Culver City and will feature guest speakers from ILM, Henson Digital, Sony and others. More information on this event is here.
Annecy Countdown
One half of Cartoon Brew, namely me, will be attending the world’s largest animation festival next week. If you’re going too, drop a comment below. Lots of interesting programs slated for Annecy this year: a screening of the Israeli animated feature Waltz with Bashir, a celebration of Émile Cohl with live piano accompaniment by the festival’s artistic director Serge Bromberg, a presentation by Richard Williams, a lecture on Winsor McCay by John Canemaker, a sneak preview of Bibo Bergeron and François Moret’s new feature A Monster in Paris, two behind-the-scene presentations about the making of Jacques-Rémy Girerd’s new feature Mia et le Migou and the Irish feature Brendan and the Secret of Kells, Bill Plympton’s new feature Idiots and Angels screened in 35mm for the first time and the world premiere of Disney’s new short Glago’s Guest and Pixar’s latest short Presto. Sound like a decent week if you ask me.
