Can someone explain this to me – or tell us where it’s from?
(Once again, thanks to Don Brockway for finding this)
Yellow Submaryan
28
Monthly Archives: October 2008
Walt Peregoy and Fernand Léger
Oswald Iten’s blog Colorful Animation Expressions offers a nice post about the influence of Fernand Léger on Walt Peregoy, the color stylist of 101 Dalmatians. The comparison made between the work of Léger (left) and Magoo background painter Bob Mcintosh (right) is also quite striking.
Good Morning New Orleans!
This morning, I appeared with film critic Dave Dubos on Good Morning New Orleans to hype Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6. We taped a fifteen minute interview yesterday at KTLA studios in Hollywood. The KTLA newsroom is in the exact building on Sunset and Van Ness which was home to Leon Schlesinger Productions in the 1930s and 40s (as as seen in the 1940 short You Ought To Be In Pictures). Dubos says the whole interview will appear later today on the WGNO website as a podcast – but you can check out my one minute broadcast appearance on the ABC26 website now.
UPDATE: I just got the link. Click Here to watch the full 15 minute interview.
Alice’s Birthday
The footage in this promo reel looks like a lot of fun to me.
All I know about this Russian Flash animated feature is what’s published on Wikipedia:
Alice’s Birthday, is an upcoming 2009 Russian flash-animated feature film directed by Sergey Seryogin and being made by the studio “MASTER-FILM”. It is based on one of a series of stories by well-known writer Kir Bulychyov about Alisa (Alice) Seleznyova, a young girl living in the second half of the 21st century.
I just hope it garners a U.S. release.
(Thanks, Tim Tweidelman)
Fredrikstad Animation Festival
If you’re in Norway this week, I hope to see you at the Fredrikstad Animation Festival, which takes place this Wednesday through Sunday. Among the events at the festival is a day-long seminar on Friday, October 24, entitled “American Masters of Animation: American Animation from Disney to PES.”
At the seminar, Andreas Deja will be talking about Disney’s Nine Old Men and PES will offer a masterclass on his approach to directing stop-motion animation. They’ve also wrangled me into being part of the program, and while I don’t exactly qualify as a master in anything (unless you ask my mom, in which case I’m a master in everything), I’ll be doing a lecture about the works of Fifties design masters like Bobe Cannon, Ward Kimball, Tom Oreb, Ed Benedict and John Hubley. Even more exciting, I’ll be interviewing Gene Deitch, an honest-to-goodness animation legend, live on-stage.
I’m going to pick Gene’s brain about everything he’s done, from creating the classic TV series Tom Terrific…
…to making mind-bendingly trippy political allegories like The Giants…
…and who knows, maybe we’ll even talk about these:
In other words, this Friday will be damn awesome if you’re in Norway! There are also plenty of other fine screenings and presentations planned throughout the week. See you in Fredrikstad!
(PS – If Brew readers have any suggestions for things to see in Oslo and Fredrikstad, please drop a line in the comments.)
Cartoon Brew TV: Peanuts Ephemera
Welcome to another edition of “Brew Vaults.” Every three weeks on Cartoon Brew TV we present a long-lost piece of animation history along with brand-new audio commentary by animation historian Jerry Beck and other special guests. This week we’re offering several rare animated spots featuring Charles Schulz’s beloved Peanuts characters. We dedicate this episode to Peanuts animation director Bill Melendez who passed away last month. Watch the Peanuts episode of Brew Vaults right here!
Jerry’s Tuesday Triple Header
Take your pick: yours truly, Jerry Beck, will appear on stage, on screen and in print tomorrow, Tuesday October 21st.
In Print: Tuesday is the official publication date for my latest book – a tie-in to Dreamworks latest box office blockbuster, The Art of MADAGASCAR: Back 2 Africa. As usual with these books, the behind the scenes art – pre-viz material in pencil, ink, and conceptual paintings – is incredibly gorgeous. Craig Kellman was the chief character designer and the book is loaded with his sketches and paintings. Whatever your opinion of the Madagascar films, this art is worthy of collecting and keeping in book form – and I’m proud to have been a part of it.
On Screen: I appear both on screen and in voice-over on the indispensable Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6. Over 60 restored, digitally remastered Warner Bros. cartoons from the golden age of animation. A Mel Blanc documentary, Christmas Party blooper reels, and uncut World War Two era cartoons including Russian Rhapsody, The Ducktators and Herr Meets Mare. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, The Three Bears, The Goofy Gophers, Tweety, Sylvester, The Road Runner and Coyote. Here are 28 reasons to buy it today!
On Stage: Live and in person Tuesday night at 8pm I’ll be screening a selection of strange and creepy Halloween related animated cartoons at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood. The vintage prints will be in 16mm and 35mm and special guest animators will show their films and discuss their ghastly influences. To buy tickets for this Animated Spook-tacular – click here.
French student film Gary
Gary is a French student CG film created by Clement Soulmagnon, Yann Benedi, Sebastien Eballard and Quentin Chaillet at Supinfocom. The stylized illustrative look, while not exactly new, is refreshing to see in a student short. Film clips and pre-production artwork can be viewed at Gary-LeFilm.com.
(Thanks, Matt Jones)
Superhero Fashion Emergency
Outfits to wear with your Tweety bling…
(Thanks, Alex Rannie)
Jewel-encrusted Tweety Bling
I saw this advertised in a Sunday newspaper magazine supplement last week. My nomination for Worst Commercial Tweety Bird Product – Ever!
From The Danbury Mint.
A Beany and Cecil children’s book
Harry Lee Green posts a lot of cool stuff on his Hairy Green Eyeball blog. Today he delights us with a complete reprint of the 1953 “Tell-A-Tale Book” Beany and His Magic Set – “story and illustrations” by Bob Clampett, adapted (in other words “really illustrated by”) by Samuel Armstrong and Harvey Eisenberg.
New plans for Disney’s California Adventure
The L.A. Times reported yesterday on Disney’s new plans for the California Adventure theme park. The idea now is to redo the park so it’s themed literally around Walt Disney’s personal California adventure. For example, the entrance will resemble Hollywood in the 1920s and, as you make your way through the park, you’ll encounter rides and attractions themed around milestones in Disney’s life: The Mickey Mouse “Fun Wheel”; the “Silly Symphony Swings”; a re-creation of the Carthay Circle Theatre where Snow White premiered; a Wonderful World of Color water show, and so on.
How Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and the rest of the Pixar-themed attractions will fit in with the Disney nostalgia remains to be seen. If it’s not too late I’d like to offer several suggestions of my own:
I’d love to see some reference to the Alice Comedies and Oswald The Lucky Rabbit in the 1920s shopping plaza.Maybe a ride based on Victory Through Air Power?
How about a a place to play polo?
I always thought they should turn California Adventure into a Retro-Disneyland, recreating the retired rides and attractions from the 1950s and 60s: The Carousel of Progress; The Mickey Mouse Club Theatre showing 3-D Jamboree; The Flying Saucers, and the Monsanto House of the Future. Wouldn’t that be cool?
“In Our Talons” Music Vid by Alan Poon
“In Our Talons” is a stop-motion music video directed by Alan Poon (repped by Circle Productions) for The Bowerbirds. It has a lovely and naturalistic, almost ethereal, feel to it. A few notes about the production:
Principle animation took 3 months. The stop-motion puppets were custom made for this video. The bird alone took over a month for the puppet fabricators to build with over 300 feathers manually sized and glued on. Most of the miniature sets were made out of foam and clay and then painted, while the clouds were made from cotton.
Credits for “In Our Talons”
Directed by Alan Poon
Produced by Circle Productions & Alan Poon
Cinematographer: Adam Makarenko
Edited by Mark Paiva/School Editing
Lead Animator: Mike Hollenbeck
Animator: Sylvie Trouve, Anibal Davila
Sculptor: Christy Langer
Lead Fabricator: Diana Savage
Set Designer: Adam Makarenko
Set Construction: Joel Harrison-Off
Visual Effects Lead: Yoga Kurniawan
Compositing: Alan Poon & Yoga Kurniawan
BBC2 Ident by Guilherme Marcondes
I love this new channel ident for BBC2 directed by Guilherme Marcondes (of Tyger fame). I also love the behind-the-scenes photos that Guilherme posted on his Flickr. He writes about the spot:
This spot was one in a series of six (each directed by a different person) promoting some of the hosts of the most popular shows on BBC2. Bruce Parry presents some wild reality shows in the channel, like “Tribe” and “Amazon”. My job was too create a visual interpretation of Bruce’s own concerns about environment and life in a materialistic society.
We built the “ultimate exploitation machine”, powered by human beings, ravaging the land, sucking nature on one side and spitting consumer goods on the other. We placed the scene inside a mirror box to create a sense of boundlessness to the destructive process imposed by the machine.
Animation credits are:
Direction: Guilherme Marcondes
Production designers: Ryan Heck and Andy Byers
Design: Guilherme Marcondes and Douglas Alves
Animation and Compositing: Guilherme Marcondes
Additional Compositing: John Harrison
SSSR
Hey, I really like these guys. Their work is strange – but fun.
Back in August Amid linked to a United Airlines spot by the Norwegian/Japanese animation collective SSSR. Above is their music video The Mercury Craze for Subtle. Check out their other videos F.K.O. and Swan Meat.
Now, SSSR directors Marc Reisbig and Hanne Berkaak have a new video for indie band Of Montreal for their song Id Engager. Neat stuff.
(Thanks, Jeff Kuykendall)
