Monthly Archives: May 2010

Hulk Hogan sues Cocoa Pebbles

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It’s Hulk Hogan vs. The Flintstones – for real.

The “Hulkster” is suing Post Cereals, maker of Cocoa Pebbles, accusing the company of appropriating his image in an animated commercial for the cereal. According to Tampa Bay Online:

In the “Cocoa Smashdown” commercial, a character goes by the name “Hulk Boulder,” which Hogan’s lawsuit says is a name he used early in his career until wrestling promoter Vince McMahon decided he should have an Irish name. The wrestler also contends he has been harmed by, among other things, “the unauthorized and degrading depictions in the Cocoa Smashdown advertisements.”

Perhaps Hogan was offended by the shot where the character seemingly pulls a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles out of his trunks? You be the judge:

(Thanks, Jeaux Janovsky)

Silent animation in Red Dead Redemption

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In the recently released PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 video game Red Dead Redemption there appears this “silent movie” The Dangers of Doctors and Patent Medicines. In the game, it is seen projected on the wall of an old west theatre. Of course this kind of animation would not have existed until the 1910s – I’m not sure what time frame this western game takes place in, nor do we know who animated this fun little piece at Rockstar San Diego, but perhaps the animators will identify themselves in our comments section below.

(Thanks, John Karel)

The $20 Movie Ticket Has Arrived

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Shrek Forever After

The Wall Street Journal reports that this weekend, for the first time ever, a movie theater will charge $20 for a regular admission adult movie ticket. The theater: AMC in Manhattans’s Kips Bay neighborhood. The film they’re charging you twenty dollars to see: Shrek Forever After.

UPDATE: The New York Times has a follow-up story that says theaters have backtracked on the $20 ticket and reduced prices. They claim the prices listed were a mistake. The same Kips Bay AMC charged $19.50 per ticket for IMAX showings of DreamWorks’ previous film How to Train Your Dragon.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday in LA: UPA, Silent Disney and Cartoon Dump

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Saturday, May 22nd: UPA Tribute and fundraiser – 5:00 to 9:30 pm at Woodbury University’s 250 seat Fletcher Jones Auditorium. A Ragtime Bear cel setup, above, donated by Van Eaton Galleries, to be auctioned.

Program: 5:00 – Reception; 6:00 – Two 40 minute film programs will include classics & rarities, remembered by a panel of UPA veterans, and moderated by Adam Abraham, author of an upcoming UPA history book. Panel will include animator Fred Crippen, Ervin Kaplan – a protégé of Bob McIntosh, Martha Sigall who worked every animation studio, and very first days of UPA, and Joe Siracusa – he created the UPA soundtracks.

Location: Woodbury University, 7500 Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, California. More details on this event can be found at upapix.com.

Sunday, May 23 at 6:30 pm, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will give the concert premiere of Alex Rannie’s original score for Walt Disney’s 1924 “Alice Comedy” Alice’s Wild West Show at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. It will screen along with Buster Keaton’s feature The Cameraman. Rannie sent us these notes about the film:

Alice’s Wild West Show was released on May 1, 1924, as the fourth installment in Walt Disney’s 57-film series of Alice Comedies (1923-1927). Directed and animated by Disney (with additional animation by Rollin “Ham” Hamilton), it stars Virginia Davis as “Alice” and Tommy Hicks as “Tubby O’Brien.”

No original musical material exists for any of Walt Disney’s almost 100 silent movies. This score was commissioned in 1999 for a Disney Channel broadcast of Alice’s Wild West Show as part of a year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of the October 16, 1923, founding of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.

For more information on this event click here.

Monday May 24th at 8pm: Cartoon Dump, the unholy alliance of noted author, producer and animation scholar Jerry Beck and writer/ producer/ comedian Frank Conniff (“TV’s Frank” from MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 and CINEMATIC TITANIC) is back for another depraved offering of sketches, songs, puppets, stand-up comedy, and the most God-awful Saturday Morning Cartoons from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

This month featuring:
Frank Conniff as Moodsy the Clinically Depressed Owl
Erica Doering as Compost Brite
J. Elvis Weinstein as Dumpster Diver Dan
Joe Keyes as Officer Pete the Paint Sniffing Patrolman with Sleep Apnea
Sharon Houston as Sharon the Social Worker
Kristin Ariggo as Cue Card Goddess
Dave “Gruber” Allen as Whatever Crazy Character Gruber Decides To Do
and
Jerry Beck as Jerry Beck

Plus, stand-up comedy from
J. Elvis Weinstein
and special guest star
Andy Kindler!

Monday 5/24 at 8pm, Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Blvd. • Free Parking! • Advanced Tickets here • Phone: (323) 666-9797 • Map & Directions

John Kricfalusi on Contemporary Animated Features

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If I owned a printer, I’d print out this quote, and if I owned a bulletin board, I’d stick it onto that board:

“Modern animated movies are the products not of anyone’s individual vision, but rather a scattered accumulation of compromises made out of fear by members of large committees.” – John Kricfalusi

It doesn’t describe every mainstream studio feature, but it surely applies to a fair percentage of them.

London 2012 Olympics Short

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The recently unveiled 2012 London Olympic mascots, which are somehow supposed to evoke the spirit of the games, now have their very own animated short. Frankly, the cartoon isn’t as bad as it should be, but to understand why the Olympics chose to represent itself with hideously phallic blobs, listen to what this Olympic official has to say: “The one thing that came out of our research with children is they weren’t looking for a cuddly toy or something human, but for something rooted in a very good story.” If ever there was proof needed that focus-testing and researching cartoon characters is a fool’s errand, look no further.

UPDATE: Received word that the director of the animated short was Mario Cavalli and the backgrounds are by Neil Campbell Ross.

37th Student Academy Award Winners

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the winners of the 37th Annual Student Academy Awards competition, and three shorts shared the prize in the animation category. I’ve linked to two of them which have already been posted online. Congrats to all!

• Departure of Love
Jennifer Bors, Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida


• Dried Up
Isaiah Powers and Jeremy Casper, Kansas City Art Institute, Missouri


• Lifeline
Andres Salaff, California Institute of the Arts

“Giddy Up” Music Video by Leah Morgan

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I haven’t worked in an office for many years so I have no idea if this video for Tahuna Breaks’ “Giddy Up” qualifies as NSFW, but the video thumbnail offers a good clue about whether you should click or not. It’s a dirty and clever nod to the Pointer Sisters’ Sesame Street classic. There’s a smart lesson within: if you’re going to do a parody, don’t settle for middle-of-the-road references–go all out and own it.

CREDITS
Directed and Illustrated by Leah Morgan
Edited and Animated by Morten Leirkjaer
Produced by Fish N Clips, Auckland, New Zealand

(Thanks, Mike Johnson)