How are you spending your holiday weekend? Me, I’ll be screening a program of Jazz Cartoons at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento California on Monday, May 30th. The program will run twice, first at 12 noon and again at 2pm. Jazz musician and author Joe Gilman will join me on stage to briefly discuss the cultural aspects of several classic cartoons and clips. Admission to this event is free. Hope to meet a few Brew readers there. For more information, visit the Crocker Museum website.
This LA Times article about the changing role of women in animation offers the first quote I’ve seen from Brenda Chapman since she was kicked off of Pixar’s Brave:
“I think it’s a really sad state. We’re in the 21st century and there are so few stories geared towards girls, told from a female point of view.”
The article goes on to say that she was fired from Brave over “creative differences” and that she is currently on a leave of absence from Pixar, though she will receive a directing credit on the film. My guess — and it’s only a guess — is that she has to remain with the company contractually until the film is completed in order to receive her credit.
See also: Meet Jennifer Yuh Nelson, the director of Kung Fu Panda 2
Betsy Sharkey in The Los Angeles Times says: “This is the first movie in a long time that you won’t mind paying for the glasses because what’s on the screen is multidimensional magic.”
However, A.O. Scott in New York Times was less pleased, saying “…the studio worked up this sequel, which accomplishes the depressingly familiar mathematical trick of being both more and less than its predecessor.”
Today’s the day – and its your turn. If you’ve seen the movie and want to state your opinion, please share it in our comments section below.
Please look at these closely before deciding it’s a good idea to get a Disney image permanently stained onto your body.
(via Trexarms)
Don’t litter, talk or smoke at the movies… that’s the message beautifully communicated in this Chaplin trailer (created in 2009) by Rio De Janeiro-based Seagulls Fly:
CREDITS:
Directors: FlavioMac and Alan Camilo
Animators: Gabriel Loques, FlavioMac, FabrÃcio Moraes, Alan Camilo, Fernando Reule, Gustavo Duval, Raoni Nery, Felipe Lobo, Luiz Felippe Azevedo
Storyboard: Marco Potter
Concept Art: Paulo Visgueiro, Marco Potter
Producers: Luciana Jordão and Juliana Ferreira
(Thanks, J.M. Urbina)
Okay… it looks sorta funny to me. Neil Patrick Harris is good, and it seemingly doesn’t take itself too seriously. That’s my two cents – What do you think?
Animation legend Richard Williams animated a 30-second signal film for last year’s Pordenone Silent Film Festival, and now that piece will be screened by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences during their forthcoming Summer of Silents film series.
In the film, not yet online, Williams animated many of the great actors and comedians in silent films – morphing one into another – beginning with Chaplin and ending with Buster Keaton. Over twenty actors in all. It will be screened on the first night of the season: June 13th with Humoreque and with The Big Parade on July 18th.
(Thanks to Mo Sutton for sending us these images from the logo – click thumbnails below to enlarge)
Not The Flinstones finest hour (or more precisely, an hour and twenty-seven minutes), but I thought we’d take a moment to acknowledge the 45th anniversary of the Hanna Barbera feature film, The Man Called Flintstone. I gathered together some material (including several rarely seen newspaper ads, below) to remind us of how the original prime time series (and feature) were initially aimed at adult audiences – so perhaps Seth MacFarlane’s forthcoming revamp won’t be so far off, after all. Or so we would hope.
Anyone have any particularly fond (or painful) memories of this film? Let us know in the comments section below.
With style to spare, Slimtime, a 2010 graduation film by four students at Supinfocom Arles, the CG animation school based in the south of France, is charming treat. Directors Bertrand Avril, Pierre Chomarat, David Dangin and Thea Matland were influenced by the films 2001 A Space Odyssey, Playtime by Jacques Tati, and Space Age fashion designer Andre Courrège.
This year Disney is releasing a sequel to Pixar’s Cars and reviving Winnie The Pooh. They are also rebooting The Muppets (yes, I know its puppets and not animation) and this teaser looks like it might work:
1. 3D Ruins Regular Movies Too
The Boston Globe published a damning exposé about irresponsible theater chains like AMC, National Amusements, and Regal that often leave the 3D projector lenses on for 2D movies, thereby dimming regular movies and draining them of color to the point where they can’t be enjoyed. So why don’t they just switch the lenses on the Sony digital projectors you ask? How about DRM foul-ups:
James Bond, a Chicago-based projection guru who serves as technical expert for Roger Ebert’s Ebertfest, said issues with the Sonys are more than mechanical. Opening the projector alone involves security clearances and Internet passwords, “and if you don’t do it right, the machine will shut down on you.” The result, in his view, is that often the lens change isn’t made and “audiences are getting shortchanged.”
2. Fake Indian Animation Schools
Times of India reports about an epidemic of fly-by-night animation schools in India. Over 10,000 students have been suckered by these schools with the promise of receiving a quality education and jobs:
Anshuman Kaushik, who took admission in 2D animation in Nupur Media, which collaborated with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University said that he paid Rs 1.6 lakh for the 10-month course which the company terminated after the first six months. “There were 30 students in the class. Just before the company shut down, about 15 students were given offer letters by Nupur Media House. Later we realised that the company was not even registered,” said Kaushik who is now planning to take a regular course in animation from a reputed university.
3. Arnold’s Cartoon Probably Still Happening
After it was revealed that California’s inept ex-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was producing little Latino-American Arnolds with women that were not his wife, the producers of the Governator animated series announced that they “have chosen to not go forward with the Governator project.” That seemed like a prudent and responsible decision by the production companies, until they issued a revised statement that read, “In light of recent events, A Squared Entertainment, POW, Stan Lee Comics, and Archie Comics, have halted production.” Subtle wording change, but big difference. What they’re really saying is, “We’re probably still going to make this show even though Arnold is an awful role model for kids, but we’ll just wait until the whole affair business blows over.” Of course, they’ll have to make some minor changes to the original idea, which according to Stan Lee, would have used “all the personal elements of Arnold’s life. We’re using his wife. We’re using his kids.”
(Thanks, Karl Cohen, for the India link)
Advice from John Lasseter on how to wear Hawaiian shirts: “Don’t just pick a shirt to wear, but pick the subject matter of the shirt to match what you’re doing in the day.” That is, of course, easier to do when you own over one thousand Hawaiian shirts as Lasseter does, including 374 in active rotation.
Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle received a fun tour of the collection:
Here are several new publications that were sent my way during the past month that I think Cartoon Brew readers will like, or love or at worst, should be aware they exist:
100 Animated Feature Films by Andrew Osmond (BFI/Palgrave Macmillan) is a great read. The animated feature is just coming into its own after decades of following one vision – that of the Walt Disney studio. Now that there are several strong voices to emerge in this medium, British film journalist Osmond has rounded up one hundred notable international animated features, studio and independent, to discuss, compare and contrast. This isn’t a “best-of” list, but a representative selection of worthwhile films culled from the first ninety five years of full-length animated movies. An important book for students of animation history – and anyone wanting to read intelligent commentary on where the field has come, and where its headed.
The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2 by Tracey Miller-Zarneke (Insight Editions). Whatever your opinion of Kung Fu Panda 2, one thing is undeniable: the artwork, art direction, character designs, color keys and all things visual are simply superb. Just based on “looks” this may be the best animated film of the year. We’ll see, but in the meantime Tracey Miller-Zarneke’s book lays it all out and gives credit where credit is due. Raymond Zibach, Nicholas Marlet, and Bill Kaufman are among the dozens of artists work given the lavish “art-book” treatment here – and their work deserves it. And you deserve to own this souvenir of Dreamworks’ summer blockbuster.
Archie: A Celebration of America’s Favorite Teenagers written and designed by Craig Yoe, produced by Clizia Gussoni (IDW Publishing). Do we really need another book about Archie? The answer is YES, if Yoe and his wife Clizia are behind it. There’s been several recent compilation volumes devoted to Archie comics, from Dark Horse, IDW and Archie Publications itself, but this is THE BEST one. This is actually the only book about Archie you really need, as it covers everything about the Riverdale characters, their origins, the artists, writers, the nooks and crannies, including the coolest, rarest art, promotional pieces, photographs… the whole shebang! Yoe has a great chapter about Archie on radio, TV and animated cartoons, another highlighting oddball Archie merchandising – and in another part of the book, he offers a rare printing, off the original art, of the unpublished 1952 Andy Andrews, a serious detective story featuring Archie’s previously unknown cousin! It’s one of those books (like my Hanna Barbera Treasury) that you need to see – and when you see it, you’ll buy it. I love this book – take it from me, it’s really great. Highly Recommended!
The Art of Cars 2 by Ben Queen with Karen Paik (Chronicle Books). To be honest, I’m not revved up about Cars 2. That said, I have no doubt it will be a spectacular international success and huge moneymaker for Disney. Chronicle’s latest Pixar “Art-of” book for Cars 2 follows the formula of the subsequent volumes in this series – and is thus a must-have. There is no doubt that the artists at Pixar are some of the best in the business and, as usual, this book reflects in the incredible talents and passions of their animation pit crew. The book is written by Cars 2 screenwriter Ben Queen with Pixar’s creative development staffer Karen Paik. As they say in Drivers Ed class: Proceed with Caution!
Working With Disney By Don Peri (University Press of Mississippi). God bless the University Press of Mississippi. They are printing more important books about animators and cartoonists than perhaps any other publisher today. Their latest is this compilation of writer Don Peri’s personal interviews with animators, producers and “mouseketeers” including X. Atencio, Marc Davis, Bill Justice, Ollie Johnston, David Hand, Walter Lantz (!), and Frank Thomas among others. I’d never before read any interviews with animator Lance Nolley or assistant director Lou Debney, and never heard of early animator Gilles “Frenchy” deTremaudan until this book. This is good stuff and if you’re a Disney fan, you’ll want it. That said, it doesn’t compare to Didier Ghez’s more thorough Walt’s People volumes – but Working With Disney is a good companion to that series, and a great addition to the ever-growing well of Disney research. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll take all the information on Disney history I can get!
The Bozo Chronicles by Tom Holbrook and friends. This book is a mind-blower. Tom Holbrook has assembled a 600 page scrapbook of EVERYTHING to do with Bozo “The Capitol Clown” from 1946 thought 1956 (the year the clown was sold to Larry Harmon). This includes interviews with creator Alan Livingston, comic artist Dan Spiegle; bios on Pinto Colvig, Sara Berner, Billy Bletcher, Dave Barry, Jack Bradbury, Warren Foster and on and on… all surrounded by tons of merchandising art, reprints of trade magazine articles, rare still photos, album covers – no kidding, everything ever published on Bozo the Clown. This book is a limited edition self-published effort and I have no idea how many copies Tom has left, but if you have any interest in the Capitol Bozo and the people who made him famous, this is a must have item. Order it here.
Constructing Green Lantern by Ozzy Inguanzo (Universe). Last but not least, I just got this behind-the-scenes book on the new Green Lantern movie. I normally don’t review (or buy) these sort of books, but two things about this one – 1. I love the old Green Lantern comics and am actually looking forward to this movie (despite the fact that the trailers are not workin’ for me) and 2. there is apparently A LOT of GC in this film. Author Inguanzo, the films’ on-set Green Lantern expert and “Asset Manager”, didn’t get the memo about writing fluffy movie tie-in books and actually wrote a detailed and intelligent production memoir, loaded with photos from the set, pre-viz art, storyboards and final composite images that at least prove that the filmmakers set out to do the character justice. I have no idea if the film will be any good, but this book is excellent.
Note to publishers: I love books about animation, comics and movies. If you send me your book and I like it, I will tell our readers about it in future posts like this.
This photo of Kung Fu Panda 2 director Jennifer Yuh Nelson attending the film’s premiere earlier today was posted onto DreamWorks’s Twitter account. A Korean-American, she is (I believe) the first female Asian director of a major animated feature.
The lack of racial and gender diversity in Hollywood animation, particularly in the upper-tier creative positions, has always been disheartening to me, largely because the lack of different points of view is reflected in the animation that appear in theaters and on TV. It’s encouraging to see a new generation of directors, like Yuh Nelson and Rio‘s Carlos Saldanha, who don’t fit the traditional animation director mold. Here’s her official bio from the studio:
Jennifer Yuh Nelson has lent her talents to four of DreamWorks Animation’s motion pictures: 2008’s Kung Fu Panda (as head of story), 2005’s Madagascar (as story artist), 2003’s Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (as head of story) and 2002’s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (also as story artist).
Prior to joining DreamWorks, Nelson worked at HBO Animation, developing various projects and short series. She has worn many hats, serving as director, story artist and character designer for HBO’s animated series Spawn, which won an Emmy Award in 1999 for Outstanding Animated Program.
Nelson’s career in animation has spanned several countries, including Korea and Japan, where she oversaw animation for HBO. Nelson has also worked in Sydney, Australia, serving as a story artist and illustrator for the live-action feature Dark City for Mystery Clock Productions.
Nelson attended California State University, Long Beach where she received a BFA in Illustration. Nelson has also published several independent comic books.
And here’s an interview with her:
Vitaliy Strokous is a name to remember… Here’s his second year CalArts film, an ode to noncomformity:
