Here’s a Cal Arts student film from this past year’s producers show that really impressed me with its storytelling. Obviously I wasn’t the only one impressed. David Wolter just started work this week in Dreamworks story department.
Something good has come from this new Smurfs movie: Katy Perry and her Smurfette dress. More hot photos from The Smurfs World Premiere at The Huffington Post.
It’s that time of year again. This month the gang at Cartoon Dump invites you to help celebrate their 4th anniversary. Join Jerry Beck and Frank Conniff (“TV’s Frank” from Mystery Science Theatre 3000) with Erica Doering as “Compost Brite” and J. Elvis Weinstein as “Dumpster Diver Dan” for Cartoon Dump – 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.
Is there any better way to wind down from Comic Con? Special anniversary guests include Emo Phillips, Blain Capatch and other surprises. It’s tonight, Monday July 25th, at 8pm at the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood. Advanced tickets can be ordered here. Also join the Facebook Page.
If the Mexican Top Cat feature isn’t your cup of tea, here’s the slick trailer for Ana, a 3-D CG feature directed by Carlos Carrera currently being produced in Mexico. The production company Lo Coloco Films has a placeholder website for now. A Hollywood Reporter piece from three years ago suggested the film’s budget was only $3.2 million which I find kind of hard to believe. But even if it that number doubles or triples, it’s still a bargain compared to American and European animated features.
There’s not much to go by in this trailer, but Carrera has a strong track record as a director. He was nominated for an Oscar for his 2002 live-action film El crimen del Padre Amaro, and earlier he made animated shorts, like El héroe (below) which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
UPDATE: A five-minute clip from Ana was posted today on the film’s Facebook page. The release date on Facebook is listed as May, 2013.
(Thanks, Elisa H. GarcÃa)
Aimee de Jongh‘s One Past Two is about as depressing as student films get. The filmmaker effectively pairs unpredictable violence with the mundanity of everyday life in a way that makes the events even more shocking, and it all leads to a twist ending. Animated in TVPaint, the short was finished this year at the Willem de Kooning Academy in The Netherlands.
Continuing our real estate listings for the legends of animation: Walt Disney’s Los Feliz Woking Way residence is up for sale. The property, where the Disney family resided from 1932 to 1950, includes a Snow White-styled playhouse designed for his daughters. Here’s the complete listing:
Private, Gated, Historic home on large Double lot; over ONE ACRE in total. Mediterranean entry; circular rotunda, painted ceilings, vaulted beamed ceilings, original stained leaded glass, Juliet balcony. The EPIC IMAGERY: PROJECTION and SCREENING Room built for Walt Disney to watch his dailies, perhaps Snow White, Fantasia, Cinderella… and enjoy private screenings. Beautiful Floor Plan: 4 Bedrooms, 5 Baths. Downtown VIEWS, Pretty Swimmers Pool, Billiard’s Room with Sleeping Porch, 2 fun Original Bar areas and the Original Playhouse featured in “The Man Behind the Myth”. Renowned history from Hollywood Royalty, yet a place for your imprint could make this the happiest place on earth.
The asking price is $3,650,000. Take a virtual tour of the place here. If you feel you have what it takes to purchase this piece of Disney history, contact agent Patricia Ruben at Sothebys Realty.
UPDATE: David Lesjak has posted amazing then-and-now photos of this home on his blog Vintage Disney Collectibles.
(Thanks to David Lesjak, Stepehn Arnold and David Bowers)
Does it bother you when someone calls multiple pieces of animation “animations”? Well, there’s a Facebook group for that: Stop Calling What We Do “Animations”. Frankly, it doesn’t bother me as much as it should. If the craft and creative instincts of the animation are solid, you can call it whatever you want. Plus, it’s a useful term to keep around for distinguishing who knows what they’re talking about and who doesn’t.
Conan O’Brien’s visit with Bruce Timm last December resulted in this faux-trailer for The Flaming C which debuted Friday at the Comic-Con.
If you’re in San Diego today, drop by Tr!ckster at 6pm for a screening of Cartoon Brew’s Student Animation Festival. All ten films from our second annual festival (currently in progress) will be presented. The program is only 45 minutes long, but it packs a real punch. Today’s young animators have incredible breadth and depth, which will become evident when you watch all these films together. Best of all, the screening is completely FREE. And after the screening is done, stick around for the one-night only “Tribute to the Films of Akira Kurosawa” gallery show. It’s going to be a great evening!
If you’re at Tr!ckster, share your thoughts on this first-year event. Have you attended the Symposia or figure drawing sessions? How’s the selection of art books? Have you tried the sushi? We want to know!
The music video for South Korean pop group 2NE1′s new single, Hate You, was directed by graphic artist Mari Kim. The song does nothing for me, but her bold visuals are based on classic anime – maybe too classic. Isn’t that nuclear explosion (at :24) a clip from Akira – or something awfully close?
At a special Comic Con panel today in San Diego, Warner Bros. Senior VP George Feltenstein announced the forthcoming release of the first Blu-Ray collection of classic Warner Bros. cartoons, The Looney Tunes Platinum Collection. The panel, moderated by yours truly included writer Paul Dini, and directors Spike Brant and Tony Cervone, included a video presentation comparing a standard DVD image against the new blu-ray transfers. Two cartoons in blu-ray were also shown, Bob Clampett’s The Great Piggy Bank Robbery and Hanna-Barbera’s Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Mouse. Information about the Tom & Jerry Golden Collection was posted here.
The Looney Tunes Platinum Collection contains 50 classic cartoons in high definition. Disc #1 includes Hare Tonic, Baseball Bugs, Buccaneer Bunny, The Old Grey Hare, Rabbit Hood, 8 Ball Bunny, Rabbit of Seville, What’s Opera Doc?, The Great Piggy Bank Robbery, A Pest In The House, The Scarlet Pumpernickle, Duck Amuck, Robin Hood Daffy, Baby Bottleneck, Kitty Kornered, Scardy Cat, Porky Chops, Old Glory, A Tale Of Two Kitties, Tweetie Pie, Fast And Furry-ous, Beep Beep, Lovelorn Leghorn, For Scent-I-Mental Reasons and Speedy Gonzales.
Disc #2 includes One Froggy Evening, The Three Little Bops, I Love To Singa, Katnip Kollege, The Dover Boys, From A To ZZZZ, Chow Hound, Feed The Kitty, Hasty Hare, Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century, Hareway To The Stars, Mad As A Mars Hare, Devil May Hare, Bedevilled Rabbit, Ducking The Devil, Bill Of Hare, Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare, Bewitched Bunny, Broomstick Bunny and several others to be announced.
Bonus material includes several Behind-The-Toons pieces and Chuck Jones documentaries, numerous bonus cartoons including Chuck Jones’ FDR re-election film, Hell Bent For Election (1942), a rare Air Force re-enlistment film, A Hitch In Time (1955), and Ken Mundie’s expressionist anti-war animated short, The Door (1967) – plus two all-new documentaries on Marvin The Martian and The Tasmanian Devil.
Additionally, the collection comes in a sturdy plastic box, which will include a 52 page booklet, a commemorative magnet and mini collectible drinking glass. The Looney Tunes Platinum Collection will go on sale in November.
Love this never-before-seen image of Walt Disney that popped up on-line recently.
(via Disney History)
One more time. I promise its the last. Here’s the final version of the upcoming Mexican 3D “Top Cat” feature, coming to theaters in South America this fall:
The doors just opened at Comic Con, and I’m not exactly in a position to “live blog” the event – but perhaps you are. If you are reading this while on line or waiting for a panel to begin, send us your thoughts on how its going, what you’ve seen or any or if you found anything cool in the exhibit hall (like this limited “Con exclusive” Comic Book Guy ornament (above) being sold at the Hallmark booth).
If you are you an animation artist artist who is exhibiting your wares at Comic Con or Tr!ckster, please post that info on our Open Thread. And don’t miss Tr!ckster, across the street in the San Diego Wine and Culinary Gallery. It’s a must see – and I’ll be screening Cartoon Brew’s Student Film Festival Thursday and Friday mornings at 10am!
