Monthly Archives: January 2013

“Day and Night” Director Teddy Newton is Developing A Feature At Pixar [UPDATED]

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Teddy Newton is developing a feature film at Pixar. That last sentence should excite anyone who knows Newton’s work.

One could be forgiven though for being unfamiliar with his career because the amount of Newton’s work that has made it to the screen is a fraction of what he’s produced throughout the years. He is probably best known today for directing the hybrid drawn/CG Pixar short Day and Night.

But Newton, who has worked at Pixar for over a decade, has also done character design on the short Presto, designed the end credits of Ratatouille, and provided voices on films like Toy Story 3 and WALL·E. He once described his role at the company as being “like a spice that you don’t put too much in.” His most significant animation contribution has been to the Brad Bird feature The Incredibles (and prior to that, The Iron Giant) for which he provided conceptual ideas, character designs and storyboards.

Newton’s notoriety stems in part from his unreleased work (like his faux-animation documentary The Studio of Tomorrow), his unused gags (legend has it that at Disney he once pitched a story sequence with Pocahontas having her time of the month), and his personal work, which includes the feature film The Trouble with Lou:

and the short Boys Night Out:

On this new project, Teddy is working with screenwriter Derek Connolly, who wrote last year’s well received indie film Safety Not Guaranteed. With Newton at the director’s helm, there is every reason to anticipate an exciting and original film. But there is also an inherent risk in asking a highly individual artist to package their style and sensibility for the creativity-inhibiting world of big-studio feature animation.

While flipping through some old files, I found a 1996 issue of Variety with a spotlight on Pixar. The issue featured a congratulatory ad from Teddy Newton. It was made years before he started working at Pixar, at a time when he was involved in an indie outfit called O’Plenty Animation Studio. The ad features a drawing by Newton riffing on the only film that Pixar had made at that point, Toy Story. As I look at this drawing, all I can hope is that Newton finds a way to merge his creative instincts with the Pixar style in a manner that pleases everyone.

UPDATE: Brew reader M. R. Horhager points us to this DVD featurette about Teddy Newton’s work on The Iron Giant:

(Teddy Newton photo via fxguide)

“The Reward” and other films from Denmark’s Animation Workshop

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The talk of the town this morning is this friggin’ brilliant short – The Reward – an epic “hero’s journey” in nine minutes (take that, Peter Jackson). This graduation film was directed by Mikkel Mainz and Kenneth Ladekjaer (and their team: Glenn August, Jonas Andreassen, Josefine Hannibal, Karen Bennetzen, Ole Christian Loken, Paolo Giandoso and Tanja Nielsen) at Denmark’s Animation Workshop.

Animator/teacher Mike Nguyen (Iron Giant) recently forwarded this and links to five other great films and trailers from this year’s graduating class. Mike gives a a 2-3 week workshop on character animation to first year students. (Mike is currently based in Korea, teaching traditional animation there).

Go to the link to explore further work from this outstanding school. Below I’ve embed a few of my other favorites.

Under The Fold (Director: Bo Juhl Nielson)

Memoria (Director: Elisabit Yr Atladottir)

The Odd Sound Out (Directors: Pernille Sihm, Ida Maria Schouw Andreasen)

First Look: “Steven Universe” by Rebecca Sugar”

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Cartoon Network has unveiled a poster for Steven Universe, the new animated series by Rebecca Sugar:

Slated to debut in 2013, Steven Universe is a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of Steven, the youngest member of a team of magical Guardians of the Universe. The animated series was conceived as part of the shorts development initiative at Cartoon Network Studios, and is created by Emmy and Annie Award-nominated writer and storyboard artist Rebecca Sugar (Adventure Time). Sugar is Cartoon Network’s first solo female show creator.

See more Cartoon Brew coverage about Rebecca Sugar.

César Nominations Include Five Animated Films

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Imagine the Oscars.

Now, imagine the Oscars if they were presented in French and no one cared about them.

That’s the César Awards, which are presented annually by France’s Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema.

Last Friday, the organization announced the nominations for the 38th César Awards, which will be presented on February 22nd. They have an animation category that lumps features and shorts together, but in spite of this quirk, they managed to come up with five deserving nominees:

Edmond Was a Donkey directed by Franck Dion

Oh Willy… directed by Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels

Ernest and Celestine directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier

Kirikou and the Men and Women directed by Michel Ocelot

Zarafa directed by Rémi Bezançon and Jean-Christophe Lie

Weekend Groove: Music Videos from Australia, Germany, Belgium and France

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We’re going to start featuring the most interesting, creative and original animated music videos every weekend in a new section we call the Weekend Groove. Submit you vidoes HERE.

“Gangsta Riddim” directed by about:blank (Belgium)

Audio excerpt of “Gangsta Riddim” remix by Roel Funcken. Gangsta Riddim (Original) by SCANONE.

“Over You” directed by Drushba Pankow (Germany)

“Over You” is a music video clip originally made for the song “Nobody’s Fool” by Parov Stelar. The Berlin-based musician Michal Krajczok wrote and produced his song “Over You” especially for this video, featuring the voice of Larissa Blau. The video is directed, designed and animated by Drushba Pankow (Alexandra Kardinar and Volker Schlecht), with additional animation by Maxim Vassiliev.

“A Very Unusual Map” directed by Loup Blaster (France)

A music video for Hibou Blaster

“Teapot” directed by Clem Stamation (Australia)

Cantaloupe are a synth-guitar/bass-drums trio from Nottingham, UK, formed in January 2011. Drawing influences from Afro-pop to Krautrock to the avant garde, who aim to make infectuous and thoroughly pleasing instrumental pop music.

Upcoming In NYC: Richard Williams Tribute Series

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To celebrate the upcoming 80th birthday of Richard Williams, 92Y Tribeca will present three evenings of screenings devoted to his work:

Wednesday, February 27: A screening of Who Framed Roger Rabbit on 35mm. (It is the film’s 25th anniversary this year.)

Thursday, February 28: An evening of Richard Williams rarities including his ambitious early short The Little Island (1958). The program will be introduced by NY animation director (and former Williams employee) Michael Sporn.

Friday, March 1: A screening of the fantastic new documentary Persistence of Vision, about Williams’ decades-long attempt to create his personal masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler. I’ll be hosting a discussion with the director of the documentary, Kevin Schreck, after the 7pm screening.

92Y Tribeca is located in Manhattan (200 Hudson Street, NY, NY 10013). Tickets for each screening are $12 and available on the 92Y Tribeca website.

And The Winner of Cartoon Brew’s Student Animation Festival Audience Prize is…

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We’re extremely delighted to announce today that the winner of Cartoon Brew’s 2012 Student Animation Festival AUDIENCE PRIZE is Money Bunny Blues by Ellen Coons. The award was voted by Cartoon Brew readers who participated in a poll earlier this month. (We audited the poll and eliminated any IP that voted multipled times.) Ellen’s film was created at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. She will receive $500, in addition to the money she already earned for being a part of our Student Festival.


The Cartoon Brew Student Animation Festival is made possible by the generosity of our presenting sponsor JibJab.

Wrestling Federation’s Animation Survey

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First they took our Cocoa Pebbles, and now they want our cartoons!

It was announced back in August that WWE (Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment) was teaming up with Warner Bros. to make a new Scooby Doo movie guest starring several wrestling superstars and divas.

Yesterday the WWE sent a survey to its fans (posted below) which – if you read between the lines – might say something its future plans in animation… Wrestlers versus The Justice League? The Smurfs? The Looney Tunes?

They also ask about non-Warner characters such as The Rugrats, He-Man and Alvin and The Chipmunks (???).

We all remember Space Jam. Sports figures and cartoons – What’s your opinion?

Here’s the WWE survey:

“Thank you for participating in the survey. Your complete and honest answers will help us better serve you and other members of the WWE Universe in the future.

What is your exact age?

Do you have any children under the age of 18 living in your household who are WWE fans?

How many times in an average month do you watch cartoons or animated programs?

Do you like any of the following cartoons or animated programs?
The Smurfs
The Rugrats
Alvin and the Chipmunks
The Flintstones
Justice League
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Looney Tunes
Scooby Doo
Tom and Jerry
None of the above

Does your household own any of the following cartoons or animated programs on DVD? Select all that apply.
Looney Tunes
Alvin and the Chipmunks
The Rugrats
Tom and Jerry
The Smurfs
Justice League
Scooby Doo
The Flintstones
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
None of the above

WWE will co-produce an action packed Scooby-Doo animated movie that will feature WWE Superstars and Divas including Triple H, John Cena, Kane, The Miz, Santino Marella, AJ, Brodus Clay, Sin Cara and WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon. These WWE Superstars will appear in an animated form helping their friends Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne and Fred solve an exciting mysterious case at WrestleMania.

If WWE Superstars were to appear in another animated program, which of the following properties would you be most interested in seeing partnered with WWE?
The Smurfs
The Flintstones
Looney Tunes (e.g., Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, etc.)

Which of these three properties would you be most interested in seeing partnered with WWE?
The Rugrats
Justice League (e.g., Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc.)
Alvin and the Chipmunks

And which of these three properties would you be most interested in seeing partnered with WWE?
Tom and Jerry
Scooby Doo
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

Of the three animated programs you selected, which would you be most interested in seeing partnered with WWE?
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
The Rugrats
The Flintstones

What is your race / ethnicity?

Which of the following ranges best describes your total annual household income (before taxes)?”

(via Wrestling, Inc.)

Llyn Foulkes Retrospective Opens February 3 at Hammer

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“Deliverance” by Llyn Foulkes, 2007.

Painter Llyn Foulkes will be the subject of a major retrospective at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles that opens on February 3. The exhibit will travel to the New Museum in New York in June 2013 and to the Museum Kurhaus Kleve in Germany in November 2013.

Besides his obvious importance in West Coast art, Foulkes has a fascinating animation connection: he became Ward Kimball’s son-in-law when he married Ward’s oldest daughter, Kelly, in 1960. The marriage didn’t last, but Ward had a lasting impact on Foulkes.

Most curiously, Ward inadvertently turned Foulkes into a vehement opponent of Mickey Mouse. Foulkes’ unflattering depictions of Mickey have appeared in his work for decades and serve as a broader commentary on the ways that corporations condition and influence consumers through benign Pop symbols. The press notes for the Hammer exhibit tell more of the story:

In the late 1970s Foulkes’s former father-in-law Ward Kimball (one of the head animators at Disney Studios) gave him a copy of the Mickey Mouse Club Handbook from 1934, and Foulkes read the letter inside detailing how the club would teach children to be well-behaved, polite citizens. Dismayed by Disney’s attempts at brainwashing, Foulkes developed a skepticism and distrust that have remained with him ever since. A few years later he began to take his paintings in a new direction, and Mickey Mouse became a recurring character. The seminal work “Made in Hollywood” (1983) features a copy of the letter from the Mickey Mouse Club Handbook.


Llyn Foulkes photo by Ward Kimball, 1962. (And yes, that’s a dead cat in the painting behind him.)

I interviewed Llyn when I was researching my biography of Ward Kimball, and my book touches on the relationship between Ward and Llyn. Llyn’s success as a fine artist in the early-Sixties was a big inspiration to Ward, who began pursuing his kinetic art seriously around the same time. Despite a big difference in age, Kimball and Foulkes got along well and shared a similar set of hobbies. Notably, Foulkes, in addition to being a painter, is also a musician, and he plays a self-built one-man musical instrument called the Machine:

Here’s the description of the Hammer show followed by some more images:

The Hammer Museum presents an extensive career retrospective devoted to the work of the groundbreaking painter and musician Llyn Foulkes (b. 1934 in Yakima, Washington), on view from February 3 to May 19, 2013. One of the most influential yet under recognized artists of his generation, Foulkes makes work that stands out for its raw, immediate, and unfiltered qualities. His extraordinarily diverse body of work—including impeccably painted landscapes, mixed-media constructions, deeply disturbing portraits, and narrative tableaux—resists categorization and defies expectations, distinguishing Foulkes as a truly singular artist.

LLYN FOULKES is organized by Hammer curator Ali Subotnick and will feature approximately 140 artworks from public and private collections in the U.S. and Europe, some of which have not been seen for decades. The exhibition will explore the entire scope of the artist’s career, including early cartoons and drawings, his macabre, emotionally-charged paintings of the early 1960s; his epic rock and postcard paintings of the late 1960s and early 1970s; his “bloody head” series of mutilated figures from the late 1970s through the present; his social commentary paintings targeting corporate America (especially Disney), which include his remarkable narrative tableaux that combine painting with woodworking, found materials, and thick mounds of modeling paste, seamlessly blended into the painted surface to create a remarkable illusion of depth. The show will also feature a video of Foulkes playing his Machine, a one-man instrument consisting of horns, bass, organ pipes, percussion and more. LLYN FOULKES will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue including essays by novelist and art critic Jim Lewis, writer Jason Weiss, and curator Ali Subotnick.


Jam Session at Ward Kimball’s home in 1973: Top row, from left to right: John Kimball, Al Dodge, George Probert, Robert Crumb, Ward Kimball. Bottom row, from left to right: Robert Armstrong, Spencer Quinn, Llyn Foulkes (on drums).

Kelly Kimball and Llyn Foulkes with their daughter, Laurey. Photo by Ward Kimball, 1962.


Wedding cake toppers that Ward designed for Llyn and Kelly’s wedding, 1960.

“Corporate Kiss” by Llyn Foulkes, 2001.


“Uncle Walt” by Llyn Foulkes, 1995.


“Mr. President” by Llyn Foulkes, 2006.

“Ghost Stories” trailer by Late Night Work Club

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I first posted about the animation collective Late Night Work Club back in November. The group was started by Scott Benson with Charles Huettner, Eimhin McNamara and Eamonn O’Neill, who then we reached out to other people they knew and respected.

They’ve just released the trailer for their first shorts anthology, Ghost Stories, which will be released this coming Spring. In addition to the collective’s founders mention above, the anthology features the work of Sean Buckelew, Dave Prosser, Jake Armstrong, Erin Kilkenny, Alex Grigg, Daniella Orsini, Joe Orton, Conor Finnegan, Louise Bagnall and Christen Bach. Based on the trailer, it looks terrific:

Warner Bros. Anniversary DVD Set salutes Hanna Barbera

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This year, Warner Home Video is releasing several DVD boxed sets designed to celebrate the film studio’s 90th anniversary. A few of them will actually compile cartoons. They’ve just announced one of these: The Best of Warner Bros.: Hanna Barbera 25 Cartoon Collection, a 2-DVD set available on May 21st, for $26.99 ($18.89 on Amazon). It includes selected H-B cartoons from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70′s. The contents are:

1950s
The Ruff & Reddy Show (1957) “Planet Pirates” (episode 1)
Huckleberry Hound (1958) “Spud Dud”
Yogi Bear (1958) “Snow White Bear”
Hokey Wolf (1961) “Castle Hassle”
Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks (1958) “A Wise Quack,”
The Quick Draw McGraw Show (1959) “Masking for Trouble”
Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy (1959) “Gone to the Ducks”
Snooper and Blabber (1959) “The Lion is Busy” with Snagglepuss
Loopy De Loop (1959) “Wolf Hounded”

1960s
The Flintstones (1960) “Love Letters On The Rocks” 30 mins.
The Yogi Bear Show (1961)
Snagglepuss “The Roaring Lion”
Yakky Doodle “Hasty Tasty”
Top Cat (1961) “T.C. Minds the Baby” 30 mins.
Wally Gator “Gator-Napper”
Touché Turtle and Dum Dum “Rapid Rabbit” with Ricochet Rabbit Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har “Hick Hikers”
The Jetsons (1962) “Rosie the Robot” 30 mins
The Magilla Gorilla Show (1964) “Makin’ with the Magilla”
Punkin’ Puss & Mushmouse “Callin’ All Kin”
Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long “Will ‘O the Whip”
Jonny Quest (1964) “The Robot Spy” 30 mins.
Peter Potamus (1964) “Cleo Trio”
Breezly and Sneezly “Stars and Gripes”
Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey “Black Bart”
Atom Ant “The Big Gimmick”
Secret Squirrel “Cuckoo Clock Cuckoo”
Squiddly Diddly “Way Out Squiddly”
Precious Pupp “Precious Jewels”
The Hillbilly Bears “Do The Bear”
Winsome Witch “Have Broom will Travel”
Frankenstein, Jr. “The Shocking Electrical Monster’
The Impossibles (1966) “The Spinner”
Space Ghost “The Heat Thing”
Dino Boy “The Sacrifice”
Space Kidettes (1966) “Moleman Menace’
The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show “Gadzooka”
Birdman (1967) “Birdman Meets Birdboy”
The Galaxy Trio (1967) “Revolt of the Robots”
The Herculoids (1967) “Attack from Space”
Cattanooga Cats (1969) “Witch Whacky”
It’s The Wolf (1969) “Slumber Jacks”
Motormouse and Autocat (1969) “Wheelin’ and Dealin’”

1970s
The Funky Phantom (1971) “The Liberty Bell Caper” 30 mins.
Jabberjaw (1976) “Dr. Lo has Got to Go” 30 mins.

Sounds like quite a bargain to me. Sharp-eyed CB readers Rodrigo Tramonte and Homero Bender noted on Cartoon Brew’s Facebook page that the rabbit pictured on the box between Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw is not a familiar Hanna Barbera character (see below). It’s actually “Rapid Rabbit” from a late Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical short, Rabbit Stew And Rabbits Too (1969).

Apparently the artist meant to use a Ricochet Rabbit (the particular Ricochet Rabbit cartoon on this set is titled “Rapid Rabbit“). I’ve been told Warner Bros. will correct the artwork on the final package.

(Thanks, TV Shows on DVD)