Just in time for Easter, Oli Putland’s cute stop motion egg-stravaganza Easter Eggs. The film was shot using an iPad 2 and iPhone 4 equipped with Boinx’s stop motion software.

I watched all the UPA theatrical shorts back when I was writing Cartoon Modern, but seeing them restored on TCM’s new 3-DVD “Jolly Frolics” set has been an eye-opening experience. If there was ever any doubt about how progressive the studio was graphically, this set will dispel such notions. Immediately after UPA, the floodgates of animation design opened—by the mid-1950s, all varieties of graphic styles were being explored in TV advertising and industrial films, and soon after, European animation studios like Zagreb Film were out-UPAing UPA. The studio’s dominance lasted but only a short period, but UPA’s influence was lasting. It played a key role in pushing animation out of its cocoon, thus allowing it to evolve into the rich and diverse art form that it is today.

The director whose reputation will benefit most from this collection is Robert ‘Bobe’ Cannon. While his stories tend to be formulaic and thematically repetitive, often times it seemed like he was the only director at UPA who knew how to put together a coherent film. (A good deal of that credit also belongs to his close collaborator T. Hee, who wrote most of Cannon’s films.)

More than the stories though, it’s the way that Cannon animated characters, which looks even more refreshing today in light of all the generic Flash and After Effects animation. In Cannon’s work, the way a character moves is never separate from its design. Discovering a visually inventive way to animate a character from point A to point B is Cannon’s greatest strength. The two most famous films in the Cannon canon are Gerald McBoing Boing and Madeline, but his later efforts, especially Fudget’s Budget, Christopher Crumpet’s Playmate and The Jaywalker—all looking better than ever on this set—display remarkable confidence as a director.

Below is some random visual eye candy from the “Jolly Frolics” shorts. We’ll be giving away a couple copies of the set this weekend so check back.

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Five friends, five musicians, one garage. Here’s a killer sample piece created and directed by Toronto’s Sam Chou, for a TV series in development with Chuck Gammage Animation. The character design is by Seo Kim and it is too cool… this must go to series!

Today we learned that some animation executives believe, “Free labor is much better than cheap labor.” Cartoon Brew commenter Jody Morgan pointed out though that it’s not just megamillionaire businessmen who like free stuff:

“And seeing a movie for free is better than paying the matinee price.”

See, now you can enjoy Digital Domain’s first animated feature The Legend of Tembo, while still respecting John Textor’s business philosophies.

The trailer for Seth MacFarlane’s new movie Ted, went online Monday. Cartoonist Lucas Turnbloom has been drawing the online comic strip Imagine THIS since 2008. Tom Racine of the internet comics podcast Tall Tale Radio, noticed some similarities and made this comparison graphic (click thumbnail at left). Turnbloom is not accusing MacFarlane or his writing team of anything, but many of his fans and his cartooning friends have noticed some incredible similarities.
How does it look to you?

In last week’s post about Butch Hartman’s animation channel, I wrote that, “The word of the year for Internet content is CHANNELS.” The LA Times is tracking the trend as well, and published two pieces this week —here and here—highlighting some of the forthcoming animation “channels.” Most of these channels appear to be producing content with an Adult Swim/Comedy Central vibe, targeted at young adult males. Their goal, no doubt, will be to steal advertising dollars away from their cable channel competitors.

Here’s a handy guide to who’s doing what:

Mondo Media
The creator of Happy Tree Friends and distributor of Six Point Harness’s Dick Figures, Mondo Media already operates a successful YouTube channel with over 1 billion views. Now they will receive additional funding from Google (YouTube’s parent company) which announced its ambitious plan last fall to build dozens of online channels. According to the LA Times, Mondo Media will apply its funding toward the production of 65 original pilots over the next year. They are accepting pitches on their website, and are looking for shows that cater to teens and young adults. Mondo has already signed production deals with actor Carlos Alazraqui, and Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine, who created the YouTube series Ask a Ninja.

Cartoon Hangover
Cartoon Hangover is the second major animation channel blessed with YouTube funding. It’s run by veteran animation producer Fred Seibert (Adventure Time, Fanboy and Chum Chum, What A Cartoon!). Seibert’s earlier foray into online channels—Channel Frederator—led to the formation of Next New Networks, which was purchased by YouTube for tens of millions of dollars last year. That channel was criticized on Cartoon Brew for Seibert’s unwillingness to pay filmmakers for films that were building his personal brand. With Cartoon Hangover, Seibert is reverting to a traditional production model and will fund the creation of animated series from creators with established track records. Ten original series are planned including Bravest Warriors by Adventure Time creator Pen Ward, and Superf*ckers by comic artist James Kochalka.

Shut Up! Cartoons
The third animation channel being funded by YouTube, Shut Up! Cartoons was created by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox, who run the well known YouTube channel Smosh. They’re planning 18 original series including Krogzilla Gets a Job being developed by Hoodwinked co-director Cory Edwards and Pubertina based on a student short created by CalArts Experimental grad Emily Brundige. Shut Up!’s president and executive producer has a history in TV animation: Barry Blumberg was the president of Disney TV Animation between 1994 and 2006.

Yahoo
Yahoo doesn’t appear to be building a network (at least not yet), but they’re investing in animation in a big way. Their tentpole project is Electric City, an animated series conceived by and starring Tom Hanks. The production company for the show is India’s Reliance Entertainment, which ironically has a partnership with Digital Domain. Electric City, which will premiere this summer, has a budget of $2.5 million for 20 episodes between four to five minutes each. The per-minute cost exceeds the average production cost of animated shows on cable, so if they use that money wisely, the show should have high production values.

(Images at top from Emily Brundige’s “Pubertina” series)

Crash by Belle & Sebastian

A cover version by Belle & Sebastian of the 1988 hit song Crash by The Primitives. This animated video was made by Stephen Tolfrey.

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Pirates Life by We Cut Corners

This video is hand drawn frame by frame with markers on paper by Polish artists Katarzyna Kijek and Przemysław Adamski. It’s now an official selection in the Music Video category at Annecy 2012. (And don’t miss their top-secret making-of video).

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If the Canary Stops Singing by Heart-Sick Groans

Cut-out style, directed by Danish illustrator, animator and short film director Henric Wallmark.

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Changing The Rain by The Horrors

Last but not least – a kaleidoscope of color directed by Pete Fowler.

VFX Soldier has dug up its pièce de résistance: a video of Digital Domain CEO John Textor gloating about how not paying people at all is better than having to pay them even a little bit of money. It’s like an animation studio executive’s wet dream come true: