First Look: “The Adventures of Tintin”

Our first glimpse of Spielberg’s (and Jackson’s) mo-cap Tintin movie. They are still afraid to show us their faces – and I’m still not …

“El Clasico” by Richard Swarbrick

Despite my distain for Robert Zemeckis’ mo-cap monstrosities – I believe live action can be effectively used to create great animated …

“Mars Needs Moms” talkback

Disney’s Mars Needs Moms opened today. It got no love from The New York Times where reviewer Mike Hale began his critique this way:”It …

“Mars Needs Moms” trailer

Simon Wells directs this Image Movers Digital (re: Zemeckis) production. Disney is releasing it in March. Mo-cap or Mo-crap? You …

Will nothing STOP Robert Zemeckis?

Disney’s second animated release of 2011 (following Gnomeo and Juliet) will be the latest Robert Zemeckis/Imagemovers film, Mars Needs …

New Academy Rules for Animated Features

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has tweaked their rules concerning what qualifies as an animated feature in regards to …

The Disappearing Cartoon

Director and animator Will Finn made a thought-provoking observation on his blog a few days ago. He began the discussion by surmising …

Gene Deitch: Quo Vadis Animation?

Veteran animation director Gene Deitch and his wife Zdenka were invited to the Xiamen International Animation Festival (Oct. 30th-Nov. …

Zemeckis to ruin “Yellow Submarine”

We interrupt our bashing of Cartoon Network to get upset about something else: Variety is reporting that Robert Zemeckis is about to …

Michael Eisner Career Update

Now that Michael Eisner has purchased the ailing Topps baseball card company, he’s finally in charge of a company that has to use all of …

The Legend of Milu Deer: Princess Yoyo

One of my favorite sources for learning about obscure foreign animated features is TwitchFilm.net. Certain films though are perhaps best …

Sultan The Warrior

Four scary words: Motion Capture from Bollywood. Submitted for your approval: Sultan The Warrior. This new Tamil-language …

Demystifying Motion Capture

“Performance Capture technology is here to stay!” Or so says the Visual Effects Society who will be holding a seminar on motion …

Gene Deitch On Motion/Performance Capture

Serving as an appropriate complement to this earlier piece on Cartoon Brew, animation legend Gene Deitch has written a piece for …

Who Invented Motion Capture?

San Francisco commercial director Carl Willat has the shocking and hilarious answer. (Thanks, Karl Cohen)

“Beowulf” Blitzer

Two animated films led the U.S. Box office this weekend: Beowulf came in first place, and Bee Movie is holding strong in second …

Luciano Pavarotti Mo-Cap

Performance capture and opera: a match made in heaven. Quick, get Robert Zemeckis on the phone and have him follow up Beowulf with …

Worst. MoCap. Ever.

I’m sorry. This is the worst thing we’ve ever posted on the Brew. I’m horrified—and yet can’t stop laughing. Thanks to …

Postmodern Times by Joao Amorim

Postmodern Times is a new series of short animated films presenting “ideas about global consciousness and techniques for social and …

Ratatouille Triumphant

Brad Bird at last night’s world premiere of Ratatouille at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The best film of the summer will be …

CalArts Teaches The Fine Art of MoCap

Don’t know if you’ve heard but CalArts is finally catching up with the times and renaming itself the California Institute of Motion …

Conan Capture

Conan O’Brien recently visited ILM where, among other things, he created some motion capture movement. It’s in the second half of the …

The Mouse Goes Mo-Cap

“Hi! I’m Mr. Mo Cap! I’m the future of animation!” I woke up this morning to the news that Disney is entering a partnership with …

Notes on Monster House

Artist Chris Appelhans has posted some superb concept art that he created for the upcoming MONSTER HOUSE. If the finished “performance …

ANIMATED FEATURES OF 2006

2006 begins – and I’ve just updated my running list of animated features. It’s going to be an interesting year for theatrical animation. …

Gene Deitch’s Definition of Animation

Academy Award winning animator Gene Deitch has a few thoughts on THE POLAR EXPRESS and the definition of animation – and I am taking the …

“Polar Express” Nonsense

I haven’t liked what I’ve seen so far on THE POLAR EXPRESS, but I’m willing to give Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks the benefit of the …