May 20, 2006

TOBY BLUTH DOES POPEYE & BETTY BOOP

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The Great American Ink animation gallery in Brentwood, CA has commissioned animation artist and director Toby Bluth (brother of Don) to create paintings based on Max Fleischer's Betty Boop and Popeye. The Boop-Oop-A-Doop Collection will be unveiled with an artists reception on June 8th at 6:30pm. It's an interesting mix of styles (Toby's lush watercolor late-1930s feel combined with the grittier early-30s Fleischer). Not all the pieces are displayed online, so a trip to the gallery is worth it. (And they have some killer original pieces from Warner Bros. and Disney.)


Posted by JERRY at 11:00 AM

FLUSHED AWAY trailer

FLUSHED AWAY

This is the trailer for Aardman's first CG film FLUSHED AWAY.
Looks like the new formula is (Aardman+CG = Aardman-charm).


Posted by AMID at 06:13 AM

May 19, 2006

TONY WHITE'S NEW BOOK

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Heads up! Nancy Beiman says:

This one's a must have. I was one of the reviewers on Tony's proposal and he covers nearly EVERYTHING. The book also includes a copy of ENDANGERED SPECIES, Tony's new film which features a cameo voice by none other than Roy Disney Jr.!
Tony White's new book ANIMATION From Pencil to Pixels seems to cover everything required to conceive, produce, direct, animate, assemble, and distribute an animated film. And if Beiman says it's good... it must be!


Posted by JERRY at 03:10 PM

Be A Cartoon Brewer

We've had some crazy ideas before here at Cartoon Brew, but this one may top them all. We're having a contest to find a Guest Brewer, somebody who will blog right alongside the Brewmasters—Jerry Beck and Amid Amidi. Anybody can enter—animators, fans, directors, historians, board artists, executives—if you like the Brew and feel you have something interesting to say, we want to hear from you. The winner will receive a two-week gig on the Brew. Now here's where it gets interesting. At the end of two weeks, the entire Cartoon Brew readership will get to vote on whether the Guest Brewer can continue blogging or not. If so, our Guest Brewer gets another two-week term, if not, we introduce the next Guest Brewer.

Why are we doing this? Because while we both love discussing the art and craft of animation, we know that we're not the only passionate voices out there. By doing this, we hope to encourage new voices in the animation blogging community and bring to light different points of view about the art form. Plus, we think it can be a lot of fun. If you're interested, simply send an email to cartoonbrewer [at] yahoo.com. Tell us (briefly) why you should be our Guest Brewer. Tell us your areas of expertise and give a sense of the topics you'll be writing about. This is such an untested idea that we don't quite know how we'll be judging this yet. We simply want to hear from passionate voices in the community and give them exposure on the Brew. Convince us that you're going to be the best Brewer. Entries will be accepted until noon on Thursday, May 25. We'll announce a winner here on Friday, May 26.


Posted by The Brewmasters at 12:28 AM

May 18, 2006

DEPUTY DAWG

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Deputy Dawg lives!

We found him on MySpace.

(Thanks, Andrew J. Lederer)


Posted by JERRY at 12:00 PM

PRINCESS Trailer

Anders Morgenthaler's PRINCESS

Here's the TRAILER for PRINCESS, a new hand-drawn animation/live-action feature from Denmark directed by Anders Morgenthaler. The film is playing at Cannes this month. The synopsis, from the film's official website, makes it clear that this is a very different type of animated film:

The 32-year-old clergyman August returns home from years of missionary work abroad because of the death of his sister Christina, who – after going from greatness to the gutter as the famous porno star ”The Princess” - has finally died of drug abuse. She has left her five-year-old daughter Mia with Karen, a prostitute. August pays them a visit to bring Mia home with him and become her guardian. Burdened by sorrow and guilt, he decides to avenge Christina’s death and brings Mia along on a crusade to clear his sister’s name of pornographic connotations. The mission escalates into a brutal and violent rout as August attempts desperately to protect the only thing he holds dear – namely Mia – forcing him to make a fateful decision.

While in the US, audiences have resigned themselves to accepting one 'farting animal' CG film after another, there is a mini-renaissance of mature, intelligent feature animation currently being produced in Europe, including PRINCESS, as well as Norway's FREE JIMMY, and France's PEUR[S] DU NOIR and RENAISSANCE.


Posted by AMID at 09:31 AM

Upcoming Halas & Batchelor Book

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HALAS AND BATCHELOR CARTOONS: AN ANIMATED HISTORY is a new coffeetable book coming out in August that is "part-history, part-tribute, part-critical analysis of the Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Studio," a studio that existed in Britain for over fifty years (1940-1995). The studio was most famously responsible for ANIMAL FARM, the first British full-length animated feature, but they produced hundreds of other quality films, commercials and TV series as well. The book is co-written by animation scholar Paul Wells and Vivien Halas, daughter of studio founders John Halas and Joy Batchelor. According to the book's press release, additional insights are offered by John Canemaker, Giannalberto Bendazzi and Richard Hollis. The book seems to only be available for pre-order at Amazon UK at the moment, but hopefully it'll receive some US distribution as well. After this, I hope somebody will write a book about Britain's other great animation outfit—W.M. Larkins Studio. Now there's a studio that has received virtually no recognition in history books, even though they produced unbelievably cool films and commercials from the 1940s-1960s, and had a roster of superb artists working there including Peter Sachs, Philip Stapp, Bob Godfrey and Richard Taylor.


Posted by AMID at 06:16 AM

May 17, 2006

KRAZY KAT CARTOONS

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In 1929, Charles Mintz (left) signs Ben Harrison and Manny Gould to long term contracts, to produce KRAZY KAT cartoons for Columbia Pictures release. (Not sure who the guy is on the right.) If you'd like to see a generous sampling of the cartoons they produced during that period, join us at the AFI Campus on Saturday in Hollywood, California. ASIFA-Hollywood is presenting its second program of newly restored 35mm KRAZY KAT cartoons at the AFI. We'll also be crowning a new "Miss Krazy Kat" before the screening. Where? American Film Institute. When? Saturday May 20th at 3pm, in the Ted Ashley Screening Room (Warner Bros. Building), 2021 N. Western Ave. Here's the map.


Posted by JERRY at 03:00 PM

TEX AVERY STATUES

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For the sum of $295.99, this incredible Tex Avery limited edition statue can be yours! And if that isn't your cup of tea, check out these others featuring Red Hot Riding Hood, Droopy, Woody Woodpecker, Hot Stuff and Casper!


Posted by JERRY at 12:00 PM

NANCY BEIMAN'S BOOK

Disney and Warner Bros. animator/director and teacher, Nancy Beiman is writing her first book: PREPARE TO BOARD! Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features. Here's what Nancy has planned for it:

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PREPARE TO BOARD! distills thirty years worth of notes from Cal Arts and on-the-job knowledge. I discuss Concept, Technique, and Presentation of character designs and storyboards. Most of this material is not covered in other books, which is what inspired me to write mine in the first place. A comprehensive glossary of story and design terms is also included. In addition to about 300 examples of my own artwork, illustrations will include examples of my students work on paper and in CGI. There will be some 'guest appearances’' by artists Dean Yeagle, Mark Newgarden, David Chelsea and Nina Haley; and materials from my collection of cartoon art (some of which I guarantee you have not seen before). And there are a few more surprises that are still ‘in progress’ as I write this, but they are worth waiting for.

I'm printing my interviews with Ken Anderson, Ken O'Connor, and T. Hee as appendixes (there will be some wonderful and surprising illustrations included.) My Tex Avery interview appears as part of one chapter. Anderson's interview is a stunner and the other two aren’t bad. None of the material has ever been published before and all of it concerns technical and 'story' issues (I thank my younger self for asking the right questions. Anderson's, in particular, is terrific.) The rest of the contents will include: Story and Character Concept (first third), Technique (second third) and Presentation (third third.) There are about three hundred illustrations, some from my students (at RIT), some from other sources, most by me.

Sounds great to me. PREPARE TO BOARD! Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts will be published by Focal Press in January, 2007.


Posted by JERRY at 08:10 AM

More Disney Insignia

Donald Duck Insignia

A bit of a follow-up to all the recent posts about Disney insignia from WWII (here and here). There is currently an exhibition at the National Museum of the United States Air Force (Dayton, Ohio) called "Disney Pins on Wings." The show, which runs through June 11, is apparently the "largest collection of original Walt Disney insignia artwork ever placed on public display." If you're not planning on visiting Dayton anytime soon—and as somebody who's been there, I'd question why anybody would want to—fear not. Here's a comprehensive set of photos from the exhibition for your online viewing pleasure.

The Donald Duck insignia above was drawn by animator John Sibley. This is actually a piece of art intended for Pete Docter's amazing piece about Sibley in the upcoming ANIMATON BLAST #9. I couldn't fit it into the issue, but this seems like an appropriate occasion to share the artwork.

(Thanks, Jennifer Cardon Klein, for letting me know about the exhibition and photos)


Posted by AMID at 05:17 AM

John Lasseter Interview

This FORTUNE magazine interview with John Lasseter is a good read. The piece has the most extensive comments I've seen from Lasseter regarding the Pixar/Disney negotiations. There's also some other good stories where Lasseter describes his experience on BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER and also explains the sure-fire sign that you've made a poor family film.

(Thanks, Jamie Badminton)


Posted by AMID at 04:33 AM

May 16, 2006

POPEYE RESTORATION AT MOMA

New Yorkers: DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!

The Museum Of Modern Art (as part of their annual film preservation festival) will be screening a fully restored color Popeye two reeler, ALADDIN AND HIS WONDERFUL LAMP (1939) this Sunday.

The two-reel Popeye short will be playing along with the 1940 verison of "THE MARK OF ZORRO" with Tyrone Power. GO to this screening. This might be your only chance to see an actual full 35mm restoration of one of the Technicolor Fleischer Popeyes, since there's still no agreement between Time Warner and King Features to get a real dvd release of the Fleischer/Famous/Paramount Popeye cartoons. Warner Bros. is preserving the Popeye cartoons regardless, and have had few public screenings of their restorations. Even if you've seen this short a hundred times, I guarantee you haven't seen it like this. Full, rich, restored color; the original Paramount titles; with crystal-clear sound and picture. You are in for a real treat.

ALADDIN AND HIS WONDERFUL LAMP will be screening twice: Sunday 5/21 at 3pm and one last chance on Thursday 5/25 at 8:15pm. Again, I beg you NOT to miss this rare opportunity to see this classic cartoon the way it was meant to be seen.

(Thanks, Nelson Hughes)


Posted by JERRY at 05:14 PM

Animation Blast #9 Update

Here's the latest on ANIMATION BLAST #9. I spoke to my Canadian printer yesterday, and he says if everything goes according to plan, they'll have the issue printed and bound by the week of June 5-9. It'll be immediately shipped to LA, which means I should be receiving them the week of June 12-16. And then I'll ship them out, which means you should be getting them by the end of June. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, the issue will also be available at the San Diego Comic-Con. More details about that in a bit.

PS - If you've sent me an email anytime in the past three weeks, chances are you haven't received a response. I'll try to respond to everybody by this weekend.


Posted by AMID at 09:42 AM

May 15, 2006

SOCIETY OF ANIMATION STUDIES

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The Society of Animation Studies has their annual conference coming up July 7th through 10th at Trinity College in San Antonio, Texas. The theme of the conference this year is Animation at the Crossroads. Papers to be presented include Alan Cholodenko's The Felicity of Felix, Michael Frierson's J. Stuart Blackton's Animated Films 1900-1910, Maureen Furniss' John Whitney: The Early Years and Mark Langer on The Fleischer WWI Military Films.

The Society for Animation Studies is an international organization dedicated to the study of animation history and theory. It was founded by Harvey Deneroff in 1987. Each year, the SAS holds an annual conference at locations throughout the world, where members present their recent research. For more information, contact president Maureen Furniss at mfurniss [at] calarts.edu.


Posted by JERRY at 02:00 PM

AW PRUNES

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I usually don't plug internet comic strips - most of the ones I've seen are pure crap - but Brew reader Larry Levine sent me a few samples of his strip, Aw Prunes, and I must admit I like his cartooning style. He draws funny, like he's watched too many cartoons or something, and that's good enough for me. Good luck, Larry!


Posted by JERRY at 01:45 PM