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Disney's head animation writer in 1977 was cartoon veteran Larry Clemmons, who had first been hired at the studio in 1930. At the time of his hiring, he was a Yale graduate with a degree in architecture, but an Ivy League education was of little value in 1930 when the economy was collapsing...and few buildings were being erected.
Laika does amazing work as an animation studio, no doubt about it, but the studio's history is somewhat less admirable. The company was built on top of Will Vinton's eponymous Portland studio in a shrewd corporate takeover by multi-billionaire Nike co-founder Phil Knight. After Knight took control of the company in 2002, he placed a failed rapper named Chilly Tee with slight experience in animation, who also happened to be his son Travis Knight, in charge of the entire company.
Marc James Roels and Emma De Swaef are an animation duo from Ghent, Belgium. Their work has gained extensive notoriety in the past few years, after their 17-minute wool-animated short "Oh Willy…" swept the festival circuit, racking up countless awards and charming the hearts of audiences across the globe.
Ralph Bakshi pulled himself away from his drawing desk in New Mexico to chat with Cartoon Brew about his legacy, his latest project "The Last Days of Coney Island," which he recently funded on Kickstarter, and what he really thinks about the computer’s role in animation these days.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has announced the finalists for the 41st Student Academy Awards. The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 7, at the DGA Theater in Hollywood. Among the five categories, one of them is dedicated entirely to animation, and another category—Alternative—includes animated films in it, too.
"Feast," a new short by "Paperman" head of animation Patrick Osborne, will debut at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 10, Disney announced this morning.
Determined to unleash Smile's potential, Coach Koizumi devises a relentless schedule of training that culminates in a death match pitting old veteran versus young hopeful. Smile's resistance finally cracks under the pressure, and he begins to get serious. Meanwhile, the appearance of a new rival - the tough-looking Ryuichi Kazama - sets the stage for a later showdown.
“Animated cinema is the demiurgic art par excellence: matter comes to life and is transformed in the hands and imaginations of the creators. They, more than anybody, know about the secret life of objects.” This description, comes from the exhibition “Metamorphosis: Fantasy Visions in Starewitch, Švankmajer and the Quay Brothers,” now playing at the Centre de Cultura Contemporanea (CCCB) in Barcelona, Spain, and it's a good summary of the work of these four visionary animators.
The Brothers Quay, the legendary team of identical twin stop motion animators, will be appearing tonight in Chicago at DePaul University for a screening and conversation about their work.
A recap of the first episode of Masaaki Yuasa's new series "Ping Pong."
"Frozen" is beautiful to see, fun to sing along with and is a modern day marketing marvel, but the script has structural and performance issues that are worth examining because they impact directly on acting.
Patrick Oliphant (b. 1935) is one of the Old Masters of editorial cartooning. He began his career in his native Australia, then came to the US in 1964, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1967, the first of many awards and accolades. The Gerald Peters Gallery in New York is presenting "Patrick Oliphant: A Survey," which includes 34 mostly new works ranging from charcoal and ink drawings, paintings in watercolor and oil, and bronze sculpture.
Last week, Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group released the second animated short, Buggy Night, in its Spotlight Stories, a …
The Cartoon Network upfronts took place yesterday and the now Stu Snyder-free network presented its slate of upcoming shows for the 2014-'15 season to their advertising and promotional partners.
While working on his short film "Mutt" in 1999, television writer/animation director Kirby Atkins ("3-2-1 Penguins," "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius") conceived of a new idea about anthropomorphized cartoon animals. Over time, that idea evolved into the concept for his new feature "Beast of Burden," which is currently in development at Huhu Studios in New Zealand.
The Los Angeles indie animation event of the season takes place tomorrow, Saturday March 8th, at The Cinefamily. Animation Breakdown Roundup! is a collection of over two dozen shorts by seasoned indie stars (Vince Collins, Emily Hubley), current filmmakers (Kirsten Lepore, Takeshi Murata, Devin Flynn, Allison Schulnik, Galen Pehrson, Amy Lockhart, Matt & Paul Layzell, Garrett Davis, Charles Huettner, Caleb Wood, Alex Schubert) and next-wavers (Peter Millard, Sean Buckelew, Quique Rivera Rivera.)
Adapting animated films for the stage is no longer just the domain of feature films like "The Lion King" and "Shrek." Italian dance/theater troupe "eVolution" has adapted an unlikely animated short for live performance: Don Hertzfeldt's "Billy's Balloon."
Those of us in animation always gripe that the rest of Hollywood doesn't care or know the first thing about animated films. There are tons of anecdotal stories to support this position, but finally, we've got some definitive proof. And if you think Hollywood doesn't understand animation, it's even worse than you could imagine.
Richard Linklater, currently nominated for an Oscar for "Before Midnight"'s screenplay, is making strides on the Warner Bros. remake of "Incredible Mr. Limpet," a project with which he has been involved since 2011.
In this special Cartoon Brew series, we asked the five nominees of the 2013 Best Animated Short Academy Award to discuss the artwork of their films. Today we conclude this exclusive look at the short contenders with "Get A Horse!," a Walt Disney short directed by Lauren MacMullan.