Recaps

‘Steven Universe’ Recap: ‘Rose’s Room’

Reading beforehand what this episode was supposed to be about, my mind completely went somewhere else. Steven’s at that age when boys want alone time for a very specific reason and while I was 99.9% sure Cartoon Network wasn’t going to go that far, I thought they’d at least allude to that idea of adolescence and growing up. Instead we dived into the real reason (sort of) that Steven wanted to be left alone, and dug a little deeper into the idea of his parental units via a room and a weird, very strange world created by said room.

motion capture

‘Lord of the Rings’ Animation Supervisor Randall William Cook Speaks Out On Andy Serkis

Our post on Andy Serkis's inflammatory rhetoric about the limited role of animators on his motion capture performances generated a robust, often heated, discussion in the comments. By far, the most informative comment was provided by 3-time Oscar winner Randall William Cook, who was the animation supervisor and designer at WETA on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy that was released between 2001 and 2003.

Box Office Report

‘Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return’ Has Record-Breaking Bad Debut

If you didn't hear about last weekend's opening of "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return," don't worry because no one else in America did either. Opening in 2,575 theaters, the film eked out $3.7 million, which is the worst opening ever for an animated feature in saturated release (over 2,500 theaters). The previous animation record holder in this dubious category was the 2011 Weinstein Company release "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil," which grossed $4.1M from 2,505 theaters.

Animators

Watch This New Mini-Doc About Joy Batchelor on Her 100th Birthday

Today is the 100th birthday anniversary of one of the most important women who ever worked in animation: Joy Batchelor. With her husband, she ran the studio Halas & Batchelor, which was the largest English animation outfit for a good part of the 20th century and made that country's first feature-length animated film, "Animal Farm."

Call For Entries

Submit to Cartoon Brew’s 5th Student Animation Festival

For the fifth year in a row, we are pleased to announce our annual Cartoon Brew Student Film Festival. The mission for the festival is simple: to honor student-produced animated shorts and share them with the widest possible community of industry decision-makers, fellow students, and animation enthusiasts from around the world.

Awards

2014 Student Academy Awards Finalists

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.

Recaps

‘Steven Universe’ Recap: ‘Beach Party’

While this week’s "Steven Universe" opened a lot of doors as far as characterization and parallels, it was simply okay. Mr. Pizza was comical relief but other than that you had to dig for the entertainment.

Anime

Book Review: ‘Stray Dog of Anime: The Films of Mamoru Oshii’

I can remember looking at anime titles in British video catalogues back in the nineties; as the pastoral fantasies of Hayao Miyazaki would not reach prominence in this country until the new millennium, UK distributors placed a strong emphasis on futuristic thrillers. The films of Mamoru Oshii certainly fit that bill.

Games

‘Johnny Bravo’ Creator Van Partible Talks About New Dance-Combat Game

Van Partible, the creator of Cartoon Network’s Nineties series "Johnny Bravo," is making the rounds with a new third-person video game concept called Dancers of War. In the game, Marine Sgt. Jack Dancer is out to save the world from a maniacal pop star by strapping on an exoskeleton/leotard called “The Exo-Tard 3000.”

Recaps

‘Steven Universe’ Recap: ‘Steven the Sword Fighter’

It’s been a few weeks but the last few times in Beach City we witnessed a lot of growth in the series. Steven had an anger revelation after he hung with the cool kids and really showcased the father-son relationship thanks to little Onion. Now we’re back and "Steven Universe" went and explored the maternal dynamic within their group after Pearl took a blade through the chest.

Business

British Studios Locksmith and Double Negative Plan To Make CG Features

There are big developments in the UK animation industry in the wake of a much-heralded tax break received by the British animation industry that went into effect last year. Sarah Smith, the former creative director of features at Aardman Animations, is setting up a studio named Locksmith Animation. She bills it as the UK’s "first high-end CGI feature animation studio," and it is focused on creating a long-term slate of films for worldwide distribution.

Ideas/Commentary

Reflections On 10 Years of Cartoon Brew

Cartoon Brew officially launched on March 15, 2004. A decade is a long time to be doing anything, but it feels like an especially long time to be blogging daily. As we head into the site's 10th anniversary year, here are some reflections on where we've been and where we're headed.

Events

This Sunday in London: Centennial Tribute to Pioneering Animator Joy Batchelor

On Sunday April 13, as part of the Bird’s Eye Film Festival, the Barbican art centre in London is set to hold an event to mark the centenary of animator Joy Batchelor. Speaking at the event will be Joy’s daughter Vivien Halas; author and former Channel 4 commissioning editor for animation Clare Kitson; BFI animation curator Jez Stewart, and film critic Brian Sibley, whose work includes books on Disney and Aardman.

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