Well, let's start with WDFA. Where it's been reported that Lasseter (I.E. The new chief creative officer of the combined Pixar / Disney operation) and Ed Catmull (I.E. President of this new mega animation operation) met with middle managers in the Sorcerer Mickey building last Wednesday and basically told these folks: "If you don't draw for a living, then you really don't belong in this building."

"As a guy who has been lucky enough to work for both companies, I can truly say this merger will be a benefit for both Disney and Pixar. As a Disney old timer, I can tell those who wonder what the difference is between Disney and Pixar, that culture difference we keep hearing about -- Pixar is simply the way Disney use to be before Eisner and his managers screwed everything up. With true creative leadership in place Disney will be free to thrive again.This is good news for everyone in animation.'

©2003 Floyd Norman. All Rights Reserved

Good one Floyd!

- the other jon and steve!

The board of Pixar Animation Studios, the digital animation company, is set to meet tomorrow to approve the company's $7bn (£3.9bn) takeover by Disney.

Had lunch with good friend and fellow animator/story artist Mark Koetsier this week. I've known Mark since we both were animating at Bluth. His current day job is a story artist at Dreamworks (although I don't hold that against him). He gave me a peek at his new story book, Jet Pack Benny, of which he has a garage full of copies. The art is fun and the story looks like a good read for the kids. Jet Pack Benny follows the adventures of a rascally squirrel who like The Rocketeer has his own jet pack. All the illustrations were done by hand in pastel and evoke classic Disney pre-production art.

Mark will be at Comic-Con in San Diego July 13-17, 2005, and his book will be available at the Stuart Ng booth 5013.

Take a peek yourself by checking out the book at:

http://www.jetpackbenny.com

Hope you all love it.

- hoops

Have a look at a side by side comparison and judge for yourself.

Nadia vs. Atlantis
or
Nadia vs. Atlantis

Animator Wanted
Must be proficient with Unix, C++,
Java, and have at least 5 years
experience. No phone calls,
send resume/reel to....

(For actual proof search for "animator" @ DICE.COM)

Huh? That doesn't sound like an animator to the Butcher. What these people seem to fail to realize is that animation is a combination of different skills. Traditionally speaking, before one can animate, one must be able to draw. Learning to draw is a process in and of itself. Then, once you can draw, you may not necessarily be able to animate. Animation is a whole new learning process. Once you can animate, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can do it on a computer, too. Computer knowledge is yet again a whole new learning process. And if you can operate a computer or an animation software package, it doesn't mean you can animate. Making an image move is not the same as bringing it to life.

Animation is still a mystical concept to most people outside of the business. And I'm sorry, but these hot shot, start-up dot-coms are not in the business of animation. They need animators, but they are in the business of web commerce and need to find out what an animator is before advertising for one. Little do they know it, but unless that rare individual that exactly meets the needs of the above ad actually exists, they probably need two people. Oh dear, then they'd have to pay two people! But they should look at it this way - let's say you needed a liver transplant, and to get it, you had to be flown to some clinic in the mountains during horrendous weather. Would you prefer to save some money and find a surgeon who is also a skillful pilot? Also, do you want your pilot/surgeon to have at you with a knife after flying through that nerve-wracking storm? Wouldn't you rather get the best pilot and the best surgeon you could?

Well, you can span the globe, looking for that all-in-one ingenious pilot and brilliant surgeon, but your animation is going to look like shit. You get what you pay for, and while it makes sense to find someone that can wear a lot of hats, you don't want the person's work to suffer because he/she is buried under 5 fedoras, 4 yarmulkes, 3 top hats, 2 baseball caps and a big sombreo with those dingle-balls around the rim.

Know thyself, and know thy job. Happy hunting.

The Butcher