Great Resource for Kid's making Films
Hopefully some other kid's will find the following link useful.
https://seatup.com/blog/kids-guide-to-making-movies
Thanks Zak
Hoops

Setting the Scene arrives!

Fraser's new book!
"Setting the Scene: The Art & Evolution of Animation Layout"

Master Animator Tom Roth launches new animation course!

Animators Bootcamp DVD1 is Finally Available!!
Hope everyone finds it useful.

Coming soon! Dan Kuenster's Animation Bootcamp
Animation Mentor to Release New Free eBook
Available April 7th
Save the Date and Plan to Join Free Webinar on April 18th
eBook Contributors and Animators Wayne Gilbert and Keith Sintay Share their Professional Knowledge, Personal Tips and Answer Questions from the Audience
This is the Chance for your Readers to Learn Character Animation from Professional Animators
About the eBook
Ideal for people who love animation and enjoy learning about the art of animation, Animation Tips and Tricks, Volume II-2009 Edition takes it to the next level by offering budding animators a wealth of career advice, real-life insight on the working life of an animator in addition to valuable tips on everything from making a demo reel, making a scene, acting, bringing characters to life, workflow, and a whole lot more.
This eBook is written by Animation Mentor cofounders Shawn Kelly (ILM) and Carlos Baena (Pixar) and includes features by Animation Mentors Keith Sintay (Digital Domain), Aaron Gilman (Weta Digital) and special guest Wayne Gilbert.
*The eBook will be available online Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Please contact us if you would like to obtain the link to eBook before it goes live for easy online publication.
About the Webinar
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2009 (replay available after April 22nd)
Time: 1:00-2:30 PM (Pacific Standard Time)
eBook contributors and animators Wayne Gilbert and Keith Sintay share their professional knowledge, personal tips and answer questions from the audience.
http://www.AnimationMentor.com

Walt Stanchfield Books available for Pre-Order!
Eric Goldberg's Character Animation Crash Course - A Review
The best thing by far with Eric's book is the included DVD which includes clips illustrating each animation concept. It really helps to see all the various animation concepts so clearly articulated on paper and then see them in motion. I thought it was brilliant that he also put the charts on the dvd clips so you could figure out the timing as you stepped thru each clip.
Most of the material has been covered in the other books mentioned above but it is always good to have another reiteration of the rules of good cartoony animation. I always discover something new either when re-reading these books or getting a fresh new take like Eric's on the subject. I think the chapter on dialog is especially good, since pretty much the only other info out there is pretty much just a couple of pages in the Preston Blair books. Unfortunately if a young animator just follows the Blair examples the results are usually not pretty. Eric shows how it is important to figure out the accents and how to properly figure out what is important for the dialog to read. He makes clear that the lips are the last thing to think about and that acting and body attitude are much more important. But he doesn't give short shrift to the actual lip sync and has several tips that will help any mouth action look better and animate more smoothly.
At the end of the day this book is chock a block with great little animation tips that are sure to set your animation above the run of the mill. If you haven't added it to your animation library go and order it today. Now I can't wait for Eric's book on directing, whenever that comes out.
-hoops


Eric Goldberg's Animation Crash Course Coming Soon!!!
Unfortunately the book took another eight years to get from Eric's mind into our hands, but I think the wait will have been worth it. I just got email from Eric and his book , Character Animation Crash Course! is coming out on Amazon next month. You can pre-order it now. The bonus is Eric decided not to just recompile his notes, he is giving us a cd full of animation tests and x-sheets to go along with all the examples he had to begin with. You will be able to examine stuff frame by frame, and see in real time all of his fabulous animation examples.
From the looks of it this will be probably one of the most informative books on animation to ever be produced. If you are a student of animation I would run, not walk, to get this book. Eric is a master of the cartoony style of animation we all know and love, and if you want to master cartoony animation there is now a way to see inside this master cartoonists brain. It will go alongside The Illusion of Life, Richard Williams’ Animators Survival Kit, and the Preston Blair books as one of the go to books for learning the craft of cartoon animation.
Here is a blurb from the email Eric sent out today announcing the availability of his new tome:
Anyway I'm about as stoked as anyone can ever get about this book. I can't wait.
Pre-Order it on Amazon
-hoops


5 Second Animation Day
As you may know, last Thursday was Valentine's Day.
Well at Titmouse Studios in Hollywood, it was also
"5 Second Animation Day". This is a day that all employees are not to work on the regular in-house projects for the studio, but to take the day to come up with a completely original animation piece at least five seconds long. Any type of animation is allowed. Traditional, Flash, 2D, 3D, stop-motion, mixed media, pretty much anything you want. Licensed music is available to use. Use of the sound booth is open to record anything you wish. The sky is the limit. Judging by how late some people stayed to work on their projects (6am the next morning) this was not simply a day of play. A lot of effort was put into these pieces and it showed in the final product.
The genius of the idea for "5 Second Animation Day" came from above. Yes, this idea came from the head honchos of Titmouse itself, Chris and Shannon Prynoski. The artistic spirit that runs throughout Titmouse flows from top to bottom. It was their idea to have a day to break the monotony of the day-to-day grind and give their artists a day to let loose and see what they could come up with. Titmouse is neither the biggest, nor the most affluent studio in town, yet they still found a way to give their artists some time to blow off some steam and still be creative.
I guess the big question is, why haven't other animation studios done this? Or maybe they have (any recently)? If you know about any or just have a comment about "5 Second Animation Day" at Titmouse, please feel free to comment.
As of now, the films are not available online. If they become available, we will provide a link to them.
- steve (a Titmouse employee and participant in "5 Second Animation Day")


The right thing to do
The good news is that Dee Stanchfield, Walt Stanchfield's wife, is publishing a book of all Walt's notes. It is currently being compiled and hopefully will be available soon. The not so good news is that we will be taking down the Walt Stanchfield notes from the site by the end of the week.
This site has always been about keeping the information alive. The only reason we started posting animation notes and tips and such was to make sure the information was never lost. Before, there was no way to obtain this information. Now there will be. Because all of the information from Walt's notes will now be in the book, it is not necessary to keep them on the site anymore. We wish Dee Stanchfield the best with the book and will include a link for ordering it when it becomes available.
Additional books strongly recommended for animators:
The Illusion of Life
The Animator's Survival Kit
Cartoon Animation
Timing for Animation
- steve and hoops


Wow!

- steve


66-70
Notes for the New Year!
Chapters 62 - 65 of the Walt Stanchfield notes now available for download. Also, we have Entertainment 11 - 14 from Eric Larson now available for download. A big thanks goes out to Tom Dow for all of his hard work. He transcribed the notes himself and sent them in to us. Thanks Tom! Enjoy the T-Shirt!
- steve and hoops


Character Designer Lecture at CSUN

*Review for pre-selected CSUN student work only. Submit work for condsideration to: Prof. Trujillo, AC 402, by Nov.14 6pm. California State University Northridge, CSUN, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. Art Department on Halsted St. Park in Student Lot E-6. PayBox in Lot $4 Art Dept. Ph: 818-677-2242
- steve


Michel Gagne debuts teaser for his next short: Senseology
To see the teaser for Senseology , click here
-hoops


Thinking Animation
The book they have teamed up on is called Thinking Animation: Bridging the Gap Between 2D and CG and is described as a one-of-a-kind book that emphasizes how artists can use traditional animation techniques and principles with today's computer generated animation technology. The list of animators contributing to this book is a big one, filled with names most in the animation community will recognize: Henry Anderson, Bernd Angerer, Carlos Baena, Mark Behm , Chris Bailey, Tony Bancroft, Dave Brewster, Tom Capizzi, Brian Dowrick, Cory Rocco Florimonte, Dan Fowler, Angie Glocka , Eric Goldberg , Ido Gondelman , Evan Gore, Scott Holmes, Cathlin Hildalgo-Polvani, Victor Huang, Ethan Hurd , Ed Hooks, Mark Koetsier , Bert Klein, Keith Lango, Laura McCreary, Darin McGowan, Cameron Miyasaki, Mike Murphy, Floyd Norman , Eddie Pittman , Mike Polvani, Fred Raimondi, Nik Ranieri , Leigh Rens, Keith Roberts, Troy Saliba, Joe Scott, Tom Sito, David Smith, Roberto Smith, Javier Solsona, Mike Surrey, Richard Taylor, Conrad Vernon, Roger Vizard, Don Waller, Larry Weinberg, Paul Wood, Bill Wright and Dave Zaboski.
I haven't got my hands on the book for an in depth review but it looks like it will be a welcome addition to my animation library.
Check out the details on their site here:
Thinking Animation
Good luck to Jamie and Angie! I know this is one book I will be ordering.
-hoops


59 - 61
Flipbook for Mac OS X
- steve and hoops


Eggman Cometh
- steve


Carping about Carp
So if you want to check out this great little short which is done in the style of famed British illustrator Ronald Searle, email Richard for details.
richard@bazleyfilms.com
For those who don't know, Richard is best known for his supervisory work on The Iron Giant, he was also a lead animator on Disney's Hercules and has contributed to many other animated features. He is currently Head of Story at Aardman on Chop Socky Chooks.
-hoops


A Scanner Darkly
Two things in the article stick out in my mind. One is when Bob Sabiston (creator of the Rotoshop software being used) says to his crew "I told them, you are making a living as an animator, that's the good news. The bad news is that it's hard work". The other is when Linklater says "I go crazy because it feels like the animation process just goes so slow." Well, all I have to say about that is, yes and yes. It seems that if they knew this stuff, they wouldn't have been surprised at how long the project was going to take. Roto is one of the most tedious types of animation out there. It is slow! Partially because it can get extremely boring. You don't have the freedom of expression like a traditional animator would. You need to stick with what is on screen. Linklater seems to know this as well. he states "It was more of a factory and less artists expressing themselves." Again, yes it is. I hope all of this sinks in on this project. You can't whip this stuff out. It takes time.
To be honest I haven't liked a single film Linklater has done except the genius Dazed and Confused. I'm a bit skeptical whether I will like this one. Other then the technique being used on A Scanner Darkly, it's the sci-fi aspect of the Philip K. Dick story that interests me. I really like the trailer. I hope that the story is solid and that the technique is only used to enhance the vision and not used as the sole driving force of the movie.
- steve


Remixing The Magic
Gallery 1988
7020 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday 11am-6pm
Sunday & Monday closed
- steve and hoops


Notes
News Feeds
- steve and hoops


Keep it comin'!
Call it karma, call it fate, call it payback... Yes sir, the worm has certainly turned. There's a new sheriff in town. His name's Lasseter. John Lasseter and he speaks softly but carries a very big HB pencil.
- the other jon and steve!


Bring it on!
Nothing captures the moment as well as Floyd's cartoons from his book Son of Faster Cheaper. One in-particular that stands out in my mind is this one on page 86. I still get a kick out of it, but now it's even more fitting as a prediction come true."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
- the other jon and steve!

Animo
If you are interested in the older vector tools have a look at my personal website. I've put up some samples and even the original demo reel of the product. Yes, that's the original Animo running on NeXTSTEP in the demo! Yes that's a screengrab of Animo 1.7 running on Mac OS X!
- steve


Pixar board to approve Disney takeover
Here's hoping nothing but good things come to the animation industry from this merger.
- steve and hoops


The Year Ahead

Hoodwinked - January 13th, 2006
Now remember, I am just looking at the trailers and not the films so these are just impressions of what the audience can see at this time. Hoodwinked sports some amazingly bizarre model work, some incredibly minimal jointing and some really weird lighting. The standard Warner Bros type script makes this a radio play with incidental art attached. My own sense is that this has to be a good film writing wise because the art is so unbelievably weak, right ? It's lucky trailers are short because otherwise I would have to kill myself.
Ice Age 2 - March 31, 2006
The rodent/squirrel makes me laugh. The trailer/teaser is mostly that thank goodness. Animations the same, designs the same and they don't tell you a thing about the story. Oh, who cares, it's funnier the second time, no matter what right?
The Wild - April 14th, 2006
The thing I hate most about this preview is the insipid preschool commercial you have to sit through to watch the trailer. You will actually lose brain cells watching it. The Wild is the final version of what started years ago as an early Disney CG project as I remember. Seen Madagascar ? Then you've seen this, or so it would seem. Animals escaping the zoo. The models aren't bad (if you like stuffed toy animals ) but the jointing and animation is weak. It's hard to tell as this trailer works just like lifting heavy weights. It makes me tired.
Over The Hedge - May 19th, 2006
Now I find the writing in OTH kind of typically bad (see Sharktale) but I like the models/lighting (excellent)/rigging here. And how can you lose with Shatner playing a possum playing Shatner. Brilliant !!!!!! There are some.... well, awkward lines here but .... well thats life . The squirrel saying "Wanna see my nuts"? Ha ha ! So .... funny (imagine Shatner saying that). You can expect juvenile humor like that throughout the film I suppose but DreamWorks is getting a lot of things right. Hate to say it but there is hope for them I think. Oh, the humans, well, no one is perfect. Looks good though.
The Ant Bully - Coming Soon
I had to watch this four times. I , I just couldn't believe there was so little worth remembering from this trailer. I would get to the end and it was like I couldn't remember what I had just seen. The models are better lit but remind me of Antz/Jimmy Neutron. Hey, I have a bunch of dust under my bed, I think I should make a film called "The Dust Bunnies". Ha! Thats so cute....and probably ten times deeper than The Ant Bully. If there is a film here they are hiding it... somewhere . But not in the trailer. Animation seems fine but what's it about? An ant bully?Whuuuaaaaahhh ???????????
Monster House - Summer 2006
From the people who brought you the magic motion capture of Polar Express. What this is, is a live action movie done in CG. That's all. No real surprise here. Oh yes, the models are fat cartoonier than PE but they still move like roto. You know that nice acting key framing you see in Pixar films ? Not here. Some nice art direction and lighting and Zemekis feels it's done. Please God , let there be a story with interesting characters, please!!!!! I just can't take any more films without a story. (The Butcher holding his cleaver to his throat).
Yankee Irving - August 2006
No trailer here and the web page tells you why. "Lets skip the trailer and release it before anybody gets wise". What did I ever do to you people to deserve this?! What?! I think the ugly baseball bat should work Irving over, but good. He's just a puppet, he wouldn't feel it. Trust me.
Open Season - September 29th, 2006
Ok, there's a new Open Season trailer. A vast improvement over the last one in that it has a story and it sort of makes sense. See, a bear is living in this garage, like a pet, see, and then this deer , er antalope or whatever comes to take it outdoors, away from it's owner? Then the bear is mad because it hates being out in nature and they run into nut tossing ... squirrels ? Squirrels are as big as giraffes this year in the cool characters to cast department. Everybody's got'em. Oh, hell maybe I'm just old. Nice animation in this baby anyway.
Happy Feet - Nov 17, 2006
Oh my lord in heaven, kill me. What the..... dancing penguins, voiced by, Robin Williams.... and ? story ? Is there a story ? I can feel the heaving of my gut now. No, don't look. It is too scary.
Barnyard - Coming 2006
And thats where you will wish it stayed. In the Barnyard. Oh, one thing folks, COWS ARE FEMALE!!!!!!!!!! Holy Jesus, this is dumb. The cow designs will make you want to break out your Playmobile toys to compare which has more detail. I hate the models , I hate the humor, I hate...... oh you get it. This one is the winner in the weak premise contest, hands, hoofs down. If you do not die from having every bit of your soul destroyed by it's smarmy cliche and lowbrow humor you will tear your eyes out trying to avoid it's weak design and poor execution. Damn the makers for not putting their names on the trailer! I wanted to sue them for causing brain damage. Next time, just do a film like this with hand puppets.
Now, does this really look like a list of movies that were created because of great stories and great characters? Or does it look like a bunch of suits saying "We've got to get in on that Shrek and Nemo action!" Folks, if it looks like a turd and smells like a turd, well.... you decide with your hard earned entertainment dollars. I for one will be putting my own dough into automobiles...er...um...Cars this summer.


Could it be true?

If Flipbook on OS X does become a reality it will be a welcome addition to the animator's arsenal.
In retrospect all we can say is "What took you so long?"
- steve and hoops


Principles of Motion



Happy Holidays!
Great new reference for animators
-hoops


The origin of the species
Click here for the article
- steve


Don't Pick On Me
Great job guys!
- steve


Channel Frederator
Great job guys! Keep up the great work!
- steve


Animation Archive
John Kricfalusi recently donated his archives to ASIFA-Hollywood. Included with the donation were original storyboards from Ren & Stimpy, copies of layouts dating back to Mighty Mouse, production manuals, and boxes and boxes of reference binders. We also have the production files from Mike Lah's Quartet Films, with material related to television commercials (Tony the Tiger, Snap Crackle Pop, Green Giant, etc.) dating back to the 1950s.
We're looking for volunteers to sort, catalog and help us make the material available for use by the public in our Archive facility in Burbank. If you, or anyone you know is interested, please contact me at sworth@animationarchive.org.
You can find more info on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive at...
Thanks,
Steve
We are behind anything that preserves the artwork and knowledge of the art form known as animation. Good luck with the project Steve!
-steve and hoops


A few new ones...
-steve and hoops


Cheeeeeeese!

What did you think of The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ? Feel free to post your own comments.
- steve


Prelude to Eden pt3.
- steve and hoops


Prelude to Eden pt2.
from Gagne International:
Little did I know that putting Prelude to Eden on-line would create such a frenzy! In just a couple of days, the film has been downloaded several thousand times, far exceeding my bandwith limitations. I wanted to offer a high quality version for anyone to own, but the whole thing has sort of backfired and now, I owe a hefty penalty fee. At the rate people were downloading the film, I would have to pay about $1000 a month in additional bandwidth requirement. I have no choice but to take the film off line. I'll investigate some options and see what I can do.
Michel is going to investigate some other options and try and make the short available again at another time. I'm sure he'll let us know when it's ready.
- steve and hoops


Prelude to Eden

- steve and hoops


Corpse Bride

Have you seen it? What did you think? Feel free to post your comments!
- steve


'Bride' Stripped Bare

An extremely informative article online about Tim Burton’s new stop-motion feature Corpse Bride from Editor's Guild Magazine. Have a look!
- steve


No worries
- steve and hoops


Eric Goldberg Notes
Yes, we have a whole set of notes by Eric Goldberg. No, we will not be putting them up anytime soon. Long ago, when they were completed we put them up...for a about a day. Hoops had been contacted by Eric and he asked that we take them down because he was in the middle of writing a book. Of course we wanted to respect his wishes. That was about 5 years ago. We are still awaiting Eric's book and fully intend to help promote it when it comes out. In fact, recently Hoops talked to him and found out he had changed his plans and is writing TWO books! Awesome news!
So if you are looking for the Eric Goldberg Notes, all we can say is be on the look out for his book sometime in the future. They'll all be in there and much, much more!
-steve and hoops


How Art Meets Technology
- steve and hoops


New field guides
-steve


Animator Mark Koetsier Debuts Jet Pack Benny
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

A few more...
- steve and hoops


Happy Canada Day!
HD heads up!

-steve
P.S. - Pocahontas looked great in HD as well!


Big Star voice actors ...
I want to see great characters when I go see a film. Many times, if I see a big name attached to an animated film, it actually makes me want to see the film less. That's not to say there aren't some great actors out there that can do great voices. PIXAR seems to have a knack for casting. But more often than not, celebrities are getting these roles based on their name and not their voice acting skills. Check out this really great interview with Billy West by Kyle Ryan about voice acting. I'd have to say that I agree with Billy on many of his points. What do you think?
-steve


Attack of the 80's!
-steve


Site back up!
-steve and hoops


Cool Animation Tools
Another good tool for your arsenal is a timecode frame calculator. This will allow you to add up your footage and frames, very handy if you want to calculate all the footage you've done on a job before going in to ask for a raise. We found a very cool little timecode calculator for OSX called surprisingly enough: Timecode Calculator. There is a limited free version (v1.0) and a $7 version (v2.0) with a ton of different formats from film to video. It comes in the slick OSX brush metal look and will be a handsome addition to any desktop.
-hoops


Happy Birthday!
-steve and hoops


Additional Template
-steve and hoops


Site of the Day!
;-)
Big thanks guys!
-steve


A bunch more notes...
In the meantime we've uploaded a few more of the first batch of Walt Stanchfield notes, enjoy!
-hoops


Clean Design
Just kidding

We found a great little tool that'll have you up and running with a great looking site in no time!
Rapidweaver $35 (Mac OS X only)
Oh, and the site is best viewed in Firefox or Safari.
-steve


Great Reception
Hoops and I had lunch with our pals Ken, Chris and Mike last week in Pasadena and saw their set up at the new studio. They showed us some of their tools for reviewing their work and doing research and their cool new projector. Hey Ken, ever get Firefox on that machine? We wish them good luck in their future projects.
If you haven't already done so, head over to Animation Podcast and download the first and second parts of the interview with Andreas Deja. You don't need an iPod to download or listen to it. Just an MP3 playing program like iTunes. We are looking forward to many more great animation interviews in the future. Keep up the great work Clay!
Hoops was able to get a couple more of the Walt Stanchfield's ready so go get 'em!
-steve


Practice makes perfect
-steve and hoops


New Notes!
We now have the next 20 handouts from Walt Stanchfield ready to download. Sorry it took so long.
Look for the last twenty or so sometime soon.
-steve and hoops


It's new!
We hope that along with the new design and new areas, we can continue to help young and experienced animator's further their excellence in the field of animation.
Our new homepage features news and articles from our site along with aggregated news from around the web. We hope that this will help those looking for news about animation find it. We still intend to post new articles with reviews of new movies as well as observations about the animation community. As always the Butcher will be swinging his cleaver around when it's required.
One feature you now have is the ability to comment on any of the articles or reviews. So grab yerself a Gravatar and start ranting! It's free!
We'll continue to talk more about the new site and areas over the next few days. So have a look around. It's got that new car smell!
-steve and hoops


The Incredibles

Wow!


Popeye (Fleischer's)
'Twas the night before Christmas
Not a creature was stirring, not even a PA
The pencils were stowed by the portfolio's with care,
In hopes that Walt Disney soon would be there;
The artists were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of great scenes danced in their heads;
A wonder of timing each scene with real snap,
A half decent job that just dropped in their lap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the steel bars and threw up the sash.
The moon shone brightly off the ABC signs glow
Giving a the lustre to the pavement below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But what looked like Walt Disney and something else queer,
Tied up executives, dressed really slick ,
I knew in a moment that they must be a clique .
More rapid than eagles his prisoners came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and handed them blame;
"Now, Eisner! now, Jeffrey! now, Shumacher and Ball!
On, Lafaro ! on Ovitz! You all made it fall!
From the top of the hat! to the top of the wall!
Cheapquals are sickening I should fire you all !"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the prisoners flew,
With the weight of their guilt pushing them through.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little goof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney they all came with a bound.
He was dressed in a suit, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of execs he had flung on his back,
And he put them all down and then gave them a whack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His fine little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the stash on his lip was as white as the snow;
The stump of a cig he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a firm little belly,
He stared hard at Eisner who then turned to jelly.
He was angry about something that charming old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
Beatings so violent my stomach would jerk,
Then laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney they rose;
He sprang to his limo , then gave out a shout,
He opened the door and then kicked them all out.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Let them build empires on another mans house ,
this one was built on the back of a mouse"

Animo, Flash and the Mac
Here at Animation Meat we do not like to re-purpose press releases and use them for advertorials as some other publications do. So here's a link to take you straight to the horse's mouth.



Ferngully 10th Anniversary


-Steve


Futurama
Double Disney Duplicity
The Butcher here, swinging his cleaver in the name of truth, justice, and the anime way. So, we've all run out and seen "Atlantis", right? Sure we have. Only some people are saying that they've seen it already, and the first time they saw it, it was called "Nadia". That's right, it's the Lion King vs. Kimba controversy all over again, except this time it takes place under water.
Just like with Simba and Kimba, fans of Japanese animation are crying foul and accusing Disney of ripping off another piece of anime. So, is it indeed a ripoff? I dunno...I'm The Butcher and I'm just here to stoke the flames a bit and make people think. Without getting really involved in the debate, and in an effort to be fair and impartial, The Butcher wants to make it clear that these accusations fly around the film industry all the time. It happens in live-action, it happens in animation, and it will continue to happen right into the digital age, throughout the universe, and in perpetuity. But yeah, it's probably a ripoff.
I mean, c'mon! Look at the character designs! Apologists are arguing that since both films are derived from the same piece of literature, that there are bound to be similarities in the individual tellings of the story. But some of the similarities in the character designs between the two films are striking. The male lead characters, Jean (from "Nadia") and Milo ("Atlantis"), look like they could be related, right down to the huge, round-rimmed glasses and bow ties. The defenders of the Mouse House say that the character is supposed to be a brainiac, and the glasses and bow ties are typical of that kind of character design. Right. And that wasn't Gary Burghoff in a dress, playing Radar's mother in that episode of "M*A*S*H" with the home movies, either.
I guess the female leads, Nadia ("Nadia") and Kida ("Atlantis") are a little harder to argue. Sexy animated babes - they all kinda look alike to me. Belle, Arial, the chick from the Stones' "Harlem Shuffle" video, you name it. Except that Disney babes usually had a style of their own. "Atlantis" definitely goes for a more anime look, and the unfortunate (and not deliberate result, I'm sure) is that Nadia and Kida look like kissin' cousins. Say, now THERE'S a movie! But I digress.
What bugs me the worst about this whole thing is that not only does Disney deny that "Atlantis" might have at least been inspired by "Nadia", but they completely deny that there are any similarities at all! "Atlantis" director Kirk Wise said that he had never even heard of "Nadia" until long after production on "Atlantis" had wrapped. Well, that I believe. I'm sure that Disney can keep a director away from outside influences just like the Secret Service keeps Dubya away from CNN. Plausible deniability. But, I'll betcha that the storyboard artists, the color stylist, and the character designer had seen it! I mean, look at it, fer pete's sakes!
So, let us assume that Disney intentionally stole this movie. It raises the question of why they would do such a thing. One possible answer is that Disney, the one studio in the world that should have it's finger on the pulse of animation trends here in the States and abroad, has fallen into the mind set of most other media companies - that Americans are xenophobic, uncultured clods and that animation is strictly kiddie fare. One cartoon looks like the next, so who's gonna know? If you don't think this is true, go to the local video store where you'll find such kiddie klassics as "Heavy Metal" and "Fritz the Cat" in the same bin with "Rugrats: The Movie" and "The Great Mouse Detective".
Or, maybe it's just a huge cosmic coinkydink. Perhaps it took a million Disney writers a million years, banging away on a million typewriters....except instead of Shakespeare, they came up with "Nadia".

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

Chicken Run

This is the best animated movie to be released this year. Although "Chicken Run" is rated G, adults will find this film just as enjoyable as the kids. The film has a great sense of humor. Nick Park, Peter Lord, and Aardman have created yet another fantastic adventure. Although Wallace and Grommit bow out this time in favor of a chicken named "Ginger", the film still has the magic that we have come to expect from this group of filmmakers.
The story borrows heavily from "The Great Escape" and "Stalag 17" except this time it's the chickens that are the prisoners. They want off of Tweedy's Farm before they become fillings for Mrs. Tweedy's Pies. Led by Ginger they are determined to escape somehow.
The animation is terrific. You completely believe that these chickens are alive. Additionally, you care about what will happen to them thoughout the course of the film. Every detail is used to enhance the plot and move the story foward. Disney and Dreamworks traditional animation departments could learn a lot from this little film. It stays "on track" and does not get lost in mindless musical numbers and stupid sidekick jokes. There is a dance number in the film but it fits well within the context of the story and is quite funny.
Another reviewer put it best:
-KENNETH TURAN, Times Film Critic
It is my opinion that Nick Park and Peter Lord along with John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton at PIXAR are the true successors to Walt Disney. The films that these individuals are producing are much closer to the old Disney classics than anything that has come out of the traditional departments in decades.
-Steve

Stop by the
