2010

Thoughts on The Hub

Animation, TV /

There has been much talk and debate in recent times about the upcoming launch of the newest TV channel aimed at kids, that’s right, The Hub. Co-owned by Hasbro and Discovery Networks. Anyone over the age of 20 will immediately recognize there is more than one show of that classic 80s vintage, the toy line.

What has proven to be the most surprising developments of the channels launch has been the heated debate about the nature of the shows, namely that fact that the three in question: G. I. Joe, My Little Pony and Pound Puppies are all based on the existing Hasbro toy lines of the same name. This parallels a separate show based on the popular Sketchers line of shoes, which is currently being investigated by the FCC after a complaint by a campaign group.

The new network seems to have escaped this group’s attention for the moment although I suspect that it is because: a) it hasn’t launched yet and b) there were previous cartoon incarnations that have caused them to fly under the radar for the moment.

I have somewhat average hopes for the network, much will depend on the quality of the content. In times gone past you simply knocked a show together based on the toys and Bob’s your uncle. DIC became masters of the art before getting swallowed up by Cookie Jar. In this day and age, The Hub may find this audience a tougher nut to crack than in the past.

The reason, for one, is the quality of shows on other networks. The rampaging juggernaut that is SpongeBob Squarepants has single-handedly ruled that cartoon merchandising empire for more than a decade. Despite their storied past, any of the Hub’s shows are unlikely to overthrow the king.

As noted on Cartoon Brew, the network that may have to watch its back is Cartoon Network. While it is true that they are (somewhat) engaged in the true model of using creator-driven content, they also suffer from a severely deficient marketing strategy that has so-far yielded next to nothing for the vast majority of their shows. The sole exemption being Ben 10, which has been rather successful at hawking a line of toys and ancillary merchandise.

The network doesn’t launch for another bit, but I think I can safely say that with Lauren Faust in the driving seat, My Little Pony may well be making a big-time comeback.

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Reflections on the Past Year

Me /

While it may seem strange to look back on the year in the middle of September, there is a genuine reason for doing so, at least in my case. For it was in September, that I left Ireland and came to the US and it seems that every year, I seem to sit down and ponder the events of the previous one.

For starters, I’ve been in school a whole year, which is quite hard to believe in and of itself. That would mean that I’m somewhere between a quarter and a third of the way done with my MBA, a sobering thought if ever there was one.

Back in January, I had the pleasure of meeting the one and only Mr. John Canemaker at a screening for the Secret of Kells. He had just returned from a trip to Ireland and had plenty to say about it, namely that it was quite wet the entire time!

In February, I had the great distinction of meeting Mr. Tomm Moore, director of the Academy Award nominated The Secret of Kells. Despite the fact that it was a cold and snowy New York kind of day, it was great to chat to him ins spite of his incredibly busy schedule.

I once again took the day off work to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. A few days later, I celebrated turning a quarter of a century old and began to feel old.

In May, I celebrated one year dating my very special girlfriend who tolerates this silly Irishman on a daily basis and I paid my first visit to the Midwest, going to, of all places, Milwaukee. I can safely say that the beer there is indeed the best I’ve had on this side of the Atlantic. The city itself was also quite fun to wander around, even if it’s clear the recession is hurting things.

My brother came to spend the summer with me. There was lots of reminiscing involved.

Not much happened in June.

My mother and sister came for a visit in July. We did plenty of touring and visiting relatives and also spent three fabulous days in New York City. A good time was had by all.

For 4th of July, we visited my girlfriend’s hometown in upstate New York where her mother owns an ice-cream shop. The ice-cream was delicious and the fireworks were spectacular.

In August, I paid my second visit to the Midwest, in particular, Columbus, Ohio. It was a great weekend but we were so stretched for time that we didn’t get to see much besides the city centre.

In late, late August, we adopted an English Bulldog named Mona, who so far has been pretty well behaved in all consideration and, despite barking at me the first time we met, she has grown much friendlier in the meantime.

My attendance at various ASIFA-East events has been slightly curtailed this year because of school. A couple of events I would have loved to attend were on nights where class was in session and with the pace we were going at, I just couldn’t afford to take a night off. The sad thing is that I was all set to attend a board meeting when a deadline at work popped up. I didn’t leave the office till 9 o’clock that night so suffice to say, I didn’t make it.

So, what does the coming year hold? Hopefully more of the same, although I am most looking forward to a trip to Ireland in July 🙂

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Accounting in Hollywood

Uncategorized /

I read this article on Wikipedia the other day and found it quite amusing. As I’m currently studying for my MBA, I have to take a few accounting classes and suffice to say, the teacher never explained this to us!

I’ve known about not accepting net terms on a Hollywood contract ever since Freakazoid! told me not to way back in the day but the levels that it seems to go to are extreme. It’s safe to say that the major animation studios are involved, they too, after all, play in the same sandbox.

At one end, it is necessary, with so many fingers trying to grab a piece of the pie. At the other end, it is dishonest and misleading. Why distributors feel the need to secure a slice of the gross is beyond me, surely they’d be much happier with a flat fee thereby removing the risk element involved, no? It’s beyond me, but not beyond self-styled Hollywood Economist Edward Epstein. His blog provides a great insight into the financing machine that is the movie industry and is well worth a read.

I’ll elaborate more in a future post.

 

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Bill Plympton Talks Idiots and Angels

Animation, Film, Independents /

Yes, I mentioned it last week, but in the meantime, Katie Cropper has conducted a great interview with Bill over on ASIFA-East’s Exposure Sheet blog where he gets into some detail about how he eventually came to the conclusion that he had to distribute it himself.

It’s a great interview and I highly encourge you to head over and read it right now!

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The Differences Between The US and UK Trailers for Tangled

Animation, Disney, Film /

It’s pretty much a given that the opposing sides of the Atlantic have different cultures. Ask any one from either side which version of The Office they prefer and invariably, the local version is the one that is chosen. This is an obvious choice: American like blatant jokes whereas the British are much more for sly, under the radar humour.

The differences extend to pretty much all aspects of entertainment that happen to cross the pond. Take for instance Harry Potter, the first book/movie in the series was called the Philosopher’s Stone in Britain but the Sorcerer’s Stone in the US. The movie even had scenes where the stone in question is spoken filmed twice, just to be consistent.

Since films are not excepted, neither are film trailers. Take for instance the upcoming Disney feature, Tangled. The trailers for both are embedded below for your viewing pleasure. Watch them both and then continue below.

The US version:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxY35VkI0NI&feature=player_embedded]

The British version

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycoY201RTRo]

In light of the two, which is better? Well neither really. A trailer is supposed to give you the best idea of the plot without giving away the ending or any important plot details. A classic failure is the one for The Simpsons Movie, which pretty much gave away the entire plot, minus Lisa’s love interest.

About these two, well, for starters nether one gives the entire plot away and if I had to choose which one I prefer on that front, it is the American one, which only hints at what makes Rapunzel so special. The British version on the other hand, seems to focus much less on Flynn. I suppose it’s in Americans nature to see a movie about the struggle of one, rugged individualist fighting against oppression. That’s why their trailer is cut as such. The British one focuses much more on Rapunzel and what she gets up to. In other words, it’s much more cryptic as to how the two came together.

While both trailers are good at doing their job, it is clear that in the US, there is much more of an emphasis on trying to hook the audience. The British one is more direct in what the film appears to be about. From poking my nose around the web, there seems to be plenty of assurances from those on the inside that Rapunzel does play a greater role in the film than the US version leads us to believe.

Having said that, trailers can be fantastically misleading. Don’t believe me, check out this one for the romantic comedy that is The Shining. Another example is the one for Fight Club, a film I avoided until one day, when I was shocked to learn that the film is barely about underground bare-knuckle boxing.

Overall, the differences between these two trailers do not make that much of a difference. Personally, I prefer the British one because it reveals a story and characters who are much more complex than the American one suggests. Being a guy who likes complex, strong characters, that makes it a winner.

Now I just need to figure out if there’ll be a late-night screening that I and my better half can sneak off to without having to deal with hoards of pimply teenagers.

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Keeping Yourself Motivated

Animation /

Sometimes life can be tough, there’s no doubt about it. Right now I know more than a few people who’ve been laid-off from work and are finding it harder than they thought to get back on track. A few other people I know think they are having trouble getting started in the first place.

If this sounds like you, the important thing to remember is not to give up. We all have hopes and dreams both realistic and non-realistic, I mean, c’mon, who doesn’t want to own their own tropical island complete with a mountain layer nestled inside a volcano?

The point is that you can’t let apparent setbacks get in the way of what you want to achieve. Take for example the animation industry, unemployment seems to be a pretty big factor in a lot of animators lives at the moment. Animation being what it is, this is part and parcel of the job. However, it is not a hindrance to success.

That is what is so great about animation, it’s a career where you can be your own boss. I’m an engineer, do you think I can do some design work on the side when I get home, or make my own, independent road? Not a chance. I suppose this has its advantages, but it discourages passion for the job. I would love to be able to work on something all day every day if given half the chance and if you’re an animator, then you’ve already been given it!

In the past, there were plenty of barriers to creating independent work, namely money, but today, the cost of doing almost anything has dropped to the point that nearly everyone should be able to take advantage of them. The Internet has made numerous tools available that can help advertise yourself and your skills. It can also provide countless sources of inspiration.

The biggest favour you can do when motivating yourself is to manage your time effectively. If you’re into writing, set aside even half an hour a day to do some writing. That’s all I budget for this blog. Between school, work, dinner, the dog and some personal entertainment, that’s just about all I can spare on a weekday. The good thing is, it’s all I need!

The want to do something is another big motivator in that if you have no interest in doing something, you’ll likely never do it. For example, some people were dying to see Avatar, and plenty did. It’s been in the cinema and is now out on DVD and I’ve still not got around to watching it. I could do it right now if I wanted to, but I’m not motivated enough to do it. The same goes for personal projects. For a long time this blog sort of languished with infrequent and random topics until one day, I decided that it was something I could focus my energies on. Suddenly, I was motivated to write every day, and so far, so good. 🙂

The key point of motivation is how you measure your success. If you became a millionaire, that could be considered fairly successful, but what if you were an animator who shunned the opportunity of working on some modern classics? Is that a failure? Bill Plympton doesn’t seem to think so and he has carved out his own, unique market for himself that puts shoes on his feet and roof over his head.

My point is that only you can determine whether your efforts are successful or not. For me, writing a short script or drawing three panels of a storyboard would be a mighty big success, seeing as I’m pretty poor at doing either. My advice is to measure your performance not in the form of big milestones, such as, say, finishing an entire short film, but rather to break it down into smaller pieces, like say the script, or going even further and figuring out what colour clothes the character’s wear. Make a list, and every day, cross off what you’ve achieved. You’d be surprised how quickly things disappear.

The best motivation you can receive is from others. Plenty of people will gladly give you a thumbs up and a few will even give you helpful pointers or critique. Of course you can’t receive any of this if people can’t see what it is you’re doing, so share it with them!

Still in doubt? Then head over to GorkGakk.com, where cartoonist Mark Mariano made an entire comic out of comments left on the site. He drew the comic, but all the story ideas came from readers. Your work could be something similar, if on a slightly different note.

The most important lesson is: never let negative comments or situations get in the way. Stay positive, think of the end goal and what it is you want to achieve. If you keep that in mind, and work towards it, you’ll be successful, just like Stephen M. Levinson.

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The Day I Realized the Care Bears Were Not Real

Animation /

…was a sad day for me. Growing up as a kid, I had a vivid imagination that would lead me on all sorts of adventures. I would relentlessly watch pretty much any and every cartoon and/or kids show that came my way. If it was around in the late-80s to mid 90s in Ireland, you can be sure I watched it.

The Care Bears were one of my favourites. We had the movie (taped from the TV of course, complete with an ad for Economy 7 featuring the Seven Dwarfs from Snow White) and I watched it fairly frequently, so much so, that I probably could still spout it word for word. As well as the movie, there was also the TV shows. Funnily enough neither I nor any of my siblings ever had an actual Care Bear and I’ve never really learned why.

I enjoyed the Care Bears a lot. The large cast of characters probably had a lot to do with it as I could easily identify with a few of them, especially as they all had their own unique characteristic. In fact I distinstly remember telling my mother that someday I wanted to turn into a Care Bear. I can admit this now because I’m an adult who can grow a moustache and drive a car.

Being the trusting kid that I was, it never occurred to me that the Care Bears were actually created by American Greetings in order to sell cards. The day I discovered that, I was pretty disappointed. I could accept if they were a cartoon first and then a card, but the other way around had me feeling a bit left down. I can’t think of the exact reason, but it was probably something to so with the fact that it was a corporation, rather than a single person who was repsonsible.

Like any other kid, I could tell the difference between what was and wasn’t real, that was easy. The Care Bears, unlike other cartoons, seemed to stand on a higher moral ground, and this I seemed to like (must be the Catholic upbringing or something). There were plenty of other shows around doing the same. Heck, it seems like every TV show made between 1970 and 1985 had some sort of moral to it but those were blatantly obvious in comparison.

Perhaps I was a bit gullible. Perhaps other kids felt the same about other shows, I don’t know. Did the realization scar me for life? Nah, it wasn’t near as bad as they day I realized Disney World was just another theme park, but that’s a story for another day.

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How Come Chowder Never Spawned a Line of Cookbooks?

Animation, Cartoon Network /

Chowder, the loveable little scamp of an apprentice who someday wants to be the best chef in all of Marzipan City had an altogether awesome show, which has been one of the most popular shows on Cartoon Network in recent years and sadly ended last month. It has always bothered me that we never got a cookbook from the little fellow. I bet we would have seen a few really amazing dishes that we could actually make as opposed to just salivating at the thought.

I am not one to say why we never got one because I, as of today, don’t call that shots on such things. Since Chowder launched way back when Ratatouille was still being talked about, and that mouse did get his own book.

With many more shows (and indeed, recipes) to his name, you would think that it would be a forgone conclusion that a lightbulb would have gone off in someone’s head. Unfortunately if one did, we never saw the final product.

Such a piece of merchandise would have sold well, good children’s books always do and one based on a show as unique and popular as Chowder could certainly have been successful. Besides, the show was also pretty popular with older kids, you know, the ones that actually could cook for themselves without needing adult help.

A Chowder cookbook was an opportunity that was sorely missed. Indeed, a series of cookbooks on different themes was sorely missed as they would have extended the show’s lifespan far beyond its time on the air, which is of course, the holy grail of successful marketing campaigns, look at all the Flinstones stuff still floating about, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see Simpsons merchandising until the end of time.

Perhaps in a few more years we’ll see another show along similar lines that will brighten up the presence of cartoons in the kitchen.

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A Word on Blacklisting People

Animation /

It’s a nasty practice and I’ve read about it in numerous places, most recently today over on the Animation Guild Blog, but blacklisting employees seems to remain commonplace or rather, perceivably commonplace within the animation industry.

First of all, just because someone pissed you off in the past, that’s no reason to never work with them again. People change, more often for the better as they get older and wiser (hopefully).

Of course, the ideal thing would to avoid the ugly situation that causes all the problems in the first place. Why let an employee wreck havoc in your department and ruin everyone’s day? It would be much wiser to sit down and try and figure out what they feel are the problems within the department or group. Often times it is the simplest things, like micro-managing supervisors that can be dealt with relatively easily, but sometimes larger things like deadlines can be what’s bothering them. Sadly, deadlines are part and parcel of life outside of a government job so there are not many ways around it.

Humans can hold some fantastic grudges that only serve to harm themselves in the long run. The blog post above mentions the infamous debacle between Art Babbitt and Walt Disney. The root of Art’s problem seems to stem from the fact the newcomers to the Disney studio were being paid at or near similar wages of guys who’d been there for 10 years or more. If I were in his position, I’d be pissed off too!

Blacklisting (among other things) can also damage your studio’s reputation. Granted, today’s weak economy means this is not as relevant as in the past, but if you have one or two employees who leave on bad terms, you can bet they’ll tell the world and his dog about how crappy it was to work at your place, and such word gets about, especially in industry circles.

I suppose respect for the individual is key here. If you respect them enough to work through their problems they way the expect their manager to, it is possible to avoid a heck of a lot of conflicts. Artistic industries (or indeed any industry) like animation should not be side-lining talented folks just because they had a row at work. The industry is all the poorer for it.

Lest we forget that classic quote from Homer Simpson

Kill my boss? Do I dare live out the American dream?

G’night everybody.

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Animators and VFX artists: The Differences And Similarities That Should Be Celebrated

2 Comments / Animation, Opinion /

There has been some talk over recent years as to whether visual effects artists are really animators by another name. They certainly share a lot of common skills and traits, but there remains a gulf between the two professions.

For starters, visual effects has traditionally been concerned with adding bits and pieces to traditional, live-action films, whereas animation has always been about creating everything from scratch. These classifications were fine until a few years ago, when the likes of Robert Zemeckis’ The Arctic Express began to really blur the lines at which VFX ended and animation began.

Fast forward to this year, and you had Richard winnning an Academy Award for best visual effects. There is nothing really notable here until you realise that Richie actually trained as an animtor in Dublin!

There are still many differences that, at least in my opinion, mean that although there will continue to be a convergance of professions in the areas of technology, looks and skills, there will remain a few fundamental differences.

Animators and VFX artists should realise that they can work together in harmony, complementing each other. It would be a shame to see the two camps descend into petty rivalry, especially around awards season, when the issue is most likely to crop up.

Apologies for the short post. The topic merits more discussion, which by all means can be done in the comments below.

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