2011

Anomaly Appraisal: The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes

Animation, Anomaly Appraisal, Book /

Via: The Cartoon Cave

We got some snow here in Baltimore last night, so today I get to work from home! Without having to engage in the usual race against time that I normally do to write a post, I became rather distracted by some Looney Tunes on YouTube. Having grown up with all of them, it was very hard not to watch just a few as they finally give me the impetus I needed to post my review of The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.

Edited by Jerry Beck (whom you all should know as one half of Cartoon Brew and the guy who knows more about classic animation than anyone else), it does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. However, this is no mere directory of shorts, but a carefully curated collection of the ones that stand out, that are worth mentioning and, as Jerry notes in his introduction, are worthy of being ranked among the classics of American cinema from the same era.

The book is superbly laid out with each short getting a two-page spread with screenshots on one and the commentary opposite. There is the title, a quote, the production details, a short paragraph description and then there is the real gem of the book, the personal responses.

See, there are tons of books out there that detail Looney Tunes shorts and there are plenty of books out there that contain personal tales of people’s favourite ones, but rarely are the two brought together so wonderfully. The commentators includes a who’s who of animation folk, such as Linda Simensky, Michael Sporn, Greg Ford, Eric Goldberg, Mark Mayerson, J. J. Sadelmaier, the list goes on and on.

What makes all these personal responses so great is exactly that, they’re personal! Many remark about how much they learned from watching these shorts, and indeed how often they used to view them, mostly on TV re-runs. While reading through them, I found myself on more than one occasion mentally playing the film in my head, which only added to the enjoyment as I recalled all the gags and indeed, my own viewing experiences.

The Looney Tunes series of shorts are just one series that have had a profound effect on American culture. Their longevity is proof that they have managed to transcend the fickle nature of the entertainment industry, where fads rule and films can date quicker than the Chinese food in the fridge. The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes is a superb companion book that should bring back fond memories of these shorts, and may also inspire you to seek them out again. Highly recommended and can be bought on Amazon.

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Happy Australia Day!

Animation /

Via: The Australian National Botanical Gardens

In honour of today being Australia Day, I thought it would be nice to focus on Australia as a source of animation. I was vaguely aware of it as a base for out-sourcing animation way back in the day (Hanna-Barbera were the first) but it would appear that now, it is very much a source of content as well!

Australia would not be the first place one would think as a country you could out-source productiont to, but back in the 70s, it made perfect sense. Everyone spoke English and having been ruled by the British, also shared certain cultural norms with the likes of Britain and America thus reducing some of the higher hurdles that having production overseas can entail. As I mentioned above, Hanna-Barbera were the first (if I remember correctly) to realize that there were gains to be had by utilising the nascent artistic talent of the vast country.

However, over time, these same Australians who were producing work from overseas gradually began to realise their own potential and began making films and TV shows. Perhaps the most famous of the first wave is “Arthur! And the Square Knights of the Round Table” which was broadcast in the mid 1960s.

In more recent times, feature films such as FernGully, $9.99 and Mary and Max along with TV shows like Tracey McBean have helped solidify Australia as a successful source and base for animation production, perhaps more so than other countries who have attempted similar efforts. No doubt, Australian animation will continue to be successful in the future with the growth of the internet helping to lessen the physical isolation of this fascinating country.

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Preamble: Today’s Oscar Nominations

Animation /

Later on today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce their shortlist for this year’s Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars.

I don’t particularly want to comment on proceedings until they occur, so I won’t. I’ll post an update later this afternoon.

UPDATE: And the nominations are in!

Toy Story 3 did get the anitcipated Best Feature nomination, but it also received a spot in the Best Animated Feature category, much the same way Up did last year. I doubt we will see history being made on February 27th however.

Also nice to see The Illusionist get a nod although it faces stif competition from Now To Train Your Dragon and the afforementioned Pixar juggernaut. Again, there was no good reason for having a three-spot shortlist when it could have been so easy to find just two more animated films that are worthy. Cartoon Brew has a good summary of all the aniamation-related nominations.

In the short film section, it’s disappointing to see that Bill Plympton will have to wait another year for a crack at the golden statuette. At this point, it would seem that Day and Night is leading the race for that category.

So, overall, it’s the usual suspects once again, in both animation and live-action. There’s no real surprises and the best films are excluded in both the general and technical categories. Perhaps I ought to make like that one guy and hold my own alternative awards show the night before, where I announce my winners.

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Joe Murray On Balancing Art and Business

Animation /

A short and sweet post today but that should not detract from it’s meaning. Over on his blog, Stephen M. Levinson has posted this great quote by Joe Murray, creator of Rocko’s Modern Life:

Most artists would just prefer to paint, draw, play, create all day without a thought of how they are going to pay the bills. But that is not reality. The trick is to pay the bills while keeping your individual spirit as whole as possible.

It’s an absolutely spot-on observation on how animators have to combine art with making a living. Joe should know, he’s been in the position of having to do it himself, and so far he seems to be doing OK for himself.

I know myself, when I graduated from university, no-one told me anything about running a business or even how to manage my money. Thankfully my uncle gave me one or two excellent books by Ric Edelman on how to keep basic tabs on your money and where it goes.

Finding a job in animation is tough, becoming a success is even tougher and being a continual success is near impossible, but it can be done. Having even a basic business knowledge can be a huge benefit, and the library is full of excellent guides and textbooks on business. You don’t need and MBA to be a success, so take Joe’s advice to heart, and learn how to balance your art and your bills. It might be a little painful now, but it will pay off in the long run.

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What I’d Hoped to Find in New York City

Animation, New York /

I had something in mind for today’s post. I was in New York City (a fairly large metropolis) and I figured that the easiest thing to do was to blog about something animation-related that I happened to run into.

The last time I was there, you couldn’t turn a corner without being confronted by a Tangled poster. This time around, I am sad to report that the only animation-related thing I discovered during a whole day of going up and down Manhattan was a small ad for Gnomeo and Juliet in a subway carriage. So suffice to say, the combination of a not-quite-so-smart phone and an pretty ugly location for the poster meant that I decided to wait till I got home to blog about it.

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Weekly Weblink: Eclectic Micks

Website /

Admittedly, when I first heard of Eclectic Micks, the first vision that popped into my head was a pub band along the lines of Mungo Jerry. I guess I was a bit off because it’s something much better, a colection of awesome, Irish artists!

I must have been visiting the wrong circles because the blog has been around since 2009 with the basic concept that there is one topic per week with each member posting their work on the designated day. Naturally as one would expect, the level of quality is extremely high and with such a group of talented folks, that is not surprising in the slightest.

Last week’s topic was The Secret of Kells (so you can see how I discovered the site) and as you can see below from this one sample, you are guaranteed not to be disappointed if you follow them.

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Technological Advances in Cinema: The Similarities Between Fantasia and 3-D

Animation, Disney /

Via: Trond Lossius (Norwegian sound guy)

Yes, I know, 3-D, ugh,it almost makes you want to puke just thinking about it doesn’t it? It does have its proponents though, and it seems that there is no stopping Hollywood in it’s unending quest to convince us that 3-D really is the latest and greatest advance in cinema technology (again).

Yesterday I was listening to the Fantasia soundtrack, which is really just a collection of the likes of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice with classical pieces thrown in between, and it struck me just how badly they wanted people to realise that they were listening to a stereo, yes, stereo recording.

In this day and age, we take stereo for granted, it’s second nature, heck, I can listen to stereo music on my phone! Back then of course, people could still remember when Al Jolson told them that movies could have sound, so it was still a relatively new phenomenon.

So Fantasia was the first film to be released with stereo sound that was so new, there was no method for actually playing it in many cinemas, so a new system, called Fantasound was created but only installed in a couple of the large picture houses.

However, it is only on listening to the original, remastered score that you realise that the mixing is honestly, almost atrocious. Sounds pop up all over the place with little regard to their location in the orchestra. Today, recordings are mixed very much faithfully to the original recording session. In Fantasia, it looks like they hadn’t figured that out yet, so sounds whizz back and forth from one ear to the other so often that it nearly makes you dizzy.

Which is interesting because, you’d would almost swear that the sound engineers were trying to pound us over the head with the fact that the recording is in stereo. It’s as if they decided to use the extremes of their new discovery to tell us in a not-so-subtle way that we have two ears.

That sounds kinda familiar doesn’t it? What else do we have two of? Oh yeah, eyes! Is there a way of seeing two images with them as well? Why yes, yes there is! it’s called 3-D! OMG!!!! [The preceding paragraph may have contained sarcasm]

Can you think of any films today that seem to trumpet 3-D imagery as if it’s the latest and greatest thing ever invented? I’m sure you can, they’re all at it these days. The question is, why do they see fit to beat us over the head with the achievement when in reality, like Fantasia, it ends up being a whitewash of 3-D effects that are in reality, gimmicks that add nothing to the film.

With Fantasia, Walt Disney was not merely trying to beat it into everyone’s skull that his film had stereo, rather that was just part of his constant searching for the next technological advancement. Stereo in films is taken for granted now, heck, surround sound is taken almost mandatory for cinemas at this point.

The point is that the sound in films today is used in much more subtle ways than in Fantasia and it’s high time 3-D was handled the same way. There is no need to parade it from the rooftops. At this point, plenty of people have seen a 3-D films and are aware of it’s benefits and limitations, why not use 3-D in the way it is supposed to, add depth to every shot, not just the one of the missile flying towards the audience.

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The Very First Piece of Animation I Watched

Animation, Ireland /

In Ireland (way back in the day), the children’s programme was Bosco, which was basically a show featuring a puppet who lived in a box. The show was filled with various segments (some of which were animated but more on that another time) and is recalled with fondness by almost any Irish person under the age of 30.

I bring it up because I wanted to share the opening titles. Incredibly simple and bordering on the bizarre, they are most likely the very first piece of animation that I came into contact with as a child. Have a look below and see if you don’t come away just that wee bit confused. At 25, I still can’t figure out what it’s all supposed to mean.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWpRD_il9s8]

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Globalization and Animation: Is it Really a Good Thing?

1 Comment / Uncategorized /

Via: The Daily Mail

Last night was the first meeting of my class this semester, Globalization and International Business. It’s a fairly typical class for an MBA student such as myself and in this day and age, even a little knowledge of what globalization is can be very beneficial.

I bring this up because here in the US (as anywhere) globalization is often brought up as an issue that needs to be tackled and defeated. Americans are losing their jobs, companies are traitors, etc. etc. etc. It doesn’t matter who you talk to (left or right) they all seem to agree that jobs going abroad is a bad thing, despite the fact that it often creates jobs at home. An often overlooked (or under-reported) fact, is that almost everyone who has been laid-off from say, a GM factory, end up finding alternative employment.

Animation is not immune to globalization, in fact, animation has benefited greatly form it. Now Steve Hullett over at the TAG Guild Blog may disagree (it’s his job to protect his member’s employment after all), but by shifting the tedious, time-consuming and most expensive part of the animation process abroad, overall costs for films and TV shows have come down, meaning that there are more opportunities for the likes of writers, designers and storyboard artists at home.

Yes, it is greatly upsetting to know that there is someone in China or Korea who is willing to do your job for barely a fraction of what you are paid, but that is an unhealthy attitude. It is much better to focus on the positive side of things. So you lost, I dunno, your position putting Post-Its on the timing sheets, well just because that’s all you’ve done doesn’t mean that’s all your capable of, right? You might have seen hundreds if not thousands of timing sheets in that time, you might now a thing or two about them that no-one else does. Why not see if those skills are in demand. Better yet, why not use those skills to acquire some new ones, and combine the two to find another job?

I suppose I’m not the best to be talking about this kind of thing, I am a civil engineer after all, and they way the regulatory environment works, I can’t foresee my job being dispatched overseas any time soon. Is that a good thing? Well for me, yes, yes it is. For the state government whose indirectly paying my wages, that’s bad. There are literally hundreds of thousands of civil engineers in China who will gladly do my job for (no joke) $3,000 a year. I know this because I was once offered a job there and your man told me I’d be earning triple what the Chinese guys would be, so it wasn’t that hard to figure out.

I’m not one to stir the pot when it comes to topics such as this. It’s important to remember that cost is only one factor when it comes to producing animation. Sending a show or film off to Korea may have cost benefits, but it also means that everything must be perfect before it leaves the US, otherwise a heck of a lot more time and money will be spent trying to rectify errors, which of course negates all the benefits that should have been reaped in the first place.

My point is: don’t be mad that someone, somewhere else came and ‘stole’ your job, they didn’t. Just because your position moved “off-shore” is no reason to assume that everything can and should be made in the US. What I’ve learned thus far is that the benefits of globalization pay off in ways we normally don’t think about (cheaper food, clothes, better choices, etc.). So for animation, remember, Hanna-Barbera and The Simpsons may have shifted the labour-intensive stuff overseas, but by doing so, were able to create many more “other” jobs at home.

As always, I am not the be all and end all of any discussion, if you feel the need to comment, please do so.

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Why You Should Always Meet Your Heroes

1 Comment / Me /

They say you should never meet your heroes. Why this is so, I can only presume, is because it’s happened to some people over the years; they got the chance to meet their idol, and when they did, were left thoroughly let down by the experience.

All I can say, is that if you feel you can never meet your hero(es) because you’re worried about being let down, then you’re looking up to the wrong person/people.

Your hero should inspire you on a daily basis and should be a decent enough sort of a person that you would feel comfortable meeting them and being able to ask them anything. Yes, celebrities are heroes to lots of people, but your hero doesn’t have to be famous, you know. I value being respected in the community and industry far more than being merely ‘famous’, fame can be fleeting after all.

That’s your homework for this evening, to sit down and think about who it is you look up to, and why you would feel good about meeting them.

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So Justin Bieber Presented the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature

2 Comments / Animation /

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

Via: Cartoon Brew

…And I didn’t even know until this morning when I opened the web browser. I suppose it speaks to how little I really care about awards season in general, which almost always snubs my favourite films of the year. However, last night at the Golden Globes, it was Justin Bieber who announced the award for Best Animated Feature (won by the the bookies favourite of course), with a girl whom I can only suppose was chosen because the two of them would look cute together or some nonsense like that.

I could rant on about how Bieber isn’t even worthy of announcing an award, heck, he’s somehow worthy of an auto-biography despite not even being halfway through his teenage years! But rather the focus of my attention is why in the wide, wide world of sports did the ceremony’s producers feel they needed to use someone under the age of 20 to announce the best animated feature award?

From what I understand, the Golden Globes are handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and while it carries a fair amount of gravitas (often being cited as a predictor for the Oscars), it is a somewhat less formal affair. At least the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tries to make the Oscars appear to be the pinnacle of a tasteful awards ceremony, in spite of the best efforts of the writers.

Having a kid (and according to my Dad, you’re not really an adult until you can grow a moustache) present the animated award says more to the public at large about animation than anything else the industry can seem to do to prove otherwise. This is despite the inclusion of The Illusionist, which sits firmly outside the mainstream Hollywood offerings.

It’s somewhat disheartening, I mean, it’s Justin Bieber, the kid who got famous from YouTube and whose record company is undoubtedly ripping him off as we speak, and why the Golden Globes?! The Nickelodeon Kid Choice Awards seem more appropriate, and even then they haul out a few big-time celebrities to present an award and get slimed.

If anything, the decision to use him smacks of laziness on the part of the producers, who obviously were looking for a kid-friendly host for a supposedly kid-friendly category. It once again brings to the fore the argument that animation is a genre rather than an artform and castigates animators and fans alike for even liking an animated film.

Thankfully though, animated films tend to speak in cash rather than gold, so while the artform may be continuing to struggle for recognition from adults, it can confidently say that on average, the films are far more profitable.

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