2011

The Unexpected Bonus of Netflix Instant Streaming

2 Comments / Animation, IT /

Via: Toon Nation.net

While I was vaguely aware that Netflix has a fairly comprehensive repertoire of animated films and TV shows, I’d never actually spent the time to go through and see what was there. That’s all changed thank to the Roku box we got for Christmas, which has spurred me to take a deeper look at what can and cannot be watched, animation-wise, on Netflix.

While there are the usual suspects on there: plenty of anime, the latest blockbusters, there are also plenty of hidden gems. For example there are some of Don Bluth’s classics in there, some old-school DreamWorks before they switched to a CGI-only studio, independent stuff like Mary & Max and even some of Ralph Bakshi’s more (in)famous works.

It’s safe to say that I have my work cut out for me over the next couple of months as I wade through all the classics and non-classics alike in the all -you-can-eat buffet that is Netflix. Such availability will only prove beneficial to these films as they gain a wider exposure through Netflix than they ever could have on DVD.

So what are you waiting for, Netflix normally offer a free trial of some sort, so head on over now and check it out. You’ve nothing to lose by doing so,

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Weekly Weblink: Shane Glines’ Cartoon Retro

Link /

I’ve decided that from now on, Saturday is going to be a link-sharing day. I have literally hundreds of links residing in my bookmarks folder and my RSS reader and it would be a great shame to keep them all for myself.

This new series of posts will most likely supersede the “Anomaly Approved” series because they take so long to do and it has been increasingly difficult to find the extended amount of time it takes to put one together. So form now on, if I recommend you visit a blog, it’s because I read it myself and therefore approve of it wholeheartedly!

Without further adieu, the first in this new series is the blog, Cartoon Retro, of Shane Glines. Besides posting work in that imitable style of his, there are also plenty of old comics to be found that Shane thinks represent the best when it comes to poses and drawing skill; a veritable treasure trove for fans of the old classics.

Although the posts are infrequent, the wait is always worth it. I also highly recommend checking out Glines’ website that has more of a portfolio emphasis which you will undoubtedly want to take time perusing.

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Mark Evanier on "Voice Over Matter"

Uncategorized /

As much as I try and read all, or at least a majority of Mark’s posts, when time is not on your side, you often have to choose which posts you read based on their title. As soon as I saw “Voice Over Matter” however, I knew it was worth a look. In it, Mark recalls the story of how a famous voice-actor (Mark Elliott) came in to do some work and was there a grand total of 3 minutes, for which he was paid a tidy sum. It’s not a long piece, and while I recommend you check it out, the defining quote is this:

One of the crew guys grumbled a bit and said, “You paid him all that money for three minutes work?” Before I could say anything, the director said, “No, we pay him all that money because it only takes him three minutes.”

It makes me wonder why some studios insist on using celebrity voices when there’s clearly no advantage (cost or otherwise) to using them.

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OMG It’s The Ricky Gervais Show Season 2!

Animation, TV /

Via: RIckyGervais.com (duh)

So, yes, I got a pleasant e-mail from Mike last week informing me that the new season of the Ricky Gervais Show will premiere tonight (Friday, Jan. 14th) at 9pm on HBO. Not that this post is some unabashedly promoted one (I am still waiting on my cheque after all), I happen to like Ricky Gervais and while his brand of comedy can be sometimes cringe-inducing, it is nonetheless funny.

What the show does highlight is the ability of animation to adapt to real-life situations rather well. It’s been done before by Aardman Animation with the very successful Creature Comforts, in which conversations with members of the public are turned into claymation scenes featuring animals, all in a very British style of course. The Ricky Gervais Show is similar, except that is uses irreverent podcasts from the man himself where he discusses various bits of nonsense with his partners in crime, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington.

I bring up all of this because it harks back to the early days of animated shows on TV and the derogatory label they gained as a result of their move to this new medium: illustrated radio.

Basically, illustrated radio was a way of looking down on the kind if limited animation that Hanna-Barbera became known for. Of course they had a good reason for using it as they couldn’t afford anything else! Critics, however, pounced on this and were keen to point out that there wasn’t much to be gained by adding some moving pictures to the sound.

The Ricky Gervais Show is basically an animated conversation, which in a way, is exactly the accusation that was levelled at Huckleberry Hound all those years ago. The difference now, is that the writing has improved and takes centre stage over the animation.

Although podcasts allow the listener to let their imaginations run wild, a show like that of Ricky Gervais’ has proven to be successful as animation and is proof that good writing and inventive, companion animation can go along hand in hand. Below is the obligatory video that features the trailer for the second season.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWcYW8pmGaI]

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Animators I Follow on Twitter

Animation /

As a twitter user, one of the joys of the service is the ability to interact with people you otherwise might not be able to. Yes, you could listen to the random ramblings of various celebrities, but there are plenty of normal people on there too, and they are immensely more interesting.

There are plenty of animation folks on there for a start, and if you are looking for a nicely curated list of the best, look no further than the Cartoon Brew Twitter Directory, which contains dozens of noted, famous and otherwise talented animators, producers and studios.

What I’m posting today, however, is a list of people I follow. Now I will admit that even though I’ve been on Twitter for almost two years, I’m still learning and constantly discovering new people to follow or people who I didn’t know were on Twitter. Some are famous, most are not.

However, following people is not about how famous they are or are not, it’s about what they have to say, and I think I can safely say that the people below represent a diverse section of the animation industry, from the big boys down to the independents, so I get a pretty wide view of the happenings in animation on a daily basis. OK, sure, there are some people who don’t update very often, but that should not discourage you from following them. They might say something interesting someday, and you will want to be listening when they do; there’s no disadvantage to be had by adding them to your ‘following’ list.

Of course, if you’re already on twitter, all you have to do is follow my animators list, or my animation industry list, which features the studios.

Here is the list, presented in absolutely no order whatsoever, although while it most likely approximates when I began following them, it in no way represents what I think of them or how important I think they are. One note though, I have not included people who have protected their profiles as they’ve done so for a reason and the last thing they need is a whole bunch of invites they didn’t ask for.

 

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Classic Children’s Stop-motion Animation: Postman Pat Goes Sledging

Animation, TV /

As a kid, perhaps my favourite TV show was Postman Pat, the classic, stop-motion series about a British postman with the catchy theme tune and his adventures in Greendale. I was reminded of it today because we got some snow here in Baltimore and the fact that one of my favourite episodes of Postman Pat revolves around snow.

The gist of it is that there’s been a heavy snow in Greendale and as a result, Pat’s round is a bit different than usual, involving snow fights, digging out ploughs and delivering straw to sheep.

I mention this episode not only because it is a wonderful piece of stop-motion animation, it also displays some great slapstick moments. The two I mention come later in the episode and revolve around Pat and Alf Thompson delivering supplies to a snowed-in farm high on a hill.

The journey up is pretty straight-forward, but the journey down is anything but. Suffice to say, things do not go as planned when they hit a bump which knocks them flying. Now, as an adult, you might think, “that’s not very funny”, but as a kid, I thought it was absolutely hilarious. The way they sail through the air and then tumble in the snow is superb, and when you think it was all done in stop-motion, it becomes all the more amazing.

At the end of the run, they slide straight into the barn, complete with a crashing noise that suggests another comedic catastrophe, until both characters walk out as if nothing had happened.

The series has remained popular over the last 25 years and it’s not hard to see why. It may not be educational in the contemporary fashion, but it is extremely entertaining, even more so if you’re in the target demographic. It’s what I grew up with, so I might be seeing things through some rose-tinted glasses, but you cannot deny the skill inherent in the animation. The episode is embedded below for you to watch (14 mins. total) in all it’s YouTube glory.

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

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VEO3chtaqU]

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Your Thought for the Day: What Animation Software to Learn

2 Comments / Animation /

What does this have to do with you? Well for one, if you learned the right software, you could be applying for a job with an Academy Award-Nominated outfit in Dublin. If not, you’d be stuck looking for another posting. Last week, Cathal Gaffney highlighted that finding animators in Ireland with a knowledge of Maya was getting increasingly hard.

This leads to the question: With the growing proliferation of animation software, which one is the best to learn, and do you pigeon-hole yourself if you learn only one?

Think about it, and post any thoughts in the comments below.

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An Adventure Time Title Card That Caught My Eye

2 Comments / Animation, Frederator, TV /

Today is a short post, because I spent all day yesterday putting together some new furniture (hence no post) and this morning, I have to get a craigslist ad out for the piece they replace. Seriously, if you live in Baltimore and want a TV entertainment centre, check out the ad and get in touch, mention this blog and get it for free!

Below, is something that caught my eye last week and this seems like as good a time as any to post it. The dense layers of artistic skills in Adventure Time continue to stun the mind of viewers and fans alike, and the title cards are no exception.

So much so, that Fred Seibert has put out a whole book on the art of the title card (from his own series’ of course) and brings to attention how they have been criminally overlooked by historians over the years. It is available on Amazon and there is a preview available on Fred’s blog.

It is therefore satisfying to see that the title card I am sharing today is also a Frederator production. It’s a mysterious piece and a bit of a play on the usual situation. Instead of Finn hiding in the background, it is Princess Bubblegum that is the one in the dark. There’s a great sense of foreboding about the whole thing, and one can’t help but wonder what terrors await Finn and Jake when they take up the scissors for the job at hand.

Via: Fred Seibert on Flickr

The episode premieres, uh, tonight (January 10th), at sometime in the evening on Cartoon Network. Check it out and report back please, I still have to re-arrange all the furniture I messed up yesterday!

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Anomaly Appraisal: The Vault of Walt

Anomaly Appraisal, Book, Disney /

Via: Mayerson on Animation

I suppose I’m kinda going backwards with these things, seeing as I’ve read this but no biographies of Walt. Nonetheless, I don’t think this will stand as a barrier to my enjoyment of either. I received The Vault of Walt as a Christmas present and was thoroughly surprised by what I read.

The first shock was it’s size, over 400 pages! I wasn’t expecting anything near that long, although that did not perturb me from racing through the entire tome in about 4 days such was the ease and eagerness at which I read it.

Jim Korkis, for those who do not know, wrote a blog over on the Mouse Planet website under a pseudonym before leaving the Disney Company and writing this book under his own name. Basically, it is a collection of stories that revolve around Walt Disney that Jim felt are not given adequate exposure in current biographies or even in any other literature.

The book is divided into four parts, each dealing with a different aspect of Walt’s life and work. They include such wide-ranging topics as: The Miniature World of Walt, the Gospel According to Walt, the Song of the South Premiere, Cinderella’s Golden Carousel, Khrushchev in Disneyland and Tinker Bell Tales.

All in all it the book is a smorgasbord of stories that I’d never heard of and that touch on aspect’s of Walt’s life that others either didn’t know about or chose to gloss over. A fine example is Walt’s religious beliefs and his apparent extreme religious tolerance of other faiths.

Some of the stories that revolve around Disneyland are almost as exciting as those surrounding the man himself. For instance there is a fascinating insight in the carousel at Walt Disney World, which is a genuine historical artefact and worth many millions of dollars. Yet park visitors ride it every day without even realising it!

Jim’s writing style is easy-going and easy to read as a result. The break-up of the stories also means that you can read it in a any order you wish, so it’s great for people (such as myself) who might only find time to read on story at a time.

Overall, I found that the Vault of Walt helped give me a more complete picture of the man known as Walt Disney. it helped fill in some blanks about how his childhood in Kansas and Missouri helped shape his work in Hollywood and beyond. As a purely entertainment piece alone I would recommend the book, but seeing as it is quite unique on its topic. As a pseudo-biographical collection of stories about one of the best-known people in the world, it is an essential place on my bookshelf.

You can order it here, but also please read the thoughts of Mark Mayerson and Michael Sporn who are much more knowledgeable on the subject than I.

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Why Did Disney Stop Making TV Shows Based on Their Films?

2 Comments / Animation, Disney, TV /

Via: Wikipedia

Whatever happened to all the TV series’ that Disney used to put out after a theatrical film was released? Is it a practise that died off with the turn of the century? It’s hard to tell, but the untimely death of the traditional animation unit may have been something to do with it.

The fact occurred to me this morning as I was scrambling around for something to write about. My postulation is that they simply don’t make the kind of films that lend themselves easily to such treatment any more. For one, CGI is now king, and creating a CGI TV series can be much, much harder than a traditionally animated one, especially if you are geared up and staffed for the latter.

Disney has decided that it either isn’t worthwhile creating a CGI TV show, or that the kind of movies they have put out recently do not lend themselves easily to the concept (read: CGI). Films like Chicken Little, Bolt and The Princess and the Frog are not quite flexible enough to be capable of the tweaks that are necessary for the small box. Tangled has a similar problem, but that could be overcome in a way not unlike The Genie in Aladdin. I am quite certain that the closure of the traditional animation department also contributed to the end of such programmes.

As much as I abhor the practice and its nagging habit of denying the place of an original, creator-driven show, you can’t deny that the quality of the Disney movie-shows was decently high, both animation and story-wise. It also kept costs that wee bit lower and the studio was able to eliminate the risk of a series if they used a successful film that came with a ready-made audience.

I am not advocating a return to the practise, I’m just pointing out that it did provide some benefits to the animation industry as a whole. DreamWorks must have recognized this as they have taken up the mantle in recent times, with shows based on Madagascar 2, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda. Of course, DreamWorks is an independent studio, so there is much more pressure on them to maximize their creations to the hilt and TV can be a very lucrative way of extending the life of your films.

As I’ve mentioned before, ideally, theatrical films would be much easier to make and to predict the performance of if they were based on a TV show. SpongeBob did it to great success so why can’t someone else replicate the same? That is something studios should focus even more on in this day and age.

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