Animation

Four Non-Traditional Pieces of Christmas Animation

Animation, List /

Yes, it is the season and coming tomorrow is a list of Six Traditional Pieces of Christmas Animation, but today’s post is about four, non-Traditional pieces of Christmas animation.

What could that possibly mean?

Well, on TV around Christmas, the normal programming schedules get scrapped in favour of showing films, and lots of them. Less so in recent years, but still quite prevalent (at least in Ireland and the UK), these films are a great mix of family fare and films that you wouldn’t normally see at other times of the year, such as Spinal Tap and pretty much any Mel Brooks film. I once tried to explain to the fiancée that Irish people’s favourite Christmas film was almost consistently polled to be Back to the Future for the very reason that’s it’s a Christmas staple. She called me weird.

So, without further adieu, here’s the top four non-Traditional Christmas films:

Mary Poppins

Via: ItThing.com

Any Pixar Film (more so A Bug’s Life and Monster’s Inc. but always at least one premiere)

Via: The Pixar Times

Shrek (including the various sequels)

Yup, he sure looks festive doesn't he?

Via: DreamWorks on Wikia

Studio Ghibli (that wonderful channel, Film4, can be relied upon to broadcast plenty of Studio Ghibli films around Chiristmas, the early mornings are well worth it).

 Via: Cartoon Brew

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My Life as a Teenage Robot Now on DVD!

1 Comment / Animation, MLaaTR, Nickelodeon /

All three seasons of one of the most underrated cartoons of the last decade are now on DVD through Amazon. At $19.99, they aren’t the cheapest, but seeing as this show is well overdue for a release and that DVD is in the twilight years of its existence, you should consider it a worthwhile investment.

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

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The Atlanta Braves Oppose Pixar’s ‘Brave’ Trademark Application

Animation, Pixar /

Hilarious image shamelessly yoinked from Filmdrunk

I’m really not quite sure what to make of this. According to /film (who got it from Stitch Kingdom), the Atlanta Braves baseball team have filed an objection to Disney/Pixar’s use of the word “Brave” as a trademark for the upcoming film, Brave.

Trademark law make a distinction between singular and plural versions of a word, but that has not stopped the baseball team from claiming that:

that damages will occur as a result of Disney’s trademarks being approved as they have used the singular form before on merchandise and insist it is common for fans, media, et. al. to use the singular form when referring to a single player, whereas the pluralized form refers to the entire team.”

Long story short, they’re saying that by Disney trademarking ‘Brave’, poor Joe Public might get confused between a baseball player and a red-haired Scottish heroine who lives in the middle ages.

Yup, that sure is real confusing, especially as one is an actual, real-life team of people playing sports for money and the other is a fictional character who only exists within the film (and on related merchandise).

There’s no way this objection should fly although, as ever, “discussions are ongoing” between the two parties. So expect an “agreement” to come eventually.

Just what a waste of resources though and it doesn’t exactly put the Braves in a good light either, what with the pettiness of their claim and all.

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TONIGHT IN NYC: It’s The 2011 ASIFA-East Animation Art Auction!

Animation, ASIFA-East, Event /

Apologies for the late notice, but while this is an event that I normally attend and willingly part with my hard earned cash in support of a good cause, I unfortunately have a final presentation in class tonight. Seeing as a good chunk of my final grade (and therefore the tuition I coughed up for it) depends on it, I won’t be making the trek to New York this time.

However, that should not preclude you in the slightest from swinging by the SVA on 23rd St (between 2nd and 3rd) at 7pm and heading on up to the ampitheatre and parting with your hard earned cash in exchange for some great animation art.

For a full list of the lots up for bid as well as pictures of everything, visit the aNYmator blog.

ASIFA-East Animation Art Auction
7:00 pm SVA Amphitheatre
209 E. 23rd Street, 3rd Floor

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Favourite Cartoons Described In A Single Sentance

1 Comment / Animation /

Spotted on Tumblr today is this list of popular cartoons by Aisha Thani who reduced their descriptions to a single line.

  • South Park: Four friends try to ignore the fact that 1 of them is a dangerous psychopath by swearing a lot and learning stuff
  • Camp Lazlo: A happy monkey ruins camp for everyone by being friendly and outgoing.
  • Courage the cowardly dog: a horror show about a cute pink dog trying to save his owners from terrors
  • Cow and Chicken: a cow and a chicken are harassed by a naked red demon
  • I am Weasel: a weasel and Baboon are harassed by a naked red demon
  • Avatar TLA: Kung fu action jesus saves the world with the help of his friends
  • Invader Zim: an alien is banished to earth. He is too insane to notice.
  • Ed Edd n’ Eddy: 3 boys are so engrossed in each other they forget all social skills and boundaries , also scams
  • Xiaolin Showdown: 4 elemental monks collect mystical objects and keep them in a poorly guarded vault. Jack Spicer is cute
  • Kick Buttowski: An adrenaline addict endangers himself regularly and makes the rest of the cast jealous
  • Adventure Time: in a post apocalyptic world the last living human being has lots of adorable adventures with his radiated dog
  • Regular show: a Bluejay and a Raccoon regularly awaken the elder gods
  • Phineas and Ferb: Two boys of superior intellect entertain people with their powers while their schizophrenic sister tries to stop them
  • Fanboy and Chum Chum: a 90s cartoon in disguise, slapstick everywhere
  • My Little Pony FIM: 5 friends regularly experience mental break downs and save the town, also some ponies have facial hair
  • Dan vs: A small angry man narrowly avoids ending up in a psychiatric ward with the help of his best friend Chris

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Some Kim Possible Character Details Which You Know Are Awesome

Animation, Disney, TV /

For the record Kim Possible is one of the best characters ever to grace a TV screen. So it should come as no surprise that her character constructions sheets, which came by way of Art of Animation and Inappropriate Banjo (both on Tumblr), are no less interesting.

Kim’s a fascinating collection of sharp points and swirling curves that oh so cleverly allude to her double-sided life as an ordinary student and ass-kicking heroine.

Here, we see some of the finer points of her character design in her hair, which undoubtedly adds much grace to her movement in the action scenes.

It’s always great to see these kind of things, especially as they essentially offer us a peek into a character’s soul (per se).

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Wanna Watch 90 Minutes of Animated Shorts from 1978?

Animation /

Of course you do.

Thanks to the Internet Archive, here’s a VHS rip of the Fantastic Animation Festival from 1978. Reviewer Donfield describes it thus:

Good collection of animated shorts, mostly in hand drawn, claymation, and rotoscoping techniques. Represented artists include Loren Bowie, Bernard Palacios, Kathy Rose, Derek Lamb, Steven Lisberger, Marv Newland, Paul Driessen, and Will Vinton (“Mountain Music” and Oscar winning “Closed Mondays” featured).

 

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Watch An Attempt To Bring A Show Back in Real Time

4 Comments / Animation /

Discovered today (Tuesday) on the animation subbreddit, this is an attempt to bring back the mid-90s cartoon SWAT Kats. It was apparently fairly popular (if the claims in this video are credible) and was produced by Hanna-Barbera/Turner with animation being done by Tremblay Bros.

So, have the instigators of this campaign read this post, or are they falling prey to the classic mistakes of campaigns past?

Perhaps this video will help you decide. You can leave your comments below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhoN9IMkJNo

For the decidedly curious, here’s a link to the revival blog.

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Four Signs That We’re Seeing A New Version of the 9 Old Men at Pixar

Animation /

Via: John K. Stuff

Is the “brain trust” the modern version of Disney’s 9 Old Men, and if so, are we doomed to see the same results when they retire? Here’s four reasons why history may repeat itself.

1. They’re both small groups

You can count the members of both groups on one hand. The respective members are innovators and experts in their fields.

2. They’ve been together since the beginning

Or near the beginning. Both groups were established as their respective studios were trying to find their norms and their tight-knight as a result of the challenges they faced at the start of their existence.

3. They’re THE Source for Ideas

Both groups were/are the go-to places for ideas. The 9 Old Men were experts at animation. The Brain Trust are renowned for their ability to create superb stories and films.

4. No New Permanent Members

The 9 Old Men began as 9 old men and remained that way throughout their existence. No-one ever joined and the only time anyone left was as a result of natural causes. The Pixar Brain Trust is eerily similar, there doesn’t seem to have been any permanent changes made to its makeup at all since its inception. Yes, Brad Bird and Brenda Chapman were members, but they have since moved on, and there is little indication that anyone has managed to get themselves “promoted” to fill their places.

The signs are ominous. The Pixar Brain Trust has had fantastic success, but it is resting on its laurels. Relying on the same people is a recipe for trouble. Disney began a protracted period of malaise in the 1970s, and as of now, history appears poised to repeat itself in Emeryville.

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A Character’s Style Doesn’t Mean You Need To Follow In Their Footsteps

Animation, Character Sundays /

Character Sundays is probably going to take a break until the New Year. Sadly, school deadlines have sapped the necessary time to write a decent post these past few weeks, so there’s no point in doing a half-assed job on something you really like.

Instead, today, here’s a sketch that was posted a good while ago by Jovanna Davidovich on her blog.

Whether it really is the case that Breandan’s design was influenced by these two is up for debate, but I would hazard a guess that the resemblance is certainly striking.

The interesting thing is that Kim Possible and the Secret of Kells share practically nothing in common except Brendan! He’s a great example of how you could potentially use something as inspiration and move in a completely different direction.

Just something to keep in mind 🙂

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