Animation

Recap of The 41st ASIFA-East Festival

3 Comments / Animation, ASIFA-East, New York /

Here it is! Photographic proof that I was at the ASIFA-East Festival held this past Sunday. That brown blob of pixels happens to be my cap, which I was thnkfully wearing otherwise you wouldn’t know that was me at all!

What can I say, it was a fantastic evening for all concerned. I arrived extra early in contrast to last year when I crashed through the doors at the last moinute. The house was slightly less than full, but most everyone was in agreement that it being Mother’s Day probably had something to do with that.

The caliber of the films was impressive to say the least. Not only were the student films amazingly creative, and, in the case of “Sam the Super Sticky” by George Thorman, quite hilarious in a silly way. The overall winner in the student category “Down to the Bone” by Peter Ahern, is one of the more interesting student films I’ve seen in recent times with some very interesting characters and a plot that certainly caught everyon’s attention.

The commercial category threw up an interesting video in the Beano’s very own Dennis & Gnasher, which I thought for sure I’d never see again having moved to the other side of the pond. The winner was “Don’t Miss It” by David Cowles and Jeremy Galante for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, a fantastic piece that asserts the drama of classical music to great effect.

For the sponsored films, we had en ecelectic selection with education mixed with entertainment. My favourites were the two based on Mo Willem’s books, “Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus” and “Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity”. I found both to be highly entertaining even though I’m at an age where I am considered a “mature” student.

For the independent films, there was a great mix of storytelling (such as Elliot Cowan’s “The Thing in the Distance”) as well as techincal fantasies (Tom Gasek’s “Off-Line”) to funny songs like Stephen Neary’s “Let’s Make Out”, which is shown below because I got a big kick out of it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJexf6aWOX0&feature=player_embedded]

After all that with an unscheduled break inbetween, it was time for Best in Show, which went to Aaron Hughes and Lisa LaBracio’s “Backwards”. I’m not going to spoil the film (embedded below) but suffice to say it takes what could have been a very formulaic plot and turns it into a truly intersting, complex and surprising piece of storytelling that makes it stand out from the crowd.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKcyLVR85Ms&feature=player_embedded]

Afterwards there was a the after-party where much socializing and debate occurred. Kudos must be given to the organizing committee who lobbied hard for more beer this year and whose efforts were very much appreciated.

It’s sad that such an event comes around only once a year, but thankfully, ASIFA-East puts on many more events throughout the year that I am more than happy to attend. The festival is a celebration of what animation has been made in the previous year and I know for certain that even as I write this, the next round of films are already being made.

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Should Comic Films be Animated Rather Than Live-Action

1 Comment / Animation, Comics /

A really quick post because I’m literally getting ready to head out the door for New York.

Just throwing out the question, but does anyone else think that the upcoming Scott Pilgrim movie could have been animated instead?

I know I am perhaps jumping to some conclusions here seeing as the film isn’t even released yet, but I seem to have an affinity for comics done as animation rather than live-action. I feel animation retains more of what made me like the comic in the first place you know what I mean?

Sure live-action movies have been made of comics for years, Superman, Batman, Spiderman, all the usual suspects. Some have been good, some not so good. However, dare I say it, I would rate Batman: The Animated Series higher than say the Batman movie by Tim Burton. On a side note, that movie was far closer to the comic than the Dark Knight. That move (good as it was) was pretty much just a guy running around Chicago in a bat suit. Burton on the other hand, made Gotham out to be the dark, foreboding metropolis that its supposed to be.

That’s all I want to write for now. I’ll bide my tongue until the film comes out. Who knows, maybe it’ll change my mind.

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The ASIFA-East Festival is Tomorrow Night!

Animation, ASIFA-East /

This is perhaps my favourite event of the year which makes it all the harder to believe that it’s rolled around again already.

ASIFA-East as we all know and love, is the New York/North-East branch of ASIFA, the international animation society whose actual name is French. Seeing as I did German in school, we’ll move right along. The group is comprised of mainly of animators and a few producers along with one civil engineer (guess who that is) and besides holding monthly meetings, also organize events from September to June that represent the entire animation spectrum, from student films to commercial movies and everything inbetween.

Tomorrow’s festival isn’t so much the culmination of the past year but more a celebration of the New York animation scene, which has it’s one distinct flavour far removed from Burbank. Awards will be handed out for student films, individual films, commercial films both over and under 2 minutes as well as some outstanding achievement awards.

Last year was the first year I attended and besides asking Amid Amidi whether there was assigned seating, I think I barely said a word to anyone. Of course I almost missed the start having been delayed on the New Jersey Turnpike for well over an hour. Besides the usual faces, there is a mix of folks from various related organizations, faculty from the numerous fine animation schools in the NY area, studio heads, students themselves and one civil engineer (guess who that is).

After the actual event, where people receive their awards and we see their films, there is the official reception which serves as a fantastic meet and greet for all concerned. After that comes the unofficial reception at the local pub where even more conversations occur although perhaps less on an animated subject of conversation.

I mention all of this because I am sincerely looking forward to this year’s event. Besides meeting friends old and new, it’s also an opportunity to talk about a subject I’m passionate about with people whose passion it is.

If you are in the New York area and so not attend, you are missing out on a truly fantastic evening full of animation and companionship.

The 41st ASIFA-East Animation Festival,
Sunday, May 9th,
6pm,
Tishman Auditorium,
The New School,
66 West 12th St,
Admission: FREE!

PS I’ll hopefully have a full recount of the evening in full early next week.

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Should Dreamworks Make a Sequel to Dragon?

Animation, Film, Opinion /

Steven Zeitchik has an insightful post on the Los Angeles Times blog where he makes the case for not making a sequel to How to Train Your Dragon. It’s interesting to observe the changes in attitudes to HTTYD over the time it has been in the public consciousness.

Before opening weekend, it seemed that this would be one of the softer Dreamworks releases which we would go and see and enjoy but ultimately it would fade from our memory, just as Monsters Vs. Aliens has. At this point, there wasn’t much talk of a sequel at all, just the possibility of one.

However, since then, the film has shown remarkable strength, remaining at number two before reclaiming the top spot again. Attention was drawn not only to the resounding quality of the film, but also that strong word of mouth among cinemagoers was playing an important role.

Now, some weeks later (on a fine May evening that may have me going to see the film for a second time), details are emerging of a sequel, spin-offs and a TV series, in much the same vein as The Penguins of Madagascar.

Steven makes the point that HTTYD marks the first Dreamworks film since Shrek that has appealed to audiences on the same level as a Pixar film and that that company is a bit more selective in which properties it chooses to exploit through sequels. On a side note, he points out that the film has performed “…not bad for a star-less spring cartoon.” which as regular readers (all three of you) will know really grinds my gears, seeing as the film very much has all-star “talent”.

This is a fine analysis except that it ignores who instigates the decision to create sequels at Pixar. It would appear that it is Disney, not Pixar that is pulling the strings on that one. Not only was Toy Story 2 originally supposed to be a direct-to-video release, the slate of sequels announced in recent times have all occurred after Pixar’s sale to Disney, even though some films (such as Monster’s Inc) were released while the Emeryville firm was independent.

Steven calls for Dreamworks to hold HTTYD up as an example of their creative capabilities. I myself recommended at the end of my review that you should go and see it before its affect is reduced by the deluge of sequels to come.

Realistically, we will see sequels, lots of them. Besides being based on a series that encompasses seven books in all, Jeffrey Katzenburg has a long history of milking properties for all their worth. Shrek is perhaps the finest worst example and we’ll finally see that flogged-to-death series finally put out of its misery later this year.

Being an engineer means I tend to have more of an analytical mind than creative folks. I like to point out that creative folks are more likely to read The New Yorker while I tend to read The Economist. It also means that from a hard business perspective, sequels are a lot more profitable than the originals, mostly because studios tend to reduce the budgets and stretch everything just to make the extra nickel. In Monsters Versus Aliens’ case, the foreign performance didn’t justify a sequel. Fair enough, but I would rather see that movie succeed and get a sequel than  a superior movie like Dragon.

Right now the success and praise that HTTYD has received from the general public, fans and serious animators alike is certainly well deserved. Enjoy it while it lasts, because the second the sequel is released, the aura will fade.

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Why I Get Disappointed When a Series Fails

Animation /

Maybe it’s just in my character, but I always like to believe the best in people: that everyone has it inside them to be the best they can be and to produce the best that they can. Sometimes this strategy can lead to getting my fingers burnt, or almost burnt in the case of the guy who told us he’d sell us a dog only to call back not long before we were to pick him up to say that some women offered him full whack and had already taken the dog home. If I hadn’t been in the office, he’d have found out just why the Irish invented cursing.

Anyway [deep breath], nonsense like that tends to leave me feeling more disappointed than angry (trust me, when I’m mad I light up like the 4th of July (or Guy Fawkes Day for the folks in England). I also, for reasons still incomprehensible to myself, get rather diasppointed when a TV show or film fails to find its audience.

There are literally thousands of examples I could name, some deservedly failed (Battlefield Earth anyone?) but I tend to believe that everyone deserves an equal chance to entertain me.

There are too may examples from TV to name but being familiar with the nature of the industry, the nomadic, temporary nature of employment means that good times rarely last forever. For an animator or designer putting 6 months work into a show only to see it burn in flames must be a depressing enough experience. For a creator seeing the same thing happen it must be one of the worst feelings in the world. It’s bad enough when I design a road or intersection or whatever only to have some schmoe review it and send it back with more red ink than black.

Maybe it’s just that I like to see everyone succeed (this tendency I’m going to blame on my parents who were both teachers) regardless. Some creators work blindingly hard, such as Mr. Warburton whose dedication to Kids Next Door is still regaled years after it first began airing. The same goes for Pen Ward, who has sometimes been found sleeping in the studio after pulling an all-nighter.

It’s fair to say that most people bounce back after a failure. I mean look at John Travolta, he’s still making movies, right? Everyone deserves a second chance.

Sorry for the ramble, the dog situation has made me somewhat melancholy this evening.

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Animators and their Art

1 Comment / Animation /

I just realized that I have a lovely sketch by Lauren Faust hanging on my wall.  It’s not perfect and it’s in pencil, with plenty of rubbed-out corrections, yet I love it.

Right next to said sketch is a model sheet of Klaus from American Dad! signed by Dee Bradley Barker. Fair enough, he isn’t an animator, he’s a really funny voice-actor, but the drawing has the signature of Seth McFarlane.

The difference between these two pieces might as well be a canyon. On the one side, we have a unique, original sketch. On the other, we have a plain, manufactured sheet of paper with a fish on it.

Of course I like my Klaus picture. I received it as a present, but I still like it for what it is and for who signed it. Although in my mind, the sketch is by far the superior artistic product.

Unfortunately, animation art can get seriously expensive (like I could’ve bought a car for that type of money). Yet ordinary animators often have literally hundreds of sketches lying around. Some end up being coloured, others get tossed in the bin. Many of the bloggers I follow will post their recent sketches for all to see. Some are quite spectacular and make you wonder why they ended up on the floor.

I’ve noticed that lots of animators attend comic-cons around the country and sometimes they even sell stuff too! I’ve found this an excellent way to acquire stuff from artists I like, especially if you’re tight with the pursestrings. Many of the same artists also sell art via online stores, so you have no excuse if they aren’t coming to a comic-con near you.

Do yourself a favour and look into it, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Here’s some of my favourites to get you started:

EDIT: I now also have a model of Linguini from Ratatouille signed by his voice-actor  one of my favourite artists, Lou Romano!

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Live-Action Movies Based on Animation

Animation, Opinion /

I very nearly went with Scooby Doo for the picture, but this one has Robert DeNiro in it!

Although the trend has died down somewhat, the genre just doesn’t seem to die. The Smurfs is the latest to get the treatment and although we will be treated to Hank Azaria as Gargamel, I still can’t quite look forward to it,

Although it has been common to mix animated and live-action characters (most notably in several Disney films and a scene where Jerry Mouse dances with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh), the latest craze has been to use CGI characters.

There have been numerous releases over the last number of years and I can’t honestly remember a good one among them. People are familiar with the characters so that’s not a problem, but of all of them, the main problem seems to be the downright atrocious quality of the script or the actors hired (seriously, Daphne as a blonde???).

All of them have skewed towards the young market. Fair enough if that’s what you’re going for, great! But seriously, with the likes of Pixar churning out movies with complex, believable characters and smart, clever jokes, there really is no excuse for toilet humour.

Sure some of these movies are based on cartoons that were never great to begin with (thank you ACT) but at least they never tried to make us believe they were clever.

Of course, by aiming at kids, the adults who actually remember the cartoons when they were broadcast on TV, they are making a fortune. That’s why we got a sequel and prequel to Scooby Doo and why we’ll continue to see ever more annoying Alvin movies for years to come.

I realize that Hollywood turns out the same crap all the time, but as an animation connoisseur, I find it deplorable what has happened to some characters as they’ve been hauled out and flogged like a dead horse.

There are plenty of examples of studios being able to create interesting movies with original characters, why can’t we see the same with established characters, or do studios assume that the movies will coast on the remnants of the characters embedded in the millions of us who are familiar with them?

Sadly, it doesn’t look like the practice will die anytime soon. My advice? Spend your hard-earned money on an original movie with some depth to it.

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A Few Words on Adobe Flash

Animation /

There has been a fair amount of chatter over the last few days in response to a letter from Steve Jobs,  the head of Apple Computer, where he basically says that Adobe Flash is unsuitable for use in the Web 2.0 world.

Animators have been quick to jump into the debate, which isn’t surprising seeing as numerous TV shows have been made over the years including Cartoon Saloon’s very own Skunk Fu! as pictured above.

With a post over on Cartoon Brew, the debate is pretty much divided with plenty of people supporting the format and plenty of people against it. Having never used it, I can’t pick a side even if I wanted to. Sure there is some truly awful animation produced in flash, but there always has been truly awful animation produced at some point. it’s a poor workman that blames his tools.

Is flash perfect? No of course it isn’t. It was never designed for use in TV shows. It was meant for quick animations on the web. It’s great that someone figured out that it could be used to animate a TV show, but that’s kinda like me using MS Word to make a flip book. It can be done, but it’s not perfect.

Back to Steve Jobs. He’s within his rights to ban flash from Apple devices if he wants, that’s his way of doing things. However, I know myself how many places it pops up on the web because I use NoScript, and I have to approve a lot of flash stuff.

The only problem I have is that he’s trying to force people to move on to the next format (HTML5) when that’s not quite ready yet. This is similar to when he launched the iMac without a floppy drive. A brave choice but floppys stayed around for at least another 5 years.

The problem is that there is no immediate replacement, at least for animators. Sure they have some choice in regards to producing animation, but flash is by far the cheapest, most popular solution right now, and it will take time for a similar product to emerge.

I could get on my soapbox at this point and argue that we need some sort of open standards but that’s never going to happen, at least not for an industry such as animation.

Right now the whole thing is a bit of a moot point. We’ll all just have to sit tight until a solution comes around, which it will. There’s money to be made in one, and if that’s the case, somebody is bound to figure it out.

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Why Aren’t There More Cable Cartoons on DVD?

Animation, TV /

Think about it. Of all the cartoons broadcast on the major cable networks (the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and Cartoon network), how many have had a bone fide DVD release. As those who have waited so long to watch their favourite show whenever they want, surprisingly few.

Starting with Disney, they are actually not as bad as I thought. A quick search of Amazon reveals that DuckTales (have their own store!), the Gummi Bears and Rescue Rangers are all for sale. Recent stuff is a wee bit harder to come across and while you can buy Phineas & Ferb, you can’t get illustrator extraordinaire, Dan Santat’s fantastic show The Replacements.

Nickelodeon fares a bit better, you can find all the classic Nicktoons as well as newer stuff available. The only caveat, they’re the “burn-on-demand” type. In other words, you can’t find the DVDs in shops because they don’t make them until you place an order. I appreciate this approach as you can get an industry-standard DVD with jewel case. The only downside? The cost is a bit on the expensive side, $36 for a 4-disc collection of Danny Phantom!

The Cartoon Network is perhaps the best of the bunch. Their list of shows is exhaustive if mainly confined to shows the network owns. Nonetheless it is nice to see shows such as HiHi Puffy AmiYumi (2nd hand only now) to Codename Kids Next Door receive proper releases. In addition, actual Warner Bros animation titles are available too, with shows such as Batman: The Animated Series for sale in full, most likely as a result of the nature of comic book fans no doubt.

Cartoon Network does have one nasty habit though. They have, on numerous occasions, begun to release DVDs of a show only to stop halfway through leaving collectors and fans holding the bag until they release the full series a few years down the road. It happened with the PowerPuff Girls and is currently the situation with Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. Personally I will be quite annoyed if I bought two volumes of episodes and then had to go out and buy the whole series only to fill in the episodes I missed.

With the advent of video-on-demand (VOD) the whole concept of a DVD release may become moot anyway. With the likes of iTunes already offering a whole season’s subscription to shows like the currently-being-broadcast Adventure Time and my one of my all-time favourites, My Life as a Teenage Robot, the time may come where we won’t even care if a show is released on DVD.

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The Declining Quality of Animation on FOX

2 Comments / Animation, FOX, TV /

It was akin to a religion for me, and the only night of the week when I would absolutely have to watch “my shows”, yet recently, I have begun to skip Sunday nights altogether. Yes, FOX still has a full schedule of animated shows that is completely unrivalled by other networks, save for perhaps [Adult Swim].

What happened? Where has the love gone? Well, I’m not entirely sure. Let’s start at 8 o’clock and go from there.

The Simpsons. What can I say that hasn’t already been said ever since Principal Skinner was outed by Martin Sheen as an impostor. The quality of the show has clearly fallen since the heady days of the 90s and some people have been actively campaigning for the show’s cancellation in recent times (shoutout to the Dead Homers Society).

While it is clear that the show will be around for a wee while yet, it is unclear just how much farther it can fall. For example, last Sunday night’s episode was about a beached whale and not much else. If it wasn’t for the combination of a thunderstorm and some ice-cream, I may well have nodded off.

The Simpsons continues to hobble along being a mere ghost of it’s former self. Even the shows that supposedly outdid it are themselves falling into laziness (see below). The future beyond The Simpsons does not seem particularly bright as they are such a hard act to follow, here’s hoping FOX makes a decent choice.

Moving on to 8:30, we now have the Cleveland Show. For the previous decade, we were treated to a mild-mannered Texan and is cronies. Looking back, I should have been more appreciative of Mike Judge’s unique brand of humour. In between the launch of The Cleveland Show, were were treated to the severely underrated Sit Down, Shut Up. I’ve made my thoughts known before, but suffice to say, I believe SDSU was sorely needed in a full-time slot. Sadly, FOX didn’t agree.

The Cleveland Show as we all know is a spin-off from Family Guy, which pretty much says it all. Even though the humour is not near as pointed as it’s parent, it is still recognizable for the crass jokes and wacky neighbours. As a show it is funny enough, but the show that follows does not do it any favours.

Family Guy is the comeback king (well, almost, Futurama has to be the comeback king, seeing as it was even deader that Family Guy when it was resurrected a few years ago) and since its return has proven to be a strong ratings success. OK, sure the jokes have gotten even more borderline and the plots have evolved to the point where the characters have practically no, um, character.

When viewed immediately after Cleveland, the similarities are too easy to miss. Both shows together end up leaving me feeling like I wasted half an hour in there somewhere, even though I didn’t.

The best show doesn’t begin until 9:30. Even then, it falls far short of the Simpsons in their prime but that didn’t stop me praising the show a while back. I still stand by that post. Why? Well compared with Family Guy and The Cleveland Show, American Dad! is breath of fresh air. OK, the first season was pretty lame with its overbearing political slant, but since then the show has matured enough to the point that it’s half decent.

For me though, it’s on a bit late, the curse of having to get up at 6 every morning in order to hit the gym before work. This late timeslot also seems to render it the forgotten child in the promos during the earlier shows. In the grand scheme of things, it continues to survive, which I am grateful for.

Having said all the above, I do appreciate that FOX continues to have faith in animation and does continue to look for new shows with the aim of replacing ones as they inevitably peter out. It’s just that right now, the evening is filled with shows that are so desperately boring overall, that I would much rather watch any one of Hayao Miyazaki’s films for the 20th time.

FOX needs to realize that staying in a comfort zone for too long isn’t healthy. I understand that they can’t add more hours to the day, but with the overall shift to on-demand viewing, they could easily vary the schedule from week to week without any severe damage. I have hope for the future, but right now, I’m just one fan who would rather watch something else on a Sunday night.

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