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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Stephen M. Levinson's Blog – Off to Cali!

Uncategorized /

Frederator Studios Blogs | Stephen M. Levinson’s Blog | Off to Cali!.

There’s the link to the personal story of Steven Levinson and his quest to get admitted to the California Institute of the Arts. The reason I’d encourage you to read it is that Steven originally got rejected from the school, but instead of taking that as an affront to his skills, he sat back and realised that there was more to it than that.

Being the smart lad that he is, he immediately began taking classes to sharpen his skills and further his knowledge before re-applying this year. It’s no surprise that his hard work over the last year has paid off.

Steven is proof that if you have a dream, you can absolutely achieve it, provided you work both hard and smart to achieve it.

I am in no doubt that we will be seeing much fantastic work from Steven in the coming years.

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Animation and the 2011 Academy Awards

Animation /

It is a wee bit early, I know, and apparently that is something not lost on Steve Hullett over at the Animation Guild Blog either, as he notes how Dreamworks is already sending out the consideration mailers for How to Train Your Dragon.

The interesting thing is that DW is putting the film up in both the animation and best feature category, which is certainly an interesting development. It has been shown again and again that animation is not treated as seriously in Hollywood as it should be (hint: animation is a lot more profitable) but in recent times, in spite of the Academy’s addition of a ‘Best Animated Feature’ category, there have been some inroads made by the artform into more prestigious categories.

It all kicked off with Wall-E and it’s supposed deservedness of inclusion in the best feature category. That didn’t materialise (put it down to Wall-E being a robot), but surprisingly, that was not the end of the story. More than one eyebrow was raised last year when UP managed to bag one of the coveted best feature nomination slots. In the end it lost out to The Hurt Locker.

So it is perhaps not much of a surprise to hear that DW is waving the flag for Dragon. Personally, I think it is the best animated film released this year (thus far and from a Hollywood studio). Many will argue the case for Toy Story 3, but that is a sequel, if the first, two, superior films didn’t pass muster, I can’t see it doing so either.

I don’t think this means that we will see an animated films in the running for best feature every year. It is certainly safe to say that the best film released would not necessarily get the nod. Persepolis is a shining example of an animated film that is more than worthy of a best picture Oscar only for it to get the shaft.

Of course, it would be fantastic if we saw a few more animated features specifically aimed at adults rather than children. Walt Disney certainly felt (albeit with much anxiety) that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was good enough for adults.

If there was a serious market for adult animation, then there are plenty of reasons why we should see an animated film in the running for best feature. For now, let’s hope that How to Train Your Dragon makes a good show of it while it can.

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Negative Disney Publicity Circa. 1989

Animation, Disney, TV /

There’s a fantastic post over on Cartoon Brew today that details the pitch material sent out by Disney in 1989 or thereabouts to various TV stations around the country who they hoped would air their afternoon block of shows in syndication.

The pages posted are great to read some 20 years after the fact. The present perhaps the worst aspect of some marketing departments: pointing out all the bad aspects of your competitors in the hope that no-one don’t notice your own.

The papers are full of non-comparisons and desriptions so vague, they barely even make sense. Here’s a sample quote:

Warner Brothers has the dubious task of competing with Disney’s superior aniamtion.

Boasting that your shows are better is nothing new, in fact it goes all the way back to the beginnings of entertainment, when you had to convince the public that your show was better than that of the guy next door. The difference here is that there is hardly, nay, anything in the material posted that says exactly, why, Disney’s shows are better.

OK, maybe they do get better ratings because they’re on in the afternoons, but they are also new shows, not re-runs of classics. Perhaps they’re more expensive to broadcast. That’s my best guess. “Disney crushes Alvin”, that’s comparing apples to oranges. You can’t expect to get parity among the results between individual shows and entire blocks.

Frankly, the entire thing has a whiff of dishonesty about it, as if Disney has something to hide about its shows. Content speaks for itself and if your shows really are as good as you say they are, then you should point out how much better they are than all these other, great, shows. Of course, this would prove to be the case with Tiny Toons, wich Disney calls “a pale comparison to the Disney Afternoon”. Hindsight is always 20/20, and the quality of Tiny Toons was all that Warner Bros. needed to prove that they were actually ahead of the game.

It would be really intersting to see the pitch booklets from the subsequent years. Did they contain similar language or was Disney left stuck for words? Either way, we know how things turned out in the end of the afternoon cartoon battles of the 1990s.

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Bill Plympton’s Adventures in Cinema

Animation, Film /

Billy Plympton (perhaps the greatest indie animator ever) is currently posting about the trials and tribulations he is undertaking in order to get his first animated feature into theatres.

I highly, nay, absolutely, recommend you read the current triplet of posts, just to see what he’s up against. The film has been booked for the IFC Center in October, to put his posts in persepctive.

Bill’s a fantastic guy who deserves all the success his hard work will bring him.

Post 1

Post 2

Post 3

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Fantasia coming to DVD and Blu-Ray Later This Year

Animation, Disney, Film /

Image via dvdizzy.com

Finally, a decent release for one of the greatest animated films to ever come out of the Disney Studio. Every animation fan should own a copy, especially when it comes in both DVD and Blu-Ray versions.

It can be pre-ordered over on Amazon.com with a release date of November this year.

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End of August Things That I Missed

Uncategorized /

Yes, I missed all of last week due to the unfortunate collision of events that forced the ol’ blog to take a back seat for a bit. Anyway, here’s a synopsis on things I missed and my thoughts on each:

Disney Ditching the Annie Awards

Normally I strive to avoid anything that borders on the political because let’s face it, I’m from Ireland, where politics might well have been invented at some point in the past. Nonetheless, it is disheartening to hear that Disney has yanked their support for the Annie Awards. This does not preclude their films from entering, and they are likely to continue to show up in the future.

It is the belief of many both in and outside the industry that the motivation for this abrupt announcement is that rival studio Dreamworks has somehow ‘bought’ recent awards through their granting an ASIFA-Hollywood membership to every employee, thus ensuring that they are more than adequately represented come awards season.

There is nothing wrong with a company gifting professional memberships on its employees. My company does it (and I assure you, with the prices they’re charging, I’m perfectly happy to let them do it) and plenty of others do too. ASIFA is one of the few professional associations for animators and the industry at large that has a fairly large presence. The question arises as to why Disney does not do the same. Perhaps they feel that coughing up for memberships will not necessarily encourage greater participation by employees in the organisation which would in turn result in an economic loss overall for the company. I can only hope that this isn’t the case.

I would like to believe that Dreamworks is not trying to play the system. Sadly, Annie Awards are rarely even mentioned in a film’s marketing materials, let alone nominations. So what is the point in amping up your chances of a win if it’s only industry professionals that take notice? Personally, I prefer to look at the hard numbers to sperate the successful from the mediocre when it comes to the business (personally, performanec matters diddly when it comes to what I love).

There is little point in sqabbling over such petty occurrances. It makes Disney look bad for pulling out and it puts ASIFA-Hollwood on the defensive for not real reason, all the while Dreamworks wisely keeps its mouth shut. In the end, everyone loses without exception.

The Passing of Kihachiro Kawamoto and Satoshi Kon

This week saw the passing of two legendary Japanese animators. I was not so much familar with Kihachiro Kawamoto, but from what i have read, he seems to have been one of those rare people who truly mastered his craft. Satoshi Kon was one of Japan’s most famous 2-D animators who also achieved widespread critical acclaim in the West.

The passing of these two gentlemen does not signal the beginning of the end for their respective styles of animation. If the past has taught us anything, it is that someone will emerge to fill the space left behind.

The Baltimore Comic-Con

I was just there yesterday (albeit it early) so I missed the apparent dust-up between Harvey Award winner Mark Waid and the legendary Sergio Argones. It seems Argones was upset about Waid’s support for putting comics in the public domain or something along those lines.

And sitting right next tom him was none other than Don Rosa, from whom I managed to procure a copy of the plans for Scrooge McDuck’s Money Bin. I found it rather apt that he gave me my change in the form of dollar coins…

Tip of the Hat

Goes to the great folks over at Animation Ireland for putting a post by yours truly on the front page. Thanks guys, I guess I owe you all a round of pints next time I’m back home 😉

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