When I first saw Jeremy Conrad‘s humorous tweet, I figured he’d summed up the details of the Sony/Marvel deal as well as anyone ever would. Money, right? That’s what makes the world go round and keeps the ‘biz’ in ‘show biz.’
Then Variety released the actual details of the deal and, well, you just can’t make this stuff up: SHIT WAS FREE. No one is getting paid!
…and he’s using it to share his concept art, character design and rough animation! Click here for greatness.
Mic.com reports: “Activists in San Francisco have taken on Islamophobia in their communities, defacing racist bus ads with [positive] messages inspired by [Marvel's] Muslim superhero.”
Unsurprisingly, Ms. Marvel’s creator thinks it’s awesome, too!
Way back in 2012, college senior Cole Bowden had an unusual idea: ‘You know those burger puns on the blackboard in every episode of Bob’s Burgers? I wonder what they’d taste like.’ That fleeting, hunger-fueled thought was all that it took to inspire Bowden - at the time a complete NON-cook - to begin creating recipes for each and every one.
Fast-forward one blog, two years and nearly 100 burgers later, and not only has Bowden found a fan in the show’s creator, Loren Bouchard, he and Bouchard are creating a Bob’s Burgers cookbook! I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to make the veggie-burger versions of The Beets of Burden, Cheeses Is Born and Blondes Have More Fun-Gus. I’ll be that much closer to living my life as a cartoon! Continue reading
David OReilly has put his newest short, The Horse Raised By Spheres, online - and it’s free! What’s more, OReilly has released five other equally effed-up + enthralling shorts as well. I happened across them while I was getting ready for bed, and now I’m afraid to go to sleep.
Quick question: Is it possible to have a horrific nightmare that doesn‘t make you wake up screaming and crying whilst simultaneously lowering your ability to look your next door neighbors in the eye for at least a week? Anyone? Anyone?
Oh, well. I’ll find out soon enough.
(This is what I get for starting the day with a David Lynch post.)
David OReilly is going to Sundance! Not that I’m going or anything. I’m just excited because this means I’m that much closer to seeing his new short, The Horse Raised By Spheres. I am ALWAYS up for more David OReilly. His 2009 animated short, Please Say Something, remains one of my all-time favorite ANYTHINGS. If you’ve never seen it, save this link and watch it when you’ve got some downtime. It’s a visual, emotional and comedic masterpiece. CARTOONS DON’T GET NO BETTER!
Next year’s X-Men: Apocalypse will feature teenage versions of Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Storm. Director Bryan Singer just announced via Twitter who will be playing them: Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) as Jean Grey, Alexandra Shipp (Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B) as Storm and Tye Sheridan (Tree of Life) as Cyclops. Click through for full size pics. Continue reading
Our Friend, Martin, Robert Brousseau and Vincenzo Trippetti’s 1999 time-travel tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., is as awkward as it is engaging. The dialogue is cringe-worthy. The jokes are even worse. The animation looks like Captain Planet, and the voice acting sounds like it’s comprised entirely of first takes. Yet despite its many, many flaws, the movie manages to be an oddly effective bit of After School Special-style ‘edutainment.’
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“I am the greatest 20th Century White Trash artist!” - Disney background artist, Imagineer and outspoken iconoclast Walt Peregoy
DreamWorks’ Me and My Shadow was going to be the studio’s first CG/hand-drawn hybrid. How to Train Your Dragon 2‘s head of story, Alessandro Carloni, was going to direct. The film was initially scheduled to be released in 2013, then 2014, and has since been removed from DW’s official release schedule. Bummer, eh? Ah, but there’s hope. Recently, rumors have begun swirling that the project may still happen. Until then, though, howzabout some CG concept art and hand-drawn test footage? It’s pretty, witty stuff. Continue reading
Y’all deserve that Golden Globe!
BlueFF has put together a GREAT list of this year’s best anime. Adventure, horror, romance and slice of life - it’s all represented! Set aside a month and start streaming.
On Feb. 6, Disney Channel is premiering Miles From Tomorrowland, a sci-fi kids cartoon featuring the voices of Mark Hamill, George Takei, Wil Wheaton and Bill Nye the Science Guy! If that ain’t geeky enough for ya, Disney has hired experts from NASA and the Space Tourism Society to act as consultants on the series!
For more info pics and info, click through… Continue reading
A Laika triple feature of Coraline, ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls?! I’ve experienced year-long unrequited love over less! And this is REAL!
Wannabe Animator has graphed the year’s biggest Animation Industry events. Click here to view.
Click through for the larger, scratch ‘n’ sniff version. Continue reading
Gaumont, Studio Chizu and Nippon TV have released the first poster for Mamoru Hosoda’s next film, The Boy and The Beast (Bakemono no Ko).
Variety reports: “[Walt Disney Co. chief Bob] Iger noted how the use of computer-generated graphics has made filmmaking seem ‘too easy.’ ‘There’s a sameness to a lot of these films today,’ Iger said. ‘The wow factor isn’t what it used to be.’”
Full disclosure: This out-of-context quote actually refers to J.J. Abrams’ use of practical effects in Star Wars Episode VII and NOT Disney/Pixar’s last few animated films. That said, if the shoe fits…
My reaction? Not good. This is the first bit of Inside Out promo material that I haven’t loved. Judging from this trailer, it looks like one joke spread super-thin. And the gag about the dad thinking only of sports is bad, just bad. Pixar has proved itself capable of doing so much better than tired cliches. Still, I’m looking forward to it. Joy must be at the controls in my brain!
Marvel.com reports, “[Benedict Cumberbatch] will star in Marvel’s Doctor Strange, scheduled to hit theaters November 4, 2016. The film, directed by Scott Derrickson with Jon Spaihts writing the screenplay, will follow the story of neurosurgeon Doctor Stephen Strange who, after a horrific car accident, discovers the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions.”
Illustration by Jenny Harder
Click through for the full-size image. Continue reading
Puppeteer Bob Baker died Friday of natural causes. He was 90.
Baker’s Marionette Theater in Los Angeles is — no exaggeration — one of my favorite spots on Earth. It’s like visiting Disneyland or Pee-Wee’s Playhouse in the magical way that it transports you back to the innocence and wonder of childhood. This ‘magic’ isn’t limited to the shows, either. Thanks to Baker’s innovative approach to entertaining his audience, the ENTIRE THEATER is brimming with l‘enchanté!
I know that there’s probably a pretty great joke somewhere about stop-motion animators and Anne Frank both spending lots of time cooped up in tiny, dimly lit rooms, but I can’t think of a way to condense all of that down to Twitter size.
Instead, here are the facts: Ari Folman, director of Waltz With Bashir and The Congress, will be making a stop-motion Anne Frank film with the DP of Fantastic Mr Fox. For more details, click here.
Disney’s The Great Movie Ride used to be the centerpiece of their Hollywood Studios theme park. Over the years, though, its popularity has waned in favor of newer, more ‘exciting’ rides like The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Toy Story Midway Mania. The ultimate low came in 2001 when Disney execs erected a giant Sorcerer’s Hat in front of the ride to sell low-price souvenirs.
Disney and Turner Classic Movies plan to change all that via a new deal wherein TCM will add their name (and a large cash infusion) to the ride. Not only that, but that damned Sorcerer’s Hat is coming down, too!
So how does this tie into animation?
Home features the voice acting of Rihanna, Jim Parsons, Jennifer Lopez and Steve Martin. Home will be released on March 27th.
Related: Jeffery Katzenberg Loves Rihanna
Here it is. The trailer for Lucasfilm’s Strange Magic, the “fairy tale musical” inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
To quote the trailer, “I dunno. I was expecting…more.”
Character posters for Shinji Higuchi’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Attack on Titan hit the net today, and they look GREAT. Click through to view the lot of ‘em.
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The Peeping Tom’s at Nielsen TOPTEN have put together an infographic detailing how many hours…days…WEEKS you’ll spend binge-watching your favorite cartoons. Looking at it only gets more intimidating when you realize that the chart was made in May. Think about it — there’s now HOURS more Bob’s Burgers, Legend of Korra and Archer to catch up on! Well, what are you waiting for? TURN ON YOUR TELEVISION.
Click through to view the complete chart. Continue reading
LEGO Movie writer/director Chris Miller recently told Empire Magazine:
“Rest assured that every era of Batman filmmaking will be acknowledged. There have been so many interpretations of Batman and there is so much to play with there. There are 40 versions of his origin story alone.”
Even the Joel Schumacher Batman? Hallelego!
Former Disney animator Ruben Aquino has revealed to Rotoscopers.com that he and “a handful of other former Disney 2D artists” are in negotiations with an independent studio to make a hand-drawn animated film. Aquino says, “If it happens it’s going to have to be different than anything we’ve ever seen.” Continue reading
Click pics to enlarge.
For lots more images and info re: Inside Out, click here.
(via/context)
Hmn…now why does that pic seem so familiar?
Oh, wait — I know!
Disney/Lucasfilm have announced the Jan. 2015 release of Strange Magic, an animated, musical retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
According to Disney/Lucasfilm’s official synopsis, the film will use “popular songs from the past six decades help tell the tale of a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies and imps, and their hilarious misadventures sparked by the battle over a powerful potion.” Continue reading
Amazon has selected its Top 20 Comics and Graphic Novels of 2014. Click through to compare your picks with those of the online behemoth. Continue reading
According to IndieWire.com, Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) recently revealed that his next film may be stop-motion animation. In a Q&A at the Lisbon And Estoril Film Festival, Anderson said that the story would be divided into episodes, inspired by Vittorio De Sica’s The Gold Of Naples. The Gold Of Naples is made up of six short vignettes, the only connecting thread being that they’re all set in Naples.
“I think I’ve been lucky because I’ve been able to participate in the last era when we can make films with paper, pencil and film.”
Hayao Miyazaki, receiving an Honorary Academy Award on 11/08/14.
‘…featuring the voices of Sylvester Stallone, Gilbert Gottfried and Harvey Fierstein.’
Is there a Razzie-like award for Most Grating Vocal Performances In An Animated Film? If so, Vegas odds are on Animal Crackers.
Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced that John Lasseter will be directing Toy Story 4, “a new chapter in the lives of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the Toy Story gang.”
Parks & Rec alum Rashida Jones, along with her writing partner Will McCormack (Celeste and Jesse Forever), will pen the screenplay. The film is scheduled for release on June 16, 2017.
While I LOVE the original trilogy, I must admit, this news came as a bit of downer to me. Reprinted below are the first four questions that popped out of my mouth when relaying the news to my gal, Mishka. Continue reading
Marvel Comics Senior VP, CB Cebulski, has announced that the Avengers will be fighting Attack on Titans‘ titular titans in a Japanese comic book later this month.
Cebulski described the genesis of this unexpected crossover via his Twitter feed, saying, “I loved Marvel Team-Up and What If? as a kid. I would spend hours dreaming up my own crossovers & alternate reality stories. As I got more into manga, I always imagined how cool it would be for the Marvel characters to cross into the pages of manga worlds. If you ever wondered, ‘What if the titans from Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan attacked the Marvel universe?’ you’ll find out soon!”
Universal Studios Japan has announced a series of limited-time attractions based on popular anime including Neon Genesis: Evangelion and Attack on Titan. Continue reading
Yesterday’s big animation news was that Taika Waititi will be writing the screenplay for Disney’s next animated princess film, Moana.
But who exactly is this Taika Waititi?
The Simpsons‘ showrunner, Al Jean, told CNN what he believes is the ideal way to end the series: Loop it back around the show’s beginning!
“There is an ending I’ve always had in mind, which was, I thought it would be cool if in the last episode they’re getting ready to go to a Christmas pageant, and they go to the Christmas pageant that opens up the first episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, so the entire series is a loop with no end. That would be my way of concluding the run, but nobody has asked me for it yet.”
To read CNN’s whole interview with Jean, click here.
NBC has announced an hour-long, stop-motion animated special starring the characters from Will Ferrell’s hit holiday film, Elf.
Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas premiers Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. and will feature NINE new songs, including Happy All the Time, A Christmas Song and Nobody Cares About Santa Claus. Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) will voice Buddy, with Mark Hamill, Ed Asner, Fred Armisen, Gilbert Gottfried, Jay Leno and Kate Micucci also doing voices. The film will be animated by Screen Novelties.
I’m not entirely sure. But Charles Kenny over at Animation Scoop makes a damned good argument for why they should’ve.
We all knew it was coming, but here’s the first *official* announcement.
The bad news: Warner Bros. has put The LEGO Movie 2 on hold.
The good news: A LEGO Batman movie is being fast-tracked to take its place. Chris McKay, the animation supervisor on The LEGO Movie, will direct.
The great news: Will Arnett is back as Batman!
For more info, click here.
Masashi Kishimoto’s ninja manga, Naruto, will end its serialization on November 10. Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, having sold more than 130 million copies — in Japan alone! Naruto started its serialization in 1999, and has published 70 ‘tankobon’ volumes so far.
For more info, click here.
It took a little digging (and a helluva lot of YouTube clips), but Skunk has found some short-but-sweet quotes from the voice cast of Pixar’s upcoming animated feature, Inside Out. While the normally outspoken Lewis Black remains mum, Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Phyllis Smith and Bill Hader have all gone on the record regarding their characters.
Curious? Click through…
The Hollywood Reporter reports:
“Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation in a deal that would value the company at $3.4 billion, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. [...] DWA founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg would sign a five-year contract to remain with the company, according to the source, who says the DWA board held an emergency meeting Thursday to consider the offer.”
To read the whole article, click here.
Sony Pictures Animation and Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Hotel Transylvania) have released a li’l ‘taste test’ reel for their upcoming animated feature, Popeye. According to Tartakovsky, this video is “not a clip, not a trailer. It’s nothing from the actual movie. The voices are all temp. It’s just that represents what we all want to do. I couldn’t be more excited by the way it turned out, and I hope you enjoy it.”
Curious to take a peek? Click through… Continue reading
Shown above are a few of the luscious life-sized dioramas created for a Studio Ghibli exhibition currently being held in Seoul, South Korea. To see lots more pics, click through…
Disney has just released two new, ADORABLE film stills from Feast, the upcoming short by Paperman‘s head of animation Patrick Osborne. Shown above is but a fraction of the first still. To see both stills in all of their full-sized glory…
James Lopez is a veteran Disney animator (The Lion King, Pocahontas, Paperman) who is trying to raise funding for his primarily hand-drawn short film, Hullabaloo, with hopes of eventually finding a studio to fund a full-length version.
Here’s the first clip from Pixar’s upcoming musical short, Lava. The short is being directed by longtime Pixar animator James Ford Murphy, and will premier June 19, 2015 in front of Pete Docter’s Inside Out.
Eric Goldberg, the amazing animator behind the Genie from Aladdin, drew this sweet, starry scene as a tribute to his friend, Robin Williams. Click through for the full image.
The Guardian UK reports: “Toshio Suzuki, the general manager of…Studio Ghibli, [announced that the studio] will cease film-making after 29 years of production. Suzuki told the show Jounetsu Tairiku [that Ghibli is] downsizing its staff to manage trademarks and copyrights on its existing portfolio of 20 feature films.”
Wanna sample some semi-spoilers from Pixar’s upcoming short, Toy Story That Time Forgot? We’re talking film stills, concept art, a Mike Mignola (Hellboy) promo poster and TWO different plot summaries!
THR reports: “Disney Television Animation is celebrating the 45th anniversary of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion attraction in a big way. The studio is developing [an] animated special inspired by the ghoulishly fun popular theme park attraction. [...] The Haunted Mansion special will be animated by legendary horror genre artist and children’s book illustrator Gris Grimly (Gris Grimly’s Wicked Nursery Rhymes), who also will exec produce and art direct. Scott Peterson (Phineas and Ferb) will serve as writer, EP and story editor.”
To read the whole article, click here.
Chris Sanders, the super-silly cartoonist who made us all cry unexpectedly while watching Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods, is going to be manning a booth at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. What’s more, he’s made a whole mountain of merch to sell!
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