TIL that Disney/Pixar released a limited-edition Bonnie doll, and she’s scaled to the size of the previously released Toy Story dolls! While this minor retail-revelation was pretty cool in its own right, it was the unsaid, un-implied and entirely untrue follow-up thought that made the synapses in my sleep-addled brain light up like your neighbor’s seemingly year-round Christmas decorations:
I think I just discovered the top secret plot to Toy Story 4! Continue reading
Note: This post has NOTHING to do with the President appearing for a photo-op at DreamWorks because Katzenberg donated millions of dollars to him over the past decade. That’s a post for a much more politically astute website. This post is about Katzenberg’s odd choice of taking the president to his animation studio, then showing him improvised, leotard-clad, performance art.
If you haven’t yet seen the clip in question, please watch it, then continue. If you’ve already watched it once…well, once was more than enough, wasn’t it?
A quick bit of unsolicited advice from one childless chump to the legions of baby-bearing animators, directors, writers, producers, storyboard artists, etc. working today:
YOUR KIDS AREN’T AS CLEVER AS YOU THINK THEY ARE.
I’m not questioning their cuteness, mind you. A quick scroll through your iPhone is proof positive that your child is the one in a billion exception to the rule that all newborn babies look like short-eared Salacious Crumbs. No argument there.
I’m also not saying that your kid is dumb. I’m sure he and/or she is quite intelligent for their age, with a willingness and eagerness to learn. Factor in the privatized schooling and specialized tutoring available to folks in your zip code and tax bracket, and I’ve no doubt he and/or she will be extremely well-educated by the time they’ve finished school.
What I am saying is this: Kids is ign’ant. YOUR KID is ignorant. It’s part and parcel of being a kid. Accept this. Honor this. Then bring this real world knowledge into your animated artistry and stop making every cartoon kid so preternaturally smart.
Or: From B.C.E. to TMZ – We’re Genetically Wired for Gossip
Twenty years ago, the big myth surrounding Walt Disney was that he was cryogenically frozen. There was barely any internet back then, so it was easy for this fantastic, sci-fi tinged tale to go viral without any real rebuttal.
After all, Walt loved all things futuristic, so it sorta made sense that he would seek an answer to the whole mortality thing using the most scientifically advanced methods of his day. Add to this the unsettling rumor that his frozen body was being stored beneath Sleeping Beauty’s castle, and it was no wonder the public loved repeating it ad nauseam!
Look at Disney’s Frozen booth from this year’s D23 convention. Notice something odd? 99% of the artwork decorating the booth was done in pencil, yet the film itself is CG!
A similar thing is happening on Disney’s Tumblr. In the week spanning Oct. 9-15, there were eight posts promoting Frozen. Only ONE of those featured a CG still from the film. HALF were hand-drawn character sketches, the rest were film-clips.
Why, if you’re promoting a CG film, would you INTENTIONALLY advertise it using images and art styles NOT FOUND in that film?
Marketing MUST have a reason…right?
A series of nearly nude, NSFW drawings depicting various animated Disney males has hit the net. While the Walt Disney Company has officially labeled it “a travesty” and claims to have enlisted the FBI to help them track down the source of these leaked images, many doubt these claims.
After all, it was only one week ago that the company came under fire after Frozen‘s head of animation, Lino DiSalvo, was quoted as saying that “animating female characters are really, really difficult, because they have to go through these range of emotions, but you have to keep them pretty.” Having these sleazy pictures of Disney’s cartoon males suddenly appear NOW, well…it just seems a bit too convenient to some.
There’s a rumble in the Tumblr over the following quote made by Frozen‘s head of animation, Lino Disalvo:
