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Animation

Panda POW!

Dec 27th, 2015
by rodney.
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Nolen Lee is another multi-talented artist, often employed in the animation business.  He has a specialty though: Pandas.  Specifically, pandas wearing boxing gloves.  Who seem to have a thing about punching the nearest… whatever! Now Gallery Nucleus is selling Nolen’s portfolio book titled, appropriately enough, Punching Pandas.  According to their web site: “Nolen Lee is a freelance animation artist from originally from Portland, Oregon who is now working from Seattle. His art book Punching Pandas is full of ink and digital works of fighting pandas in mischievious situations – often finding their way into a strange franchise or two. The idea may sound adorable, but don’t let these pandas fool you. They’ll punch anything and anyone, even you!” You should also visit Nolen’s web site to find out what other sort of merchandise (t-shirts, prints, etc.) you can decorate with your favorite pugilistic panda.

image 2015 by Nolen Lee

image 2015 by Nolen Lee

Kitties of Justice!

Dec 26th, 2015
by rodney.
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We almost let this pass us by. Betsy Bauer is an illustrator who’s worked in animation for some time (on projects like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2) as well as illustrated children’s books. But her latest project is… dumb. Or at least she says so. It’s called Super Dumb Coloring Book of Super Dumb Cats, and it’s a collection of dumb superhero puns — with cats. (Look, these are her words, not ours! Honest!) Join Catman, Sailor Mewn, and I-Yarn Man (!) and all the rest — and add some color to their lives. You can find this black & white (obviously) paperback at Amazon, Stuart Ng Books, and Gallery Nucleus.

image c. 2015 by Betsy Bauer

image c. 2015 by Betsy Bauer

One Day A Lonely Bear…

Dec 25th, 2015
by rodney.
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[We hope you all had a Merry Christmas — and have a safe New Year!]

Bear Story is a short CGI animated film by Gabriel Osorio at Punkrobot Studios in 2014. Since then it has won over 50 international awards in the animation festival circuit. According to an article at The Wrap, the film “…is an ingenious, dazzling piece of 3D animation, the sad story of a lonesome bear who builds an elaborate mechanical diorama in an attempt to remember (and perhaps recover) the life he used to live with his wife and son, before he was ripped from his home and sent to a circus. But audiences in Osorio’s native Chile immediately know that it’s more than that — it’s also an allegory for the way families were torn apart during the murderous Pinochet regime in Chile in the 1970s.” Bear Story has been short-listed for an Academy Award for 2015. You can see a short making-of film and a trailer for it over at the Punkrobot web page.

image c. 2015 Punkrobot

image c. 2015 Punkrobot Studios

… And He Never Spoke

Dec 24th, 2015
by rodney.
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Anyone interested in animation should know about Depatie-Freleng Enterprises, the birthplace and home of one of America’s iconic animated furries, The Pink Panther. Not to mention cartoons like The Ant and the Aardvark, The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, Doctor Dolittle, The Fantastic Four, Doctor Snuggles, Baggy Pants and The Nitwits, The Barkleys, The Houndcats, The Grump, The Super Six, Super President, Spy Shadow, Hoot Kloot, Blue Racer, Crazylegs Crane, Misterjaw, Tijuana Toads, The Dogfather, The Oddball Couple, and Charlie the Tuna (whew!). Now animation historian Mark Arnold has chronicled the rise of DFE in Think Pink! a new hardcover book of more than 600 pages (!). “In 1963, Warner Bros. closed down their long-running cartoon facility that had produced such memorable merrymakers as the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. Director/producer Friz Freleng and executive David H. DePatie faced unwanted early retirement. A generous parting gesture from a Warner executive allowed Freleng and DePatie to lease the former Warner cartoons studio on California Street in Burbank, complete with equipment and supplies, for a few dollars each year.” The book is available now — find out more at the Bearmanor Media web site, or just head to Amazon.

image c. 2015 Bearmanor Media

image c. 2015 Bearmanor Media

Another All-Around Animator

Dec 23rd, 2015
by rodney.
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… and illustrator, whom we met at the CTN Animation Expo. Christina Halstead is a character designer and, yes, animator who has worked freelance on projects for outfits like Toon Boom and games like Beast’s Fury. Her personal art web site is called Shadowed Brush Creations — there you can find sketches, character paintings, and even short animation samples from her work.

image c. 2015 Christina Halstead

image c. 2015 by Christina Halstead

Are You a Good Wish, or a Bad Wish?

Dec 21st, 2015
by rodney.
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Over at Cartoon Brew there’s an article about Wish Police, the next big film project to come out of Reel FX (home of Free Birds and The Book of Life). “Based on a novella of the same name by Daniel Nayer, Wish Police takes place in a world where children’s bad wishes come to life as mayhem-making villains, and a secret organization called The Wish Police must work full-time to apprehend the evildoers. The Wish Police are led by Saul, an ex-genie determined to atone for centuries of granting his masters’ evil wishes, and Kong, a wise-cracking monkey and royal pain in the leg. In the film, Saul and Kong must break their personal rules and team up with a 12-year-old boy named Randy who has made a particularly bad wish and unleashed the most powerful wish villain ever seen.” The film is to be directed by three young filmmakers from Spain, Adrian Garcia, Alfredo Torres, and Victor Maldonado, “who are collectively known as Headless”. The CGI film is being produced by Kirk Bodyfelt (Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs 2) and written by some folks who worked on Kung Fu Panda. The film is scheduled for release in late 2017.

image c. 2015 Reel FX

image c. 2015 Reel FX

Th-Th-That’s a Superhero, Folks!

Dec 18th, 2015
by rodney.
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And how did we miss this bit, Doc? As DC Comics have been the home of the Looney Tunes comic series for a while now, this last November they decided to go completely, yes, looney: More than two dozen of DC’s well-known superhero titles were released last month featuring variant covers where Bugs Bunny and his pals (some well-known, some obscure except to the True Warner Brother Aficionado!) invaded the world of Superman and Batman and their pals. And these covers were created by some of the best and most well-known DC artists working now. Fortunately for those of us who can’t afford to buy that many comics in a month (especially just for the cool covers!), DC has been kind enough to collect all 25 covers on their web site for you to peruse.

image c. 2015 DC Comics

image c. 2015 DC Comics

Did You Know This Is My Very Best Art?

Dec 15th, 2015
by rodney.
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First the art of My Little Pony the TV series — now, the art of My Little Pony the comic books. Thanks to IDW, of course. They’ve released My Little Pony: Art is Magic, a nearly 150-page trade paperback of works from the various My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic book series. “Read along as fan-favorite artists Amy Mebberson, Sara Richard, Tony Fleecs, Andy Price, Brenda Hickey, and Agnes Garbowska showcase a selection of their most cherished pieces, provide insight into their process, and share the identities of their favorite ponies!” Each artist has also created a special unique pin-up piece just for this collection. Take a look over at Barnes & Noble to find out more.

mlp-artIsMagic-cov

image c. 2015 IDW Publishing

 

Learn Your Animation History

Dec 12th, 2015
by rodney.
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All fans of classic animation history should learn about Walt Disney’s Silly Symphony series — if you don’t know about it already. Which means you should probably check out Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (whew!) by film historians J.B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt. Here’s what the publishers said on Amazon: “Launched by Walt Disney in 1929 as a ‘musical novelty’ series to complement his recent success with Mickey Mouse, the Silly Symphonies soon became much more. This line of delightfully innovative, animated cartoons ran for ten years and produced such classics as Three Little Pigs, The Tortoise and the Hare, Music Land, and The Old Mill. Silly Symphonies won every Academy Award. From the authors of the prize-winning Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney, this richly illustrated volume is a complete history of the Silly Symphonies including detailed entries for all the Symphonies along with a lengthy critical analysis and production history of the series.” Published previously in Europe, the book is available now in English.

image c. 2015 La Cineteca

image c. 2015 La Cineteca

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