Not only is today Halloween, but it is also the 94th birthday of Ollie Johnston, the only living member of the legendary group of Disney animators known as the Nine Old Men!
Probably the worst animated movie to come out this year made its debut today in several Californian theatres. Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With A Kiss is a modern remake of the Shakespeare classic...but with seals. Yes, it looks as dumb as it sounds.
If you haven't checked out the trailer then do that RIGHT NOW!
A genuine tragedy, although not in the Shakespearean sense...
A comprehensive list of what's wrong with "Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss" would stretch farther than the unabridged works of William S. But it begins with the notion of a just-for-kids take on a play whose climax is a double suicide. Don't worry: There's no dying here. Just an unending torture, 77 minutes that feel longer than an uncut Hamlet.
The massacre of great drama might be at least forgivable were "Sealed With a Kiss" not so manifestly shoddy. The radioactive hues of Nibbelink's blobby, graceless animation sear the eye like an atom blast... most of the movie's voices are so heavily post-processed in an attempt to sound "funny" that what's left of Shakespeare's dialogue is rendered nearly unintelligible... In an astonishing display of poor taste, Nibbelink periodically breaks up the mushy stuff with scenes of Mercutio barking insults at his rival tribe - insults that are most often racist jokes with the offending epithet replaced by the word "Capulet" (i.e. "What do you call 500 Capulets on the bottom of the ocean?" "A good start.")... That's not suitable for all ages — it's suitable for no one.
This is the last week for our "Dynamic Duos" theme. Past weeks included Sam & Max, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo and Rocky & Bullwinkle.
This week's duo is taken from the 2001 movie Osmosis Jones. Ozzy & Drix follows the adventures of Osmosis Jones (Phil LaMarr replacing Chris Rock) and Drixobensometaphedrian (Jeff Bennett replacing David Hyde Pierce) as they continue to defend the City of Hector from evil viruses and infections.
The show lasted two seasons, from 2001-2004, and featured a different style of animation than the movie. It was produced with a way cheaper budget than its movie counterpart, as most spin-offs are, and it is reflected in the outcome.
Whoever thought the Spongebob Squarepants phenomenon would still be as popular as ever? Whoever thought that it would be popular enough form Nickelodeon to preempt all of their programming for a 24 hour Spongebob Squarepants marathon?
You heard me right! On Thursday, November 9th at 8pm Nickelodeon will countdown the top 100 episodes and will end with a brand new episode 'Best Day Ever,' which will air at 7:30pm on Friday, November 10th.
The 100 episodes are all voted by the fans on nick.com. The show has actually has 75 half hour episodes to date that are made up of two 15 minute episodes per half hour (although there are a few 'long episodes' per season).
Spongebob debuted on Nickelodeon in 1999 and is now in its fourth season. The popularity has been overwhelming. Much like Animaniacs and Pinky & the Brain, it has attracted many adult viewers for its surreal humour and pop culture references that would be lost on kids.
It has also been the subject of controversy when Christian Rights group claimed Spongebob and his best friend, Patrick, had a homosexual relationship. Here is a related CNN news clip I thought you may enjoy. It's also funny because the news anchor can't pronounce Spongebob's name.
Not too much time to blog today so I'll just show you this really neat animation.
Here is a GC music video called Under the Cherry Tree by the Australian electronica/rock group Telemetry Orchestra. It was directed by Animal Logic's Dael Oates.
There has been a lot of talk about all the ant movies that have come out recently and how everyone is tired of ants. Well, The Ant Bully came out a few months ago but before that the only two other ant movies I know about are Antz and A Bug's Life which were both released eight years ago! An eight year gap between movies should mean that it would be okay to release another movie featuring the same animals. The public doesn't think so.
What I want to know is which one of the three is your favourite? Have you even seen any of these three? Here is some info (All box office totals are US domestic):
Antz
Producer: Dreamworks
Release date: October 2, 1998
Starring: Woody Allen, Dan Aykroyd, Sylvester Stallone
Box Office: $90 million dollars
A Bug's Life
Producer: Pixar/Disney
Release date: November 14, 1998
Starring: Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Box Office: $162 million dollars
The Ant Bully
Producer: DNA Productions (distributed by Warner Bros)
Release date: July 28, 2006
Starring: Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep
Box Office: $28 million dollars (as of today)
English filmmaker Lewi Firth Bolton has been making stop motion animated film in his bedroom for the last three years. His latest film, The Wardrobe, has won many awards at various film festivals and has got him a lot of attention. The truly surprising thing about Bolton is that he is only fourteen years old!
This film has got the attention of the leading stop-motion animation studio, Aardman Animations. You may recognize their work, having produced movies like Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit. They were so impressed by what they saw in this young filmmaker's work that they offered him a job not knowing how young he actually was!
"The last film I sent down they were very, very impressed with and they didn't know how old I was.
"They rang me up, offering me to go down and work for them as a career."
This week's theme is actually the amalgamation of two shows. Rocky and His Friends ran from 1959 to 1961 on ABC but was moved to NBC in 1961 and renamed The Bullwinkle Show due to Bullwinkle's obvious popularity at the time. The show was cancelled in 1964 but moved back to ABC until 1974 when it moved into syndication. The syndicated title of the show changed to The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show and covered the two seasons of Rocky and the three seasons of Bullwinkle.
Rocket J. Squirrel (Rocky) and Bullwinkle J. Moose live in Frostbite Falls, Minnesota. Bullwinkle is a dim-witted moose that always seems to get into trouble that send him and Rocky around the world. Whether they are trying to located a hidden mine of Upsidasium or saving the world from the Metal Moon Men, the pair always save the day thanks to Rocky's smart thinking and Bullwinkle's lucky accidents.
The two baddies, called Nogoodniks, are Boris Badanov and Natasha Fatale. From the rival town of Pottsylvania, they are always given a mission from Fearless Leader to stop the moose and squirrel from interfering with their plans.
Each episode began and ended with a five-minute R&B segments that always ended in a cliff-hanger to be resolved in the following episode. Sandwiched in between the R&B shorts were five-minute episodes of Fractured Fairy Tales, Dudley Do-Right, Aesop and Son and Peabody and Sherman's Improbable History.
Where the animation was lacking the show made up in writting. The writing staff prided themselves on the clever stories and jokes, many of them trying to recreated the old radio-serial style comedies.
This is the next big DVD set I am really looking forward to! Sony Media is releasing the entire run of Paramount's Harveytoons theatrical shorts! 312 cartoons in total!
Everybody has been getting on board with the theatrical cartoon DVD sets. Disney has released almost its entire theatrical cartoon library through the annual Walt Disney Treasures DVDs, Warner Bros. keep pumping out the annual Looney Tunes Golden Collection sets, MGM released the entire run of Pink Panther shorts in a five-disc set. Now it's Paramount's turn to give cartoon lovers what they want!
If you order it off amazon.com right now you can get it for the incredibly low price of $25.99!
Here is the press release:
Classic Media is proud to present The Complete Harveytoons Collection on DVD November 7th!
All 312 classic cartoon shorts digitally restored in one collection!
On Tuesday, November 7th, 2006, Classic Media will release the full series -– all 312 shorts -– of Harveytoons' memorable cartoons in a 4-double sided-disc DVD collection. The cartoons, available on DVD for the first time ever, were originally created in the 1940s and '‘50s, and have been digitally restored. Casper The Friendly Ghost, is Harveytoons' most famous and original character, and the second most recognizable character of all time. Beginning as a theatrical animated short, the famous Casper cartoon soon moved into the realm of comics and later into a regular TV series. This roster of comics, movies and TV series created a medium to introduce fellow Harveytoonsters, such as Wendy, the good little witch, and Hot Stuff, the little devil. The Harveytoons collection will also feature other classic characters, including, Richie Rich, the kid with a big heart and big bank account; Herman and Katnip, the wacky cap and mouse duo; and the lesser known, but cult favorite, The Modern Madcaps. The set comes in collector'’s packaging with an original Casper Comic printed inside.
Harveytoons has been entertaining children and families for more than six decades, and this collection - with more than 15 hours of classic cartoon content -– is sure to please both children and the adults who fondly recall these entertaining programs from their own childhood. The captivating -– and just plain fun -– animation has won over the hearts of many, and is guaranteed to continue to do so for generations to come.
On Friday I asked for your favourite and least favourite Disney movies. It seems that in general people are attracted to the films of the early-mid nineties.
The most popular ones being Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, and Little Mermaid. The least popular are older films like Bambi, Fantasia and the World War II compilations and newer releases like Brother Bear and Home on the Range.
Bambi was a ground breaking movie in 1941 but the similar style of writing didn't work in 1981 when Fox and the Hound was released. Disney needed to do something to make their movies appeal to this new generation of movie goers.
This week I have posted about The Fox and the Hound and The Little Mermaid. The response I have received is that Fox is one of the lamest Disney movies and Mermaid is one of the best.
But what do you really think? Which one is really the best? Which one is the worst?
Let's make a rule. You can only comment on movies animated by Disney Feature Animation. We all know that the tv show based movies and direct-to-video sequels are terrible so there is no point in voting for them. Stop motion features don't count and Pixar movies should get a catagory of their own.
Here is the offical list of Disney movies animated by Disney Feature Animation:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Pinocchio
Fantasia
Dumbo
BambiSaludos Amigos
The Three Caballeros
Make Mine Music
Fun and Fancy Free
Melody Time
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Cinderella
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
Lady and the Tramp
Sleeping Beauty
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
The Sword in the Stone
The Jungle Book
The Aristocats
Robin Hood
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Rescuers
The Fox and the Hound
The Black Cauldron
The Great Mouse Detective
Oliver & Company
The Little Mermaid
The Rescuers Down Under
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Lion King
Pocahontas
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hercules
Mulan
Tarzan
Fantasia 2000
The Emperor's New Groove
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Lilo & Stitch
Treasure Planet
Brother Bear
Home on the Range
Chicken Little
This week's Theme Song is about the ever-loving duo of Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. The cowardly couple were first seen in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! in 1969. They were part of a mystery investigative group along with their friends Fred, Daphne and Velma.
While Fred was the leader, Daphne was the damsel in distress and Velma was the brains, Shaggy and Scooby were the comic relief. They never wanted to go in the spooky house or look for the creepy monster and Scooby-Doo would always need to be bribed with a Scooby Snack or two.
Scooby-Doo went through many incarnations over the years but the look of the characters and the show always stayed the same. Every series had the same format: The gang would be minding their own business, they would meet a character that would explain the plot of the episode and present a mystery of the gang to solve. The gang would meet a monster and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo would get scared. The monster would be revealed to be the character that the gang met at the beginning of the episode! It wasn't until September of 2006 when Shaggy and Scooby went through a dramatic change.
This week's theme is the tenth show starring Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! which debuted on Cartoon Network in September. It follows the adventures of Shaggy who just inherited a gazillion dollars. He and Scooby live in a mansion, have a transforming Mystery Machine and Scooby now has Scooby Snacks that allow him to transform too! The rest of the gang is gone and the show has a more action/adventure feel.
The thing that has Scooby fans in an uproar is the new designs. Shaggy and Scooby got a complete overhaul for this show and fans say it isn't for the better. The style was changed to fit in with other CN shows like Danny Phantom and Johnny Test.
You be the judge. What do you think of these new designs? The clip below contains the theme song plus the first half of the premiere episode so you can get a feel for the new show. Enjoy!
Last week The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD was released from the Disney vaults. It has sold over four million units in one week! It is the highest selling animated October DVD debut and the best selling of the Disney Platinum Series!
I was quite surprised to see that this film surpassed the sales of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
The DVD is worth picking up. The restored picture is beautiful and the sound is great. I am a big fan of this movie especially since this was the first Disney movie I saw in theatres. It was a thrilling experience that I will never forget. The story and animation are just as strong by today's standards. The only part of the film I felt was a little dated were the special effects from King Triton's trident when he is destroying Ariel's grotto. Straight outta the eighties.
Today is the release date of Disney's Fox and the Hound 25th Anniversary Edition two-disc DVD. The story follows a young fox named Tod who is taken in by a kind farm lady after his mother is killed. His next-door neighbour, a grumpy old hunter named Amos, bring home a new puppy, Copper, who is to be trained to be a great hunting dog. The two meet and become fast friend but all that is put to the test when Copper learns that it is his job to hunt and kill foxes like his best friend, Tod.
This movie debuted on July 10, 1981 and was a financial success but has be largely considered to be a Disney dud. Some critics praised the film for its dealing with prejudice attitudes while others condemn it for its sappiness, slow-pace and unhappy ending.
Today, a couple of groups are blasting Fox and the Hound, saying Disney is promoting homosexuality due to its two male stars and their friendship. These groups obviously don't remember that this film has Tod falling in love with Vixen. I think these claims are ridiculous.
But let's get back on track.
It's a surprise that this movie was even made considering some of the problems it faced.
First, Cliff Nordberg, of the post-WWII animators and one of Disney's head supervising animators at the time, died suddenly during production.
Second, several scenes of animation were stolen during a midnight break in and had to be redrawn or rotoscoped from pencil tests.
Third, animator Don Bluth resigned mid-way through production. He started his own rival company and took about seven Disney animators with him! That was about half the animating staff at Disney at the time!
But one of the most significant things about The Fox and the Hound was that it was the official passing of the torch from the original 'Nine Old Men' to a younger generation of animators.
The 'Nine Old Men' are the legendary animators that Disney hired in the thirties and were responsible for the major works of Disney from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to the Rescuers. They are Les Clark, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman, John Lounsbery, Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Milt Kahl and Marc Davis.
Though most of them had either past away or retired, Three of the nine, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Woolie Reitherman, were still working with Disney during Fox and the Hound. Disney had been training a new crop of animators for a while and when Don Bluth and company left Disney changes had to be made.
Suddenly, other junior animators were shoved into the spotlight and new employees were hired. Amongst the crew working on this picture were, Glen Keane, Tim Burton, John Musker, Ron Clements, Brad Bird, Earl Kress, Don Hahn and future Pixar owner John Lasseter.
All of these events let everyone see that this was the beginning of a new Disney era. The torch was passed to this new, younger generation who would later go on to produce some of Disney's best work, including Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.
Today, the only living member of the 'Nine Old Men' is Ollie Johnston who is 94 years old and retired.
Today concludes my last week at Vanguard Animation. While I am a great fan of cartoons and love being in this environment, I don't want to make a career out of it. Not now anyway.
My other love is music and I will be starting my own business to help the local Vancouver talent get a whole lot better.
I have great faith that Space Chimps will be a good movie. Mind you, it does star talking animals but hopefully the whole 'talking animal' movie phase will be over and this one will be welcomed with open arms.
Everyone who works here is super talented and it has been a pleasure working with them all.
You can bet I will be at the theatre to see this film opening night!
Today is Thursday and you know what that means! THURSDAY THEME SONG! This being the first Thursday in October brings us a brand new monthly theme. This month: "Dynamic Duos"
Now, instead of showing the most popular duos (ie. Batman & Robin) I will be presenting some lesser known couples who starred in their very own cartoon series. This week:
Sam & Max
Based on the 80s comicbook of the same name, Sam & Max (also know as The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police) was a short lived series about a dog and a rabbit that fight crime. The series was produced by Canadian company Nelvana and had a total of 22 10-minute episodes and 2 20-minute episodes to make a total of 13 episodes, or one season. Sam & Max was shown on Fox and won a Gemini award for "Best Animated Series" and then Fox, in their usual pattern, cancelled the show.
Sam is a six-foot, anthropomorphic dog. He is level-headed and a great detective and his trench coat always has what is needed to solve the crime in its pocket.
Max is a three-foot "hyperkinetic rabbity thing" who is impusive and a little crazy. The two live in New York but travel the world, and beyond, to solve mysteries and bring criminals to justice.
The character designs are simple and fun to look at which leaves a lot of room for creative animation. Nelvana did a great job keeping the original feel of the comicbook even so far as to create very comicbook-like backgrounds.
The most enjoyable part of the show is the ongoing banter that is shared between the two. The dialogue is just as fast paced as an episode of the Gilmore Girls but the delivery is so much better.
A few of the episodes were released on VHS but are no longer in print and there are no plans for a DVD release. Most of the episodes are on youtube so I would recommend checking them out. Let me know what you think!
Talk about good timing! Yesterday I blogged about my introduction to Machinima. I find out today that tonight's South Park episode has a large portion of it shot in Machinima!
The town of South Park gets addicted to the online game World of Warcraft. Part of the episode will take place inside the Warcraft game and you will see the characters of Warcraft with the South Park voices as the kids play the game. Here is the trailer for tonight's episode:
Have you ever been playing NBA Jam with your friends and used the characters to act out scenes by moving them around and adding your own dialogue? Have you ever moved Mario around and up and down to make him look like he is breakdancing? Have you ever played Grand Theft Auto and have taken matters into your own hands? If you have then you can be a movie director!
A new phenomenon has swept the internet in the past few years called Machinima or Machine Cinema. It is the process where a film crew uses a video game to make a movie. Usually a first-person shooter style game is used where the main player is the camera man. The other players in the game move around and 'act' out the scene. The footage is recorded, edited and then dialogue is added.
This new genre of film making has been made popular by internet shows like Red vs. Blue, using footage from Halo, and Strangerhood, using footage from The Sims (see photo above), which have been running a few years now and have grown quite a large fan base. Now, it seems that Machinima is becoming popular in the mainstream market with everyone from Lonely Island to Robot Chicken to Coka-Cola ads jumping on board.
Overman from Zarathustra Studios has created a short film called Male Restroom Etiquette using Sims 2 for his graphics. The film has been featured on youtube and has become an internet hit. I present it to you now.
When the first teaser trailer for Open Season was released I was less than impressed. Partly because I am not a fan of Martin Lawrence or Ashton Kutcher and I figured the humour would be heavily influenced by them, and partly because the is yet another CG movie staring talking animals.
I love talking animal movies. The Lion King is one of my favourties. But I don't need several of these movies all in one year! Let's count them: Doogal, Ice Age 2, The Wild, Over the Hedge, Ant Bully, Barnyard, Open Season, and next month's Flushed Away and Happy Feet! That's nine movies in 2006! And that doesn't count the live action movies that came out this year like Garfield 2.
