Martin Scorsese's Hugo. Image © 2011 GK Films. All Rights Reserved.

Two hours of schmooze followed by over three hours of presentations by teams all vying for Best VFX Oscar gold, the annual VFX Bakeoff was a long but ultimately enjoyable evening. Always a gathering of industry legends, this year was no different – giants Rob Legato, Scott Farrar, Joe Letteri, Michael Fink, John Knoll and John Dykstra were just some of the presenters.  Though it’s possible to glean new insights into how a particular vfx shot was handled, the most entertaining part of the evening remains the occasional quip or funny anecdote shared by a presenter.  While the victuals at Kate Mantelini are always great (upscale mac n’ cheese + cold night = smile), each year it seems more and more people get squeezed into an impossibly narrow space.  While not great for locomotion or bathroom breaks, the sardine can confinement does make for interesting eavesdropping.  You don’t really catch entire conversations, nor complete context, but your ears do perk up if you catch something particularly funny, biting or just plain mean.  After all, this still is Hollywood.  And while it’s not quite Housewives of the Renderfarm, it’s still pretty amusing. 

Pixar Director and Writer Andrew Stanton.

We've posted two-time Oscar-winner Andrew Stanton's (Monsters Inc, Toy Story, John Carter, Finding Nemo and others) commencement address from last month's Animation Mentor graduation.  Humor, insight and enthusiasm from one of Pixar's brightest stars.

Lion King

On IndieWire, Bill Desowitz delves into the 3-D retrofitting of Disney's The Lion King. He talks to those in charge of the work and those who worked on the original classic as well.

Randi Rost

By Randi Rost

In the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, a feverish search occurs seemingly in slow motion. In order to make progress in the search, a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), has been inventing a brand-new field of work called “art forensics.” Armed with innovative new portable sensing devices and Intel technology, they are searching for a lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci called “The Battle of Anghiari.” This impressive painting, considered by some to be da Vinci’s greatest artistic accomplishment, was lost more than 450 years ago.

Engineers, scientists and other supposed great-thinkers don’t often make for interesting copy.  Centrifuges, remote sensors, pressure valves and biopsies don’t bring smiles to most people’s faces, unless of course, you’re my mom, who never met a biopsy she couldn’t fret over, going back to Marcus Welby, M.D. To those who don’t understand, like or appreciate scientific thought, even MacGyver is mundane and hopelessly highbrow.

Enter stage left the magnificent pair of stop-motion Brits, Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit, front and center in a new DVD release of their complete six-part BBC1 TV series, Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention.  This nifty series pairs the eternally bumbling but kind-hearted inventor Wallace, along with his trusted companion, always-in-the-nick-of-time dog Gromit, and a series of live action vignettes on engineers, scientists and designers whose contraptions are truly extraordinary.  Part Mythbusters, part National Geographic, the pairing is clever, with our animated duo introducing and wrapping in and around the live action segments.

Belinda Luscombe just published an article on the Time Magazine website in which she ponders why adults cry so easily when they watch animated kids movies.  My guess is that they’re still upset over the cost of tickets and armfuls of popcorn, candy and sky blue slushies, but the economics of the cinematic experience are not to be confused with the more cerebral and emotional aspects of the animated film viewing experience discussed in the article... Alan Becker’s fantastic flash-animated stick figure is back with another installment of the ongoing personal computer battles popularized in 2 previous films...Filmmaker Ray Grigg’s conservative political documentary I Want Your Money opens this Friday in selected theatres throughout the US, complete with a very animated Barack Obama. 

TV Animation Production Executives Business Revenue Generation Strategies 2013-2018

With MIPTV starting today, an independent market research firm has released the results of its most recent television animation production industry survey.  According to Copenhagen-based management consulting and market research firm International Institute for a Better Tomorrow, production companies that historically have generated significant revenue from animated series are finding today’s marketplace significantly more crowded and less lucrative than in previous years.  A company press release accompanying highlights of the survey says that their most recent data suggests that senior studio executives are in agreement that the halcyon days of big money animation television deals are a distant memory, never to return.  However, bucking conventional wisdom and recent industry trends, these executives differ greatly on profit strategies and business models they plan on putting in place to shore up their bottom line and ensure the survival of their businesses.

A complete breakdown of the survey results is as follows:.

Russian animator Fyodor Khitruk

and Vinni-Pukh

We thank those AWN readers who contributed their thoughts on the passing of legendary Russian animator Fyodor Khitruk.

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"This is a great loss to Russian animation. Khitruk was the teacher of many famous Russian directors - Norshtein, Nazarov, Petrov, Maksimov, Aldashin and many others.  He was my teacher also. Khitruk was not only a good director and a teacher but also a unique person, a great conversationalist.  He always had positive energy."

Igor Kovalyov

Director

"Fyodor Khitruk helped modernize Russian animation. His sense of rhythm, his humor, his ability to tell stories concisely made him an example. But more importantly, his graphic virtuosity made history. Othello 67, the very short film (50 seconds) he made for the international competition organized for the Montreal World Exhibition is a masterpiece of irony and pacing."

Marcel Jean

Artistic Director, Annecy International Animation Film Festival