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. 

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.

Watch it exclusively on AWNtv!

 

At a casual glance, anybody taking on Disney in a court of law would seem either fabulously wealthy, fabulously nuts, or both.  So, I find this news item of particular interest.  As reported on the Yahoo Sports blog Big League Stew, Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves are slinging some arrows at Pixar, challenging them over the name of the upcoming animated feature, Brave.

 

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. 

 

 

The Creators Project, founded in part by Vice Media, was started to showcase innovative artists and enable them to realize new artwork. “The Creators Project celebrates the connection between art and technology,” says David Haroldsen, a creative director for the project. “We set out to give people who use computers every day a look at artistic experiences that are only possible because of technology.”

When The Creators Project launched in 2010, Vice used a variety of media -- including television, print, online and mobile outlets -- to document the work of more than 100 creators to date, hailing mostly from seven countries (Brazil, China, France, Germany, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States). “In 2011, we pushed that concept forward by showcasing their work at events around the world, and by getting involved with the creators, their future and their creative process,” says Simon. “But we wanted to go beyond telling their stories. We wanted to help them take their work to the next level.”

The Studio, an ongoing arts initiative supported by The Creators Project, was created to do just that. “Think of The Studio as an art foundation,” says Simon. “It offers creators the means to realize their artistic visions. We foster interdisciplinary collaborations and give them access to the latest technology. Then we disseminate the work using a number of media channels and an event series.”

 

“Think of this book as a Disney History companion filling in some of those nooks and crannies that may only be mentioned in a brief sentence or two, if at all, in other Disney history books. These chapters truly are the forgotten but fascinating Disney stories.” With this line, Jim Korkis lays down the foundation for what his newest work, The Vault of Walt, is truly about. Through the compilation of the wide array of articles that he has written through the years, Korkis presents a work that provides his readers with little known histories and stories about Walt Disney and the empire that he created.

 

 

Craig Barron has posted a really nice short film tribute to film historian and preservationist Kevin Brownlow, who this past Saturday received the Governors Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

 

 

Frank Gladstone shot me a note about a short animated cg film called Mila being made by former Disney, DreamWorks and Imageworks animator Cinzia Angelini. Hoping to push the boundaries of non-photorealistic rendering to create a painterly aesthetic and character design, Cinzia is also striving to tell a socially relevant story about war’s most tragic collateral damage – the youngest civilians. The film is inspired by true stories that Cinzia’s mother and grandmother told her of their own lives in Italy during World War II. 

 

It's just a nifty day, as shown here by a nifty storyboard sequence from the new Aardman and Sony film, The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

 

The Avengers hits US theatres today, surely set to obliterate box office metrics on its way to blockbuster gold, financial nirvana, accolades for the actors and kudos for the studio.  Millions of people will watch it and be thoroughly entertained.  A small group will watch it and be thoroughly underwhelmed.  An even smaller group still will watch it and bemoan the continued decline of everything – society at large, superhero genre filmmaking, democracy as we know it, the ozone layer. These people are always annoyed at something.  Their sentences often begin, “When I was a kid…” as if the world was any less a shithole when they were 10.  Not surprising, most are grandparents.