The inspirational Sayama Forest in Tokyo needs your help.

If you haven't heard about the amazing Totoro Forest Project fund-raising exhibition/auction, which will be held Sept. 6^th at Pixar, then you are missing out on some fabulous artwork being sold for a great cause. Spearheaded by Pixar art director Dice Tsutsumi, the event features artwork from some the top animators and illustrators working today. The proceeds will go to helping preserve the Sayama Forest, an 8750-acres urban forest in Tokyo. The woods inspired Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece My Neighbor Totoro and the Totoro no Furusato Fund has been the Oscar-winner's most cherished charity for years.

The Filmporium's Animation Show of Shows

Finding the perfect gift for the newbie animator.

James Cameron's Avatar

Tuesday night proved to be a big highlight of Autodesk University.  The Media and Entertainment keynote featured the first public screening of footage from James Cameron’s highly anticipated 3D feature “Avatar.”  

Simply put, “Avatar” was as stunning as it was rumored.  The 3D works incredibly well, but what impressed this animator more was the level of realism in the virtual characters.  The facial animation/capture was impeccable, the faces no longer looked like rubber masks as they have in so many movies that use facial capture.  In Avatar, the characters truly came to life and were believable in every way.  The audience identified with the characters and that made the story work on a much deeper lever.  The characters inhabited a world that was just as believable.  Much of it was lush jungle with fantastic creatures.  Some of the little details I noticed were highly realistic water, mud, and other subtle effects that helped to make the world that much more engaging.

Special Guest:  Ottawa International Animation Festival - Part 1

Full laurels, keys to capitals, and banks of international accolades might weigh down other comedy podcast journaltarians of animation, but never for the lion-hearted, docu-brave, master news-making martyrs (and hyperbolically humble) Joel Frenzer and Alan Foreman.  Join them as they interview animation's brightest and best about books, inappropriate cartoons, competing podcasts, pirates, and pumpkins - live from North America's largest festival of international animation in Ottawa, ON in 2010 at the Ottawa International Animation Festival 2010.

© Warner Bros.

If you want to write animation—or if you just want to produce or direct it—it’s important to know the difference between live action and animation writing. First the similarities: 

Animation stories are developed pretty much the same as in live action.  You come up with a concept, sometimes called a premise, describing the basic beginning, middle and end of the story.  The next stage is an outline, laying out each scene, including action and gags.  The final step is the script, with full scene description and dialogue. 

The script form in animation is virtually identical to live action. 

It’s the differences that are important to understand.

Special Guest:  JJ Villard

FFAF continues its Salutation to Tinselville this week with more animation conversation from the Heart of Hollywood.  This week's special guest and lovably evil animator-innovator, JJ Villard, scratches the true grit of the LA animation underbelly as he devles into discussion on his films, animation career prep, dirty-dogs, the worth of the festival-hussle, the subtext of the Walk of Fame, choice Starbucks beverages, Shrek, major studio lunch-spreads, and how to charm the evil of it all.  

Special Guest:  Scott Aukerman

This week's eponymous episode retraces another retro return to the LA recordings featuring Alan inexplicably conversing through Skype and Joel inexpertly wrangling the pre-show mic check.  Special guest and expert sperm whale impressionist Scott Aukerman then stops by to discuss the art of writing the sequel of an animated feature before the original is written, the power of star-powered voice-acting, Toy Story 4, why FFAF is his favorite podcast, and how to narrate a picture book.

Asian Television Forum opening ceremony

by Catherine Branscome-Morrissey

If you’re from South East Asia, China, Japan or Korea, Singapore’s modern architectural skylines may not wow you as much as a Westerner.  And I imagine, if you are from the region, the proliferation and impact of Asia’s animation production isn’t news to you either.  After all, Asia’s “animation moon” has been full and shining brightly for many years, decades even for some countries.