Animating classic, nay legendary cartoon characters is a daunting challenge. Theatrical shorts are no longer part of a four-hour day at the movies, along with a double feature, newsreel, shorts and coming attractions – they’re now a prestige item occasionally accompanying a suitably themed fantasy/family film. And as befits our modern truncated attention spans, they’re more often than not faster-paced and briefer in running time than their illustrious predecessors.

When Warner Bros. asked Matt O’Callaghan to return their yin-and-yang, would-be predator and hoped-for prey pair Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, to the big screen – only in CGI-shape and 3D-depth, O’Callaghan took a deep breath and delivered the goods – and fortunately for all involved with the production, without once resorting to Acme technology…

Rise of the Guardians is a major box office disaster for DreamWorks Animation.  How on earth could something with so many “right” elements go so “wrong”?  Ed Hooks does a post-mortem.

ILM had a photographer follow the Oscar tour around their facilities and we'd like to share some of the great pics.

The 20^th annual Cartoon Forum took place September 22-25 in the beautiful town of Stavanger, Norway, capital of the coastal fjord-filled county of Rogaland. The premier European co-production forum for animation for TV and new media platforms takes place each year in a different city and affords participants the opportunity to present their project to all the key players of the animation industry. Always marked by a convivial atmosphere, the event in this milestone year had an especially positive and cohesive vibe, with attendees seemingly enjoying simply being together to share their common enthusiasm.

Film history is a subject near and dear to the heart of ILM’s founder, George Lucas, which was evident in every aspect of ILM’s headquarters. The lobby itself can keep a film buff entertained for hours, with an extensive library of Star Wars books and magazines from around the world, life-size replicas of Darth Vader and Boba Fett, and an incredibly cool life-size statue of legendary special effects artist Willis O’Brien posing a model King Kong atop the Empire State Building. 

 

We've got a nifty collection of model sheets from Aardman's and Sony's new feature, The Pirates!, which hits the theatres in the US today.  Take a gander when you have a moment. Click each image to view a higher-res version.

 

 

A free breakfast buffet (lox wrapped around a pretzel – whose idea was that?), a 2-gig flash drive and a flashy live/multi-media stage show: not bad for an April Wednesday morning in New York City: it’s your typical ‘up front’ presentation, wherein the networks showcase their new shows in full razzly-dazzly mode – and on this particular morning Cartoon Network has plenty to razzle-dazzle.

 

 

If you’re looking to spend a couple hours sitting back and having a good time, then get yourself to the theatre this weekend and go see Megamind, DreamWorks’ latest animated feature.  When I got to the press screening last Saturday, I was actually in a good mood for a change. It was my birthday, I’d eaten an In-N-Out double-double for lunch and for a few brief hours, I was mostly pleasant to be with.  I put on my 3-D glasses in search of some good old fashioned entertainment and I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed.  The film looked great, the story resonated with me and kept my attention, the running gags were used wisely, not beaten to death, the 3-D done seamlessly and expertly without obvious gimmicks or flaws. 

 

 

By Lauren Brown

Friday is here and we continue at Pixar with the third and last day of our Bay Area tour. It is another gorgeous day as we drive onto the Emeryville campus. The campus has beautifully kept lawns with a soccer field and the sun hits the brick buildings in a beautiful way.

What makes this event so exciting are the new ideas being thrown out to the crowd, innovations, and completely honest commentary on what goes into creating an independent game.  You can feel the creative energy in the air and when you leave the summit – you’re possessed with some inherent indie verve.

What have I learned this year?  Here are my newly discovered indie principles...