Image ©2012 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

The VIEW Conference has announced the European premiere of Pixar Animation Studios’ latest short film, Partysaurus Rex, to be presented by award-winning director, animator, actor, storyboard artist and writer Mark Walsh.

Walsh graduated from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 1997, winning a Student Emmy for his animated short film, Extra Crispy. At Pixar, Mark became part of a group of fellow actors and stuntmen, animating on such films as A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., the animated short Presto, and the Academy Award-winning feature The Incredibles.

By Nancy Phelps

Devoted solely to student work, the festival is the brainchild of well known animator, illustrator, and renaissance man Rastko Ćirić in conjunction with Vuk Maksimovic, master wood carver and furniture maker, who is the representative of the Fortress for this project.  It also received support from the Serbian Ministry of Culture.

FMX opens at the Haus der Wirtschaft Center of Commerce.

Here we go again! It's May again, so time to travel to Stuttgart, Germany to meet, to listen, to open the eyes and the minds, to feel the sense of wonder, the pulse of the future and to be amazed by the achievements of the many professionals, as well as those of the bold young students, who present their work. For the 15^th time the Conference on Animation, Effects, Games & Interactive Media starts today and — business as usual — this year's program let your mouth drool, if you are a big fan of those wondrous worlds.

Fifteen editions ago, in 1994, the small and tiny “Film and Medienbörse Stuttgart” was held for the very first time – Prof. Thomas Haegele and his team decided to translate the German term into English and the “Film and Media eXchange” in short FMX was born.

H5's Logorama.

Every year I think Chris Robinson can't take it any higher. But every year he ramps it up a notch.

This guy is the master of the post-modern introduction.

You had to be there to feel the bizarre energy, to share in the intense, quizzical, weird couple of moments.

Then we were back to reality.

Nancy on the animation couch.

By Nancy Denney-Phelps

The Fredrikstad Animation Festival in Fredrikstad, Norway has an emphasis on screening Nordic animation but offers so much more. Along with Nordic short film and student competitions and screenings of animation aimed at the family audience, two days were devoted to seminars with international guest speakers from all branches of the animation world.

Anyone who is lucky enough to be invited to this wonderful festival should not miss the opportunity. Not only will you have the good fortune to see the best in Nordic/Baltic animation but you will also meet many wonderful people and return home with very special memories.

A fine display of design and carving skills. The rest are posers. Except the guy with the pumpkin speedo.

By Dan Sarto

The Animator’s Picnic is inspired event programming – stop all proceedings, go to a park, eat, drink, see and be seen.  Find old friends, meet new friends.  On this unseasonably beautiful Autumn day, as I gaze out on the crowd of young animators, the future of our industry, I can’t help but think…I feel so old. Nothing like a large gathering of energetic young hipsters, free from the burdens of metabolic decline and hearing loss, to remind you just what a sorry-ass geez you are.  The crowd gets younger, the walk to the Bytowne Cinema gets longer and no amount of Advil or Scotch can change that.  Sometimes I wonder, if I start talking to a young female animation student, am I perceived as someone who has something useful to say, or just a perve?  Can one be both?

Check out a selection of pictures from this year’s picnic and pumpkin carving contest…

John Kricfalusi at the drawing table.

By Nancy Phelps

For five days every year the historic town of Fredrikstad, Norway becomes the center of Nordic/Baltic animation.  The festival brings in an illustrious roster of names from the international animation community and this year was no exception.

I am a fan of Ren and Stimpy but had never met John Kricfalusi.  He turned out to be as delightfully wacky and fun as his characters.  During his Masters of Animation presentation he talked about characters and films that inspired him and he showed animation classics from UPA and Disney among others to illustrate his points.  He also shared excerpts from his favorite live action Hollywood films which he considers just as good, if not a better inspiration for cartoonists as classic cartoons.  I was fascinated to learn what a big influence film noir played in his life.

By Nancy Phelps

This year was a very special 30^th Anniversary for the Trickfilm Festival of Animated Film in Stuttgart, Germany.  My week began Monday evening, the night before the official festival opening, when I attended the opening reception for an exhibition of works by former students of Professor Albrecht Ades, founder of the prestigious Film Academy Baden-Wurttemberg in the nearby town of Ludwigsburg.  He is credited with ushering in a new era of modern German animation which was highly influenced by Czech works and laid the foundation for today’s thriving entertainment industry in the Baden- Wurttemberg region.

The large outdoor screen

From 1980 to 1991 some 30 films were produced in his class and the Professor’s strong motivating influence on his students is reflected in the works of some of the now famous animators who studied under him.  Looking at the graphic works in the exhibit, some by Thomas Meyer-Hermann, Andreas Hykade, Sabine Huber and Gil Alkabetz, I could see that they have taken their teacher’s motto “We must kill Mickey Mouse” to heart.

For the 2012 opening night ceremony, the festival staff chose a new format.  Instead of the usual round of introductions and speeches followed by a screening, the first competition program was interspersed among the introductory speeches.  The festival received a special birthday present when Malte Dringenberg, head of Mercedes-Benz Classic Press Office, who announced to the audience that Mercedes-Benz has become a very active festival sponsor.  (Stuttgart is the home of Mercedes-Benz.) Another high point of the evening was  the awarding of special Life Time Achievement Trixie Statutes to Professor Albrect  Ades and Gabriele Rothemeyer.  Ades founded the Trickfilm Festival and served as its first artistic director from 1982 to 2003.  Ms. Rothemeyer followed him in the position from 2003 to 2005, and succeeding her is Ulrich Wegenast, the present director.

The inaugural award winners.

By Catherine Morrissey

February 8^th, 2013, marked a turning point in recognizing excellence in the international kids business:  instead of handing out ONE Emmy statue for the best in “Children and Youth” the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences took a dramatic course change, and handed out SIX (6!) of their impressive statues at a dedicated International Emmy Kids Awards event held in New York City at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers.

Maybe a result of the dramatic expansion of kids channels around the world (from 64 channels in 2000 to over 275 channels in 2010), or as a new revenue stream for the Academy (as some muttered quietly under their cynical breaths), whatever the truth is, sometimes it doesn’t really matter why there’s a new awards event.   True, several countries have their equivalents of the International Kids Emmys.  But  others including France have nothing at all.

It's standing room only at GDC.

The Game Developer Conference, also known as GDC, is the end-all be-all event of the year for game developers. You’ll find no fan-boys here! Once a year thousands of developers, students, and press descend upon Moscone Center in San Francisco for a weeklong chance to network, learn, and most importantly, play.