And the 2012 Chew On This Champions of Animation awards go to....

 

By Dan Sarto

Our Paramount Tour started with coffee and sunglasses, our group basking in the welcome warmth of the sun after having spent the last few days in the cold, wind and sporadic Southern California drizzle. Like Sony and Fox, Paramount is a huge studio, complete with large soundstages and even larger cinematic and television history. As our electric cart motored off, our tour guide expertly peppered us with interesting studio facts and a brief rundown of some of the classic films made here at the studio.

We stopped at one point to take a picture with the iconic Hollywood sign balanced on the hills far behind us.  We drove past huge sound stages and production buildings, as well as a New York backlot that like Fox, you’ve seen in more shows and commercials then you realize. 

Some of our backlot highlights:

 

By Dan Sarto

Our day concluded with a tour of the Fox lot and a screening for Fox Feature Animation and the crew of The Simpsons.  Like the Sony and Paramount lots, the Fox lot is steeped in movie legendry.  Used almost exclusively these days for TV production on shows broadcast seemingly on every network, the lot includes stages used for shows like Bones. Glee and How I Met Your Mother.  Home to the worldwide headquarters of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, the lot also houses facilities used for Fox’s NFL broadcasts.

We did a fast walk past a number of enormous sound stages, as well as snaking in and out of a number of buildings within the famous New York City building facades used in practically every show and commercial known to man.  We also managed to get a fast glimpse at The Simpsons production offices, complete with a cool Bart Simpson topiary and statue of a hand holding a donut that decorate the front yard.

Soon it was time to join the screening for Q&A.  The theatre was packed and included many of David Silverman’s co-workers on The Simpsons as well as his nominated short. After Ron introduced the filmmakers once again, Al Jean, one of the producers of Maggie Simpson and “The Longest Daycare” was dragged down to the front of the stage to answer questions as well.

By Dan Sarto.

Our tour continued with a screening and lunch at Sony Pictures Animation.  It’s always a treat to go to SPA – we’re always greeted warmly and the audience is always enthusiastic.  Today was no exception. 

We wasted no time getting over to the Ray Harryhausen Theatre for the screening and Q&A.  As expected, the audience questions were familiar, though it was nice to get Minkyu Lee, director of Adam and Dog, into the mix a bit more, his ongoing work duties at Disney having kept him from joining us for much of the week.

 

By Dan Sarto

Our day began at Sony Pictures in Culver City.  We watched a short film detailing the history of the studio dating back to brothers Harry and Jack Cohn’s 1918 partnership with Joe Brandt to form CBC Film Sales, or as it was then known as Corn Beef and Cabbage.  CBC became Columbia Pictures Corporation in 1924, with original offices located on Gower Street in Hollywood. The studio’s fortunes changed dramatically with the hiring of Frank Capra in 1927, who over the next decades helped chart a course of excellence starting with their first Best Picture Oscar in 1934 for It Happened One Night.  The list of legendary films produced at the studio is immense, including From Here to Eternity, Dr. Strangelove, Lawrence of Arabia, Taxi Driver, Gandhi, Ghostbusters and The Last Emperor to name but a few.  Sony purchased the studio from Coca Cola in 1989, changed its name to Sony Picture Entertainment and relocated to the former MGM lot in Culver City.  I’ve skipped numerous pieces of the studio’s story, including the growth of its vast TV operations, and of course, the creations of Sony Pictures Imageworks and Sony Pictures Animation, our ultimate destination for the morning tour and screening.

By Dan Sarto

Our day concluded with a special Motion Picture Academy reception and screening of both the animated and live action Oscar-nominated shorts, hosted by actor Jason Schwartzman. For the first time during the tour, all the animated short nominees were together in the same room, though of course, I could never manage to wrangle them all into one picture.  I got close with four, but not all five.  The Academy receptions are always nice, always classy and this was no exception.  After a light meal gulped down way too fast and a glass filled with ice and 1 ounce of Diet Coke, I spotted PES for the first time, who unfortunately has been largely absent due to the birth of his second child the previous week.  With sleep and sanity at a premium, he nevertheless joined us for the screening.  It was great to catch up a bit.  The last time I’d really spent any time with him was at an event in Germany several years ago.

By Dan Sarto

With a full afternoon planned at Disney Feature Animation, the group wasted no time getting started.  Our host, Stephanie Morse, toured us through the maze of halls, with stops every now and again to check out walls adorned with artwork from Frozen, their upcoming feature set for release this coming November 27^th.  Soon, however, it was back to the screening room for audience Q&A. 

Once again, our filmmakers displayed great patience as they answered mostly the same set of questions they’ve been answering at numerous screenings, interviews and meetings ever since they were nominated.  I enjoy these Q&A sessions because though the questions may be the same, each time a filmmaker speaks, they add something new, share greater details or a new story you haven’t heard before.  You never know what tasty tidbits they may share in a moment of fatigue.

By Dan Sarto

We met up Tuesday morning at Disney’s Animation Research Library, known as the ARL.  Located in a non-descript building that housed Disney Feature Animation until unit moved to the current Burbank studio space, the ARL houses over 65 million pieces of original production artwork, from pencil sketches on napkins to painted glass panels used in the giant two-story multi-plane cameras. Everything animation art-related that can be found is brought here for cataloging, digitizing, databasing, storing and in some cases, restoring.  Our host, Mary Walsh quickly turned us over to Fox Carney, resident historian, archivist and librarian, who took us through the facility, sharing stories and history on some of Disney’s oldest, dearest and most amazing work.

Our first stop was a long table playing host to a selection of works Fox pulled on behalf of Tim and Fondhla.  This included watercolors, pencil drawn character designs, storyboards, rough animation drawings, and concept art from films like Snow White, The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast and Lady and the Tramp.  I was particularly taken with two background paintings, one from Sleeping Beauty, one from Peter Pan, as well as some concept art sketches of Scar from The Lion King. It must be nice to have talent.  Sadly, I’ll never know.

By Dan Sarto

The Southern California leg of Acme Filmworks’ and AWN’s annual Oscar Showcase Tour kicked off with a screening Monday night at Woodbury University, sponsored and organized by ASIFA-Hollywood.  Frank Gladstone brought boxes of cookies, containers of coffee and his unflappable and eternally upbeat demeanor.  The cold wind and threat of rain did nothing to damper the crowd, which filled the Fletcher Jones Theatre almost to capacity.  After he introduced me, sharing the fictional story of my childhood spent roaming the streets of India, I then regaled the audience with the story of the first time I met Frank, literally bumping into him within a huge room at the castle overlooking Annecy’s old town, stuffed wall-to-wall with people celebrating the release of DreamWorks’ Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.  I told the crowd, as I tell you now, the next time you meet Frank, ask him to tell you the “Seamus” joke.  And be prepared.

After the screening, John Kahrs (Paperman), David Silverman (Maggie Simpson and “The Longest Daycare”), Tim Reckart and Fondhla Cronin O’Reilly (Head Over Heels) took the stage for a 45 minute Q&A.  Some of the highlights:

 

By Kira Formina

We said goodbye to Pixar, then hopped back into the van, stopping at Tippett Studio in Berkeley. Tippett - the people famous for special effects, particularly monsters and creatures, pretty much all the major films from Star Wars to Twilight - is oddly located in a simple residential street, several streets in fact. Two of the buildings are across from each other, and the third is a few blocks away.

We are greeted by Tom “Gibby” Gibbon and a few others. Suddenly the talk turns shop, as Tom and Tim discuss puppet making and stop motion animation (fun fact: Head over Heels puppets were 3D printed with most of the face left soft and malleable for expressions. The head of Madge, the wife, kept falling off as the scenes were filmed upside down, with Tim having to constantly readjust it. He says if you pay attention, you can see it change levels throughout the film.)