David Fincher is all too familiar with Blur Studios, ever since they collaborated together to develop Eric Powell's incredibly awesome property The Goon.
Here's the full opening credits and some breakdown clips:
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
"The Small and the Wonky's Anecdote" by Romain Barriaux
Very nice french short film by Romain Barriaux, a young ex-student from EMCA school, who already has interesting experiences at Disney and Satelight in Japan.
1963 Robot - Short Film/Commercial by Jim Henson
Jim Henson made this film in 1963 for The Bell System. Specifically, it
was made for an elite seminar given for business owners, on the
then-brand-new topic — Data Communications.
January 29, 2012
January 28, 2012
Wilco's "Dawned on me" with Popeye
Well, Blow Me Down! King Features and dBpm Records are combining creative forces for a series of firsts with the release of a new cartoon and animated music video for Wilco’s “Dawned On Me” featuring Popeye the Sailor Man and the Chicago band.
Wilco’s sweet, whimsical love song comes from their latest album, the 2012 Grammy-nominated The Whole Love. The video is directed by Darren Romanelli, the fashion and pop culture innovator who conceived the collaboration between Wilco and King’s flagship character.
This collaboration between American icons is one of the first music videos Wilco has released since 1999 and it presents the band to the masses in a fresh, new way: as animated images, side-by-side with Popeye and his friends Olive Oyl, Swee’ Pea, Wimpy and Bluto.
Wilco’s sweet, whimsical love song comes from their latest album, the 2012 Grammy-nominated The Whole Love. The video is directed by Darren Romanelli, the fashion and pop culture innovator who conceived the collaboration between Wilco and King’s flagship character.
This collaboration between American icons is one of the first music videos Wilco has released since 1999 and it presents the band to the masses in a fresh, new way: as animated images, side-by-side with Popeye and his friends Olive Oyl, Swee’ Pea, Wimpy and Bluto.
January 26, 2012
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, “Morris Lessmore” is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a new narrative experience that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals. “Morris Lessmore” is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” is one of five animated short films that will be considered for outstanding film achievements of 2011 in the 84th Academy Awards ®.
Film Awards Won by “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
To date, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” film has drummed up fans all over the world taking home the following awards:
· Cinequest Film Fest: Best Animated Short
· Palm Springs International ShortFest: Audience Favorite Award
· SIGGRAPH: Best in Show
To enjoy “Morris Lessmore” and other Moonbot Apps please visit the following links:
tinyurl.com/lessmoreipad
tinyurl.com/numberlys
tinyurl.com/bullseyeapp
January 25, 2012
Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light
I loved this series when I was a kid, similar vein as other science fiction meets swords & sorcery animated fantasy concept like Brave Starr and He-Man. It was originally a range of action figures from Hasbro, released in 1987. 
This action figure range was promoted by two different media, telling the stories of the characters. The better known of the two was a half hour animated television series made by Sunbow Productions in the same year, but there was also a comic book series issued by Star Comics.
Set on the planet of Prysmos, where its three blazing suns have recently gone into convergence - signalling the rebirth of the Age of Magic. As all their previous technology has now gone dead, its people quickly revert into a feudalistic medieval lifestyle. Shortly thereafter the wizard Merklynn announces a challenge; all those who can reach his shrine will be granted powers of transformation and other magical powers. The show follows the fourteen successful characters; the good Spectral Knights and the evil Darkling Lords.
The toyline was not a big success, and this led to both the series and the comic being discontinued after a very short run. The comic lasted only 6 issues, and was cancelled halfway through a four-part storyline. The animated series lasted one season of 13 episodes, and was not picked up for a second, possibly because all Sunbow cartoons came to an end after The Transformers Season 4 three-parter; The Rebirth, and G.I. Joe: The Movie, when Sunbow lost its contract and could not get it renewed. It is the only Hasbro property to be produced by Sunbow on their own, without the aid of Marvel Productions. Sunbow also used TMS Entertainment, in Japan for the overseas animation work for this show, who also animated hits like Bionic Six, The Real Ghostbusters, Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs.
See some episodes here:
Here's a nice history of TMS Animation Studios by Cereal Geek:
This action figure range was promoted by two different media, telling the stories of the characters. The better known of the two was a half hour animated television series made by Sunbow Productions in the same year, but there was also a comic book series issued by Star Comics.
Set on the planet of Prysmos, where its three blazing suns have recently gone into convergence - signalling the rebirth of the Age of Magic. As all their previous technology has now gone dead, its people quickly revert into a feudalistic medieval lifestyle. Shortly thereafter the wizard Merklynn announces a challenge; all those who can reach his shrine will be granted powers of transformation and other magical powers. The show follows the fourteen successful characters; the good Spectral Knights and the evil Darkling Lords.
The toyline was not a big success, and this led to both the series and the comic being discontinued after a very short run. The comic lasted only 6 issues, and was cancelled halfway through a four-part storyline. The animated series lasted one season of 13 episodes, and was not picked up for a second, possibly because all Sunbow cartoons came to an end after The Transformers Season 4 three-parter; The Rebirth, and G.I. Joe: The Movie, when Sunbow lost its contract and could not get it renewed. It is the only Hasbro property to be produced by Sunbow on their own, without the aid of Marvel Productions. Sunbow also used TMS Entertainment, in Japan for the overseas animation work for this show, who also animated hits like Bionic Six, The Real Ghostbusters, Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs.See some episodes here:
Here's a nice history of TMS Animation Studios by Cereal Geek:
Fantastic footage of the last days of shooting "The Muppet Show"
A behind the scenes glimpse of the Muppet Show on it's last day of recording at the Elstree Television Studios in 1980.
January 24, 2012
Journey - Game Trailers
The first game I've ever seen that makes excellent use of composition during gameplay, looks awesome.
January 23, 2012
January 22, 2012
Space Jam Website is Still Online
You remember Space Jam right? It was an animated/live action scifi romp with the Warner Brothers gang of characters like Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny teaming up with basketball legends Michael Jordan and Wayne Knight in an epic basketball showdown…. in SPACE!
Visiting the easily memorized URL at http://www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/movie/jam.htm will bring you to the official website in all its HTML framed glory, with animated gifs, repeated tiled backgrounds and all suitable for viewing on your 640×480 resolution CRT VGA monitor.
This looks like something my 3 year old can design now, but at the time this was pretty awesome. I mean, they didn’t have much to work with in 1996 and it had to be optimized to download on your 9600baud dialup modem. I wonder if Warner Bros. has forgotten all about it.
January 21, 2012
Star Wars Uncut is Finally Online
In 2009, Casey Pugh asked thousands of Internet users to remake "Star Wars: A New Hope" into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. Contributors were allowed to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable.
SWU has been featured in documentaries, news features and conferences around the world for its unique appeal. In 2010 we won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media.
Finally, the crowd-sourced project has been stitched together and put online for your streaming pleasure. The "Director's Cut" is a feature-length film that contains hand-picked scenes from the entire StarWarsUncut.com collection.
I know of two animators who contributed to the film: Matt Shepherd and Mike Geiger.
Well, a couple days ago the final product has been published online. If you have 2 hours or so to kill, have a look see, it's a lot of fun.
Avatar Effects Guide
In celebration of the upcoming series Avatar: The Legend of Korra which is expected to air on Nickelodeon sometime in 2012; here are some FX design from the original animated series "Avatar: The Last Air Bender".
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