'Bird Karma' by William Salazar

“Villa Antropoff” by Kaspar Jancis

Exquisite Corpse | Rick and Morty | Adult Swim

Better Worlds: a new animated sci-fi series

Batmetal Forever

Making of Community's Christmas Episode (Season 2 Episode 11)

Fortnite - Stop-motion Trailer - by Screen Novelties

Types of Shots and Camera Moves

I had made these for some animation students a while back, here's some visual aids for the basic types of camera framing and camera moves most common in television animation production.

Spider-Verse: The Best Spider-Man Movie So Far!

Gaze Into the Abyss - Nihilism in Rick and Morty & BoJack Horseman

6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park

"The Thief and the Cobbler" The Greatest Film Never Made?

Mind-bending background animation tests:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3_XzBgwdrk

Incredibles 2 - Deleted Scenes (with Introductions)

Tom Rosenthal – “How Have You Been?” by Heather Colbert

The History of UPA - Part 1 and 2

'JEOM' by Kangmin Kim

“The Trick: A Simple Guide to Achieving Total Spiritual Transformation” - by Nada Alic and Andrea Nakhla.

'Way of Giants' by Alois Di Leo

Rilakkuma and Kaoru

Bartkira - Trailer

Lost & Found

Dave Berthier – Animation Reel

The Tongue & Pencil - 103 - Jorge Gutierrez

This episode features Jorge Gutierrez, creator of amazing projects such as El Tigre, Book of Life and the recently announced Maya & The Three!

It's called the Tongue & Pencil and I guess it’s technically an interview show but its more like a rough around the edges conversation that pretty much has zero production value. It has shitty audio in many episodes but if you like watching artists draw and talk about stuff that happened to them then maybe this is for you.

When we record some more we will have a better tech setup.

I hope you dig it.

-Chris P.

The Tongue & Pencil - 102 - Kate Micucci

This episode features Kate Micucci - Artist, comedian, actor, songwriter, musician, and half of Garfunkel & Oates.

It's called the Tongue & Pencil and I guess it’s technically an interview show but its more like a rough around the edges conversation that pretty much has zero production value. It has shitty audio in many episodes but if you like watching artists draw and talk about stuff that happened to them then maybe this is for you.

When we record some more we will have a better tech setup.

I hope you dig it.

-Chris P.

Woody Woodpecker Reanimate

Anijam Remake of the 1961 Woody short titled "The Bird Who Came to Dinner".

How Animator Gary Andrews Used Sketching As Therapy After Losing A Soulmate

Via onanimation

The Tongue & Pencil - 101 - Jon Schnepp

This episode features Jon Schnepp. He was a great artist, a great person, and a great friend.

It's called the Tongue & Pencil and I guess it’s technically an interview show but its more like a rough around the edges conversation that pretty much has zero production value. It has shitty audio in many episodes but if you like watching artists draw and talk about stuff that happened to them then maybe this is for you.

The overall audio is bad and there's a weird echo on Schnepp's voice that starts about halfway through. I couldn't figure out how to fix it. You can still hear everything fine. When we record some more we will have a better tech setup.

I hope you dig it.

- Chris P.

An Essay on The Legend of Korra & The Last Airbender

What Makes Batman The Animated Series Great

Remus & Kiki Animation Reel

BoJack Horseman - Analysis

Julith vs Kerub from the film "Dofus Book 1"

“The Offering”

Animation by by Elenor Kopka
Sound and Music by Skillbard

'Love Nest' by Remus & Kiki

Tōth – “No Reason” by Amanda Bonaiuto

'Night Falls on Loserville' by Remus Buznea & Kyriaki Kyriakou

'Shit Burger' by Remus & Kiki

'Drool' by Lex Guelas, Remus Buznea & Kiki Kyriakou

'Overtime' by Kyriaki Kyriakou and Remus Buznea

'OOZE' by Kilian Vilim

'Gangsters V Gators' by Remus Buznea and Kyriaki Kyriakou

'Dateless' by Remus Buznea and Kyriaki Kyriakou

Silly Walks - Demo Reel

Siamés "Mr. Fear" - by Rudo Company

'Pépé le Morse' by Lucrece Andreae

Speed Brawl - Animated Launch Trailer | Made By Titmouse

Lorenzo Live 2018

The Dookie Boys

'Raccoon and the Light' by Hanna Kim

Mission Hill

Frej Bengtsson - Animation Reel

William Trebutien - Animation Reel

'Solar Walk' Reka Bucsi

Studio Mir & Alexander Snow's "Koji"

'Leather' by Chris Smith

'The Thief and the Cobbler' color tests

'Link' by Robert Löbel

Aya Suzuki - Animation Reel

The History of Disney's Scariest Attraction; Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour / History of the Black Cauldron

“Should You Meet A Lady In A Darkened Wood” by Daniel Stankler

Exercises In Preparation For Independent Life (1980)

E4 TV Idents

"Comfort Zone" by Jonathan Djob Nkondo for Uniqlo Ultra Light Down outerwear

Picnic - Shorts and Demo Reel

"From Above" - 360 version:



"From Above" - Flat version:



Demo Reel:

Birdy Nam Nam – ‘The Parachute Ending’

Over The Garden Wall: Why Is The Unknown So Familiar?

'First Family'

"About To Crack" by Vitamin X - animated by Marco Imov

Hen, his wife

Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep

"My Super Hero Movie" Sequence from 'Teen Titans Go To The Movies'

Production Co: Hornet
Director: Benjy Brooke
Executive Producer: Hana Shimizu
Head of Production: Sang-Jin Bae
Producer: Dez Stavracos
Editor: Anita Chao
Pre Production
Designer: Benjy Brooke
Music: Jacob Jeffries

Lead Animator: Benjy Brooke
Animators: Tyler Dibiasio, Krystal Downs, Tucker Klein, Alex Krokus
Additional Animation: Michael Fegreus, Mike Luzzi, Sara Litzenberger, Harry Teitelman
Cleanup Animators: Benjy Brooke, Tyler Dibiasio, Sami Healy, Tucker Klein, Michael Fegreus, Hazel Zheng, Adam Henderson
Compositors: Benjy Brooke, Bea Walling

The Midnight Parasites

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Opening Title Sequence

King Star King - Adult Swim

Pombo Loves You

Midnight Games

"FlippingFilip" by Mehdi Alibeygi

The Short Films of Colas Bim

James Baxter Animation Reel

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Trans-Dimensional Turtles

The Turtles are transported to another dimension where they meet their 1980s counterparts and work together to battle Krang. It also includes a great cross-over into the Eastman/Laird original comic book Turtles as well.

GRIS - Game Trailer

"Melt Down" by Amy J. Xu

'Stop Bullying' by Giant Ant

“Look At Me” by Su Hui Kai

“I believe that over-emphasizing the importance of the individual may not be suitable for all. In our society everyone wants others’ attention, but everyone talks and nobody listens. When the Internet and smartphones came out, it became worse. When we chase our desire, which is rapidly magnified, we will all live in a state of anxiousness and feel vacant. The more we want, the more emptiness we receive.”

'One Small Step' by Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas

The 12 Principles of Animation

'Future Thoughts' by Loek Vugs

Chad VanGaalen - Peace On The Rise

'Thermostat 6' by Av-Ron Maya, Cominotti Mylène, Coudert Marion, and Dano Sixtine

'Moonmen' Music Video - Rick and Morty

The History of Ralph Bakshi

“If You Fall” by Tisha Deb Pillai

Jim Henson: In Their Own Words

Rubblebucket – “Annihilation Song” by Amanda Bonaiuto

Hilda - The Animated Series

Trailer:



Netflix’s newest cartoon series, Hilda, based on the Eisner Award-nominated comics written and illustrated by Luke Pearson, premiered on the streaming network in September. My family instantly became obsessed with it.

Not only is it beautiful to look at, but the cartoon adamantly refuses either a wink or a nod at the real world. It is a fully enclosed narrative universe, with its own internal rules and logic. It’s about as pure as children’s television can get and, if I’m being honest, it’s served as a bit of an escape for me as well.

Netflix’s Hilda, like the comics, focuses on a young girl living in a modern, pseudo-Scandinavian country. The colors used to illustrate each episode standout; warm, autumnal pastels during the day and deep, rich blues at night. The animation is remarkably unique with joyful, flowing movements emphasized by a sort of syncopated rhythm in the details.


Early animation test:


Model sheets:

Opening Title Sequence:

Doritos Collisions - The Line Animation

A Great 1994 Interview with Mike Judge

Roly Poly - Phanta's Story by Daniel Shemanas

How 'Batman The Animated Series' Changed Everything

"Mamoon" a short film using projection mapping (3D animation on polystyrene blocks) - Directed by Ben Steer

As part of Blue Zoo's long-running animated short films programme, a brief was sent out to everyone in the studio to pitch an idea to tell an emotional, human story, while experimenting with the physical optics of projecting CG animation. Blue Zoo Animation Director Ben Steer pitched the idea of Mamoon, which proceeded to win the company-wide studio vote, and went into production.

Making Of:

We Strike Hard & Fade Into the Night

Lucky Charms spots by Giant Ant

'Korobushka' an unfinished short film by Sheridan graduate Patt Jewanarom

Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices

The Amazing World of Gumball | Anime Battle

The Storytelling Language of Star Wars

What Is Mitochondrial Disease?

Created for the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research the film simply explains a very complex and devastating illness. Although created 2yrs ago it has only recently been made public. Made by Trunk.

Tribute to 'Breaking Bad' - Celebrating its 10th Anniversary

'Enough'

Anna Mantzaris's "Enough" 1st-year student short-film (Royal College of Art) is online. She obviously loved Emma De Swaef & Marc James Roels work (and she also worked on Wes Anderson's "Isle of Dogs").

Tom Rosenthal – “Don’t Die Curious”

The History of Saturday Morning Cartoons & Why They Disappeared

Opus & Bill: TV Special - "A Wish For Wings That Work"

AKWUAR – “Lone Love”

Bobby Prod - Demoreel 2018

“Hide and Sick” by George(s)

Young Marco – “Trippy Isolator” by Rop van Mierlo

Rubblebucket – “Annihilation Song” by Amanda Bonaiuto

“If You Fall” by Tisha Deb Pillai

“Planet J” by Alessandro Novelli

Hank (La Dispute - Such Small Hands) - by Jon

The Dover Boys ReAnimated

I Am Oak – “Will I Wake”

A dreamy hand-drawn animation by Thijs Kuijken (aka I Am Oak) for his track “Will I Wake.” Offering an audio-visual exploration of the fluid-like nature of memories, the video is made up of roughly 2000 drawings, which took Thijs about 107 hours to do all by himself.

Streets of Rage 4

Too Mad – “Mind Invaders”

The residents of Cat City confront an unknown terror in this elaborate animated video for Too Mad’s track “Mind Invaders”. Directed by Tricktrabanten aka Kilian Vilim, Etienne Mory and Frederic Siegel of creative collective Team Tumult.

'Life Cycles' by Ross Hogg

The Return of the Mega Crab

London/LA-based studio Waste Creative draws inspiration from 1940s propaganda art in this bold animation for Boom Beach’s global in-game big boss event. Wanting to create an announcement that would push the game assets in a different direction, the team seamlessly merged 2D elements with 3D modelled characters and backgrounds, before printing out every frame, ripping the paper for a handmade look, and stop-motion animating the entire thing! As they explained to us, their goal was to create a spot that would be “disruptive for the brand, unexpected for the community, and showed a level of care and craft unlike anything created previously.”

Check out “The Return of the Mega Crab” above as well as the short making-of below!

Vels Trio – “40 Point” feat. Shabaka Hutchings by Steph Hope

Genesis Motion Design

Instead of making a demoreel, this Singapore based studio animated their "Manifesto".

Last year, we wrote a company manifesto to talk about our beliefs, culture, and approach to work. It was also a chance for us to be our own client, and display our skillsets. Initially, it was a mess, a mixture of 2D, 3D, realistic and artistic.

A fresh new start this year got us thinking about what we were really good at, and with this, we've re-aligned our direction with an even sharper focus on bettering ourselves day by day, project by project.

Presenting to you, our Manifesto...

Credits:
Produced by: Genesis Motion Design
Conceptualisation: Rachael Lum, Rohan Lorenz, Sarah Wang, Joanne Lin, Bryan Sim, Natalie Ang, Darren Shieh, Benjamin Ang
Director: Benjamin Ang
Art Direction: Rachael Lum, Benjamin Ang
Producer: Darren Shieh
Designers: Rachael Lum, Rohan Lorenz, Sarah Wang, Joanne Lin, Bryan Sim, Natalie Ang
Animators: Rachael Lum, Rohan Lorenz, Sarah Wang, Joanne Lin, Bryan Sim, Natalie Ang, Jay Septimo
Music: GRYD
Special Thanks: James Lee

"Other Paul" by The Brothers McLeod

"Adventure Time" Pixel Art Intro by Paul Robertson & Ivan Dixon from "Diamonds & Lemons" Minecraft Special episode

“Gifts of the Gills: Life Advice from Fishing” by Doug Alberts

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - 'American Guilt'

“Chickens” by George Wu & Meng-Chia Lai

Jerry Lewis Tribute

‘Rick Baker’ (Rudo’s Cut)

Rudo Company (Argentina) animated the childhood memories of special make-up effects artist Rick Baker, and the first time he saw Godzilla. Produced for Syfy 25th anniversary.

Spongebob Squarepants: Ink Lemonade - Animatic

Written By: Kaz
Storyboard by: Kelly Armstrong
Plussed by: Dave Cunningham
Animatic By: Estrella Capin

Death Explained

Thoughts, musings, and conversations on what happens when life comes to its inevitable conclusion.

Made for TedX Sydney 2018
Directed and animated by Tessa Chong
Sound design by Alister Mew

Seddiki Mourad: 'Big Bad Fox' Animation Reel

"Dead Cells" video game trailer animated by Bobby Prod for Motion Twin

Production: Bobby Prod
Producer: David Alric
Production Manager: Jérôme Bonnaventurier
Director: Vincent Verniers
Storyboard: Vincent Verniers, Cédric Herole
Background Layout: Victor Delorme
Background Paint: Victor Delorme, Valérie Bousquié
Animators: Balak, Valérie Bousquié, Clément Kubicek, Mandimby Lebon, Vincent Verniers
Color: Gauthier Le Bris
FX: Eric Lefaure
Compositing: Gregoire Peyrot


Gameplay teaser:

Fan Art Animations by Mathilde Vache

MTV Idents - Animations by Rudo Company

Invader Zim Facts

“Sorry” by Doug Alberts

Erostratus – “Reeling”

2.5D pseudo-pointillism style music video by animator Joe Presser for Brooklyn-based band Erostratus Inspired by German Expressionism and Alchemy, “Reeling” sees the exploratory destruction and elaborate re-creation of people, places, musical instruments, buildings and outer space.

“Spell of the West” by Sam Lane

“Dear Habib”

“Play for Today” by Daria Dedok

“Circles” by Nicolo Bianchino

“Beach Bods” by Foreign Fauna

“It Has Matcha!” by Krutart for Seicha Matcha.

LUC "Glow" music video directed by Vincenzo Lodigiani (Dress Code studio)

Produced by: Dress Code
Director: Vincenzo Lodigiani
Design: Elena Chudoba, Vincenzo Lodigiani
Animation: Erika Bernetich, Elaine Lee, Vincenzo Lodigiani, Rasmus Löwenbrååt

STZAP

HAND "LOOP 03 Lied von der Sehnsucht" - an abstract/hypnotic music video animated by Ruffmercy

'#Tweets2Grams Compilation' by GiantAnt

T-Mobile // #Tweets2Grams Compilation from Giant Ant on Vimeo.

Client: T-Mobile
Agency: 247 Laundry Service
Directed by Giant Ant
Producer: Cory Philpott
Creative Direction: Jay Grandin
Art Direction & Design: Rafael Mayani
Animation: Sitji Chou, Taylor Peters, Conor Whelan, Chris Anderson, Henrique Barone, Shawn Hight, Justin Lawes,
Compilation Audio: Ambrose Yu

"OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes" promotional film by Le Cube studio (Argentina) for Cartoon Network Latin America

Animatic/Rough Layout:



Storyreel:

"Tend" a short-film by Animade for WeTransfer

This Must Be Where Pies Go When They Die - A Homage to Twin Peaks by Buck

Executive Creative Director: Orion Tait
Creative Director: Gareth O'Brien
Executive Producers: Anne Skopas, Erica Ford
Art Director: Lucas Brooking
Producers: Fiona Patterson, Emily Nelson, Kitty Dillard
Lead Design: Lara Lee
Design: Lucas Brooking, Josh Edwards, Saiman Chow, Thomas Schmid
Previs: Lara Lee, Mathijs Luijten, Josh Edwards, Greg Sharp, Alex Grigg, Ivan Dixon, Mark Russell
Animation: Lara Lee, Josh Edwards, Mathijs Luijten, Olivia Blanc, Harry Teitelman, Joe Sparkes, Mateo Mazzini, Rasmus Bak, William Trebution, Jaedoo Lee, Jose Fuentes, Amelia Giller, Tim Beckhart
Music and Sound Design: Antfood

Breakbot: “Another You” - by Olivier Lescot

Gary Larson's Tales from the Far Side

The Making of 'Cuphead'

Watership Down - Analysis

The History of Batman The Animated Series

LEGEND - A Dragon Ball Tale - STUDIO STRAY DOG & Naseer Pasha

Cinematography Analysis — Zodiac

I'm Not Alone

The Modifyers - Unaried Pilot Episode

In Conversation With... Pete Doctor

Is CalArts Style Taking Over The World?!

Jack Nicolson - Bloodthirsty Butchers by Mitsuyuki Ishibahi

Pete Docter - Inside the Creative Community: The Power and Process of Animated Films

Thundercats Ho! - Creating a Pop Culture Phenomenon

Trailer: 'Funan' by Denis Do

This movie is inspired by Denis's mother personal story, that takes place during the Khmer Rouge era in Cambodia.

Kali Mata

Bengal, 19th century. At the edges of the Kali temple, the British India's army led by the implacable W.H.Sleeman is about to wash against the last representants of the ancient stranglers assassin's brotherhood, the Thugs.

Writing, Storyboard, Animation: Pierre Le Couviour
Art Direction, Character Design, Animation: Kévin Roualland
Color Direction, Color Background, Compositing: Amine El Ouarti
Background Design, Layout, Compositing: Privat Fontaine

Music: Clément Peres
Audio Mix: Olivier Michelot

"Valley of White Birds" short film by Wolf Smoke Animation

Aeon Flux - The Purge

Doctor Tom

David Fincher: The Bleeding Edge

Leningrad ft. Gluk'oZa (ft. ST) Ju-Ju

Made by Glukoza Animation and HONK FU
Directed by Ilya Naishuller
Produced by Alexander Chistyakov
Executive producer – Sergey Lubinetsky
Production supervisor – Julia Khan
Animation Director – Denis Pisarev
Character Design – Anna Cattish
Lead Animator – Ilya Shekiladze
Concept Art – Ivan Pozdnyakov
Compositing – Pavel Mira

'The Ballad of Bea and Cad' by Tim Probert

Ji Fodi Drab: Ping Pong - by Jonathan Djob Nkondo & Titouan Bordeau

Sigrid - Focus

Produced, Directed and Designed by Moth Studio
2D Animation: Bianca Beneduci Assad, Mattias Breitholtz, Russell Etheridge, Alex Grigg, Mick O’Sullivan, Stephen Vuillemin and Moth Studio
3D Animation: Russell Etheridge, Jason Pamment and Moth Studio
Compositing: Daniele Baiardini and Moth Studio

Client: Island Records
Producer: Charlie Drinkwater
Video Commissioner: David Knight
Marketing Manager: Charlotte Birch
Publicist: Elspeth Merry

Island Records and Sigrid approached us with the idea of creating a music video that dealt with heartache in an unconventional way. To contrast the sweet and sensitive nature of the song, we came up with the concept of a bold, frantic yet tender landscape, that would allow us to explore the experience of heartbreak through a series of bodily reactions.

In this landscape, memories inhabit organs like the heart, brain, gut and eyes. Over the course of the animation, we see the organs struggle with these memories, twisting, turning, compressing and fracturing to expel them from the body. However, by rejecting all these experiences, good and bad, the body is damaged.

At the climax of the track, a decision is made to reinterpret these memories and absorb them back into the body, colour and life flow back into the organs, turning heartbreak into an experience of growth rather than defeat.

Starting with a range of colours now associated with Sigrid’s bright and bold aesthetic, we created different ‘worlds’ for each organ employing various animation techniques and software to give that part of the body its own look and feel.

A Chat with Brad Bird

SpongeBob SquarePants | Meet the Creator: Stephen Hillenburg

Animation Is All About The Walk

In Conversation With... Brad Bird

Prince of Egypt: Pre-production Pencil Tests

William Salazar had about 6 months to explore the animation style for The Prince of Egypt. So he produced these three pre-production pencil tests for the film. Character designs were made by Carter Goodrich & Pete de Seve.

Everything GREAT About The Incredibles!

'Mortal Breakup Inferno' by Maxime Delalande

The Philosophy of Miyazaki

The Brilliance of Brad Bird

'Batman Dance Party' by Monster Truck Ninja

Bob's Burgers: Totoro Homage

Leningrad ft. Gluk'oZa (ft. ST) Ju-Ju

Made by Glukoza Animation and HONK FU
Directed by Ilya Naishuller
Produced by Alexander Chistyakov
Executive producer – Sergey Lubinetsky
Production supervisor – Julia Khan
Animation Director – Denis Pisarev
Character Design – Anna Cattish
Lead Animator – Ilya Shekiladze
Concept Art – Ivan Pozdnyakov
Compositing – Pavel Mira

Love Nest

A Short Film by Remus Buznea et Kiki Kyriakou >> a loving tribute to the stinky rinky-dink room in which they wasted the vast majority of their student life.

Fortiche Prod - Demoreel 2018

Do the Bartman (1990)

Directed by Brad Bird

Final Space - Trailer

Scene Breakdowns for Ragnarock and Infinity War

Laughing Matters - Visual Comedy Essay by Rowan Atkinson

Gorillaz – “Humility”

Visions of Light - The Art of Cinematography

The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing

NIKE CHINA by Final Frontier and LeCube

'Higher Sky' by Eric Cheng

Pour une poignée de girolles

Directed by: Julien Grande
Music by: Ulysse Vega
Sound Design by: Etienne Leplumey

Infinity War: Pre Script Fight Test - by Monty Granito

The Impact of Akira: The Film that Changed Everything

Mr. Bean Is A Master Of Physical Comedy

Zed - 'Death Mark' by Ryan Woodward

The Making of Lilo and Stitch

Darrel

I was able to get a short interview with the creators...

What inspired you to come up with this story? Any of these moments reflect any personal experiences you might have had?

We had no idea what it was going to be at the beginning. The first approximate idea we had, came from a paper art concept of a friend of ours. We built a social critique with touches of humor, but it was very complicated, so we tried very simple jokes without history or progression. Finally we opted for the final version, a story of seduction with increasingly serious hiccups of the protagonist.
Maybe the fact that Marc and I were going through a serious crisis of love has something to do with the theme.

It's an interesting location at a subway station, how did you decide upon this?

The station where it takes place is very inspired by our metro stop to the coworking where we made the short film, besides it was a controlled environment, perfect to maintain quality with the available resources.

How long did the production take from story concept to final?

We practically spent a year trying different ideas through 2D animations and layouts, although it is difficult to measure it accurately because we made the models of the environment and the protagonist meanwhile.

Was the twist ending something you had thought of from the beginning? Or was it something you gradually arrived to during the storyboarding and development process?

The end came progressively, since we wanted a romantic ending at the beginning, but we realized that the final result was decaffeinated in all the versions we tried so we opted for this more surprising version.

Which animation school did you attend?

Pepeschool Land, the same school that gave us the infrastructure to develop the short and bring it to fruition, thanks to the teachers and students who helped us a lot along the way.

Do you have something in mind for your next short film? When are we expected to see it?

The desire is there, but right now it is complicated by the economic and social difficulties involved. We are convinced that we will do more personal projects in the future, but we do not know when exactly. It would not be the first time that Marc and I talked about a second part of Darrel or making a Darrel series.

‘Little Bandits’ by Alex Avagimian

A Family Dinner | True Stories!

Comic Artist secretly records her family having dinner and creates an animated scene from the audio.

ThunderCats Roar

'Money Surprise' by Dan Hales

Freakazoid Revisited

In 1992, Bill Plympton made history by drawing an entire film on his own

These days, independent creators have plenty of unlikely side roads to mainstream success. Like animator James Curran, who created his own animated opening-credits sequence for Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures Of Tintin, released it to the web, watched it go viral, and ended up with a job offer from Spielberg himself. Or E.L. James, who wrote a series of erotic Twilight fan-fiction pieces, then turned them into novels and self-published them as the 50 Shades Of Grey series, which sold so well as e-books that the brick-and-mortar publishing houses came sniffing around and put them into print.

But back in 1992, there were fewer opportunities for a wholly independent creator to get national attention. That never stopped DIY animation pioneer Bill Plympton, who in 1992 released The Tune, the first feature animated film with every image hand-drawn by a single artist. Like today’s Kickstarter-funded, YouTube-promoted, grassroots-supported indie creators, he financed and marketed the film on his own: He created and sold merchandise, chalked ads for his movie on East Village buildings, and pre-released completed segments to MTV as independent shorts that played on Liquid Television. But he did all this before there was a supportive network for efforts like his, largely by building a fan base, one bizarre animated short at a time.

Cheatin' - Animation Production Blog

Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, animation buffs knew Plympton largely as the guy whose sketchy, twitchy colored-pencil cartoons were almost invariably the best things about the shorts festivals that periodically toured theaters, like Spike & Mike’s Festival Of Animation, or the International Tournée Of Animation. Pieces like “25 Ways To Quit Smoking,” “How To Kiss,” “One Of Those Days,” “Push Comes To Shove,” and the Oscar-nominated “Your Face” were notable for their distinctive, instantly recognizable visual style, and for being consistently surprising and absurdist. Plympton strongly believed that animation was infinitely flexible, and that realism in cartoons was a waste of the medium’s potential. In a 2000 The A.V. Club interview, he put it this way: “I think it’s part of the responsibility of an artist to shock, to upset, to make people think differently, and to surprise people. And that’s where the good humor is, if there’s a surprise and there’s something unexpected. Something that’s not normal, not in the realm of general living expectations.”

Drunker Than a Skunk - Trailer

His shorts followed suit: Each one was an exercise in stretching, melting, distorting, and transforming the characters’ faces or bodies. Sometimes the effect was disturbing, as in 1990’s “Tango Schmango,” which rotoscopes two dancers, with the male partner sometimes telling terrible jokes, and the female partner laughing hysterically, with her lips peeling back to expose giant stretching teeth and immense gums. More often, though, Plympton’s work was just meant to startle people into laughter with unlikely, abrupt transformations and turnarounds.

Bill Plympton Animation Reel.

As Plympton puts it on the commentary track for The Tune, he got the idea of creating his own full-length movie in the ’80s when he was assembling his shorts for a retrospective collection, and he realized he’d produced more than an hour of animation on his own in just four years. It was the equivalent of a movie, he realized, which implied that in another three or four years of animating, he could actually create an entire film of his own. So he enlisted the help of composer Maureen McElheron and New Yorker cartoonist P.C. Vey to help him write a script, and then he spent the next several years drawing and coloring each image himself. The 69-minute film isn’t entirely a one-man art-studio gig: He hired artists to fill in the backgrounds, and had a camera operator, a sound crew, musicians for the soundtrack, and performers for the voices. But he drew and colored every single image himself. (In a DVD featurette about Plympton, Simpsons creator Matt Groening says with a straight face, “See, what Bill hasn’t learned that I’ve learned is, I’ve learned how to con a whole bunch of people into doing the animation.”)

Cheatin' - Character Design Production Blog

Given that limitation, it’s no surprise that The Tune is visually simple, with minimal backgrounds and sketchy drawings. But Plympton’s signature has always been deceptive simplicity, at least until the faces start melting. The film follows a hapless every-schmoe named Del (voiced by Daniel Neiden) who’s trying to write a hit song to sell to his corporate overlord Mr. Mega (Marty Nelson), in hopes of becoming enough of a success that he can afford to marry his sweetheart Didi (McElheron). Rushing to Mr. Mega’s office with his latest half-completed song, he gets lost and winds up in a mythic place called Flooby Nooby, where songs just spontaneously happen. The Mayor (Nelson again) explains that Del is trying too hard as a composer, and just needs to learn to feel the music. So they wander around Flooby Nooby, listening to the denizens sing in a variety of styles: surf music, Delta blues, an Elvis pastiche, and so forth. Eventually, Del gets into it, starts generating his own songs, and tries to make his way home.

The musical format let Plympton assemble the film over the course of years largely as a series of self-contained music videos. He was able to release segments along the way as shorts: The Elvis-esque number, “Dig My Do,” featuring a dog bragging about his high-flying hairstyle, came out as a standalone piece in 1990, while the non-musical segments “The Wiseman” and “Push Comes To Shove” hit MTV in 1991. Other musical sections were never released separately, but they can comfortably stand alone, like the deeply strange “No Nose Blues,” in which a disturbingly caricatured (and noseless) black man has a passionate affair with a gigantic nose, then sees it all over town on a variety of other faces, and realizes it’s been cheating on him. Also particularly memorable: “The Lovesick Hotel,” an upbeat number about a hotel full of themed rooms featuring creative suicide methods for heartbroken people, from carnivorous plants and couches to beds with built-in rotary saws.

But some of the best and strangest parts of The Tune aren’t musical numbers or stand-alone pieces; they’re random snippets of story. In particular, there’s the surreal sequence where Del notices that in Flooby Nooby, objects actually become smaller as he gets nearer. The Mayor tells him that perspective is a myth, and that objects in Del’s world are afraid of being eaten, so they puff themselves up when people get close. Then he demonstrates with a fat, placid dog, which turns into a monolithic beast when Del approaches, because he’s spooked by meeting a stranger. Another funny sequence animates one of Plympton’s family portraits, and places it in a variety of increasingly unlikely settings.

Clip from 'The Tune'

One of the two most striking things about The Tune is its complete lack of consistency. Plympton says on the DVD commentary track that he varied his animation technique from segment to segment to keep himself interested in the project over the years, so over the course of McElheron’s sad ballad “Home,” for instance, he tries a variety of visual experiments, dropping out the color, then dropping out most of Didi’s face as she sings, leaving only her lividly textured eyes, nose, and mouth hanging in midair. The film gives a perpetual sense of an artist testing out every style that crossed his mind. Transformation is key to Plympton’s work, and the theme extends to his style as well as his content.

The other striking thing is that working on his own lets him work without censorship. He’s always had a macabre bent and a love of what he calls “barnyard humor,” which here extends everywhere from a field full of cowshit to a country-music song about happy reunions, in which various paired foods (spaghetti and meatballs, a hot dog and a bun, a hamburger and a french fry, a slice of pie and a scoop of ice cream) happily reunite… and then usually hump like bunnies. Nothing in The Tune is as raunchy as later Plympton features, but it’s clear he isn’t playing toward Disney standards, or worried about offending his audience; he’s playing to his own sense of humor, and letting everyone else choose to come along for the ride or not.

Revengeance Trailer

The Tune played Cannes and Sundance in 1992, and Plympton says he went in fully expecting a multi-million-dollar distribution contract to materialize out of nowhere, because in his naïveté, he thought that was how film festivals worked. When that didn’t happen, though, it didn’t daunt him. He went back to the drawing board, literally, and continued scripting and animating his own independent films: 1997’s I Married A Strange Person!, 2001’s Mutant Aliens, 2004’s Hair High, 2008’s Idiots & Angels, and the upcoming production Cheatin’. These days, Plympton has far more outlets for self-promotion, like his online production blog for Cheatin’, or his own YouTube channel. And he has more routes toward financially supporting his own work, like contracting out for an installment of a Showtime shorts series, or for a Simpsons opening-credits couch gag that tells the tragic origin story of the couch itself, while implying that Homer Simpson has a half-couch bastard child.

Footprints Trailer

But The Tune still stands as a first, not just for him, but for the industry. In an era of committee-created, test-marketed, corporate-approved visions, it was just as much of an outlier as Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs from the same year, and just as much of a positive sign for the future of independent cinema. If one man can make a movie, anyone can make a movie, provided they have the determination, and preferably an entirely oddball vision.

Source.

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1st Assistant Director: Zulu Finalteri
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1st Camera Assistant: Jodie Arnoux
Fight Choreographer: Kefi Abrikh
Stunt double: Gary Cothenet
Stage Manager: Théo Charpentier

Storyboard: Etienne Guignard
Concept Art/Layout: Joseph Rahamefy & Alison Jofrio
Animator: Hugo Louiset
Sound Design: Mectoob
Graphic Design: Milos Trkulja

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Written and produced by Wieden + Kennedy
Animation by Psyop & Sun Creatures Studio
Music by Oregon Symphony

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Executive Producers: Guillaume Dousse, Charlotte de la Gournerie
Producer: Guillaume Dousse
Associate Producer: Simon Lee Bresling
Line Producer: Charlotte Sanchez
Production Manager: Fie Ørnsø
Art Directors: Simon Lee Bresling, Guillaume Dousse
Animation Supervisors: Liane-Cho Han, Kenneth Ladekjær
Background Supervisor: Patrice Suau
Storyboard Artist: Liane-Cho Han
Colorscript Artist: Daniel Cacouault
Concept Artists: Patrice Suau, Daniel Cacouault, Thomas Reteuna, Ben Marsaud, Mourad Elias Seddiki, Simon Masse, Leïla Courtillon, Linnea Sterte, Luca Vitale, Lucas Durkheim, Samuel Klughertz
Character Designers: Kenneth Ladekjær, Luca Vitale
Layout Background Artists: Simon Masse, Jean-Michel Boesch, Linnea Sterte, Thomas Reteuna, Jade Khoo
Layout Posing Artists: Kenneth Ladekjær, Pierre Rütz, Mourad Elias Seddiki
Layout Compositing Artists: Birk Von Brockdorff, Anthony Lejeune
Background Painters: Patrice Suau, Simon Masse, Thomas Reteuna, Matthew Vince, Grace Liu, Sylvain Fabre, Théo Boubounelle, Alexis Liddell
Character Animators: Pierre Rütz, Christoffer Elsborg Kramme, Mourad Elias Seddiki, Thibaud Petitpas, Kenneth Ladekjær, Cyrille Chauvin
FX Animators: Thibaud Petitpas, Olivier Malric, Rachid Guendouze, Ines Scheiber, Stéphane Chung, Kenneth Ladekjær, Touraj Khosravi
Clean-up Artists: Christoffer Elsborg Kramme, Kay Sales, Laura Büchert Schjødt, Nawell Sdiri, Marick Queven, Sandrine Han Jin Kuang, Mette Ilene Holmriis
Color Detail Animators: Christoffer Elsborg Kramme, Kay Sales, Laura Büchert Schjødt, Nawell Sdiri, Sandrine Han Jin Kuang, Mette Ilene Holmriis, Pierre Rütz, Mikkel Mainz Elkjær
Animation Color Artists: Christoffer Elsborg Kramme, Kay Sales, Laura Büchert Schjødt, Nicoline de Selsted Lind, Mette Ilene Holmriis, Mikkel Mainz Elkjær
Senior Compositing Artists: Birk Von Brockdorff, Paul Ó Muiris

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Directors: Kylie Matulick, Todd Mueller
Managing Director: Neysa Horsburgh
Executive Producer: Lucy Clark
Head of Production: Drew Bourneuf
Producer: Nick Read
Associate Producer: Lara Arikan
Designers: Joe Ball, Devon Manney, Andrew Park, Robin Thompson
2D Supervisor: Ryan Raith
Storyboard Artist: Max Forward
Compositors: Ryan Raith, Joe Ball, Sarah Blank, Tommy Wooh
Flame Artist: Kim Stevenson
Editors: Brett Nicoletti, Lance Pereira
Assistant Editor: Rob Cavedo