Arj and Poopy – Flash Animation
Bernard Derriman and Arj Barker have created a wonderful series of animated cartoons about a flatulent cat, aptly named Poopy, and his human pal, Arj. The Arj and Poopy Collection is available at Atom Films. The episode, “Unlucky in Love”, won the Netsurfer’s Award. Now that we have all the background information out of the way, the best place to get to know Arj and Poopy is on their homepage. It’s much more than a site about a great little series of cartoons, it’s a lesson in Flash design. The homepage has a discussion forum should you become an obsessed fan after viewing the seven films. Make sure you click on the link to Bouncy the dog.
[tags]Arj and Poopy, Flash animation, Bernard Derriman, Arj Barker, 2D animation, cartoon[/tags]
Finding a 2D Place in a 3D World – Thinking Animation
Dimples is all about 2D animation but if you look at the prospects for finding a good job in 2D animation in the US of A, you might think the prospects are poor. Every high profile project seems to be from the rubbery cupie doll world of 3D animation. But, where do those 3D characters start? They start as a 2D sketch. Character design begins with a 2D image and this is a career niche for folks like us. Dimples thinks that studios and other folks are beginning to realize that there is still a place for the well trained artist with a pencil and paper. They are the first step. Angie Jones and Jaimie Oliff have written a book that shows that a detailed knowledge and skill-base in 2D animation is essential for success in 3D anmation. Their book, “Thinking Animation”, is an overview of all kinds of modern theatrical animation. Dimples loves it! You can order your copy here.
[tags]2D animation, 3D animation,cartoon,Angie Jones, Jamie Oliff, Thinking Animation, Animation books[/tags]
Total Motherboard Meltdown
That’s all folks, as Porky Pig would say. Dimples wanted to let you know that we haven’t been mugged and left for dead in NY’s subway system. We suffered a total motherboard meltdown that also fried the hard drives and, no, not everything was backed up. We had just purchased a 250 GB external drive for a complete backup but we didn’t do it in time. The Dimples’ team has learned a lesson and will never buy an MSI motherboard again. Apparently, there was a lawsuit and settlement involving capacitor failure. If the board had failed before Feb 2006 then we could have recovered all of our costs for repair and replacement. In the past we would have relied upon our favorite techno-geek pal to bail us out but he re-located to Cal-Tech in May. Damn, we miss him. We miss watching Looney Toons on his phone. We miss our giant black box of a computer and we miss the series of animation lessons and demonstration movies that we had prepared to upload to this site. Bear with us for a few days, we should be back to our regular posting habits by this weekend.
Mocca Arts Festival this Weekend
If you’re in New York City this weekend, make time for Mocca.
“Meet comics and cartoon artists! Get sketches and autographs from Gahan Wilson, Joe Staton, Fly, Paolo Rivera and others at the MoCCA Fundraising Sketch Table! Buy comics, comix, cartoons, graphic novels as well as prints and original artwork! Sit in on our always entertaining and educational panel sessions! “
Mocca along with the Small Press Expo in San Francisco are absolutely the best conventions for finding strange things and strange people.
[tags]Mocca, art festival, cartoon, comic[/tags]
Eat Your Spinach – Popeye’s comin’ back!
Ah, spinach, it was the Viagra of the 1930s. Fleischer and Famous Studios took Popeye from comic strip to theatrical cartoon. Various legal battles have kept vintage Popeye cartoons in the can, so to speak, but the parties involved have reached an agreement and Popeye will be available on DVD in 2007.
Here’s the old sea salt getting ready to down a can of spinach.
And, here’s Popeye after the spinach has worked its magic.
[tags]Popeye, Popeye the Sailorman, Max Fleischer, Warner Home Video, 2D animation, cartoon, theatrical cartoon[/tags]
Ricky Gervais’ Flanimals to Become TV Cartoon Series
UK comic Ricky Gervais is a busy man. He’s responsible for the television series “The Office” and “Extras”. He does radio, stand-up and pod-casts and recently he did “The Simpsons”. On the side, he’s created a series of playful monsters in his children’s books called “Flanimals“. These creatures are about to become a new animated cartoon feature on ITV1 in the UK. Meet some of the Flanimals. This is Plamgotis.
This lovely guy is Clunge Ambler.
Needing a good dentist is Grundit.
The Dimples team senses the beginning of a great cartoon as well as a massive action figure marketing empire.
[tags]Ricky Gervais, Flanimals, 2D animation, animation, children’s books, cartoons, The Simpsons[/tags]
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