In My Merry Oldsmobile – Classic 1932 Cartoon Animation
Here’s a true gem from Max Fleischer and the early days of animation. Oldmobiles may be no more but Fleischer’s animation will live forever. When people complain about product placements in today’s films, remind them that it was even worse in the 1930s.
2D Flash Animated Skunk Fu Coming to WB Kids
Skunk Fu, an animated cartoon previously available in the UK and Australia, is coming to the Saturday morning cartoon segment on The CW network known as the “Kids WB!”.
Skunk Fu is 2D flash animation from Cartoon Saloon. The basic story is:
Dragon and his Ninja Monkeys will stop at nothing to destroy the Valley Animals.
But wise old Master Panda believes that the answer to their prayers rests in the tiny paws (and smelly butt) of his young student – Skunk!
Panda trains Skunk in the art of Kung Fu. Besides Dragon, Skunk’s biggest enemy is his own impatience; he’d rather go on adventures than do boring old training.
Only time will tell if he’s ready…
The folks at Cartoon Saloon have also created a blog for Skunk Fu. You can see a number of stills from the series on the blog.
[tags]2D animation, skunk fu, cartoon saloon, The CW, Kids WB[/tags]
DVD Alert – 2006 Oscar Nominated Short Films Are Released on DVD this Week
You don’t have to live near a film festival to see this year’s Oscar nominees for best animated short. They’re being released on DVD this week together with the rest of the short film nominees. From the Netflix blurb:
Enjoy the best live-action and animated shorts from the 2006 Academy Awards. This eclectic collection includes live-action winner “West Bank Story,” a hummus-rich Middle Eastern parody of West Side Story, and animated winner “The Danish Poet,” which follows the title character on an adventure into romance and inspiration. Also included are nominees “Binta and the Great Idea,” “One Too Many,” “Helmer & Son,” “The Saviour” and “Maestro.”
Dimples is a Netflix junkie and this is one of the reasons why: You get immediate access to small treasures like these. The exact title of the DVD is “The 2006 Academy Award Short Films Collection
p.s. After viewing the DVD, I found the blurb to be misleading. “The Danish Poet” and “Maestro” are the only animated shorts from 2006 on this DVD. The other animated shorts are from the previous year. I assume this is an innocent error since many people confuse the year the film was made with the year the awards were made. Films released in 2006 would be eligible for the awards made in 2007. In any event, the rest of the animated shorts on this DVD were released in 2005 which wasn’t nearly as strong a year as 2006. Dimples suggestion is to rent this and not buy it.
[tags]Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners, Animated Short Film, 2D Animation, DVD[/tags]
The “Mighty B” on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon has released its official 2007/08 list of shows. A new 2D animated cartoon offering will be the “Mighty B” created (concept-wise) and voiced by Amy Poehler from Saturday Night Live. From Starpulse:
“Mighty B,” picked up for 20 episodes, stars Amy Poehler as the voice of Bessie Higgenbottom, the world’s most ambitious and lovably unhinged 10-year-old “Honeybee” scout. As a member of the Honeybees, Bessie wears her uniform every single day, leads her troop with a zeal General Patton would have admired and has earned more Bee Badges than any Honeybee in history. But a bunch of badges still elude her, and Bessie’s not stopping until she has every last one.
The cartoonists collaborating on the concept for “Mighty B” are Cynthia True and Erik Wiese. From Zap2it:
Poehler co-created the cartoon with “The Fairly OddParents” staff writer Cynthia True and the Emmy- and Annie-nominated storyboard artist and writer Erik Wiese.
[tags]2D animation, nickelodeon, mighty b, Amy Poehler, Cynthia True, Erik Wiese[/tags]
Grab Your Popcorn – Disney Cartoons Are Coming Back to the Movies
The best animation has always been cartoon animation. By cartoon animation, Dimples means animated short subjects. Feature length theatrical animation is good but the medium shines in the short subject. The good news in cartoons is that Disney is returning to the short cartoon format. From the International Herald Tribune:
After a hiatus of nearly 50 years, Walt Disney Studios is getting back into the business of producing short cartoons, starting with a Goofy vehicle next year. The studio has released a few shorts in recent years, but they were more artistic exercises than commercial endeavors. The new cartoons, by contrast, spring from an effort by a new leadership team at Pixar Animation Studios, now a Disney unit, to put the company back at the forefront of animation, with a form that it pioneered.
2D animation is definitely making a come-back at Disney under John Lasseter. The new cartoon shorts will be produced by animation vetran Chuck Williams. Why would Disney do this? Because 2D animation is the heart of the art. From the International Herald Tribune:
“They allow you to develop new talent,” Williams said in an interview at the Disney studios. “Shorts are your farm team, where the new directors and art directors are going to come from. Instead of taking a chance on an $80 million feature with a first-time director, art director or head of story, you can spend a fraction of that on a short and see what they can do.”
Sharpen your pencils. Develop character driven stories. 2D animation is still the best.
[tags]2D animation, Disney, cartoons, Goofy, cartoon shorts, John Lasetter, Chuck Williams[/tags]
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