Author: artofthecartoon

Filipin@s: Gini Santos

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When viewing a video lecture for class, there was this one guest speaker that really got me inspired. I couldn’t help but have this feeling that this girl was Pinay.

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I was SO right! This is Gini Santos, animator for Pixar.

Gini grew up on Guam, but was sent by her father to go study in the Philippines. Initially hesitant, the beautiful country, culture and people of the Philippines grew on her. She went to the University of Santo Tomas and took up a Fine Arts Major in advertising. 

She got into computer animation when she was getting her Masters. She sent her reel to Pixar and well… here are some of the films she has worked on: Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille. 

Here are two Pixar shorts she’s worked on as well. She was the supervising animator for “Lifted.”

It’s nice to know that a strong Pinay like Gini is working at Pixar…

Gini Santos , at one time, was a mentor at animationmentor.com (my school). Too bad she is no longer a mentor at my school. It would have been awesome to learn from her… maybe she’ll come back… PLEASE COME BACK!!!

Review: Renaissance

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Renaissance/ dir. Christian Volkman/ 2006/ France

Taking place in the futuristic Paris of 2054, Renaissance is the story of Karas, a policeman with controversial methods, as he tries to solve not only the abduction of a young researcher and scientist Llona Tasuiev, but her connection to a secret project from the uber-corporation Avalon. 

The visuals and art style of Renaissance is what made me want to see this movie. I make it no secret that I enjoy the noir-ish, high contrast black and white art styles of Sin City and MadWorld (which I still have yet to play). And make no mistake, Renaissance is GORGEOUS! Beautifully animated, with a flair and style I have never seen in animated films. 

The director, creators, and writers tried to come up with a story and feeling that mixed steam-punk, sci-fi, mystery, crime drama, and thriller all together. Too bad, all that came out was another cliched police crime drama. With dialouge like this:

Bislane (Llona’s sister): “Why are you in the police force if it is so destructive and corrupt?”

Karas: “Because it’s the only world I know”

I couldn’t help but groan. (Hit the jump to read the rest of the Review) Continue reading →

Finally… Wile E. Coyote catches the Road Runner!

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I remember sitting back and watching the Looney Tunes shorts with Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and thinking, “What a smarmy road runner! I hope that coyote catches you one day.” Yet that never happened. Until this came along…

The difference in animation is jarring! Really jarring! But a little bit of me smiled when the Road Runner was finally caught…

But now I just feel empty…

Wow, that last bit og animation is really bad…

One final note, the original title to this short was “Fast and Furry-ous,” Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodirguez, and Jordana Brewster are set to star in the sequel “2Fast, 2 Furry-ous,”  or was it “THE Fast and THE Furry-ous,” it might’ve been “The Fast and the Furry-ous: Hong Kong Drift.” I forget…

New Gatorade Focus/ Tiger Woods commercials

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I am really digging the new animated Gatorade commericals. The animation looks nice and smooth. It has that Jungle Book feel, which I think Gatorade was going for. And the Baloo character is obviously Tiger’s dad, or his reincarnation. And is that Samuel L. Jackson and Scott Van Pelt doing some of the voices? Watch the new commericials here:

Good Job Gatorade! Does anyone know who did the animation on this?

Chambre 217

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Chambre 217/ dir. Vincent Desbiens/ canada/ 2009

Here’s a film that caught my eye about a week ago. The 2D animation is beautiful to look at. Everything seems to have a nice progression to it as well. Director Vincent Desbiens art style works perfectly with this animated piece. In fact, it reminds of the bold days of MTV, when they used to show cutting edge animation on their Liquid Television series…aww memories.

It’s a fun look into the mind of the man inside chambre 217. My only critcism (its a criticism I have of alot of animated pieces), is that I wish there was more of a message and substance to the film. But I can’t really ask for that in every animated piece… can I?

But it’s definately eye candy though!

Rhythm Heaven (video game)

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Rhythm Heaven/ Nintendo DS/ 2009

rhythmheavenI like to think of myself as a gamer, but between work, school, runnning, training and working out, other things art related, and kickin it with the homies, I haven’t sat down and played a game in months. Gone are the days when I could spend hours gaining experience points in Final Fantasy VI, Secret of Mana, or Chrono Trigger, or spend quality time trying to beat Dr. Wily, Metal Gear, or whatever video game villain you want to throw in.

That’s why I am more inclined to play games that are in small doses, and Rhythm Heaven is perfect for me. I can play it for 5 minutes and be alright with it if I wanted to, I can’t say the same for a game like Resident Evil 5.

Rhythm Heaven is the english version of Rhythm Tengoku which was a popular DS game in Japan. The premise is simple, in each of the many mini-games you either flick, tap, hold or slide to the rhythm of the beat. The more on rhythm, the better you do. Just like I said on my twitter, this game taught me that I have no rhythm. I don’t want to get into a full review because IGN does it so much better:

I just want to add that I am a big fan of the art and animation style of this game. Yes, it is very simplistic, but the art and animation get their point across and to me seem very polished. The style also works very well with the great soundtrack that was produced by Tsunku, who is a prolific Japanese record producer. I know that my big dream is to make animated films, but after playing this quirky little game, I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at video game animation.

BTW, I still have NO rhythm…

Bootleg Classics: Speedy Gonzales (film)

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Some of my favorite cartoons while growing up were Transformers, He-Man, ThunderCats, and Ninja Turtles. I even enjoyed watching Jem, Strawberry Shortcake, and Rainbow Brite with my older sister. But between those shows there were always several Looney Tunes shorts to fill out the Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup. Of all the Looney Tunes characters, there was one that resonated with me the most.  That would be the one “brown” Looney Tune character out of the whole bunch, Speedy Gonzales.  This Bootleg Classic is the best of the Speedy Gonzales shorts, and the Academy Award win proves that.

Speedy Gonzales/ dir. Friz Freleng/ 1955

speedy_gonzales_titlesBackground:

From 1930 – 1969, Warner Bros. had a cartoon series called Looney Tunes, that consisted of animated shorts that showed at movie theaters.  These animated shorts featured the popular characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Taz, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite San, Pepe Le Pew, and many others. The Speedy Gonzales short featured the newly redesigned Speedy Gonzales, and was the first meeting between Speedy and Sylvester the Cat.

The Film:

There are a group of mice who are starving and are trying to get cheese from the AJAX cheese factory. The only problem is that there is a cat, Sylvester, who is gurading the the factory and the cheese. Other mice have attempted to get past Sylvester and get the cheese, but all of them have been eaten and died in the process.

Then one of the mice has a  brilliant idea to enlist the services of “the fastest mouse in all Mexico” Speedy Gonzales. After telling their plight to Speedy, Speedy agrees to help.speedy_gonzales2

Then some hilarious confrontations between Speedy and Sylvester occur, with Speedy always ending up the victor. Eventually, Sylvester decides to blow up the whole factory so nobody will get the cheese, but the plan backfires as all the cheese lands near the hungry mice.

Speedy then says “I like this pussycat fellow; he’s silly!” and the short ends.

To watch this Academy Award winning short and find out WHY it is a Bootleg Classic, hit the jump…

Continue reading →

Azeem “Latin Revenge” Music Video

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You know how youtube has those “featured videos” up on their homepage. That’s how I found this:

“Latin Revenge”/ Azeem/ 2009/ beats by DJ Zeph/ dir. Ben Stokes

Can’t say that I’m really digging the song…or the beats. It works tho… in fact I thinks its growing on me. I have to say the animation is a little jarring (apparently made with After Effects) but what can you expect when you animate cut-out snapshots. HOWEVER, there is sooo much to look at (hold up was that Darth Vader!?), that I can’t help but be transfixed to the screen.  It has that South Park vibe too. And it has a nice progression to it and I think I can safely say no current music video out there looks like this, so good work on the originality.  And I believe those are actual streets, so if you live in the Mission District of San Francisco, stand up! 

BTW, who is this Azeem dude? Has anyone ever heard of this guy before?

Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage

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Since I’m studying to be a character animator, I have begun to observe people and things in a new light. Take for example one of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all-time, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage at Wrestlemania 3. Even though the big match at Wrestlemania 3 that year was the Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant showdown, Steamboat vs. Savage stole the show. It is amazing to watch both The Dragon and Macho Man tell a compelling story with athletic skill and body language only. Watch the 2nd half of this great match here:

Now hit the jump to see my film study of this match…. Continue reading →