Author: artofthecartoon

‘Kung Fu Panda’ dropkicks ‘Wall-E’ at Annie Awards

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The Annie Award winners for 2009 were just announced (Jan. 30). The Annie’s are the like the “Oscars for animation” (one of the staffers at school said that). And would you look at that…controversy!!!!

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‘Kung Fu Panda’ dropkicks ‘Wall-E’ at Annie Awards by Tom O’Neil

“Kung Fu Panda” shut out all competition, including critical darling “Wall-E,” at Friday’s Annie Awards, winning 10 categories, including best animated feature. Does this sweep signal trouble for “Wall-E” at the upcoming Oscars?

Annie_awards_kung_fu_panda_walle

Since the Academy Awardsintroduced a separate award for best animated feature in 2001, the winners of the two prizes have matched up every year except 2006, when “Cars” won the Annie, but “Happy Feet” danced off with the Oscar. And last year’s double winner “Ratatouille” was also the clear leader at the Annies, winning nine of its 14 nominations and far outpacing the other two eventual Oscar nominees — “Surf’s Up,” which won two of 10 nods, and “Persepolis,” which went zero for four.

Although film critics ranked “Wall-E” as one of the top-rated movies of the year, those truly in the know about the art of making animation — members of the International Animated Film Society, who bestow the Annie Awards — were far less impressed. Of this year’s three Oscar contenders, “Kung Fu Panda” led going into the Annie Awardswith 16 nominations to eight for “Wall-E” and five for “Bolt.” Numbering triple nods in both character animation and voice acting and double noms in storyboarding and production design among its record tying tally, “Kung Fu Panda” won all 10 categories in which it was competing. And offshoots of “Kung Fu Panda” were also winners at the Annie Awards. The video game claimed an award and TV spinoff “The Secrets of the Furious Five” took four more.

Winners of the Annie Awards were announced at a kudofest at UCLA’s Royce Hall. The Annie Awards website has a complete list of winners and nominees.

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My Take:

I was entertained by Kung Fu Panda, but I was wowed by Wall-E.  Now supposedly the winners are voted upon by experts in the animation field (even though I also read you can purchase a ballot?), and I am no expert (I’m just a student what do I know) so I can’t speak on the technical merit of the films too much. What I can say is that I always appreciate “art with a message.” To me, Wall-E had more of message (i.e. critique of consumerism, albeit a safe message that wouldn’t offend kids and parents) than Kung Fu Panda (which I must admit was more entertaining). 

I was at school today, and a staffer had a good point that these films were initiated some years before they actually come out. So the politics of these films are mostly accidental.

That may be true, but like most things in life, we don’t live in a vacuum and you can’t separate out the politics. 

Anyway, Good Job Kung Fu Panda! but I’m hoping Wall-E takes the Academy Award.

Animated Super Bowl Ads 2009

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That was a surprise…It turned out to be an entertaining game. Too bad I HATE the Steelers. Oh and guess what…I  HATE the Cardinals too.  But congrats to Omar Epps (aka Coach Mike Tomlin) for winning the Super Bowl (at least I like that guy). 

Omar Epps on the left, Mike Tomlin on the right
Omar Epps on the left, Mike Tomlin on the right

 

Anyway, this is a blog on animation and cartoons and the like, so let me go over the animated ads that stood out to me. There was plenty of animation to go around, so  only a few make the cut (and NO, the horrible “3D” Sobe lizards did not make the cut). 

Coke Classic Avatar

Let’s be real, we live in an online world and everyone and their mom has some kind of avatar. When we meet folks, we’re just meeting their avatar. So good job Coke on being literal…

Coke Heist 

WOW, two Coke commercials (plus I enjoyed the Mean Joe Greene spoof). This one was just special. I don’t know what it is…maybe I just like the heist thing, but maybe its because I thought the insects were beautifully animated. But yeah, this one’s pretty good. 

GE Scarecrow

My initial thought…”eh” … but then my guy DJ Daps1 pointed out that the scarecrow in the commercial was some top tier animation. Looking back, that scarecrow is pretty detailed, so I have to concur. This one is for you Daps. 

Alright let’s stop it right there, but if anyone wants to know my favorite commercials were the 1 second ones. The Miller one were the dude Screams “HIGH LIFE!!!” and the Ivar’s one that just said “Ivars.”

Final quote of the night from ?uest Love’s Twitter “Yo, You got the juice now Q” (Ask me if you don’t get the reference…)

Filipin@s: Floro Dery

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All Transformers geeks should recognize that a large part of the Transformers phenomenon was begun by a Filipino. 

Let me introduce everyone to Floro Dery, a Filipino, who did the original character designs of the G1 Transformers cartoon show:

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Let me not blow this out of proportion now. Floro Dery DID NOT come up with the initial Transformers G1 designs. That credit goes to Japanese illustrator, Shohei Kohara (Transformers did start in Japan after all, look at the original G1 toy boxes for Kohara’s work ). What Floro Dery DID do, was simplify the designs so that Optimus, Bumble Bee, Soundwave, Starscream, Megatron, etc…were able to move fluidly (albeit with limited animation) in the cartoon series. He also designed Hot Rod and some other Transformers from the 1986 animated classic, Transformers: the Movie.

Floro Dery has said that without his designs, Transformers wouldn’t have taken off and would have gone the way of the GoBots (ouch!).

Is that true? Hard to tell, but Transformers fans, a reason for the Transformers success is due to a Filipino!

Plus, without his designs, Megatron would always be sporting some wood…

megatron1

American Akira

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Akira, an “anime” movie made back in 1988 and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. It is heralded as “one of the greatest animated movies of all-time,” and credited for ushering in this current era of “anime.” Without a doubt, the high quality of animation combined with adult themes and a complex (maybe too complex) storyline, has not only set this movie apart from other animated films, but also set a precedence for cartoons being considered “art.”

Akira deserves its own post (which will come in the future), however, this post deals with the  scenario of “what if Akira was made (or remade) in America?” Check the video for the (hilarious) results:

A live-action movie is in the works. Warner Bros. has picked up the license. Leonardo Dicaprio is set to produce (and maybe star), and Joseph Gordon Levitt set to play Tetsuo. Slated to come out in 2011…

My Take: ( *sigh*…shakes head in disappointment)…

Review: From Burger It Came (Sundance Short Film 2009)

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From Burger It Came/ dir. Dominic Bisignano/ 7 mins/ 2008

fromburgerI have to hand it Dominic Bisignano. He made a film that is both all over the place (in terms of animation) yet at the same time clear and concise (in terms of message). 

From Burger It Came deals with the paranoia of AIDS back in the 1980s. A time when nobody had any idea what AIDS was, and had no idea how AIDS was contracted, spread, etc. 

The story starts out very simply; Kid eats mysterious burger from cafeteria, then has this sudden fear that he has gotten AIDS. The rest of time expands on the kid’s fear of AIDS.

The narration of  this story is set to American folk music and has 4 parts that are intertwined. One part is the first person account of the story. The second is the mother’s account of the paranoia. The third is a conversation between mother and child about the fear of AIDS. And the fourth part is a 1980s teacher educating a class on the popular ideas of AIDS during that time (many of which were very, VERY wrong). It seems like it would be confusing but all these parts converge to outline the fear of AIDS back in the 1980s and the folksy music give it that “what the f… is going on” type vibe.

To compliment the narration and music, the animation and visuals match the crazy nature of what people thought AIDS was back in the day. The style ranges from 2-D cut-outs (via Monty Python) to old 40’s style animation, to 3-D animation, to digital paint. And when viewing this film, your eyes are so bombarded with various images and cartoons that you can’t help but be confused. 

Hence the point of this 7 minute film. Discussing AIDS in the 1980s was practically useless. Add in the fear and paranoia of AIDS with the simple fact that hardly anyone knew anything about this disease during the 80s and you get confusing jumble of misguided images and messages. I, myself, never really knew about all this until Magic Johnson “retired” from the NBA because of the HIV virus. 

In my experience, to truly get this film, you have to watch it several times. I will admit, I threw my hands up at first viewing and thought “what was that?” In truth it is a very weird film. I expect nothing less from  Dominic Bisignano, a CalArts Experimental Animation student.

Kanye West: Heartless (Music Video)

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It might be just me, but I never see music videos anymore. Ever since MTV took the music out, it seems to me that the art of music videos is on serious life support. I could be wrong though, since I just mentioned that I don’t see them anymore (Let me know if there are some videos I should see). Lucky for me, I stumbled on Kanye’s “Heartless” music video last night. To my surprise and enjoyment, the video was all animation. Check out the music video here:

“Heartless”/ Kanye West/ dir. Hype Williams

Immediately I was impressed by the art style and animation that Hype Williams went for. He used a rotoscope style of animation which is basically filming in live action, then having animators draw over the film after. The best example of rotoscoping is in the Star Wars movies during the lightsaber battles (Darth and Luke actually have fake sabers during the filming, but in post-production animators go back and draw over the fake sabers to create the lightsaber effect). In “Heartless”, they just drew over everything.

I also had a sense that the video was an homage to something I had seen before. And after checking Kanye’s blog, it was true, the video was inspired by Ralph Bakashi’s American Pop, which was an animated movie back in the 80’s (I will rewatch it and give my take later) and some of the scenes and backgrounds in that movie were used as inspiration for this music video. This made me appreciate the music video even more.

And lastly, I did appreciate the Jetsons portraits in the backgrounds near the end.

Now I dig Kanye’s work as a producer, his work as an MC is hit and miss (he can be good in one song, then sound like the worst MC of all time in the next), I could be without the Kanye “celebrity” personality, but in terms of his choices in art direction, they have always been sound choices to me (esp. the Graduation album cover by Takashi Murakami). 

PS: I love his new album 808s & Heartbreak, but please Kanye, you have to realize you can’t do any of those songs live. Your performance on SNL proves it.

Bootleg Classics: The Boondocks “Return of the King”

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Bootleg Classics is a new feature I’m trying to start. It feature cartoons that are so great, so fantastic, so creative, and/or so inspirational, that they can’t help but be bootlegged.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I decided to start with this Bootleg Classic.

The Boondocks (animated series) “Return of the King” 

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Background:

The Boondocks is an animated series based upon Aaron McGruder’s comic strip of the same name. The Boondocks is a social satire of American culture and race relations, revolving around the lives of the Freeman family,ten-year-old Huey his younger brother, eight-year-old Riley, and their grandfather, Robert.

The Episode:

This particular episode of the Boondocks explores the scenario  “What if Martin Luther King Jr. survived his assassination in 1968? Was in a coma for 32 years, and woke up and lived in our society today?”

What makes it a Bootleg Classic?

“Return of the King” begins with two quotes:

The 1st  “I want young men and young women who are not alive today to know and see that these new privileges and opportunities did not come without somebody suffering and sacrificing for them.”  -Martin Luther King Jr.

The 2nd  “Whatever, nigga.” – anonymous

These two quotes lay an analogous foundation for this episode. It begins the approximately 20 minutes of what I believe to be the best representation and portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas and messages on civil and human rights…EVER. Not only that, but the episode is able to be a social commentary on how Dr. King’s message is lost in today’s world.

From the initial celebration of Dr. King’s revival, to his downfall in the American public due to his commentary on the Afghanistan War, to the conclusion when Dr. King steps up and delivers one final controversial speech, this episode was able to show that the same sentiments and feelings that Martin Luther King went through in the 1960’s were still around today. At same time it was also able to mirror Dr. King’s life as a civil rights leader from the 1960’s, from celebrated to denounced in the American public (Dr. King was very vocal against the Vietnam War), to his final days as a more “radical” civil rights leader (many people forget this). The clear message, “there is still work to be done.” The amazing thing, all this was done in 20 minutes.

I have read other reviews that have lambasted this episode as being too preachy. Or that it just wasn’t that funny or entertaining. It was also highly controversial since Dr. King’s speech at the very end is leeched with the dreaded “n-word.” So much so that even the reverend Al Sharpton got worked up about it and tried to get the episode pulled forever (I don’t think Al even watched the show, he heard the n-word and that’s it). My response: You just don’t get it.

Now, I hate saying the phrase “people just don’t get it,” because we are all grounded in different circumstances and have differing point of views. But I believe this episode was important in starting a dialogue that we, as a society, have a lot to do before we even start scratching the surface of Dr. King’s dream. Like it or not, this episode needs to be watched.

Watch a condensed version of this episode, with the 2 quotes,Dr. King’s speech at the end, and the ending:

To end (this has gone on way too long), there is much hope with Barack Obama being the first African American president. But we need to realize that we have not come full circle and that much work needs to be done. President Obama realizes this and iterates it constantly, and so does this Bootleg Classic.

<hit me up, if you want to watch the whole episode>

 

MadWorld

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Hey Wii owners, check this out:

I like the fact that MadWorld is based upon the art style of Frank Miller’s Sin City. It has that visual flare and style that I dig. You know the high contrast black and white, with the only highlight being a gory, bloody red, that’s the stuff. That’s my kind of art. 

So when can I buy this game?

DO WANT!!!

Sundance 2009 Short Films on iTunes (FREE!!!)

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For anyone interested, iTunes has 10 Sundance 2009 Short Films available for download for FREE!!! (act now, it’s free until January 25, 2009).

Go here to get them: http://www.itunes.com/sundance

Here is the list of short films on iTunes with descriptions:

Acting for the Camera —An acting class. Today’s scene: the orgasm from ‘When Harry Met Sally.’

Countertransference —A comedy about an awkward woman with assertiveness problems who seeks the questionable help of a therapist.

HUG—Drew is a musician with a contract ready to sign. When Asa, his friend and manager, realizes Drew is off his meds the across-town drive to sign the contract becomes significantly more complicated.

Field Notes From Dimension X: Oasis —Captain Fred T. Rogard muses in isolation on planet Oasis.

From Burger It Came —An animated film that recounts early 1980s-era Cold War fears of a young boy in middle America. Using a variety of techniques, the visual narrative is colorfully assembled over semi-documentary audio conversations between a grown adult recounting his fears and his mother’s memory of the time and her own concerns.

I Live In The Woods —A Woodsman’s fast-paced journey, fueled by happiness, slaughter, and a confrontation with America’s God.

Instead of Abracadabra—Tomas is a little bit too old to still be living with his parents, but his dream of becoming a magician leaves him with no other option.

James—A young man grapples with the impulses and thoughts about beinggay.

Magnetic Movie—Natural magnetic fields are revealed as chaotic ever-changing geometries, as scientists from NASA’s space sciences laboratory excitedly describe their discoveries.

This Way Up—Laying the dead to rest has never been so much trouble.

I’ll be doing a review on From Burger It Came soon.