Author: artofthecartoon

A Christmas Carol 3D

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A Christmas Carol 3D/ dir. Robert Zemeckis/ 2009

A Christmas Carol. You know the story. Ebenezer Scrooge, crotchety old man is visited by 3 ghosts on Christmas Eve and eventually learns the true spirit of Christmas, blah, blah, etc. it’s been told many times over. It has been adapted, spoofed, modernized, retro-ed, turned around, flipped, and some have even attempted sequels. I have some qualms with the story, for example its told in the perspective of a rich, old, bourgeois, white male, and at times it presents a “rich man’s burden” theme. But you know what, I actually enjoy the story. Redemption and spending quality time with friends and family, that’s the Christmas spirit I’m down with. So in my mind, you really can’t screw up the story.

What CAN be screwed up are the elements that go into  presenting that story. And as much I enjoyed the excellent animation, the visual effects, the Victorian atmosphere, and the voice performances by Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman, this newest Disney version of A Christmas Carol lacked that one thing that is essential to this classic story… heart… Continue reading →

Set the VCR: It was you, it was always you…

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In a reasonably good anime series, there are “aww…” moments, and there are “A-HA!” moments. “Aww..” moments usually happen when dealing with relationships, sometimes between parents and children, sometimes between friends and family, but most of the time it happens between significant others. “A-HA!” moments occur when a major plot twist  or loose end is finally concluded or tied up. Both moments offer an amount of satisfaction when through, and both moments tug at your heartstrings. However, there aren’t many cases when the “aww…” moments and the “A-HA!” moments are one in the same.

For this Set the VCR moment, I chose what I believe was the defining moment of a magnificently done series, RahXephon.

RahXephon/ dir. Yutaka Izubuchi/ Movement 26 “Time Enough For Love”/ 2002

(hit the jump to witness this moment)

Continue reading →

Fantastic Mr. Fox

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Fantastic Mr. Fox/ dir. Wes Anderson/ 2009

For most of 2009, I would head out to movie theaters usually before noontime and watch animated films in a near empty theater, maybe one or two more adults, and possibly a family. I felt content too, the less the better. By myself, I could analyze the animation, the story, the acting, the characters, etc. and after, while the credits roll, I have a moment or two to process what was just presented to me. However, this all changed after watching Fantastic Mr. Fox. Instead of being an early morning loner, I decided to see this movie on a Wednesday night with my friend, Jessica, and wow what a difference. Before the movie, I had someone to dialogue with about expectations for the movie, and at the end, we were able to chat about our thoughts after. Now obviously I have watched movies with other people before (I ain’t that un-social), but it was quite a long time since I saw an animated feature with someone else (the last time being here), so you can imagine how unique this experience felt to me.

Now how does this relate to Fantastic Mr. Fox? (I bet you were wondering…) After a whole year of watching animated features, they all just kind of blended together. What I got from Fantastic Mr. Fox was something different than most animated features that are released. Yeah, there were some animated features this year that were really good, and some not so good, but none were as unique or as fantastic (Oh and a pun!) as Fantastic Mr. Fox… Continue reading →

Ponyo

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崖の上のポニョ Gake no Ue no Ponyo (English: Ponyo)/ dir. Hayao Miyazaki/ 2008 Japan/ 2009 US

It takes real skill to fill the screen with emotion and high drama without having an actual antagonist. It also takes real skill to transport the audience into a world based on real-life, but at the same time have so much magic and awe-inspiring moments that seem so natural that you can’t help but be transfixed to the screen. This is Ponyo, Miyazaki’s latest film loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid about a young goldfish that longs to be a little girl. Unlike other quality animated movies this year, that attempt to cater to the younger audience AND at the same time add in some flair here and there for the adults in the audience, Miyazaki does NONE of that. He knows his target audience is going to be 10 years and younger, but he does something equally impressive. Instead of trying to preen some adult themes into this film, he does the almost inconceivable task of transporting the whole audience back into their childhood.

And for me it worked… Continue reading →

I Ain’t Done With You Just Yet….

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With the new year comes a new look, some new goals, more artwork, new blog posts, and a new… well, many things to look forward to in 2010.

HOWEVER, don’t go anywhere 2009. I ain’t done with you just yet…

Most places have (stupidly) already done a 2009 year in review waay back in early December. Not me! I’m going to chew on 2009 for a bit before I make my final decisions. Yes, I’ll have a best animated movies of 2009 post, but I gotta finish writing about them (This is what happens when I take 3 months off). Anyway, I hope to have a “best of” by the end of the month. But until then, you all can look forward to seeing a write-up of all these 2009 animated movies:

Now I have already seen all these movies, save for one. I still need to see Princess and the Frog to complete my 2009 animated feature list.

Don’t worry I will watch it though, anyone want to come with me? Let me know…

I’ve got lots of writing to do ^_^!!!

Bootleg Classics: Batman Beyond “Rebirth”

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Welcome to 2010. A new year, and new look for Art of the Cartoon. What better way to start out the new year with a Bootleg Classic. (and yes, hopefully I’ve put behind me most of the cryptic, love-sappy posts =P)

For my return, I give you an animated series that really should’ve never worked. How can you have a show set in the future, and have someone else not named Bruce Wayne as Batman? How can Batman be a teenager? That’s just a recipe for disaster. But for some reason Batman Beyond worked, and brought about the rebirth of The Batman…

Hit the Jump to read more about this Bootleg Classic… Continue reading →

And The End…

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It’s amazing really…  It has been 3 months since I last posted. In that time, I started a new “part-time” job, and tried to “focus” on school. Didn’t really work out out on both accounts. New job feels almost like a full time job, and haven’t been really able to focus on school. Yeah, things got rough and I’ve stumbled these past few weeks, so much so that I’m going to retake this last class. Anyway, witness my class 3 reel:

On the surface it may seem alright, but now that I pick it apart I see all kinds of things wrong, and I see why I need to keep learning…

Along the way, I’ve lost sight of many of my inspirations. It’s no coincidence that once I stopped writing, many of those inspirations that kept me going vanished into thin air. But luckily there are things like this that bring me back:

And then there’s _______. Okay, so I promised that I wouldn’t do sappy-ass cryptic posts, so I’ll just say this. I think I can officially close the chapter on HER…

As always, as one chapter ends, the next one begins. Yeah, it’s been a rough past few weeks. BUT that’s why they call it a struggle…

Art of the Cartoon is in for a revamp… and I’m up for the challenge.

2010 I attempt the impossible…

ISANG BAGSAK…

Isang Bagsak! Barely made it, but still made it!

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Just started Fall Term today, and while I still had a blast Summer Term, that last animation assignment almost did me in. There’s a reason why I discontinued the Ron Antonio Dance Project posts, and that reason was because my animation plain sucked! Now why did it suck? It was a combination of things, I got busy with work and training for the Portland Marathon, and my priorities just got all screwed up. And honestly, I didn’t put as much time and effort into that animation as I should have. Suffice to say that that was one of the main reasons I have decided to leave my job and focus on school. That’s right, as of October 16. I will no longer be working at the Wing Luke Asian Museum (well at least full-time, I’ll probably still have to train the new person). Anyway, take a look at my progress reel from last class… looking back its not that impressive, and it shows that I have to step it up.

But still, I made it. We may not finish the way we like, but sometimes all that matters is that we finish. I’ve learned that lesson in the ND movement, in marathons, and now in animation. It’s a good lesson, but I want to do more than just finish…

Isang Bagsak!