Inspiration

Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons

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IMG_0034Since I am currently (and will always be) a student of animation, when I heard that the exhibition, Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons, was coming to Seattle’s MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry), I knew I had to make time to go see it. 

Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons gives a little insight into the history of Warner Bros. Cartoons. The exhibit does a good job of showing the process in which Warner Bros. Cartoons were made. There are character model sheets of your favorite Looney Tunes personalities. There are also animation cells, animation drawings, background paintings, story concepts, etc… 

The exhibit is simple and straightforward, and for me truly inspiring. If you have read some of the other posts on this blog, you know that I hold these Looney Tunes shorts in high regard. Not only do they bring back memories of childhood, they are also classic examples of top-notch animation. I would put these shorts against any of the cartoons that come on TV nowadays. 

Suffice to say I spent a good hour/ hour and a half in this exhibit alone. 30 minutes of which was just me watching old Bugs Bunny shorts. After that, I was ready to do what was necessary to keep on following this far-fetched dream of mine. Warner Bros. Cartoons has this great legacy, and I was ready to start making my own legacy. And how would I do that, I headed to the library to study and do my homework… 

(hit the jump to see pictures of this exhibition) Continue reading →

Filipin@s: Al Robles

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A Melancholy Rest in Power to Manong Al Robles, who passed away this past weekend.

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Community Activist and poet, Manong Al was most known for his work with the I-Hotel community. Here’s the trailer for Manilatown Is In The Heart, which followed Manong Al Robles:

filipin1fall-of-i-hotelEven though this site focuses alot on animation, cartoons, comic books, and video games, this site deals not only with the things that are related to cartoons and animation, but also the things and people that inspire me to keep doing my art, to keep learning, and to keep me focused on the community and the people. 

That is why I highlight Manong Al. His narraration, presence and poetry in the documentary The Fall of the I-Hotel directed by Curtis Choy was one of the big reasons why I decided to get my degree in American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington and soon after, begin my work with the community. This was the catalyst that helped me finally gain enough confidence to call myself an artist. This in turn, eventually lead me down the path of becoming an animator so that I could share stories of the people, of the community through the medium of animation. 

Manong Al did so much for the community through his actions and his words. I hope I do half as much with my actions and my animation. And I hope we all remember the life of a great man.

Rest in Power Manong Al Robles…

Other Tributes to Manong Al Robles:

Prometheus Brown’s The Fall of the I-Hotel Review

Hyphen Magazine

Philippine American Writers and Artist, Inc. 

League of Filipino Students – SF State

thaswassup

“Birthday Boy” dir. Sejong Park (2004) Korea

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Birthday Boy/ dir. Sejong Park/ 2004/ Korea

birthday_boy_pBirthday Boy takes place in 1951 during the Korean War. It follows a young boy named Manuk (not Manok… if you don’t know ask a Filipino), as he plays war games while living, ironically, in a war torn village. He longs to be a soldier, and on his birthday he receives a special present.

Birthday Boy, while only minutes long, is a compelling film, and one that really makes you think about the effects of war. Everything in this short just comes together beautifully. Sejong’s animation, especially on Manuk’s facial expression and poses, is awesome. The sound design which is gentle and subtle, match perfectly with the mood and setting of this short. Sejong Park does a masterful job of showing the innocence of Manuk while at the same time showing the devastation and ravages of war. You can’t help but feel some sorrow as Manuk, totally oblivious of the war-torn world around him, plays war games and longs to be part of the same world that has caused all the havoc that is around him.

See this Oscar nominated short here:

Vodpod videos no longer available.


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!!!

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 →

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 →

SakuraCon 2009

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It was the first time I ever hit up SakuraCon. I meant to do it years ago when I was really into anime, but never got the opportunity. Glad I went this year, as the atmosphere itself is exhilarating and once again I find inspiration to keep on doing what I’m doing. 

I mean look at all this:

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Now times that by 1000. I would say about 60% of the attendees were dressed up  in some way. That’s some dedication.

Oh one note: There is a fine line between between “cute”  and “um no, that shit does not look right on you.” I have to hand it to these cosplayers though, they have that “I don’t give a fuck I’m wearing this” mentality. I think SakuraCon is their safe haven. 

I was at SakuraCon Friday only! If you’re in the Seattle area, it goes on through Sunday. If you do go, can I suggest just chillin in one of the many anime theatres. I watched a lil bit of Giant Robo and Hajime no Ippo, that was great. Or maybe you could visit the classic console games room and play some NES, Sega, or even Atari 2600 games! Lastly I suggest you hit up the Artist’s Alley, one of the more inspiring moments was just watching those artists sketch away, which makes me think I need to get a table for SakuraCon next year. 

Who’s down for next year, SakuraCon 2010?

Set the VCR: Let’s burn the house down, there’s no turning back

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Tomorrow, or today, err soon ,(April 5 in Japan) a brand new Fullmetal Alchemist series will be launching in Japan. From what I read, it will NOT be a continuation of the series, but a re-boot of the series in order to be more faithful to the manga.

Will it be as successful as the first anime series? We’ll see, but first I wanted to go over one of the many Set the VCR moments from the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime series. 

Fullmetal Alchemist (anime) “Mother” 2003

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Many of us can think of an event, an occurrence, a decision, or maybe a series of these in our past that drastically changed our lives. A change so dramatic, that we can safely think: “after that, there was no turning back.”  Do you remember any those times? Do you remember the feeling you had when you realized that everything had changed?  Were you confident and sure of your new paradigm? Or were you hesitant, worried, and a bit scared of what would happen next? Remember those feelings and emotions now?

Expressing these feelings and emotions through art is a daunting task for any form of art or media. Get it wrong and your audience will lose interest with the quickness. Get it right, and the skies the limit. 

This is where this next Set the VCR moment comes in: (Hit the jump) Continue reading →

Progress…?

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In the midst of a busy week of work and the first week of school, I decided quickly sketch out a comic. It’s crudely done (once again not the greatest artist in the world), but whatever. It deals with the question “How far have we progressed in 12 years?” I think the comic answers that:

progressAww…progress…look how far we’ve come.