TV

Super Bowl XLV Commercials… Animated!

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Well the Super Bowl has came and went. Congrats to the Green Bay Packers on their win! I would hate to be that dude from Seattle who is bitter towards Pittsburgh for a loss 5 years ago, but let’s face it, I’m little bitter! So I’m glad that Green Bay won. Anyway, the highlight for most people is not the game itself, but the commercials that companies spend millions upon millions of dollars on. And for this year’s crop of commercials, it was… meh.

I did notice however, that many of the commercials had some sort of animation to it. From CG Black Eyed Peas, to bugs in the forest, animation is pretty much everywhere. Here were my top 3 favorite animated Super Bowl XLV commercials:

Brisk Iced Tea

Kia Optima

Coca-Cola

MLK Day: A Message to Animation Students….

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Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I got many hits for my previous Bootleg Classic post about it. Well, I decided that I had to say a message to not only animation students, but anybody else that wants to listen about the importance of yesterday, and the vital dialogue and work needed to fully realize Dr. King’s OUR dreams.

I kept it vague, and I probably could’ve added more of my own commentary, but I think folks are smart enough to have their own opinions…

I only hope that folks are listening…

Set the VCR: The Death of Maes Hughes…

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I’m going to start off this post with a passage from Bill Simmons’, aka the Sports Guy, (one of my favorite writers) column on the 13 Levels of Losing:

Level III: The Stomach Punch
Definition: Now we’ve moved into rarefied territory, any roller-coaster game that ends with A) an opponent making a pivotal (sometimes improbable) play, or B) one of your guys failing in the clutch … usually ends with fans filing out after the game in stunned disbelief, if they can even move at all … always haunting, sometimes scarring …

In my opinion, “The Stomach Punch” (and all levels of losing actually) can apply to more than sports, and can be a nice analogy for many of these things we go through in life. I think many of us can think of time  in life when we felt that “stomach punch” and yes, those times are “always haunting” and  “sometimes scarring.” So for this Set the VCR moment, I focus on a great “stomach punch” moment that led to one of the saddest sequences ever in an anime series.

Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)/ dir. Seiji Mizushima/ Episode 25 “Words of Farewell” / 2004

Hit the Jump! Continue reading →

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 →

Dear Hollywood…

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I’m back with another video.

I’ve noticed that many studios are plundering the past and making our nostalgic cartoons of the past into big-budget  movies. I want to chime in on this trend. So this week I write a letter to Hollywood.

Review: Black Cat (anime)

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Black Cat (anime)/dir. Shin Itagaki/ 24 episodes/ 2005 – 2006

I bought the Black Cat anime series on a whim earlier  in the year, about the same time I purchased the Beck anime series. I first watched Black Cat, a series I enjoyed, but then before I could ever write about it, I started watching Beck. And well, this happened.

Beck was one of the best anime series I have ever watched and the unfortunate side effect was that Black Cat was left as an afterthought. So for me, Black Cat has the unfortunate distinction of forever being paired with Beck.

So after a couple of months, I’m finally getting around to reviewing Black Cat, an entertaining series with nice visuals, an interesting set-up, and memorable characters, but the story sputters out towards the end.

(hit the jump for the rest of the review) Continue reading →