Ollie Johnston
Last week Traci asked me if I had heard about the animator who had died. Now of the 220 feeds I subscribe to in NetNewsWire, a full 60 of those are in a group called "Animation and Comics", so I... Read MoreApril 21, 2008 08:59 AM
Animation podcasts for a Super Tuesday
Need something to listen to on your iPod while waiting in line to vote today? Try out these fantastic recent episodes of two of my favorite podcasts for animators and animation fans. Spline Cast with Ed Catmull. I'll be honest,... Read MoreFebruary 5, 2008 08:51 AM
Lowbrow Monster Mash
Late notice, but I'll have a watercolor piece in tonight's Monster Mash art show at the Lowbrow Emporium on South Lamar. If you're in Austin, drop by between 7 and 11pm and say hi. (Address and other details on the... Read MoreOctober 13, 2007 09:08 AM
STAPLE! 2007 weekend wrap-up
STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo was last Saturday and it turned out great. The animation panel I wrote about last week was a lot of fun and didn't seem to suffer too much from my amateur moderating abilities. The projector... Read MoreMarch 7, 2007 11:00 AM
Animation panel and web site for STAPLE! 2007
Chris and I headed over to Northcross Mall yesterday to take a final look at the conference center rooms before next week's STAPLE! Expo. Although I've been on the planning committee since the very beginning of the conference over 3... Read MoreFebruary 25, 2007 11:30 PM
Hair High at Alamo
Bill Plympton was in town tonight for the Texas premiere of Hair High at Alamo Drafthouse downtown. I've been lucky enough to see each of his films in the theater, and this is definitely his best yet. It has... Read MoreNovember 5, 2006 10:14 PM
Enrico Casarosa interview
In my San Francisco podcast I mentioned Enrico Casarosa and Sketchcrawl. I really wanted to interview him, but there just wasn't time to contact him and arrange it. Luckily, Illustrationmundo's Iconic podcast has conducted an interview with Enrico and they... Read MoreOctober 3, 2006 10:18 AM
Cars
There are a lot of computer animated films out this year. It was inevitable, with Disney shutting down its 2d division a few years ago and all of Hollywood getting on the 3d bandwagon. Some will be successes, some failures... Read MoreSeptember 13, 2006 10:25 AM
Animation history, worth the wait
I received two great surprises this week. In the mail came the 9th issue of Animation Blast, Amid Amidi's magazine on the art and history of animation artists. This started as a smaller quarterly magazine, but the latest issue has... Read MoreSeptember 7, 2006 09:35 AM
Comic-Con, Scanner, and independent shorts
Comic-Con San Diego has started. For a humorous look at the kinds of people you might see walking the show floor, check out the excellent series of recent sketches on the Story Boredom blog. I've never been to the convention,... Read MoreJuly 21, 2006 03:49 PM
Creative professionals
My friend John Rubio has launched a new site: CREATEaPro. A steady flow of good essays is already filling up the site. His latest, 10 Essential Tips to Becoming a Successful Creative Pro, is equally applicable to a wide range... Read MoreJuly 11, 2006 08:43 AM
Disney buys Pixar
It was made official today. The rumor only surfaced a week ago, but in that time many people have gone from surprise and skepticism to hope that maybe it could be great for both companies. For Pixar, it might mean... Read MoreJanuary 24, 2006 05:52 PM
Bring me the head of Charlie Brown
Tonight ABC aired the original Charlie Brown Christmas special yet again. That thing never gets old. The animation is limited and the characters always off model from one scene to the next, but it has great voices and characters and... Read MoreDecember 16, 2005 11:58 PM
Set unreasonable deadlines
Damon and I have been discussing how time constraints can encourage creativity. I hinted at this in my first NaNoWriMo post, and it’s something I’ve been trying on other projects at work. Of course the concept is all through what... Read MoreDecember 11, 2005 01:12 PM
Wallace and Gromit
What a great film. To prepare I dusted off my old Laserdisc with the three original Wallace and Gromit short films, but the feature equals and surpasses those films in every way. Thoroughly enjoyable. Aardman Animations fans should also... Read MoreOctober 12, 2005 02:52 PM
Corpse Bride
Finally I had a chance to see Corpse Bride last night. Caught it at the Alamo Drafthouse, which is the only theater smart enough to show short films and other theme-appropriate clips before shows. Last night they played Vincent (Tim... Read MoreOctober 10, 2005 08:49 AM
Perfection
I don’t consider myself a perfectionist. In fact, I can often be downright lazy. I write sloppy code sometimes. I am hasty with my artwork instead of thorough. I am always impatient to see the end result, regardless of what... Read MoreAugust 20, 2005 10:48 PM
Howl's Moving Castle
I saw Howl’s Moving Castle last night. When we showed up at the theater, I was surprised that they accidentally had the subtitled version, not the dub. It was great to see the original Japanese, and I look forward to... Read MoreJune 20, 2005 09:14 AM
Madagascar
Madagascar is easily the best of Dreamworks’ (or PDI’s) recent animated films. The animation is filled with great character poses, holds, and snappy movement, and the designs and composition are fresh in a way that makes Shrek look only mediocre.... Read MoreMay 31, 2005 08:37 AM
Experience before animating
Kelly is studying in Paris. She writes about animating from your experiences after talking with Pixar animator Bolhem Bouchiba: "But it made me realize something about good animation. It dosen't come from studying other films. Or live action. Or acting.... Read MoreMay 2, 2005 12:38 PM
The Animation Show 2005
The Animation Show’s 2nd year show came to Austin last weekend, and I was lucky enough to see it Sunday evening with Don Hertzfeldt taking questions afterwards. He discussed traditional animation, the dying art of shooting on actual film, and... Read MoreApril 20, 2005 11:19 AM
Where are the 2d animators
It’s always interesting to see where 2d artists have gone after the decline of traditional, hand-drawn animation for feature films. That might seem an odd thing to say considering that recently a hand-drawn Pooh movie opened in theaters, but also... Read MoreApril 14, 2005 12:19 PM
Staple!
For comics fans in Texas, the Staple! Expo will be held in Austin this Saturday. The Austin Chronicle has a story on it. Congratulations to Chris Nicholas for organizing the event since mid-2004. It should be a fun time. John... Read MoreMarch 3, 2005 01:48 PM
Blogging full time, and Cartoon Retro
I hope Kottke’s decision to blog full time without advertising will be a success. He’s got a large reader base. I stopped reading Kottke for most of 2004 but have re-subscribed so I can follow his progress. The interesting question... Read MoreFebruary 23, 2005 09:36 AM
Pat Smith's secret
From the journal of Pat Smith: “it's strange to start a new animated film. it seems so far away that i'll be sitting in a theater watching it. but there's a big secret about animation: it's a series of steps,... Read MoreJanuary 17, 2005 12:52 AM
The Incredibles DVD
Last week I received The Incredibles DVD screener in the mail through my membership in ASIFA-Hollywood, and Saturday a bound copy of the screenplay arrived. I’ll keep the screenplay on my shelf next to the rest of the Pixar... Read MoreDecember 13, 2004 10:52 AM
The Incredibles
I saw The Incredibles last night. I'm sure I had a big smile across my face from beginning to end. What a great film. If anything could get me to stop thinking about politics, this was it. There have... Read MoreNovember 6, 2004 03:59 PM
Ghost in the Shell, Shark Tale, and a pumpkin
Today is International Animation Day. My membership in ASIFA-Hollywood provides few perks since I live a couple states away from the Los Angeles area. They still send me announcements for LA screenings and lectures, though, as if to taunt... Read MoreOctober 28, 2004 11:49 PM
Frank Thomas passes
Frank Thomas has passed away. His life-long friend Ollie Johnston is now the sole remaining master animator from the classic days of the Walt Disney studio. For more on this duo, watch “Frank & Ollie”, or read Canemaker’s book, “Nine... Read MoreSeptember 9, 2004 02:18 PM
Timing notes
I sometimes work on my animated film late at night, when the family is long asleep and I've worked enough in the day that I can't stand the sight of a keyboard or mouse. Unfortunately in those times, I... Read MoreAugust 10, 2004 12:52 AM
Work, non-work, and A Scanner Darkly
I’ve routinely been working past midnight the last couple of weeks as we make a final push to get our software finished. Although it’s just coincidence that we usually ship right before WWDC, it reminds me of the old days... Read MoreJune 24, 2004 03:19 PM
Lorenzo
If you'd have asked me last week whether I would see Raising Helen on opening night, I'd have given you a puzzled look and maybe said something about looking forward to Harry Potter. But that was before I realized that... Read MoreMay 28, 2004 02:03 PM
The Triplets of Belleville
I’m listening to track 3 of the Finding Nemo soundtrack on repeat. Something very soothing about that opening music. I finally got to watch the Triplets of Belleville DVD special features, and I only wish there was more (full director’s... Read MoreMay 21, 2004 12:59 PM
Oscars, Pixar, and Triplets
Happy leap day. I was a little surprised that Finding Nemo wasn’t nominated for the Best Picture Oscar this year. Clearly it was the most successful movie of the year, also a huge audience favorite, and arguably a near-perfect film... Read MoreFebruary 29, 2004 03:09 AM
Roy leaves Disney
The New York Times covers Roy Disney's resignation: "Roy E. Disney, a nephew of the founder of the Walt Disney Company, said on Sunday that he was leaving the board of directors and called for the resignation of the chairman... Read MoreDecember 1, 2003 11:02 AM
HorseBack Salad
The Austin Chronicle profiles HorseBack Salad Entertainment: "In February 2001 -- working out of their homes -- the four formed HorseBack Salad, a 'ground up' animation and multimedia firm whose chief claim to fame was and is its ability to... Read MoreNovember 22, 2003 04:01 PM
Porco Rosso
Earlier this week, the brand new English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's Porco Rosso was screened at the Paramount Theater as part of the Austin Film Festival. I bought a full pass to the festival to make sure I wouldn't get... Read MoreOctober 17, 2003 09:32 PM
Rustboy book
My copy of the Rustboy book arrived the other day. It is an incredible achievement, one of the best "making of" books I've seen. Like the upcoming film, it was put together by one guy, a Mac with off-the-shelf software,... Read MoreOctober 13, 2003 09:09 AM
Dreams quote
Andy Murdock, of Lots of Robots: "If you sit around waiting for permission to follow your dreams then you are just sitting around waiting to die."... Read MoreOctober 6, 2003 11:45 AM
Old life drawings
The human figure is complicated and beautiful and impossibly hard to draw well. If you can master it, the quality of the rest of your work will improve. When I have time, I go to an open life drawing session... Read MoreOctober 3, 2003 09:20 AM
Me as an animator
Most people who know me know that I'm a big fan of animation. There's a great potential in animation to create stories and characters that move the audience in ways that are impossible in live-action. Many considered it the art... Read MoreOctober 2, 2003 06:05 PM
Fragments
I just received my copy of Fragments in the mail. It's a great collection of sketches and paintings by Pixar story artists Ronnie Del Carmen and Enrico Casarosa. (Pixar, for those not paying attention, is the new Disney --... Read MoreSeptember 12, 2003 02:37 PM
The Animation Show premiere
Friday night's premiere of The Animation Show here in Austin was a lot of fun. An excellent collection of shorts. Many of them I had never heard of, and most I had never seen. Afterwards Don Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge... Read MoreJuly 22, 2003 10:22 AM
2d animation in a Pixar world
I believe in traditional (2d) animation. But watching Nemo, for a moment I almost believed the hype -- that 2d just can't compete with 3d anymore. To remind myself that it's not true I looked at the great drawings in... Read MoreJune 16, 2003 09:37 PM
Nemo box office
Happy Father's Day! Finding Nemo -- about a father, among other things -- set a new record for biggest animated film opening with $70 million, and another record for fastest animated film to $100 million. Now, in its third weekend,... Read MoreJune 15, 2003 11:18 PM
Reloaded and Animatrix
The Matrix double-feature last night was fun (thanks Damon). Five hours of movies and food, yikes. I enjoyed the movie, and my only complaint was when they started replacing Keanu with a CG character in some of the fight scenes.... Read MoreMay 15, 2003 10:06 AM
Spirited Away to get new theatrical release
I was out of the house Sunday night so I set the old VCR timer to record the Oscars. Unfortunately I programmed it with the wrong channel. I guess that's an argument for Tivo. But it was probably just as... Read MoreMarch 25, 2003 11:32 AM
Al Hirschfeld
A follow-up to yesterday's post. Many people contribute to a film, and not all of them are given direct screen credit. Last month, legendary illustrator Al Hirschfeld passed away. His lines graced the pages of books, magazines, and newspapers... Read MoreFebruary 19, 2003 02:08 PM
Andy Serkis, animators, and the Oscars
Slashdot points to a Salon article about Andy Serkis (voice and motion reference for Gollum in The Two Towers) missing an Oscar nomination: "In the end, the answer is no, not because his talents are less significant than those of... Read MoreFebruary 18, 2003 04:53 PM
Futurama, Oscars, and Ward Kimball
I haven't seen Futurama since it first aired -- the time slot doesn't work for me, but I wonder why I haven't been taping it. The fourth (and final) season started last night, so I finally made time to watch... Read MoreNovember 11, 2002 12:59 PM
Spirited Away
Last night I saw Spirited Away. I first heard about the film shortly before its release in Japan, and finally it is getting a limited release here. It opened in Austin at 3 theaters, which is more than I expected.... Read MoreOctober 14, 2002 10:10 AM
Bill Plympton has started work
Bill Plympton has started work on his next animated feature film, "Hair High". You can watch him draw live from a webcam pointed over his desk. Great idea, especially for an independent filmmaker with a limited/non-existent budget for promotion. It... Read MoreSeptember 16, 2002 11:18 AM
Here are some sketches from
Here are some sketches from one year ago by New York animator Pat Smith. Everyone finds there own form of comfort. For some, it's a doodle.... Read MoreSeptember 11, 2002 12:55 PM
Ward Kimball, one of Disney's
Ward Kimball, one of Disney's legendary animators, passed away today. Tom Sito sent an email out that reads: "Please pause to recall one of the giants of Animation who passed away this morning. WARD KIMBALL- artist, animator, designer, filmmaker, trombone... Read MoreJuly 8, 2002 04:01 PM
