Wednesday, March 17th

Travel and a big move have tied things up here the last three weeks and I realized we never congratulated Nicolas Schmerkin and the good folks over at Autour de Minuit on their big Oscar win for the animated short film “Logorama”.

Autour de Minuit has been producing ground breaking animated shorts and series work for a few years now and you’ve seen their shorts in a few of our Animation Show’s with films “Raymond”, “War West” and last year’s Academy Award nominated short “This Way Up”.  "This Way Up" was especially near and dear to us as we commissioned the film along with Autour de Minuit back in 08.

Keep your eyes peeled for their next offering called “Babioles”, a new series of CG/live-action shorts set for release later this year.

You can check out the teaser above. Congrats Nicolas on a much deserved win!

Tuesday, March 16th

Last month we shared Max Hattler’s killer animation loop “1923” aka Heaven and now Hattler is back with his second loop also inspired by the work of French artist Augustin Lesage “1925”aka Hell.

The second loop is frighteningly hypnotic and even at just 1:42 you can feel time wrinkle while the cycle tugs you in. Hattler shares:

I am fairly obsessed with patterns and mirroring myself, and I liked the idea of transposing his vision of the spiritual world into a contemporary moving image context – Updated through the lens of pop-­‐cultural and art-­‐historic references – Using sound, image and movement to try and heighten the sense of the spiritual, while to adhering to his parameters of symmetry. The Idea of a loop made perfect sense both in terms of a ‘moving painting’, as well as an endless cycle – Eternity – Implicit in ‘the spiritual’.

Saturday, February 27th

The sharp new web original “Larkmart” is written, voiced, designed and animated by Aaron Simpson the creator behind animation sites Cold Hard Flash and Lineboil. The series rolls out on Mondo Media’s Minisode network and Simpson promises more new episodes soon! I recommend repeat viewings to catch some quick moments here. “You loose your job without the satisfaction of the murder”, Funny stuff!

Jossie Malis, the artist behind the web series “Bendito Machine”, has a new infectious character to share. The metaphysical adventures of Fantástico Morales document a man with strange nasal fluid powers. The series is animated in Psycolor.

Sunday, February 21st

Animator and Visualist Max Hattler kicks off 2010 with an addictively hypnotic animation loop titled “1923”. Hattler spent some time at the Animation Workshop in Denmark recently and directed the piece which was animated by student animators and CG artists. “1923” is inspired by the French painter Augustin Lesage’s work, which it seems was literally guided by spirits. Lesage’s painting “A symbolic Composition of the Spiritual World” is one of many spiritualist works with fantastic complexity. Hattler’s loop peers inside this cycle updating Lesage’s vision into a futuristic metropolis. A second loop “1925” which adapts more of Lesage’s work is underway.

Sunday, February 14th

A 2007 mash-up video by Cody Richeson that may be only slightly spookier than the original Goofy Movie theatrical release. Richeson isn’t the first to play with Disney properties, video remix artist Pogo’s been at it for a while and his tribute to Pixar’s Up, titled “Upular” will stay with you for a good long while.

With new projects, travel and a brand spanking new decade things have been slow here on the site. My apologies! We’ve got some announcements and changes behind the scenes here that are pretty major but still shaping up. We should have an official update on the site by spring. In the meantime welcome back and thank you for the kind words, film suggestions and general encouragement while we were away.

Saturday, December 19th

Vancouver Film School student Jordan Clarke’s match moving “Box Animation” might be this year’s best dream animation installation. Catch more from VFS on Youtube.

Thursday, December 17th

Holiday cards are out this year.   JibJab Sendables are the way to go. They kicks things off this year with a holiday classic that will be beaten into your brain relentlessly for the next two weeks. Last year there were two channels on Christmas day dedicated to a 24 hour “Christmas Story” movie marathon. Now you can add yourself to the action. Go Jibjab!

Wednesday, December 16th

The season for great holiday specials is upon us. My favorite so far is Baman Piderman’s “Happy Winter Friends!” (part 1) by Lindsay Small and Alex Butera. You know a show has reached the eleventh realm of weird when there’s no hope in explaining the back story (with justice) to friends. Hoping to see part two soon! We’ve talked up Alex’s work before here on the site but visit B & P on Facebook and show some love.

Be warned the video above is NSFW although… the ‘NS’ part (at the end) still has me trying to figure out what the hell I just watched. It’s a new video for band Ape School’s track “Wail to God” animated by Anthony F. Schepperd. He's channeling Pat Smith’s work for a lot of this but the freakish use of color and motion make the damn thing irresistible. Visit Schepperd’s Vimeo channel for more info on the artist.

Tuesday, December 15th

I admit I missed Sugimoto Kousuke’s music video “the TV show” the first few times it started popping up on art blogs across the web but the retweets and additional blog love did it.  Wow! Check it out above and scoot over to Kousuke’s site for more video clip and illustration gold.

Monday, December 7th

Animator Charles Huettner’s dreamy “What Is This” is the perfect solution for your Monday afternoon. Head over to Vimeo to check out his short “tEEf tuNG” and Charles’s blogspot for more assorted pics and peaks. We’ll get an animation show to your neck of the woods someday sir.

Wednesday, November 25th

The good folks over at Short of the Week have gathered together a guide for this years Oscar short list with a preview of the potential nominees for best animated short film. Half of the videos up are trailers or teasers for the actual shorts and I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the other half here disappear from the web as different groups swoop in to license the work.

The short list is typically a gossipy hush hush type of event leading up to the nominations but this year we’ve seen the likes of the Hollywood Reporter and industry writers like Nikki Finke taking notice. Is it a sign that shorts are getting a little more love? The comments on Finke’s site don’t give me much hope for that.

But Short of the Week's collection is worth your time.  The trailer above is for Autour de Minuit’s Logorama. We can’t wait to catch the whole thing on the big screen.

Friday, November 20th

The Creative Talent Network Expo arrives to Burbank today with a busy line-up of panels, screenings, exhibitor booths and career planning info. It’s a must attend for those in the business of animation and animation fans alike. Hit up the CTN Expo site for the complete schedule and we’ll see you at the Burbank Convention Center.

Thursday, November 19th

Bill Plympton is hard at work on a brand new short film and has uploaded detailed pencil tests to share. The new short “Cheatin” is up on Youtube in two chunks (above and below). It’s a much longer short than we typically see from Bill with some great guest appearances. Over on Bill’s Facebook page it looks like he’s also upload a reaaally rough cut for another new short “The Cow who wanted to be a Hamburger”.  Join Bill on FB to take a look.

Tuesday, November 17th

If something about these spots feels familiar it’s due to Grant Orchard’s simple touch for the healthcare something-or-other Bupa. Orchard’s “Love Sport” series was sprinkled throughout our last theatrical program and his shapely characters make the medicine go down easy here. Add a dash of Bobby McFerrin’s score from the Pixar short “Knick Knack” and we’re selling healthcare people! All of this via Studioaka.

Friday, November 13th

We’ve talked a bit on the site previously about animator Tom Deslongchamp’s kick ass “Kid Show” (which you should go check out after watching the video above). Tom’s is back with a new video for “You Cried Me” by the band Jookabox. He explains:

I animated the video entirely in flash with my wacom tablet. Jessica assisted me with visuals and ideas. This usually consisted of me turning around and saying "Jessica, can I get your opinion about this?" Some of her responses included "His heads too fat." or "Leave it be-- I think you're overthinking it."

Hopefully more Deslongchamp work on the way!

Thursday, November 12th

The Gobelins post yesterday brought more new work out of the woods. “The Lighthouse Keeper” is created by Baptiste Rogron, Gaëlle Thierry, Rony Hotin, Maïlys Vallade, Jérémie moreau and David François. I urge you to view the team’s profile for links to their individual sites with insight into the development of the short. Like “Merry Go Round” the film is flush with design and tone but retains a simplicity in it’s story telling that invites you in to stay.

Filmmakers Nicolas Athané, Brice Chevillard, Alexis Liddell, Francoise Losito, and Mai Nguyen create an incredible watercolor world in "Un Tour De Manége". It’s another eye-popping piece from the Gobelins school in France. Follow along via Vimeo for links to each of the artist's personal sites.

Tuesday, November 10th

Amid over at Cartoon Brew dug up some great info on the Puck Cinema Caravana. It might be the smallest arthouse on the planet but it's rockin rare animated shorts. Hit up the Brew for details and catch the Cinema’s trailer above.

Friday, November 6th

The Brothers McLeod are back with the return of Fuggy Fuggy! The new episode entitled “Thrift” is the first of five new minute long toons. Mr. Aaron Simpson of Cold Hard Flash is responsible for the new Fuggy greatness on behalf of Mondo Media. If you’re new to the Fuggy you can catch up here.

Saturday, October 31st

Wrapping up our week of Halloween shorts we’ve got two gems to share. First off is Takena Nagao’s killer zombie massacre “Chainsaw Maid”. The short dates back to 2007 but I think it fell through the cracks here during the last tour. Nothing says Halloween like a plasticine bloodbath ala zombie. Enjoy, and hit up Nagao’s Youtube channel for his latest work.

Johan Thurfjell’s “Do You Have Shine?”.

In "Do you have the Shine?" The player takes the role of Danny riding his tricycle through the deserted corridors of an empty hotel. Good luck.

Friday, October 30th

With Halloween closing in it’s time to share some final favorites. Nirvan Mullick’s stop-motion treat “The Box Man” was a huge hit back in 2002 based on the novel, of the same name, by author Kobe Abe. Mullick has gone on to found The 1 Second Film foundation which is a non-profit org that uses collaborative art on a global scale to address various critical social-issues.

Next up is longtime favorite by animator and writer/director Mike Dougherty. Dougherty recently expanded some of what you see above into the live action Halloween horror “Trick ‘r Treat”. The film was a huge hit at Fantastic Fest this last year with great reviews leaving us to wonder why the film was unceremoniously dumped on DVD. You can follow Mr. Dougherty on Twitter for more ghoulish incite.

Thursday, October 29th

Halloween week creeps forward with another round of treats. Earlier this month I’d noticed animator Marek Berger uploaded a HD version of his killer short “Snowblood”. The film is stellar in HD. You can catch Berger’s second film “Nokturno” on his Youtube channel as well.

Some great recommendations as well…

“Sebastian’s Voodoo” by Joaquin Baldwin was created at the UCLA Animation Workshop last year. Baldwin’s short has been a huge hit on the festival circuit and you can catch "Sebastian's Voodoo" on the big screen at the Savannah Film Festival October 31. For more of his work head over on Pixelnitrate.com.

Wednesday, October 28th

Alex Butera’s Baman and Piderman are back this week revealing more about the mysteries in the basement in the episode "Hab Da Sleepover". You can check out the first part here and hit up the official youtube channel for the complete series.

Halloween shorts continue to stream in. Hit us up on Twitter with your recommendations!

Tuesday, October 27th

Today’s Halloween treat is a short dating back to 2000 for the track “The Ghost of Stephen Foster” by the band Squirrel Nut Zippers. The video was directed by Raymond Persi and Matthew Nastuk and was a highlight for many years on Spike’s annual tour.

Yesterday we asked for your spooky toon recommendations and got some great suggestions.

Crystal Stromer and Oddbot teamed up for the fantastic short “A Candy Affair”.

Halloween 7.5 : The Rehabilitation of Michael Myers

And Corky Quackenbush is back with “Halloween 7.5”.   Show Corky some love and click through to Atom to vote on "Halloween 7.5".  Yer votes matter!  And thank you for the recommendations Jeremy!  Please keep the suggestions coming.

Monday, October 26th

In honor of the big Halloween weekend headed our way I thought we’d share some spooky highlights from the last few years. There is no shortage of dark, twisted work out there and we’re opening it up online to get your thoughts. Hit us up on twitter for your personal favorites and we’ll feature them with the rest of our pics this week.

Tonight enjoy Eoin Ryan’s dark mix of live action, rotoscope and CG work in “Demon”. Eoin has uploaded some video of the live action and CG work alongside the finished animation.

Tuesday, October 20th

Designer, illustrator and typographer Jessica Hirsch may have just developed THE perfect new invoice for clients. Take a look at Jessica’s sight for some stella Typographic and illustration work.  I'd recommend following on twitter as well.

Wednesday, October 14th

A pose of Gobelins disciples descended on Wizz Design this last summer and have now brought us “Jesus 2000”. This awesome quickie is bestowed courtesy of Rémi Bastie, Clément Desnos, Jean-Baptiste Cumont, Jonathan Djob Nkondo and Nicolas Pegon.

Running behind this week but wanted to thank Leonardo Campasso for the heads up on his latest pixel winner “Wild Wind”.

Mike Scott for the groovy leg stomper “Goldfish – Fort Knox”

And David Essman for the latest Ted Rall political toon “Git-Mo Help”.

Thursday, October 8th

After a great run on the festival circuit Arthur Metcalf’s twisted short “Fantaisie in Bubblewrap" finally hits the web. On an even fancier note the film debuts in Youtube’s posh screening room this week. Bubblewrap was Metcalf’s first film but you can dig into metcalflovesyou for more.

Wednesday, October 7th

Nick Cross is back with the long awaited short “Yellow Cake”. We’ve written about Nick’s previous work “The Waif of Persephone” and his music video collaboration with Dave Cooper a few years back. Nick’s latest is poignant, political and gorgeous to watch. Catch up with his production blog for the behind the scenes.

Tuesday, October 6th

Eddie White and Ari Gibson’s highly praised short “The Cat Piano” has been making the rounds the last few weeks since this Australian team posted the short online. It’s easily one of the best shorts out this year and required viewing if you’re a fan of this site. Visit The People’s Republic of Animation for more info.

Thursday, October 1st

Animator Bruce Alcock’s last short “At the Quinte Hotel” was a monster hit on the festival circuit back in 2005 and his follow up “Vive La Rose” is just starting to surface. The NFB has posted an interview with Alcock and more behind the scenes info here.

Shawn Knol experiments above with his Canon Rebel XT DSLR. He explains:

“A lot of people are asking how I did this. It's pretty simple. I just put the camera on its' lowest jpeg setting, placed the camera into continuous mode, and locked the shutter down with my wired remote. The oil is being dumped into a tall cylindrical glass, with about a cup of water in it. The whole thing is lit from behind by a diffused clamp light.”

Time for dinner.

Tuesday, September 29th

Röyksopp - Happy Up Here
By Reuben Sutherland

The UK Music Video Awards are around the corner and these are the nominees for best animation in a video. A couple of these are great highlights from this last year. I would guess the Shynola video would crush this by nature of Coldplay alone but you gotta love Rueben Sutherland’s work in “Happy Up Here”.

Coldplay – Strawberry Swing
By Shynola

Hauschka – Morgenrot
By Jeff Desom

The Prodigy – Warrior’s Dance
By Corin Hardy

Tom Fun Orchestra - Throw Me To The Rats
By Alasdair Brotherston 

Friday, September 25th

Part Two

I’m not sure exactly when and where Kanaban Graphics first released the third season of the MTV Japan hit “Usavich” but it’s a treat to find it online now. The title is a play on ‘usagi’ (the Japanese word for rabbit) with a ‘vich’ thrown in for that Russian flavor. The third season finds the rabbits infiltrating a casino for a shiny pair of sneakers.

Sunday, September 13th

Tonight after 12 years, 13 seasons and 253 episodes the animation great “King of the Hill” comes to an end. The show will live for decades in syndication and already runs a few times a week on Adult Swim but it’s era on FOX is done. The animation blog Lineboil has great video from a final table read and a clip from one of tonight’s episodes. Contracts to everyone at KOH for a phenomenal run!

Thursday, September 3rd

You can catch Mike Judge’s new feature “Extract” in theaters everywhere September 4th! He said buttwagon hee hee…

Tuesday, September 1st

The end-of-days-LA courtesy of Eric Speilgelman’s time lapse video. It snows ash at the end of every summer in Los Angeles with fire but this one is closer to home than usual. So far it has eaten over a hundred and ninety square miles of dry brush. It sounds like they’re hoping to have containment by mid September. You have to minimize your trips outside. We live a little west of this under the same hill line. Prayers go out to the two firefighters who lost their lives on Sunday. It’s a sad situation and all you can do is hope for a change in the weather.

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