Thursday, May 14, 2015

MUST-SEE: Hand Drawn Animation Tribute 'Flash Gordon Classic' by Robb Pratt

From the director of Superman Classic, traditional animator Robb Pratt is back again, tackling another comic strip icon - Flash Gordon.
"I love the traditional animated art form," says Pratt. "As an adult, I stopped believing in magic a long time ago – but the closest thing to it for me is a moving drawing that is alive and breathing! I stay up late and work on these fan films just for the fun of it and they give me great pleasure."
"I’ve just uploaded a new one onto YouTube. It’s called “Flash Gordon Classic”, and it celebrates Flash Gordon through the ages just as I had hoped my “Superman Classic” shorts would. The music is from the old Buster Crabbe serials, and stars the voice of Eric Johnson, TV’s Flash Gordon (who, incidentally is also “Whitney” from “Smallville”!)! As with my “Superman Classic” shorts, John Newton (TV’s Superboy) and his wife, Jennifer also contribute."
It's a wonderful tribute to these classic heroes and to the magic of traditional hand drawn animation.
CREDITS
Director/producer: Robb Pratt
Starring Eric Johnson, Joe Whyte, G.K. Bowes, John Newton, Jennifer Newton
Written by Robb Pratt, Emmet O’Brien
Storyboard: Robb Pratt
Layout/Background: Connie Jaio Wong, Robb Pratt, Javier Barriola
Animation: Robb Pratt, George Yang
F/X Animation: John Bermudes
Cel paint: Javier Barriola, Rachel Reed, Elliot M. Bour
CGI Modeling: Lee Gramling
Ash Animation: Scott Klass, Karen White
Music from the Flash Gordon serials: Clifford Vaughan
Music from The Black Cat” by Heinz Roemheld
Flash Gordon created by Alex Raymond

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Aardman and StudioCanal Announced Nick Park Is Directing New Soccer-Themed Film

Nick Park, the BAFTA and Academy Award-winning creator of Wallace & Gromit, co-director of Chicken Run and an executive producer of the recent Shaun the Sheep Movie, has been off the radar since the 2008 release of the Wallace & Gromit short film A Matter of Loaf and Death. What is he been working on nowadays?
Nick Park's next feature is a stop-motion prehistoric soccer film which is scheduled to coincide with the 2018 Soccer World Cup, it's called 'Early Man.'
Scripted by Mark Burton and John O'Farrell, it is Park's first film since Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. According to Deadline, although the film is not about soccer, it is an important component as it'll be the world's first soccer game.
This is the second film Aardman and StudioCanal partnered on after Shaun the Sheep Movie directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak. Sales will start in Cannes Film Festival.
Set at the dawn of time, when dinosaurs and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, ‘Early Man’ tells the story of how one plucky caveman unites his tribe against a mighty enemy and saves the day!
Nick Park said: "I’m very excited to be making this film with such great partners – STUDIOCANAL and BFI.  And with the support of the incredible team at Aardman – bringing this inept bunch of cavemen to life is going to be a hilarious adventure!"

Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh End "Phineas & Ferb"; Creators, With Disney TV Animation, Prep Launch of "Mikey Murphy's Law" At Disney XD

A still from Disney Television Animation's “Phineas and Ferb” finale “Last Day of Summer” after 126 episodes.
Acclaimed animation producers Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, renowned for creating the global hit series Phineas and Ferb, are continuing their association with Disney Television Animation with a new animated comedy series titled Mikey Murphy's Law for Disney XD. The story introduces Mikey, the fictional great-great-great-great grandson of the Murphy's law namesake. The announcement was made by Marc Buhaj, Senior Vice President, Programming and General Manager, Disney XD, and Eric Coleman, Senior Vice President, Disney Television Animation.
Povenmire and Marsh are the creators and executive producers of Mikey Murphy's Law, scheduled to premiere in 2017. Joining them are veteran Phineas and Ferb colleagues - producer and director Robert F. Hughes, story editor Scott Peterson and staff writers Joshua Pruett, Dani Vetere and Martin Olson.
The team have wrapped production on the Emmy Award-winning and BAFTA-nominated Phineas and Ferb after 126 episodes, five one-hour specials and a record-breaking Disney Channel Original Movie. The series will continue to be presented daily on Disney XD and Disney Channels around the world. In the U.S., it was TV's #1 animated series among Tweens 9-14 and the #1 animated TV series in Primetime among Kids 6-11 from 2008-2013. The movie, Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (August 2011), remains the #1 animated telecast in cable TV history in Kids 2-11 and ranks among the Top 5 cable TV movies of all time in Total Viewers.
Celebrating its appeal, every Phineas and Ferb story ever told will be presented in a 73-hour marathon beginning Tuesday June 9th (8:00 p.m., ET/PT) leading to the ultimate story capper, "Last Day of Summer," premiering Friday June 12 (9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD and simulcast on Disney Channel. The series will continue to air daily on Disney XD. A standalone hour-long special "The O.W.C.A. Files," which focuses on the organization's best secret agent, Agent P (also known as Perry the Platypus), and his fellow animal agents, will premiere this fall on Disney XD and feature a song performed by "Footloose" soft rocker Kenny Loggins.
“Dan and Swampy are two of the most respected and proven show creators in the animation series business,” said Marc Buhaj, Senior Vice President, Programming and General Manager, Disney XD. “They are incredibly gifted storytellers who have a track record of creating smart, original and relatable characters that are universally appealing to both kids and families.  It's a coup for Disney XD to continue working with this talented duo on their latest creation, Mikey Murphy's Law. We're looking forward to another great creative partnership.”
Marked by clever multi-level humor, strong male and female role models, strong family ties, the depiction of a step-family and a relatable story of kids growing up and using their imaginations, the music-filled, 2D-animated comedy followed ingenious Phineas Flynn and his resourceful step-brother, Ferb Fletcher, as they happily set out to conquer boredom and make every day of summer vacation count for something.
In the one-hour final new Phineas and Ferb episode titled "Last Day of Summer," the summer season is coming to a close and it's Candace's last chance to bust her brothers. She is quickly foiled, but is presented with an opportunity to redo the day when she sets off Dr. Doofenshmirtz's Do-Over-Inator, which results in other consequences like rips in the space-time continuum, the shortening of days and the disappearance of her brothers.
Over its run, Phineas and Ferb won three Emmy Awards – one for Outstanding Writing in Animation (2010) and two for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation (both in 2011) – and earned nine Emmy nominations. Additionally, the series received multiple nominations for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA) and Annie Awards.
The Phineas and Ferb voice cast includes: Vincent Martella as Phineas Flynn, Thomas Sangster as Ferb Fletcher, Ashley Tisdale as Candace Flynn, Mitchel Musso as Jeremy, Caroline Rhea as mom Linda Flynn-Fletcher, Richard O'Brien as dad Lawrence Fletcher, Dee Bradley Baker as Perry the Platypus, Alyson Stoner as Isabella, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram and Dan Povenmire as the nefarious Dr. Doofenshmirtz.  Among its over 150 guest stars are: Michael Douglas, Michael J. Fox, Jon Stewart, Patrick Dempsey, Ben Stiller, Tina Fey, JK Simmons, Seth MacFarlane, Jay Leno, Kelly Clarkson, George Takei, Simon Pegg, Anna Paquin, Josh Gad and Stan Lee.

Friday, May 1, 2015

List of Recommended Events for the 2015 Annecy International Animated Film Festival

For over five decades, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival is probably the world's largest animation film festival featuring sneak peeks, presentations, exclusive previews, masterclasses, and panels with feature films, short films, student films, as well as television and advertising. Here are several highlight events I would recommend:
1. Keynote speeches by Hotel Transylvania director and Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky and Illumination Entertainment founder Chris Meledandri
2. Exclusive first footage of Disney’s Zootopia, followed by a Q&A with directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore
3. Screening of Illumination’s The Minions in 3D and french
4. “Animating without Dialogue: The Animation in the Feature Shaun the Sheep Movie” with lead Aardman animator William Becher
5. Richard Williams presenting screenings of The Thief and the Cobbler
6. Open-air screenings of Pinocchio to mark the film’s 75th anniversary and Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed
7. The Peanuts Movie work-in-progress session with director Steve Martino and art director Nash Dunnigan
8. First footage from Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur with director Pete Sohn
9. The Red Turtle work-in-progress session with director Michael Dudok de Wit and head of backgrounds Julien De Man, among others
10. A presentation by Pierre Coffin, co-director of Despicable Me and Minions
11. Adventure Time making-of panel with Adam Muto, Masaaki Yuasa, Eunyoung Choi, Elizabeth Ito, Kelly Crews, Kirsten Lepore, and Jesse Moynihan
12. Making-of sessions for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and The Book of Life with as-yet unannounced guests
13. Business conferences: Animation Talent Development & Animated Features: Small Budget, Huge Success
14. Open-air screenings of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, The Book of Life, Frozen Fever, Shaun the Sheep Movie, Sita Sings the Blues
15. Screening of The Prophet & Inside Out