Disney has debuted an interactive companion website, TakeMeToTomorrowland.com, to promote Brad Bird’s upcoming Tomorrowland. The site begins to untangle the film’s complex alternative history-plotline in which four legendary historical figures—Jules Verne, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and Gustave Eiffel—join forces to create a secret science society called Plus Ultra.
The site includes two short animated pieces that help tell this backstory. Both videos are narrated by someone (Maurice LaMarche?) who sounds an awful lot like Orson Welles, which is probably who it’s supposed to be since Welles plays a role in the film’s prequel novel Before Tomorrowland. The visual style and tone of the animation purposefully evokes the 1940s-50s Walt Disney educational films and “Tomorrowland” TV segment specials (Man In Space, Mars and Beyond, etc) that were directed by Ward Kimball in the mid-1950s, as well as some of Disney’s other science projects like the Disneyland episode “Our Friend the Atom.”
Animation historian Jerry Beck reports on his site Animation Scoop that these sequences appeared in the “earliest edits of the feature, inter-cut with live action actors responding to it,” but were cut out of the picture for timing reasons and instead incorporated into the online narrative. This sequence is being used for promotional purposes. Beck credits the design and animation to Teddy Newton, Dan Jeup, and Andrew Jimenez. Other artists who worked on it include Ryan Woodward, Lou Romano, and Paul Abadilla. As soon as I have a complete credits list, I will post it.
Watch the animated footage sequences embedded below (in two parts) - providing some background on the films mysterious genius club, "Plus Ultra":
Toy Story 4
Story conceived by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Lee Unkrich.
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack will write the screenplay.
Galyn Susman is producing.
Lasseter directs.
Releasing on June 16, 2017.
I've been getting the feeling over the years that John Lasseter is now the George Lucas of animation.
According to John Lasseter, when Toy Story 3 was completed, the ending to Woody and Buzz's story was so perfect that for a long time, Pixar "never even talked about doing another Toy Story movie. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and [John] came up with this new idea, [he] just could not stop thinking about it. [He] knew [they] had to make this movie—and he wanted to direct it [him]self." Although Toy Story 4 picks up where Toy Story 3 left off, it is not going to continue Toy Story 3. It has been hinted that it is going to be a love story.
When I heard of the news of Toy Story 4, honestly, I exploded. I felt betrayed by Pixar's desire in wanting to tell innovative stories for the sake of being great storytellers, and not just fully focusing on merchandising. This is proof that the Disney Company now is ruled by profits over quality or sense.
Haven't they heard the phrase "Quit while you're ahead"?
I thought the whole idea of them making all the Toy Story specials and shorts was to keep the characters in the public eye without the need for further films and spoiling what was a perfect ending in 3?
It was really unnecessary for a Cars sequel, as well as for a prequel/sequel for Monsters, Inc. With plans for a sequel to Finding Nemo (another unnecessary venture) and now a Toy Story 4, Pixar is starting to become the next DreamWorks, but in their own way.
This is not the Pixar I have come to respect and appreciate over the years. Instead of thinking of creating risky stories and unique situations, they have become very, very complacent in wanting to play things safe (Cars 2, Brave, Monsters U.), which is very disappointing. Maybe Toy Story 4 will be good, maybe it will be great...but I highly doubt it will top Toy Story 3. The story not only had a brilliant and beautiful ending to the series and sealed a great legacy, but it took us places unimaginable, and rightfully so. As C.S. Lewis said when everyone was demanding another Narnia book, "Isn't it better to stop while people are still asking for more than to go til they are tired?" This applies to Toy Story. Why ruin it?! I like Toy Story as a trilogy, not a saga.
I just cannot understand why John Lasseter would want to do sequels instead of taking the audiences on another grand adventure that is unique from his previous ones (Cars, A Bug's Life, Toy Story). Then again, he has been in more business mode as of late, and just maybe, he's thinkin' more of that, than that of an innovator and an artist. A burn and hurtful comment, yes, but I'm very upset by this announcement. So I guess I can say, I'm returning the favor.
Why does John Lasseter keep making me want to lose respect for him?
However, I'm trying to be open minded, but I thought Toy Story 3 wrapped up things up. I've yet to be disappointed by any role played by Tom Hanks. The big man himself is directing. That's his baby. He's not going to let us down. Could be worse, it could be Cars 3. But, for Woody's sake, please put Bo Beep in it.
In closing of this rant, I just don't know about Pixar anymore. To see Disney make more films that are stand alones than Pixar? Something is not right. I'm done...I'm done.
To paraphrase the late great Frank Zappa, The Toy Story franchise isn't dead but it's starting to smell funny.
The Museum of Modern Art is turning into a go-to spot for major New York City animation events; New Yorkers - do not miss this one-night only event. After hosting a sell-out lecture by Glen Keane earlier this month, MoMA will highlight an entirely different approach to animation by presenting a retrospective of works by Irish-born and Los Angeles-based independent animator and filmmaker David O'Reilly.
“An Evening with David OReilly” will take place on Monday, May 11, 2015, at 7:00pm, as part of MoMA’s Modern Mondays series, in Theater 2 (The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2). It is the first time that the creations of the 29-year-old filmmaker have been shown at the museum.
“Please Say Something.” 2008. Germany/Ireland. Directed by David OReilly.
O'Reilly is one of the most adventuresome, impishly perverse independent animation filmmakers working today. A darling of the festival circuit—he has won top prizes at Berlin, Ottawa, Annecy, Sundance, and beyond. A mesmerizing storyteller with a gift for open-ended, absurdist narratives, O'Reilly is resolutely independent, moving freely among television, feature film, and music video commissions; video games and interactive projects; Tumbler games, iPhone hologram apps, and Twitter-based comic strips; and virtual reality environments.
For this Modern Mondays event, O'Reilly will be hosting an evening, discussing the many facets of his award-winning career in animation and graphic design, and screens some of his most celebrated films and interactive projects.
The program, curated by MoMA’s Joshua Siegel, will include shorts like RGB XYZ (2007), Please Say Something (2009) and The External World (2010), as well as the New York theatrical premiere of O'Reilly’s latest film The Horse Raised by Spheres (2015).
There might be glimpses of his more commercially-oriented projects as well, like the unforgettably funny and touching faux animated video game “Alien Child” sequence of Spike Jonze’s Her (2013), as well as collaborations with musicians M.I.A. for live visuals at Coachella (2009) and the U2 animated music video "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" (2009). He was also the first guest director in the Cartoon Network’s 20-year history, creating the Adventure Time episode “A Glitch Is a Glitch.” O'Reilly will introduce the program.
“?????.” 2009. Germany, Ireland. Directed by David OReilly.
From MoMA’s program description:
A mesmerizing storyteller with a gift for open-ended, absurdist narratives—“The story for Octocat came to me by reading the Bible word-for-word backwards,” he matter-of-factly observes—O'Reilly is resolutely independent, moving freely among television, feature film, and music video commissions; metaphysical, otherworldly video games and interactive projects that question ideas of the self and the nature of role-playing (Mountain and Character Mirror); Tumbler games, iPhone hologram apps, and Twitter-based comic strips; and virtual reality environments.
Cute and creepy, sentimental and cruel, O'Reilly’s moving-image works are existential nightmares of childhood abandonment, romantic humiliation, totalitarian brainwashing, and entropy. His seemingly crude aesthetic—anti-naturalist, economical, and rule-based—exploits rather than hides the limitations and artifacts of low-polygon 3-D software and “primitive” digital drawing applications like MS Paint (“the same way [Francis] Bacon didn’t hide brush strokes”), and belies a sophisticated and dazzling use of flattened space, perspective, color, sound, and collage. OReilly also employs some of the most cutting-edge technologies available to contemporary filmmakers, including Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets and various forms of proprietary software.
For tickets and more additional information, check and visit the MoMA website.
“RGB XYZ.” 2007. Germany/Ireland. Directed by David OReilly.
Mountain. 2014. USA. Created by David O'Reilly.
The External World. 2010. Germany/Ireland. Directed by David O'Reilly.
Daws Butler and Stan Freberg accept the Emmy Award for "Time For Beany".
Sad, Sad news indeed. Stan Freberg wore so many different hats throughout his career that he may as well have been a hat-maker. Acclaimed satirist, humorist, writer, songwriter, comedian, commercial producer, radio and recording artist, actor, puppeteer and cartoon/animation voice artist only scratch the surface.
Freberg, who skewered pop culture and McCarthyism and influenced generations with his satirical, witty comedy record albums and cartoon voices and memorable advertising campaigns, was one of my heroes; he passed away Tuesday April 7 from natural causes at the age of of 88 in Santa Monica, California. He had been suffering from respiratory problems and pneumonia. If you don’t know his name, you should, and if you do a search online you may find yourself an instant fan. (example: this TV spot for Sunsweet Prunes) I can’t overstate the influence he had on me during my adolescence; he helped shape my sense of humor and permanently planted his ideas, catchphrases, and voices into my consciousness. Say the name “Ben Franklin” and I think of that founding father uttering the words “life, liberty and the purfuit of happineff” from the multivolume album Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America. At odd moments his parody of Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat (Day-O)” (“too piercing, man…”) or his bow to radio censorship, “Elderly Man River,” pop into my head. (“You’re welcome, I’m sure.”)
Stan holding a figurine of his Looney Tunes character Pete Puma.
Stan's estranged son, Donavan, posted the news on his Facebook page, saying,
“My father died this morning. I am ok. To me, the father I knew and loved dearly and still very much do left me over a decade ago. He was, and will always be, my hero, and I will carry his brilliant legacy forward as best I am able. RIP, Stan Freberg, 1926-2015. I love you, daddy.”
Exact details are still coming forward.
Born on August 7, 1926, in Pasadena, CA, Freberg began his six-decade career doing impersonations on Cliffie Stone’s radio program in 1943. Freberg was one of the 20th Century's great satirists who would amass dozens of movie and TV credits . His skills as a voice actor (for classic Warner Bros. Disney, UPA cartoons) are less known then his work as a radio performer, movie and TV actor. He remained active as a voice over actor for animation well into the 21st century, was awarded the Winsor McCay Award by ASIFA-Hollywood in 1992, inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and did extensive work in advertising.
The New York Times offers a comprehensive obituary and TV writer Mark Evanier has written a beautiful remembrance tribute on his blog that says it better than I could. I suggest you click over to their sites to hear from them. An influential comedy icon, Freberg counted among his fans not just artists who followed directly in his footsteps, like “Weird Al” Yankovic and SpongeBob Squarepants voice Tom Kenny, but creative people as diverse as Paul McCartney, Stephen King, Anthony Hopkins, and David Mamet.
Writer Mark Evanier noted:
"... He was gifted with an amazing imagination and the performing gifts necessary to transfer that imagination into something that others could see and hear. He was a wonderful singer, a superb mimic and a terrific actor. And take note of this: Of all the actors who'd been doing voices for animation in recent years, Stan was the guy who'd been at it the longest. He recorded his first cartoon voice roles in 1945 for release in 1946. As far as I know, his last job was in an episode of The Garfield Show I voice-directed last year. It's currently scheduled to run on Cartoon Network this October, giving Stan a career span of 69 years. ..."
As a lifelong fan, I thought I knew all there was to know about Stan as a radio, television, and recording artist, but it turns out he had more to do with movies—especially animated cartoons—than I realized when I was young. Freberg got his start in show business in the 1940s, when he walked into a talent agency that sent him out for an animation voiceover audition. Because the legendary Mel Blanc was the only performer to receive exclusive credit on Warner Bros. cartoons by contract, I never knew that Stan contributed a number of voices to the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoons over the years, including Bertie of Hubie and Bertie; Tosh, one of the two Goofy Gophers opposite Blanc; the seemingly slow Pete Puma, who was asked by Bugs Bunny how many lumps of sugar he wanted in his tea. “Oh, three or four,” Pete drawled — before Bugs’ numerous shots to the melon with a mallet produced said lumps; and that unforgettable lunkhead Junyer Bear in Chuck Jones’ Three Bears cartoons (What’s Brewin’, Bruin?, A Bear for Punishment, et al.). That alone would earn him a place in the pop culture hall of fame. He finally got the credit he deserved on one classic Friz Freleng short Three Little Bops in 1957, famously playing the three pigs, the wolf and the singing narrator. He also provided the voice of the beaver in Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp; the title character of Lambert the Sheepish Lion; the Egyptian God Ra in the Hercules: The Animated Series episode, “Hercules and the Romans”; the narrator for An All New Adventure of Disney's Sport Goofy and “Down and Out with Donald Duck”; and George Pal’s Yawning Man in tom thumb. He was even featured on-camera in a 1953 Republic feature called Geraldine, singing some of his parodies including the Johnny Ray send-up “Try.” He not only appeared in It’s a Mad Mad Mad World but created the TV commercials for Stanley Kramer’s mega-comedy.
A comedy masterpiece.
Freberg also voiced the central character in the Ward-Kimball-directed-but-never-released It's a Dog's Life. His Capitol record albums are classics. He also was a regular on the 1958 summer replacement series The Chevy Show and did voice work for such series as The Ren & Stimpy Show, Garfield & Friends and narrated the 1985 series The Wuzzles. His rendition of the song “Money” appeared in episode 106 of The Muppet Show as performed by Dr. Teeth.
In the early 1960s, the writer-producer launched a successful career in advertising, winning more than 20 Clio Awards for his TV spots and earning the Los Angeles Area Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 2006. He crafted some of the funniest TV commercials of the 1960s and ‘70’s, including “Today the pits; tomorrow the wrinkles. Sunsweet marches on!,” and Contadina’s “Who put eight great tomatoes in that little bitty can?”
He also scored such novelty-record hits as “John and Marsha,” “Saint George and the Dragonet” and “Green Christmas.” His 1961 comedy album “Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America” remains a classic of the form and an influence for a generation of comedians. Besides his satirical comedy albums, Freberg was perhaps best known for his song parodies like The Great Pretender and The Banana Boat Song.
Freberg produced the Emmy-winning kids puppet show Time for Beany -- Albert Einstein was said to be a fan during his years at CalTech -- and hosted numerous variety series and specials on TV and radio.
His live-action acting included roles in The Monkees, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., the role of Mr. Parkin on Roseanne (in 1996) and The Weird Al Show. His Stan Freberg Show on radio was controversial for several reasons, including the fact that he refused to accept tobacco companies as sponsors.
Freberg continued working well into his eighties and released an album, Songs in the Key of Freberg, with his wife in 2010.
He is survived by his wife Hunter, son Donavan and daughter Donna Jean.
Most news outlets will acknowledge Freberg’s body of work as a satirist and ad-man (he played a significant role in popularizing the funny commercial), but we’re going to celebrate his work as a voice actor and his collaborations with animation artists. Freberg recorded cartoon voices for 69 years, giving him quite possibly the longest recording career of any voice actor who has ever worked in animation.
I’m not sure the generations that followed the Baby Boomers recognized Stan and his genius as others did. This may have wounded his ego in recent years, but his admirers never lost sight of who he was or what he meant to us. His humor has worn well and his voice work speaks for itself—pun intended.
His loss hits me hard, because he lives inside my head, and always has. I’ll never forget him. An iconic talent has departed. Rest in peace, Stan. You were one of a kind. Freberg forever!
Here’s a “gallery” of Freberg’s voice acting work:
1947: Republic Pictures’s It’s a Grand Old Nag
1949: The narrator of Big Tim, a UPA industrial for Timken Roller Bearing Company
1949: Stan Freberg recounts working on animation director Bob Clampett’s TV puppet show Time For Beany (1949)
1951: Junyer Bear in Warner Bros.’ A Bear for Punishment
1952: Pete Puma in Warner Bros.’ Rabbit’s Kin
ca. mid or late 1950s: The rabbit of a stop-motion animation short based on Stan Freberg's 1953 record St. George and the Dragonet
1955: Beaver in Disney’s Lady and The Tramp
ca. 1955: DeSoto spot animated by Playhouse Pictures
ca. 1956: Snowdrift spot animated by Quartet Films, based on Freberg’s comedy record “John and Marsha”
1957: Warner Bros.’ Three Little Bops
ca. 1959: Butter-Nut coffee spot animated by Fine Arts Films
ca. 1960: Cheerios commercial animated by Quartet Films
1962: “Sale of Manhattan,” an animated segment directed by Fred Crippen and designed by Saul Bass & Art Goodman from Stan Freberg Presents The Chun King Chow Mein Hour: Salute to the Chinese New Year (1962). Soundtrack is from Freberg’s album “Stan Freberg Presents The United States Of America”.
1965: The Calypso Singer by Paul Glickman, using Freberg’s track “Banana Boat (Day-O),” a parody of Harry Belafonte’s song.
Despite what you may have read in the Hollywood trades or other animation news blogs, I'm here to tell you they've all got it wrong. Sony is still moving forward with Popeye, probably just not the version that director Genndy Tartakovsky wanted to make. Tartakovsky revealed in a Moviefone interview that he's no longer working on the film.
Putting a polite spin on the recent upheaval at the studio, Tartakovsky was quoted as saying, “We definitely won’t be talking about Hotel 3, with me at least. Popeye, at least, we put up a great screening, everybody really liked that sizzle, we got a positive reaction. I was in love with what we were doing, but I think the studio is going through changes and I don’t know if they want to make the 'Popeye' that I want to make.” He went on to say, “Right now, I’m off that project and moving on to the other one we soft-announced, which is Can You Imagine?...It was hard to let Popeye go, but that’s the business.”
The "changes" at Sony that Tartakovsky alluded to in his comments are the canning of Sony Pictures Digital Productions president Bob Osher (and his enabler Amy Pascal) and the hiring of former DreamWorks producer Kristine Belson as president of Sony Pictures Animation.
The Animation Guild blog hinted that Kristine Belson "is likely itching to put her own stamp on SPA, so look for some previously-announced pictures to be pushed back....or pushed overboard."
I have read a lot of comments by folks, saying how upset they are over news that Sony has cancelled the Popeye movie, but I'm here the set the record straight.
Sony hasn't cancelled the film. What has happened is that Genndy Tartakovsky had moved on to completing Hotel Transylvania 2 and has started production on an original flick, Can You Imagine?
According to a Sony Pictures Animation spokesman: "Genndy has been developing both Popeye and his original idea Genndy Tartakovsky's Can You Imagine? (temp title) at the same time while directing Hotel Transylvania 2."
"It initially looked like Popeye would happen first but Imagine pulled ahead and is now scheduled to be his next directorial film at Sony Pictures Animation. That said Popeye is still very much in active development."
That's the official word. Beyond that, both King Features and producer Avi Arad remain dedicated to bringing the famed comic strip sailor man - hopefully at Sony - to the screen. Sony has not commented yet on whether they intend to continue making Popeye without Tartakovsky's participation.
It was sad news when I found out Genndy Tartakovsky was off the Popeye feature. It was one of the very few things that were truly separating from the usual business we see coming from the big studios in terms of style. I admit to having been a bit apathetic to the thought of one of my favorite animators doing a Popeye film in the first place; it would be an awful shame if the feature failed at the box office (a sad possibility, as the scrappy sailor is almost unknown among younger generations), which would leave Genndy in a more difficult position to get funding for projects of his own creation. If Sony wants to make a lot of money, they should give Genndy a blank check to produce an original action picture. Let him do what he is great at.
To sum up: The rumors of Popeye's death have been greatly exaggerated. His voyage to the screen has been delayed - but is still on course. So put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Major management shake-up at the creatively struggling DreamWorks Animation, appointing two veteran producers, Bonnie Arnold and Mireille Soria, as the new co-presidents of the studio's feature animation division. In their new roles, Arnold and Soria, respectively the lead producers behind the studio’s How to Train Your Dragon and Madagascar franchises, will oversee creative development and production for DreamWorks Animation’s theatrical releases. Between them, they have produced eight films at DreamWorks that have grossed more than $3.5 billion globally. As part of this transition, the studio's chief creative officer Bill Damaschke will step down from his role.
“Mireille and Bonnie are two of the most accomplished and prolific filmmakers working in feature animation today,” said DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg in a statement. “I am confident in their ability to marshal the extensive creative resources available at our studio and lead DreamWorks’s vast ranks of artists and filmmakers as they produce the highest quality entertainment.”
“As two of our most successful producers, Bonnie and Mireille bring substantial expertise to this new and well deserved leadership role at the studio,” said Ann Daly, DreamWorks Animation President. “Having worked alongside them both for many years at DreamWorks, I am thrilled that these established industry veterans will be providing creative oversight to our entire film slate.”
“Great storytelling is the heart of DreamWorks Animation, and we are honored and excited to help shape the movies that will entertain audiences around the world,” said Arnold and Soria in a joint statement. “DreamWorks has long been our home, and we can’t wait to begin working with all of the studio’s outstanding filmmakers and artists!”
Arnold is a twelve-year veteran at DreamWorks Animation with 31 years of filmmaking experience. She currently oversees DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon film franchise, the first two installments of which have grossed more than $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office. The original How to Train Your Dragon received two Academy Award nominations in 2010, including one for Best Animated Feature, as well as a Golden Globe® nomination in the same category. How to Train Your Dragon 2, the highest grossing animated film of 2014 also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature Film and received praise as one of the best reviewed films of last year. In addition, Arnold produced the 2006 DreamWorks Animation release Over the Hedge, the Disney blockbuster Tarzan and the history-making film Toy Story, which combined have earned more than $1 billion in worldwide box office. An accomplished filmmaker in nearly every genre, she produced the Sony Pictures Classics release The Last Station, which garnered two Oscar nominations as well as nominations from the Screen Actors Guild; the Golden Globes; and the Independent Spirit Awards, including a nomination for Best Picture.
Soria also has 31 years of production leadership experience, including fifteen at DreamWorks Animation, where she has overseen the successful Madagascar franchise, including three films that collectively have grossed nearly $1.9 billion at the worldwide box office. She also produced the Academy Award-nominated animated adventure Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron following a successful career developing and producing a varied group of live-action feature film and television projects. Prior to joining DreamWorks Animation, Mireille held a deal at Fox Family Pictures, where she produced the romantic Cinderella story Ever After. She had previously held the post of vice president of production for Walt Disney Pictures. During her tenure, she oversaw the development and production of such projects as The Mighty Ducks and its two sequels, Cool Runnings and the live-action version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.
Honestly, I hate to see Bill go, but this is probably the best news for DreamWorks in the headlines for years. DreamWorks has LONG had difficulty picking the right projects to put into production. Plus, they probably should have fired Bill after "Shrek the Musical" flopped on Broadway. Furthermore, anyone that heard the pitch to TURBO and gave it the greenlight SHOULD go. No offense to the creatives that worked on it. It just didn't make biz sense as a feature film concept.
Bonnie Arnold is one of the best in the entire industry, and Mireille has a strong track record as well. However, no one person is the key to success of a collaborative effort such as animation. Although this seems like a good move, looking at their "resume" of movies, Bonnie Arnold's How to Train Your Dragon 2 under-performed domestically and Mireille Soria's Madagascar franchise is played out as witnessed by the under-performance of Penguins of Madagascar; besides, I don't see someone responsible for The Mighty Ducks and Cool Runnings as being the innovation that DreamWorks Animation needs to revive or turn around their fortunes. I am waiting for them to blame and say audiences are tired of CG as they did when there were a few hand drawn bombs several years ago. I don't personally believe that but why aren't they saying it as they said with drawn? No, people want good stories and stop being so close-minded about animation media.
Here's what they should do as an experiment: have a parallel development production team (side by side with the standard way things have been done), allow creative people to create and the execs, producers and marketers get out of their way. Nevertheless, good luck to these talented ladies!
Here's hoping this will be the change DreamWorks needs to get back on course.
Mark your calendars. Glen Keane, a master of character animation at Disney for nearly four decades, will appear with John Canemaker, an Oscar-winning filmmaker, author and historian at an event next month at New York's Museum Of Modern Art to talk 'toons.
Glen Keane has been behind some of Disney's most beloved characters, including Ariel in The Little Mermaid, the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Tarzan. This special Modern Mondays: An Evening with Glen Keane and John Canemaker event will feature Keane in an on-stage conversation with John Canemaker about his career.
Richly illustrated with accompaniment of film clips and other imagery, the conversation will trace Keane's career, from his apprenticeship with veteran Disney animators the Nine Old Men in the mid-1970s up to the New York theatrical premiere of his most recent project, Duet (2014). An independent short collaboratively produced with Google's Advance Technology and Projects Group (ATAP), Duet is among the first of its kind - and certainly one of the most advanced: an interactive hand-drawn animation that explores spatial and sensory awareness.
Keane, who retired from Disney in 2013, will also discuss his ground-breaking experiments in situating hand-drawn characters in computer-generated environments (including his 1982 collaboration with John Lasseter on a test film of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are; his use of "Deep Canvas" in the 1999 Disney feature Tarzan; and his sophisticated digital innovations as Animation Supervisor on Disney's Tangled, in 2010).
Do not miss this!
Earlier that afternoon, Keane will introduce a theatrical screening of Disney's 1991 feature Beauty and the Beast at 4pm. Modern Mondays: An Evening with Glen Keane with John Canemaker will take place on Monday, April 6, at 7pm. For more ticketing information, click the MoMA website.
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