hazylium: animation

Showing posts with label animation. Show all posts

Showing posts with label animation. Show all posts

Monday, July 09, 2007

Back in da Singapura

Our journey back to Singapore was- surpisingly- more agreeable than the journey to Wellington, though we actually had to wait longer at Sydney airport (where we had to transit on both trips as there isn't a direct flight from Singapore to Wellington or vice versa) this time around. Watched Disney's "Meet the Robinsons" on the flight to Singapore, and I was pleasantly surprised by its quality. 2007's turning out to be a pretty good year for animation, what with this, Surf's Up (a surprisingly great animated film from Sony Imageworks) and of course Pixar's Ratatouille- which was recently released in the USA to near-universal praise but is sadly only coming out in Singapore on the 30th of August (movie distributors of Singapore, why do you torture us so?). Anyway, its back to work for me tomorrow (or rather today!) and I'm still a bit jet-lagged, so I'll have to skip my explanation of why our journey back here was better than the journey to Wellington, and why I generally despise air travel in general, and save it for another post.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Tokyo Godfathers Review

Tokyo Godfathers is director Satoshi Kon's third animated film, after the highly-acclaimed films Perfect Blue and Millenium Actress. Coming after the heels of those two films, mature, psychologically-complex works that pushed the boundaries of animated storytelling, Tokyo Godfathers, a Christmas movie loosely inspired by John Ford's 3 Godfathers, could arguably be considered the director's slightest work; but that would hardly be doing it justice. Wiser men than me have pointed out that creating great comedy is as a hard as creating great drama. Tokyo Godfathers has both in spades, and is deft enough to go from one to the other, sometimes in the same scene, without once missing a beat.

The film revolves around the titular godfathers: Gin, a middle-aged homeless drunkard who lives for his next bottle of alcohol, Miyuki, a cynical teenage runaway, and Hana, a sharp-tongued transvestite fallen on hard times who is both the source of the best lines in the film as well as its heart and soul. The characters are unusual (how often do we see grimy homeless men as heroes in a film?), but the story is standard: this motley trio comes across an abandoned baby in a trash heap and sets out on a journey across Tokyo to find its parents, surmounting various dangers and bonding with each other in the process.

The same premise you see in a dozen syrupy, sentimental Hollywood Christmas films, each more disposable than the one before it- but what elevates Tokyo Godfathers above and beyond that dross is the way it grounds its string-of-coincidences plot in its characters, who are more more vivid and real, more three-dimensional (hehehe), than most characters in live-action films, and its setting- the city of Tokyo, so meticulously captured as to be a character in and of itself. The film shows us a Tokyo that we rarely see, not the glowing neon-lit city of the future popularized in films like Lost in Translation, but Tokyo as it is experienced by the outcasts of society, a city of back-alleys, public parks turned slums, and rotting tenements. It gives the film a sense of weight and verisimilitude that is rare to see today.

The question that remains is this- why is the film an animation? There's nothing in the film that couldn't technically be achieved in live-action (though some scenes would play out as markedly more absurd in such a setting). Indeed, some critics have taken this up as an issue, while failing to appreciate that the film's achievements- its wonderfully expressive characters and its carefully-controlled mis-en-scè ne- are precisely the result of it being an animation. Satoshi Kon gathered some of the best animators in Japan to make this film, and it shows. One of the film's most memorable scenes (I won't spoil it, but you'll know when you see it) is a monologue, delivered with passion and animated with equal intensity. In this one scene, an animator's ink, together with superb voice-acting, produces a performance on-par with an Oscar-winning actor. It's a validation of animation as a theatrical artform, and to me puts to rest the question that began this paragraph. Indeed, a better question would be this: why aren't there more animated films like this (or even live-action films, for that matter)?

I originally wrote this review in 2005, after seeing Tokyo Godfathers at the Singapore International Film Festival (it's quite sad that local distributors didn't see fit to give it a wider release, despite the film being very well-received at its two sold-out festival screenings), but since lost it in a dark and dusty folder of my iBook. Upon re-discovering it today, I felt compelled to re-write the entire thing before posting it. The film deserved better than the short three paragraph (and a line) treatment that I gave it. It's a superb example of the best of Japanese animation, and a wonderful Christmas movie (a phrase I never thought I'd say/write) as well.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

The Animaniacs Bible

Animaniacs (and its spin-off, Pinky & The Brain) was one of my favourite cartoons of the 90's, so I was quite excited when I found this Animaniacs Bible, which details the ideas behind the show and its characters. Surprisingly enough for such a seemingly anarchic show, its plot structures are laid quite quite rigidly, as you can see in the "Show Format" and "The Formula for Warner Bros Cartoons" pages. Now that I come to think of it, most of the show's episodes did roughly follow the structure as laid out in this document! I guess that says a lot about the formulaic nature of modern TV writing, even in cartoons, and why even the best Animaniacs cartoon, while a good deal better than the Warner Brothers cartoons that preceded it as well as those that have come since (except for the 90's Batman and Superman animated series, and possibly Justice League), just can't hold a candle to their classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Bill Plympton's Don't Download This Song music video

The video for "Weird Al" Yankovich's new song, Don't Download This Song, is directed by none other than the phenomenal Bill Plympton!

The song, a parody of your typical inspirational ballad (with lyrics that lampoon the RIAA's attempts to deal with music piracy by suing the heck out of music downloaders), is pretty funny. The video, a cautionary tale of a boy who illegally downloads music and is subsequently chased down by the police as a hardcore felon, is truly hilarious. If you'd like to see more cartoons by Bill Plympton, check out this blog entry by Shawn, which lists all the Bill Plympton videos that he found on Youtube (including the Oscar-nominated short Guard Dog). Thanks, Shawn!

Well, it looks like "Weird Al" has recruited some truly awesome animators to work on the videos for his new album (for which Don't Download This Song is the lead single). John Kricfalusi, creator of the famed Ren & Stimpy cartoons, is working on one of them (along with the talented illustrator Katie Rice)! I can't wait to see it.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Two brilliant CG shorts by Polish animator Tomek Baginski

EDIT: Replaced another broken Youtube video with one that works.

I discovered Tomek Baginski through the excellent animation blog The Progressive Animation Review, which highlighted his short film Fallen Art. I was highly impressed by the piece (which is winning awards everywhere), a stylish black comedy that builds up to the most hilarious yet disturbing climax I've seen in any film this year. It's definitely a must-watch for animation aficionados.

Naturally, I google'd Tomek Baginski to see what I could find. Turns out that Fallen Art was just his second released animation! His first film, Cathedral, tells a highly abstract science fiction tale about a pilgrim who visits a cathedral (what else?). One thing is clear from watching the two shorts- Baginski is not a man who likes to repeat himself. The two shorts are very different in both style and content. You can see how his directing and animation skills have improved from the first to the second. This really bodes well for his future, methinks. I look forward to seeing his future works.

Both shorts were animated and rendered in 3D Studio Max and were produced by Polish animation studio Platige Image. To learn more about Tomek Baginski and his works, check out these interviews:

Max Underground Interview with Tomek Baginski about Cathedral

Max Underground Interview with Tomek Baginski about Fallen Art

CGSociety Interview with Tomek Baginski about Fallen Art

Cathedral (2002)

Fallen Art (2004)

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Masters of animation- Derek Lamb

EDIT: Removed two embedded Youtube videos that have been removed from Youtube... a disturbing trend.

Animator, director, producer, writer, musician and teacher- the late, great Derek Lamb was all of these. He created works for the National Film Board of Canada, Sesame Street and UNICEF, amongst others, leaving a legacy of great animations. Here's a few that've made their way onto Youtube:

Every Child (1979)- produced by Derek Lamb, directed by Eugene Fedorenko.

(This video is no longer available on Youtube, but can be viewed at the National Film Board of Canada's Focus on Animation website)

This Academy Award-winning short film was created in celebration of UNICEF's Declaration of Children's Rights and the International Year of the Child. It illustrates one of the ten principles of the Declaration- that every child is entitled to a name and a nationality. It's a brilliant piece- the animation is visually dynamic, the A capella sound effects are wonderful and the story is both touching and wryly comic.

Special Delivery (1978)- produced by Derek Lamb, directed by John Weldon and Eunice Macaulay.

(This video is no longer available on Youtube, and unfortunately does not appear to be available anywhere else either, though you can view part of the animation in Realplayer format at the National Film Board of Canada website.)

Another Oscar-winning short, this one is a hilariously twisted tale of a man whose life changes completely after he makes the simple mistake of forgetting to to clear the snow off his porch.

Mystery! title sequence(1980)- directed by Derek Smart.

Oh what joy! Derek Smart brings the darkly humourous drawings of Edward Gorey to life in this fantastic opening sequence for the classic PBS TV series "Mystery!".

Finally, here's two animations Derek Lamb made for Sesame Street in the 1970s.

I Get Mad- designed and directed by Derek Lamb, animated by John Canemaker.

"It aint baaad to get maaaad!"
This cracks me up every time I see it. An adorably gruff goat sings a song about how it's ok to let off steam when people act like asses toward you.

Simple Simon and the re-arranged animals- directed by Derek Lamb.

A short yet really funny absurdist piece about a group of animals whose limbs have been re-arranged. Good stuff, especially the character of the snake- the way he says "Something is wrong... but this is great!" with a huge grin on his face is just classic!

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

State of Shounen Anime: 2006

Shounen anime used to constitute the bread-and-butter portion of my anime diet. While my tastes have shifted to anime with experimental animation and/or unusual and mature storytelling (FLAG, Kemonozume, Mushishi and Ayakashi are good examples from this year) I STILL enjoy a solid shounen-style anime every now and then. Here's what I've been watching lately:

Naruto was for a long time my favourite shounen anime. More than just a faithful translation of it's source manga, the show proved it's worth with excellent production values and beautiful animation. The highlight of the series was surely the climatic episode 133, where master animator Norio Matsumoto showed off his skills in a virtuoso fight sequence that is already considered by animation connoisseurs to be one of the greatest fight scenes in a shounen anime, ever. Sadly, the series dove from that high point into filler hell, where it's remained for the past year! I'll start watching Naruto again as soon as it resumes the manga storyline, but not an episode before.

Bleach started out pretty strong when it debuted in 2004, with an interesting premise, engaging characters and a nice mix of action and humour. However, the series suddenly switched gears in it's 2nd major storyline, which introduced a massive cast of superfluous supporting characters (beloved by fans because of their admittedly gorgeous character designs) and a plodding, overly-complex plotline designed to impress those who mistake complexity for depth. I stopped watching it after the 60th or so episode as it'd just become another example of everything I hate about mainstream anime.

Yakitate!! Japan, on the other hand, is an example of a great show that, despite hewing very closely to the standard shounen anime formula, managed to consistently be wonderfully entertaining. I took a break from watching it early this year as my sister, who I watched every episode with, went off on an overseas trip. She's back, but we haven't gotten around to catching up with the show just yet I was pretty surprised to find out recently that the series ended with it's 69th episode! I'm kind of disappointed- wacky, unique and fluffy-fun series like Yakitate!! Japan don't come around very often (or rather, they do but they're frequently not that good).

Eureka 7, which launched in 2005, was a surprisingly heartfelt show about growing up, young love, freedom, responsibility and giant surfboard-riding mecha. A weird combination, to say the least, but somehow the series (directed by Tomoki Kyoda of RahXephon fame) managed to make it work. I'd fallen way behind on my viewing and sure enough, the show seems to have ended! By all accounts, it was pretty good til the end. I can't wait to see what I've missed.

Noein is probably the most interesting new shounen anime I've seen this year. The first episode is all I've seen so far, but what I saw was really gorgeous! The animation was delicious, with loose, sketchy drawings (that probably made loads of regular anime fans recoil in horror) and beautiful movements. The fight scenes are truly a marvel. Disappointly, the second episode seemed to revert to a "normal" anime look, with detailed characters that lacked the free-flowing sense of movement that they had in the first, but Ben Ettinger (who has a keen eye for good animation and runs the very cool Anipages Daily blog) mentioned really great work done by the animators on later episodes so I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of this series (which ended earlier this year).

I was really looking forward to Blood+ as I thought the movie it's based on was an excellent mood piece and relished the idea of it being fleshed out. However, the best part of the series turned out to be it's first ten minutes- a stylish extended introduction animated in a similar style to the original Blood movie. The rest of the show, which took the safe route with typical-looking character designs and animation, just alienated me. The storyline of the show turned out to be just as prosaic as it's look and by the 5th or 6th episode, I'd lost all interest.

If you're an anime fan, you'll have noticed that none of the above are anime from 2006! Disappointingly, none of the shounen anime released this year have been very good.

A friend of mine recommended Air Gear, citing it's similarity to SEGA's thoroughly hip Dreamcast classic Jet Set Radio (aka Jet Grind Radio). Unfortunately, the show tries it's darndest to ape JSR but fails completely. The music sucks, the animation is totally boring and the storyline and characters just grate (to my horror, there's even a loli character). BORING. 'Nuff sed.

I do have a couple shows on my to-watch list that might be cool:

XXXHOLic & Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle- I really liked the first volume of CLAMP's XXXHOLic manga and it's sister manga, Tsubasa Chronicle sounds pretty interesting too, so I figure I'll check both anime adaptations out.

Tokyo Tribe 2- Santa Inoue's manga Tokyo Tribe 2 (released in English as Tokyo Tribes by Tokyopop) has fast become one of my favourite manga with it's epic story about warring street tribes on the streets of an alternate Tokyo- one that's rife with crime and corruption. Santa takes his cue from the great Hollywood gangster movies by centering the story around two characters- Kai and Mera, ex-best friends, now members of rival gangs and embroiled in what's about to become the biggest gang war to ever go down in Tokyo. The anime is being produced by the always reliable Madhouse Studios and will be directed by Tatsuo Sato, who made the surreal and experimental Cat Soup, amongst other things. Pretty exciting!

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Korgoth of Barbaria

On the strength of it's pilot episode alone, I'm declaring Korgoth of Barbaria the best new American animated series of 2006. Yep, even better than The Amazing Screw-On Head, which was cool, but nowhere near THIS cool. Korgoth of Barbaria is an action-comedy that parodies Conan the Barbarian, Heavy Metal comics and well, the swords-and-sorcery genre of fantasy in general.

It's created by Aaron Springer, who storyboarded Spongebob Squarepants (and even wrote and directed some episodes), and the pilot episode's animation was directed by none other than Genndy Tartakovsky (the genius behind Dexter's Lab and Samurai Jack). With animation bigshots like that, you expect quality and Korgoth delivers in spades.

The show looks great, with unique character designs, excellent animation and surprisingly lovely painted backgrounds (done by Bill Wray, according to Cartoon Brew). It's also gust-bustingly funny, thanks to some killer dialogue (people will be quoting this stuff everywhere on the web by year-end), deft comic timing and the totally over-the-top heavy metal music used in the show. I can't wait for the show to debut in September (sadly, Cartoon Network Asia sucks SO MUCH that we don't even get Adult Swim in Singapore, but there's always Bittorrent!).

So check out the pilot episode on Youtube (part one, part two and part three) or download the torrent and know the awesomeness that is... KORGOTH!
*cue wailing guitars*

Note: I forgot to point out that Korgoth is, true to it's sword-and-sorcery roots, a really violent show- blood and limbs fly everywhere during fight scenes. Suffice to say, it ain't for the faint of heart. You've been warned.

Friday, July 21, 2006

It's the 80's all over again- TMNT trailer!

Wow- movie studios are really milking 80s nostalgia for all it's worth. First Transformers (with it's very underwhelming teaser trailer) and now everyone's favourite pizza-eating amphibian ninjas get their own trailer for their upcoming big-screen comeback. Surprisingly, it looks really good!

Love their new look!

The upcoming CGI feature film (directed by Kevin Munroe, a veteran animator) is set after the first two live-action films, much like the recent Superman Returns. Another similarity with that movie is that both look to set new standards in depicting the way their title characters move by utilizing the wonders of computer animation. The flying scenes in Superman Returns were nigh-incredible and the acrobatic way the turtles run and jump across the rooftops of New York city is far above and beyond anything the first two movies, with actors clad in clunky full-body turtle suits, could offer.

With director Kevin Munroe saying that the tone of the film will hearken back to Eastman and Laird's original comics (by far the coolest version of the turtles), this movie looks to have quite a bit of potential. Colour me excited.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Genius animator Makoto Shinkai is making a new film!

In 2001, an artist began work on an animated short film. He worked alone, using his Macintosh G4 PC to produce the animation. The film premiered in 2002 and went on to win no less than six awards as well as the adulation of the Japanese animation community.

The artist was Makoto Shinkai. The short film: 'Voices of a Distant Star." Unerringly beautiful, poetic and heartfelt, the film was unlike anything that had ever come out of the Japanese animation scene. 'Voices' used what could have been a standard science-fiction scenario- a soldier leaves Earth to fight a war in distant space while leaving his (in this case, her) lover behind- to tell a deeply personal, emotionally-charged story about love and seperation. It really is a brilliant work- one of the few anime that could possibly be considered a work of art.

Having established himself as one of the finest animators of his generation, Shinkai then proceeded to make his first feature-length animation- 'The Place Promised in Our Early Days.' This time, he worked with a full production staff and the results show in the increased technical quality of the work. Once again, the film melded science-fiction with a personal story of friendship, love and loss. Once again, the film earned much praise, winning four awards. However, a criticism often made of the work is that the pacing suffered with the longer length- perhaps unsurprising given Shinkai's inexperience at making feature-length films.

It is interesting, then, that his next animated film, '5 Centimeters per Second,' will consist of 3 short stories, centered around a boy, that take place in Japan from the 1990s til today. Dividing the film in this way should allow Shinkai to play to his strength in creating short stories, while also allowing him to create a rich, deep work. He's also decided to eschew the science-fiction trappings of his previous works, instead focusing on making the story and setting as realistic as possible.

However the story turns out, one thing's for sure- the film will be utterly gorgeous, if the trailer on the film's site is anything to go by. Both streaming or HD-downloadable versions of the trailer are offered and I highly recommend the latter if your PC can support it. Fansubbing group The Triad has also kindly released a translation of the trailer on their BitTorrent tracker.

'5 Centimeters per Second' is set to debut in Spring 2007- it'll surely be one of the animation highlights of the year! I await it's arrival eagerly.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Amazing Screw-On Head Debuts Online on July 13!

The Sci Fi Channel's animated adaptation of Hellboy-creator Mike Mignola's weird, wonderful and hilarious one-shot comic 'The Amazing Screw-On Head' will be premiering on the networks's Pulse broadband channel in just 3 days! According to Newsarama, viewers will be given a survey to fill out to help the network's executives decide whether to green-light the series or not. Given the show's unique premise and well-known cast (see above picture!), I think this fantasy-adventure-comedy series has a good chance at capturing viewers.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Ratatouille trailer is online... again!

UPDATE: You can watch the trailer, in English this time, at Apple's trailer website here.

The French trailer for Pixar's next big animated feature film, Ratatouille, leaked onto the net a couple weeks ago but was quickly taken offline. Well, a quick search for Ratatouille on Youtube uncovers 5 videos of the trailer- I guess they can't stop every single uploader. Also, blogger and animator Bartek Kujbida has kindly mirrored the Quicktime version of the trailer on his site. It's a lovely trailer- the visuals are gorgeous, as always with a Pixar movie, and the animation is great! I really like the main character's design. This movie's being (co-)directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant), so I've got high hopes for it.

The trailer's in French, but here's a rough English translation, courtesy of Ain't It Cool News:

[Beginning]

And tonight before dessert, for your enjoyment, we introduce the cheese plate. We have this delicious goat cheese bell, real lite, real sweet. Then, an ewe that will satisfy you with its generous perfume. But, last but not least, a real old and real special...

It's a rat!

[freeze]

- And there I am. I think I have to reconsider my life. There's nothing I can do, it's over my strength, I love good food, ok? And good food is very hard to find for a rat.

- You would find I you weren't so requiring.

- I don't want to eat in dustbins, dad... What's that?

- I have no idea.

- You have no idea, but you eat it anyway, don't you?

- You know, if you can close the exit after you throw up, you have a whole lot of possibilities for food.

- Voilà! That's exactly what I meant.

(Over the movie title) Nothing of this would have happened I we did not live in Paris! And it's sooo easy to find good food in Paris! But... it's dangerous. [un-freeze].

- You have to reconsider you life!

- You know, he is right!

- Dad, it's enough!

[End]

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Movie Review: Cars

When I first heard about Cars, I was doubtful. The movie's premise (a remake of Doc Hollywood set in a world full of cars!?!) just didn't excite me. Neither did the fact that NASCAR- a sport that I have little to no knowledge about and no interest in- seemed to figure heavily in it. The various trailers didn't do much to change my mind- the movie looked good enough, but I expected nothing short of brilliance from Pixar (by far and away my favourite movie studio) and Cars didn't look brilliant. Heck, a month ago when I watched 'Over The Hedge', I was convinced that this would be the first year in which Dreamworks would make a better movie than Pixar- and I declared so to my friends!

Well, Pixar, you've made me eat my words. I will never doubt this studio again. Not only is Cars a truly GREAT movie, a movie made with obvious love and passion, it's also one of Pixar's most emotionally mature works- one that, while appealing to kids, will only be fully appreciated by adults. On the surface, the story really is 'Doc Hollywood with cars' but Pixar's genius is that they always manage to make an old story feel fresh. The secret's in the characters. The studio's movies are always, first and foremost, character journeys- no Pixar hero is quite the same at the end of the movie as at the start. This is especially true of Cars.

The protagonist of Cars, rookie racecar Lightning McQueen (played by Owen Wilson) starts out brash and cocky, so obsessed about winning that he has no time for other people. He's a bit unlikeable, frankly, though he earns our sympathy when it's shown that his lifestyle and behaviour has left him bereft of any real friends. The movie introduces McQueen and his world of NASCAR racing perfectly, beginning in a loud and almost-obnoxious manner with a visually-kinetic race scene.

The sudden change in pace that occurs when McQueen, through a series of mishaps, gets stuck in the small town of Radiator Springs is jarring enough to be noticeable (indeed, I got a bit restless for the first ten minutes of the movie's 2nd act) but the movie quickly regains it's footing as we are introduced to the cast of characters who inhabit the town. The three main players here are the world-weary but wise Doc Hudson (Paul Newman in a great performance), the beautiful lawyer Sally (Bonnie Hunt) and Mater (comedian Larry the Cable Guy)- the dim-witted, rusty but loveable tow truck who takes a liking to McQueen.

No doubt you'll hear this from others, but I'll say it here too- Mater is the heart and soul of this movie. He's not just the comic relief sidekick that he's shown to be in the trailers (make no mistake, though- he's hilarious in the movie), he also teaches McQueen about the value of friendship by being the first person (car?) to ever befriend him and completely place his trust in him. The friendship that develops between him and McQueen is truly touching.

Cars also manages to give each of it's large cast of supporting characters their own little moment to shine in the movie, in a manner similar to the Toy Story movies. In fact, my very favourite scene in the movie features a character named Guido, a little Italian forklift and racing fan who only speaks one phrase in English. I won't say anymore- you'll know the scene when you see it- it made the audience at my screening fairly howl with laughter.

I said Cars holds greater appeal to adults than to children- that's because the movie is also a celebration of one of the icons of 20th Century America: the famous Route 66 (which ran all the way from Chicago to LA). Immortalized in song, fiction and even a TV series, Route 66 was a symbol of freedom, exploration and romance. Through Cars, director John Lasseter (the man who we're all counting on to save Disney) communicates his love for this now-defunct road.

The movie laments the loss of the communities that sprung up around Route 66 with the advent of modern Inter-State Highways that just take people from Point A to Point B, too fast to appreciate what lies in between (the fictional town of Radiator Springs in the movie is said to be strongly inspired by the real-life town of Amboys, California). Now, it's possible to get overly-preachy with this kind of thing- and in one speech given by a main character, the movie nearly does. Ultimately, though, the movie's nostalgia is endearing and fits in well with Lightning McQueen's character arc.

What's left to say about this movie? It's just great, heart-warming stuff. The movie commemorates Pixar's 20th year and serves as a tribute to the late, great Joe Ranft (who worked on the stories of all of Pixar's films, including Cars, and famously acted as Wheezy the penguin in Toy Story 2 as well as Heimlich the catterpillar in A Bug's Life). It's sad the man didn't live to see the movie, but I think he'd be real pleased with it.

Incidentally, in case you're wondering, the movie is also visually gorgeous. You won't even notice that this is a computer-animated movie- it just feels like a really well-shot, well-animated movie (which really is the highest compliment you can give Pixar on their animation). The music's great, too, with a surprising number of songs and a decidedly Southern flavour.

Alright then, I've said enough. Now just go watch the movie already. You'll love it. Oh and don't go to the theatre late- you don't wanna miss 'One Man Band,' the animated short film that airs before the movie. It's great stuff. The screening of short films at the beginning of each of their animated feature films is just another thing to love about Pixar.

Friday, March 31, 2006

Madhouse is ON FIRE!

Japanese animation studio Madhouse has got a of shows in production this year that showcases an unbelievable amount of talent. First up, a movie by Mamoru Hosoda, a super-talented animator who was originally supposed to direct Howl's Moving Castle for Ghibli but dropped out of the project after some problems with the production. Ghibli's loss (and after seeing the mess that was Miyazaki's version, I think it truly was a loss!) was Toei Animation's gain, though, as he ended up directing the fantastic movie One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island for them. How good could a One Piece movie be? Well, you'd be surprised! The movie brings out the title's theme of comradeship in a more thoughtful, mature way than the series' does while featuring it's fair share of spectacular action scenes- most notably, it's got the greatest punch EVER animated. So I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say I'm really excited about Mamoru Hosoda's new work, despite knowing nothing about it!

Madhouse has also announced Masaaki Yuasa's new TV series! WHOOHOO!!! The man is a complete genius and directed my favourite movie of 2005 and still the best animated movie made in the past 10 years- MIND GAME. His new TV series is called Kemonozume, which translates to Claw of the Beast. The website's got a picture of a Yakuza-looking fella with a katana about to kiss a blond woman who's right arm ends in a horrifically huge claw, drawn in Yuasa's characteristic sketchy style. Running the site's text through Google Translate reveals that the show is a "fear x action x love story"- seems the woman is "the most fearfully monster" and the man is "the strongest monster hunter." Of course, they're in love. The show promises "stylish action" like nothing seen before. Now that would be total hyberbole from any other quarter, but I trust Yuasa to live up to that promise.

Next up, Madhouse is producing a TV series directed by Mitsuo Iso- an animator who's impressive body of work includes Gundam 0080 stellar opening sequence, the spider tank sequence in Ghost in the Shell and the 1st and 19th episodes of Evangelion. He's got a very accomplished style and a keen eye for movement so it'll be interesting to see how he holds up directing an entire series- something he's never done before.

The fun doesn't stop there! They've also got a new movie by Satoshi Kon (who directed by 9th favourite movie of 2005- Tokyo Godfathers) in development and a a new movie scripted by Taste of Tea (a brilliant live-action movie starring one of the coolest Japanese actors working today- Asano Tadanobu) director Katsuhito Ishii and directed by Takeshi Koike, who directed the surreal, hyper-kinetic animation Dead Leaves. Whew. That's a lot of good stuff coming from Madhouse this year. I can't wait to see 'em!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Disney's playing the ripoff game

Just saw the trailer for Disney's The Wild on TV. Wow. This movie rips off both DreamWorks'Madagascar and Pixar's finding Nemo. Good job, Disney! You've just lowered your brand value in the eyes of filmgoers everywhere. John Lasseter's got an uphill job ahead of him in restoring Disney to it's former glory.

Wallace & Gromit wins an Oscar!

Best Animated Feature! Oh yeah! One of the best movies of 2005 gets some recognition on!

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Gedo Senki Trailer!

Ghibliworld.com has posted a high-resolution trailer of Studio Ghibli's (who brought us such masterpieces as My Neighbour Totoro, Porco Rosso, Grave of the Fireflies and Princess Mononoke) newest film Gedo Senki, or Tales from Earthsea. Oh yes, it's a Ursula K. Le Guin adaptation! I love her Earthsea books- they're the very pinnacle of all-ages fantasy writing- so I'm very excited about this adaptation. At the very least, it should be better than the despicable recent Hallmark adaptation of the books.

Anyway, Gedo Senki is directed by a Miyazaki, but not the Miyazaki we're used to! This film is the directorial debut of Goro Miyazaki, son of the famed animator Hayao Miyazaki. Judging by the trailer, I think he may well have his father's talents. The animation is up the high standards that we expect from a Ghibli production, but what really stands out in the trailer is the theme song- which was written by Goro Miyazaki himself and is absolutely beautiful. I haven't been able to get my hands on a translation of the lyrics but I'll put em up as soon as I do.

In an interesting side-note, Goro Miyazaki's been posting a daily blog about the production of the film- a translation of which has been put up by the good folks at Nausicaa.net. Sadly, the blog reveals that that Hayao Miyazaki was against his son directing the film and subsequent entries show that a rift between the two men that seems to go back quite far. In his February 22nd and 23rd entries, partially translated by Ghibliworld.com, Goro Miyazaki wrote that the reason why it took him so long to enter the world of animation was because of objections from his mother. Apparently, his mother used to be an animator but the pressures of child-rearing forced her to resign- while his father worked so hard that his family hardly saw him at all.

Is this, then, the price of genius? Hayao Miyazaki is undoubtedly a genius in the medium of animation, and it is ironic that many of his films are about childhood. In fact, as many have noted, the depictions of children in his films are more nuanced and realistic than many other animations, or live-action films for that matter. Its ironic that his own son would feel this way about him now. Is it truely impossible to balance the burden of a singular creative vision and the responsibility of being a parent? Or is this more of a generational gap issue? Impossible for me to say. I only hope that the release of this film (which, if all goes well, will be Ghibli's latest masterpiece) will go some way towards healing the rift between the two Miyazakis. Perhaps Ghibli's next film can be a collaboration between them!

Gedo Senki is set to come out in July in Japan, so hopefully it'll reach Singapore before the end of this year!

Monday, February 20, 2006

Art in The Age of No-Privacy

I was just looking through a few sites I'd bookmarked recently in order to put up links to them here when I realised all of them had a unifying thread. They were all about the way Internet and surveillance technologies (current and near-future) are eroding away our privacy and freedoms. It's good to see artists (writers, comic artists and animators in this case) tackling these issues that really don't get as much attention in the press as they should. Anyway, here goes.

Online science-fiction magazine Futurismic has a great story up by Mark Ward. It's called Cycle Thieves and it's a deft blend of noir-mystery style cyberpunk and Internet-generation concerns about pervasive social technologies. Very nice and it's apparently his 2nd story, which makes him a ery promising writer indeed.

Wired Magazine's February issue has a nice write-up about the uber-cool artist Paul Pope's upcoming Batman story- Batman: Year 100. I love the man's work- his graphich novel 100%, a character centred science-fiction story filled with beautiful dialogue and even more beautiful art, was just brilliant. So I'm rather looking forward to his take on the Batman myth- set in 2039, Batman: Year 100 posits the character as the last bastion of freedom in a dystopian police state. Which is a bit similar to Frank Miller's take on the character in The Dark Knight Strikes Back, his sequel to the seminal Dark Knight Returns, but I think that given the state of America today (cough*Patriot Act*cough) it's a scenario well worth revisiting. Paul Pope's stated in interviews that he wants depict Batman as a sort of escape artist, fighting the powers that be with dangerous, acrobatic acts of civil disobedience. Whoa, apparently the comic came out last week. Time for me to hit the comics shop.

Animation blog Cartoon Brew linked to a very nice British short animated film titled Welcome To Glaringly. The quality of the linked Quicktime video isn't the best, but the animation itself is gorgeous- utilizing a blocky, pixel-artish look to great effect. This wryly funny short film posits a scenario where video footage from a public surveillance camera is wildly out-of-context, to hilarious (for the audience, anyway) results. The underlying message here, I suppose, is that due to the very nature of public surveillance, it's hard to put any context to such footage and it's necessary to take whatever those cameras see with a grain of salt.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Disney=Pixar!

So it's finally happened. Disney's gone and bought Pixar. It's a no-brainer move for Disney. Pixar's made 6 movies and each of them was a smash hit. Nobody else in Hollywood comes even close to that level of consistency. But what's really interesting about this deal is that Steve Jobs will become the largest stockholder at Disney and a member of it's board of directors and that John Lasseter (director of both Toy Story movies and A Bug's Life) will serve as chief creative officer of the combined Disney-Pixar studios.

This is the best possible thing that could happen to Disney, in my opinion. Last year's stunningly mediocre Chicken Little showed a Disney at it's creative nadir. They haven't made a truly great movie in over a decade. They need a major shake-up to return to their former glory, and this looks like just that shake-up.

I believe under John Lasseter's guidance, Disney's animation division can be a force to be reckoned with once again. I look forward to seeing the Disney that confidently turned out the smash hits The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King; the animated works that defined my youth. And so I eagerly anticipate the next move by the New Disney.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Whoa, Singapore's got a feature-length animation coming out THIS MONTH??

Oh boy am I out of the loop on this one! Cubix International, a local film company, has completed their (and Singapore's) first feature-length animated movie, Zodiac- The Race Begins, and it's releasing at the end of this month (nicely timed to coincide with the Chinese New Year break). The movie's about the titular Zodiac Race which would decide the order of precedence of the 12 animals in the calendar. Getting this movie out is a nice accomplishment for Cubix, though the quality of the CGI-work, from the looks of the official site, is pretty bad!

Compared to this, Egg Story's work on Kung Fu Gecko looks brilliant. Not surprising as Kung Fu Gecko's visuals are top-quality even by Hollywood standards. But we won't see Kung Fu Gecko for a long time as it's slated for a 2008 release. Curiously enough, 2008's the same year in which Dreamworks will release it's own similarly-monikered animated movie- "Kung Fu Panda." Gee, Is there an animal Kung Fu craze going on in the animation community or something?

Oh but back to Zodiac. Well, despite looking kinda crappy, the movie's been pre-sold to over 22 countries based on a 10-minute trailer. That's impressive! Not so impressive is the fact that they made it with the help of the MDA. Not that there's anything wrong with that, per say, I just don't see how the animation industry can grow creatively (as opposed to commercially) if the government has to be backing up industry players all the way. Creativity flourishes under pressure and these guys certainly aren't under any. So I'd be very surprised if "Zodiac- The Race Begins" turns out to be anything but humourous, mildly entertaining and completely forgettable.

And who can blame Singapore for making such a movie? Dreamworks (with Shark Tale) and Disney (with Chicken Little, a movie SO forgettable I couldn't tell my sister the plotline not half an hour after I saw it. It's VANISHED from my mind) have set the precedent- you can make a totally vapid animated movie and people will line up to throw money at you. Still, all isn't lost. If there's justice in this world, everyone'll go watch Wallace & Gromit, a truely excellent animated movie in every single way, instead of this one. I'm not even going to give it the benefit of doubt. I smell money all over this production. Nobody made this movie because they love animation or wanted to tell a good story- they wanted to make a good "Intellectual Property" and then make money off merchandising and licensing. So I'm waiting til 2008 to see a GOOD (or at least pretty- last year's trailer didn't fully convince me on the story but hey, it's only the 1st trailer and the movie's 2 years down the pipeline...) animated movie come out of Singapore.

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