I’m moving blogs!

Hi all,

I’m combining all of my animation content into one super blog – I’ll still be writing about animation frequently so head on over to https://prosceniumdreams.wordpress.com/ to continue following me.

 

Over and out!

 

D23 2017: the things I’m most excited for coming up in the Disney universe!

It’s that annual weekend where Disney fans like me go crazy: this year’s D23 sounded like a blast. The Pixar panels sounded right up my street – the Inside The Evolution of Pixar’s characters sounded particularly amazing. As with any big budget studio animation, it takes a huge team to get bring these stories to life.  So much care goes into making those animations that it’s always a pleasure when you get a sneaky peak behind the scenes into the actual craft of the work.

D23 also revealed the ever-growing expansion of the Marvel Universe (I enjoy the films, but when will they stop? NEVER is the answer clearly); new park news (two words: TRON RIDE); sequels and remakes (we just don’t need a Toy Story 4, number 3 was just so final! However I love The Incredibles so I could be fine with that sequel.  Don’t get me started on all of the live action remakes.) ; and some brand new (huzzah!) work in the pipeline which sounded like it could be great. I’m most excited about:

1. Untitled Dan Scanlon Film

Not much was given away about this film but according to Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, it will be partly taken from director Dan Scanlon’s childhood, who lost his father when he was a small child and wondered what his father would be like.

“The story is set in a world with no humans—only elves, trolls, and sprites—“anything that would be on the side of a van in the ’70s,” said the director. “In the film, we’re going to tell the story of two teenage elf brothers whose father died when they were too young to remember him. But thanks to the little magic still left in the world, the boys embark on a quest that will allow them a chance to spend one last magical day with their father.”

Pixar have a magic touch when it comes to injecting some real humanity and feeling into their films (see Inside Out and the end of Toy Story 3. I start crying at WALLE in the first 10 minutes) whilst tackling tricky and difficult emotional concepts in a non-patronising way for the kids in the audience. Could be promising. Mental note = must take tissues when I watch it.

2. Untitled DisneyToon Studios Film

Again, not much to go on but according to Lasseter this film “explores the future of aviation”. Fun time ahead.

3. Coco

Admittedly, when I first saw the trailer to this I did like most people think it looked very similar the The Book Of Life – but the main character’s dream of being a musician really appeals to me.  I’m hoping that it means the film was have a excellent soundtrack.

4. Big Hero 6: The Series

Big Hero 6 is one of my favourite Disney Pixar films of more recent years, plus I adore Baymax which is evident in my photo below (any excuse to get this out and I’m there. I met Baymax at World Disney World in 2016 and I don’t think I could look any happier).  What excites me the most about this is the confirmed use of 2D animation – I’m very interested to see how a film which started off in 3D will translate into a 2D format. I’m quite often moaning to people about how I miss Disney’s use of 2D animation on the big screen so let’s see how this idea works on the small.

Top image copywright: D23

The Reddit Rummage – Vol. 1

So I might change the name of this strand – but for now, this will do.

Reddit is a rarity in the internet these days. One of the only places where forums are still a thing (rather than sharing your thoughts via visual means  like YouTube and livestreaming), you can find yourself in some deep, occassionally dark and often wonderful places. As a animation fan who is constantly looking for new work, I love delving into the Animation Reddit to see what I can find. It’s a place where you can get advice on software, ask questions about a career in animation, and if you’re a new animator you can get feedback on your work, if you’re happy to have extremely honest feedback.

Twice a month, I’ll be having a rummage through the Animation Reddit to highlight at least one animation which has caught my eye.

Dinosaur Pick-Up Lines by Jason Horton

The bright look and feel really appeals to me: the patterns and text used to support the voiceover works well and helps the viewer focus on those key lines. It’s fun and short. Not too keen on his other YouTube vids, but we’re not here to talk about that.

Treasure: A Stop Motion Animation by Brandon Buikema

This stop-motion animation is so beautifully executed – it tells a story with a few simple but meaningful objects which look like they’re floating out of the treasure chest. Very moving.

I ❤️️ FilmCow: my top 5 videos

I was browsing my YouTube subscriptions very early one morning before work, and saw that FilmCow were doing a livestream of all of the existing Ghost House shorts on a loop. I watched it. I loved it. It reminded me how random, occassionally political, always irreverant and flipping hilarious Film Cow content is: from the downright weird (The Bearnicorn) to the very uncomfortable (Chris Brown: American Superhero), here’s my top 5 videos in no particular order – go watch (only if you’re an adult though, lots of interesting language throughout):

1.  Charlie the Unicorn

It’s a classic (now with over 29 million views) and the first video I watched from FilmCow. I went from ‘WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST WATCH?’ to ‘this is actual genius’ in a few views:

2.  OMG CRACKLIN’ OAT BRAN

All adverts should be made like this, I’d buy everything. Not strictly animation, but it’s puppets so close enough.

3. Fannie and Earl

I’m a bored housewife in the 1600s or something: screw the Xbox, I’m gonna summon me some ghosts

4. Ghost House(s)

Just RIDICULOUS.

5. Charlie Teh Unicorn Episode 2

Let’s pastische some popular culture via the lovable characters we saw in Charlie the Unicorn.

Also, as a sidenote, if you love FilmCow as much as I do, send them a few pounds/dollars/euros/whatever via Patreon – animations don’t just grow on trees!

Want to work in anime? Read this…

I recently saw a friend share a job post on Twitter looking for animators to work on the new Studio Ghibli film. Intrigued, and ignoring the fact that I am not an animator and don’t speak Japanese, I clicked on the job post. Reading it through, it got me thinking about what life might be like working abroad in the animation sector.

There’s a fantastic new article on Kotaku from French animator Thomas Romain, who travelled with a colleague to Tokyo over 19 years ago to make a self-funded anime series. Romain is fairly frank about his experience as a foreign animator in a established landscape already famous around the world for its art and notoriously difficult to break into. Here are a few notable points from the article which really stand out for me.

• The drive and work ethic of the people in the industry – you could say working day and night to get an anime finished and ready to go for broadcast is admirable, but not consistently and to the detriment of your health, which appears to be a recurring theme in the industry. One worrying detail Romain reveals that a colleague died of a stroke, potentially from overwork, and that “life expectancy among animators is not very old”. I think there’s a fine line between being passionate about your work and being obsessive, however if that’s the working culture then it’s a difficult cycle to break. Doesn’t mean it’s right though! It also makes me wonder if it’s a male dominated industry – due to the overtly and quite frankly disturbing sexualisation of women in anime (that’s a topic for another post though) I would guess so, but wouldn’t like to assume.
• The friendliness of your colleagues – Romain talks about his experience of being truly welcomed into the Japanese anime community. As expected, he explains that making an effort to understand and integrate yourself into the culture is key, as is working long and hard hours, often unpaid, to get the work done. It seems as though your hard work does not go unnoticed though and you’ll get good work opportunities if you work hard (maybe too hard) enough.
• You don’t need to be an amazing illustrator to work in the anime industry – and like all of the visual arts industries, there’s probably a role for you to match your skills. Being an editor or production assistant sounds equally cool if you’re working on an anime.

The overwhelming sentiment is a total passion for the work: Romain says “I love drawing, I love 2D animation, and this is the best country to work in if you want to learn the craft. “There are so many brilliant animators, directors, studios, producing interesting content. I just wanted to be part of it, at any cost.”  The bigger issue of a relentless work culture is addressed as an (unfair) reality, but the animator’s love for his job is evident.

To read more, check out the article here. Thomas Romain’s Twitter feed is super cool too – a great insight into Japanese life.

Image copyright: Flickr Creative Commons (K Anime by Danny Choo)

Welcome!

Hi people of the internet – welcome to my very first blog post on my new website!

I’ve been meaning to start a blog where I can share my passion for animation for a while – it’s a long term interest, and I feel like I’ve seen so much interesting + thought-provoking film + TV recently that it’s high time I got my thoughts down on screen.

Here, you’ll find discussion + reviews of past,  present + future works in animation across all media (including the internet, YouTube is full of wonder for animation fans!).

To toast my new blogging venture (and to congratulate/comiserate my results from the saxophone exam I took today), I popped by the Disney Store and treated myself to this great Steamboat Willie mug (complete with tea) – the very first animation with synchronised sound from Walt Disney.

 

So cheers!  Here’s to animation – let’s get celebrating.