Posts filed under 'Animation'
June 29th, 2009
Via Cinematical, here’s a quote from Pixar animator Angus MacLane (via SciFi Wire) about the much anticipated third film in the TOY STORY series. MacLane created the funny BURN-E short that was included on the WALL-E DVD and worked on TOY STORY 2, where he created the Buzz Lightyear they met in Al’s Toy Barn. So, with all that Pixar experience at his disposal and a deep involvment with TS3 (in which Andy leaves for college), here’s what MacLane said…
“I feel like we’ve grown up making these movies, and each of the films represents where the filmmakers were at the time of making the films. Certainly we’re approaching this film 10 years later, so I think we’re sort of coming at it from the standpoint of [Andy] has grown up, and we’ve grown up with these toys, and we have a reverence for them, but we also have different things as a priority.”
If you don’t think this movie is going to break your heart, remember TOY STORY 2 (which Disney, in its endless wisdom, originally wanted to do as a straight-to-video quickie) contains The Saddest Song In Movie History…
May 28th, 2009
Pixar’s latest movie, UP, hits theaters this weekend, and as should be no surprise, it’s getting rave reviews.
The Onion AV Club has an interesting interview with UP (and MONSTERS INC.) director Pete Docter. Naturally, most of the time is spend discussing his latest movie, but he also talks about what it’s like to work on a Pixar film, including this almost frightening look at how much work goes into creating every detail of every frame.
“If you think of the frame as like a cake, a layer cake, any particular image you look at, I’ve had 18 different reviews. I’ve had lighting reviews, shading, the movement is a different review, any special effects, fur, cloth, hair. All these different reviews. So I’ve kind of seen everything, every separate element in that frame. It’s all so controllable, almost to an insane degree, that it’s a lot of work.”
OK, let’s ballpark this. Standard rate is 24 frames per second, and the Internet Movie Database lists as having a running time of 96 minutes. So that’s 24 times 60 times 96, which equals 138,240 frames. Now if we multiply that by the number of layers…
Well, let’s just say that’s a lot of work. And the great thing about Pixar’s movies is that all that work is right up there for you to enjoy on the big screen.
April 2nd, 2009
This week’s entry in the Onion AV Club’s New Cult Film Canon is IRON GIANT, the 1999 animated film directed by Brad Bird (later famous as the guy behind THE INCREDIBLES and RATATOUILLE). It’s a truly great film — funny, exciting and profound — and it has an ending that never fails to make me shed a tear (specifically, when the big robot says the word that’s the title of this post).
If you’re a fan of the movie — or, better yet, if you’ve never seen it — be sure to check out this write-up. And, if you’ve got time, read some of the (many, many) comments that follow. You’ll find out that virtually everyone cries during this movie. (And you’ll see a surprising amount of love for Disney’s THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE.)
December 19th, 2008
Over at his animation blog, Cartoon Brew, historian Jerry Beck is trying to compile a list of the 100 greatest Looney Tunes (you know — Bug, Daffy, Elmer, those folks) for an upcoming book. And he wants your help:
I’m asking all participants to list their “greatest” nominees in the comments section below. You can list your top ten, twenty or fifty - but please, no more than that. List them in order of greatness, #1 being the most important. I’ll cull the final one hundred out of what titles we receive by January 9th. Please include your real name if you wish to be acknowledged in the book.
Want to pitch in? Click here.
Here’s one of my favorites, 1945’s THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ROBBERY, directed by the great Bob Clampett.
November 5th, 2008
Here’s my video review of the excellent new LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTION Vol. 6, which includes several eye-opening glimpses of what sort of cartoons the studio made during the dark days of World War II. (Hitler and Goering both make appearances, believe it or not.) If you’re a fan of animation history, this is the set to get.
[flashvideo filename=”http://www.rrstar.com/multimedia/x1720636861/Movie-man-Looney-Toons-collection-has-both-the-usual-crowd-and-the-good-stuff/@@download.flv” /]
And here’s the print version.
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