I receive Google alerts on animation to help me keep up with the latest animation news. Lately, I’ve been getting daily reminders that Fox’s Animation Domination block (a.k.a. “The Simpsons and three Seth MacFarlane shows”) is going to be rolling out the celebrity guest stars In the coming season. Some are just press releases, while others contain a little more editorial. To me, Fox’s big push to promote the upcoming celebrity voices in their animated shows is just another reminder of the disturbing number of voice acting jobs going to “face” actors.
Today’s Friday Fun Link is a fascinating piece of animation history: an illustrated story by story artist and director Chris Sanders. Created as part of a handout for a Disney offsite retreat, The Big Bear Aircraft Company is a barely veiled metaphor for Disney Feature Animation, foretelling a dim future of bland, unoriginal films that will someday be overshadowed by another studio’s productions if management and writer continue to marginalize the artists. Sanders also offers ideas that could lead to a better outcome: small groups of artists and writers working together to develop projects with minimal management interference.
Cartoon Brew posted a link to the story and Sanders himself responded, providing some additional background on the story, why he chose this particular format to air his concerns, and what the response was.
The fact that this story appears to have been written back in 1989 (Sanders doesn’t provide a more specific date) makes it all the more prescient in hindsight. Disney did have trouble evolving beyond what had worked in the past and was eventually overtaken by other studios – particularly Sanders’ current employer Dreamworks.
Another Oscar Night has come and gone and another lucky few animated films have been recognized by the Academy. I just barely managed to stay up for the animation awards this year. (This week’s Monday Movie post explains why.) As usual, I’m not taking the Oscars too seriously, but I do think they’re an interesting look at how Hollywood perceives animation and how that changes as the years go by.
The 2011 Annie Awards were given out on Saturday and there’s been no shortage of coverage from animation sites. This year’s awards were marked by controversy over the voting process that led to one major studio withdrawing from the Annies entirely, and different reporters handled it in different ways. Some merely noted the winners and gave little or no mention of the drama surrounding this year’s event. Some dug deeper into the story and examined the issues that led to the notable absences at the Annies. Other suggested – some calmly, others in near-hysterical tones – that in light of this year’s awards, maybe it was time for the Annies to come to and end.
What I couldn’t find without some searching were the details of why this happened, of what voting issues led to one studio deciding to skip the Annies completely. If you’re similarly confused, or if you’re still wondering what the heck an Annie is, read on.
I have only seen one of the Best Animated Feature nominees.
I think I can be forgiven for not having seen The Illusionist yet. This latest film from Sylvain Chomet – director of 2004 Best Animated Feature nominee The Triplets of Belleville – is still gradually making its way across the country and won’t be playing near me until this Friday. (To see when and where it’s playing near you, check the official site.) But I have no excuse beyond bad timing for missing How To Train Your Dragon. Despite numerous reports from critics and friends whose opinions I respect that it’s quite good, I just haven’t made the time to see it. It’s a problem I intend to remedy before the Oscars are handed out.
I was saddened to hear of the death of animator Pres Romanillos on July 17. An extremely talented artist – some of his work can be seen on his art blog, Romanillos worked on numerous animated films for Disney and Dreamworks. Most recently, he worked on Prince Naveen in The Princess and the Frog. He had been battling leukemia and the cancer ultimately took his life at the unfairly young age of 47.
Cartoon Brew’s obituary for Romanillos includes a number of links to tributes and remembrances by his friends and family. My heart is with them during this sad time.
The trailer for DreamWorks’ fourth Shrek film is up. Shrek Forever After (Get it? Four-ever After?) is said to be the last film in the series. Judging from the trailer, it looks like Shrek’s latest adventure could have been called “It’s An Ogreful Life”:
Another new trailer for an upcoming animated feature film has just hit the internet. This one is for DreamWorks Animation’s latest movie: How To Train Your Dragon. A lot of the excitement about this film is based on the fact that it’s directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, the directing team responsible for Disney’s Lilo and Stitch. Since Sanders left Disney after being removed as the director of the film that eventually became Bolt, animation fans have been eager to see what he and his writing and directing partner would come up with next. And now, we get our first taste.
Once again, I want to know what you think. Are you looking forward to this movie or does it leave you cold? Is Disney going to regret losing Sanders and Be Blois? Do you see success on the horizon for DreamWorks, or failure?
I know, I know. It’s not something I’m proud of. I could say that previous DreamWorks animated films – particularly Shrek – hadn’t impressed me or that the trailers made it look like little more than “fat guy does martial arts.” But I had the positive reviews of numerous critics and animation fans to go on, plus the fact that the film swept the 2008 Annie Awards. So why did it take me so long to actually watch the movie? I can only chalk it up to my own bad judgment. Because not only was I missing out on a good animated movie, I was missing what DreamWorks Animation really had to offer.
