Walt Disney Animation Studios The Archive Series: Story

August 1, 2008

Didier has the info on some new Disney Animation books coming out in the Fall.

While the Alice In Wonderland book doesn’t do that much for me (Yes, Mary Blair is wonderful), the Archive Series book on Story looks somewhat intriguing. I wasn’t too enthralled by Canemaker’s Paper Dreams book on storyboard art; hopefully this one is a bit more inspiring.

The cover alone is worth the price.

Besides at 200+ pages you can’t go wrong - especially when 101 Dalmatians is one of the featured films.  Finally we’ll have some real world editions of these.

(via Didier Ghez)

Computer Animation a Dead End?!

July 29, 2008

I don’t read much of Michael Barrier’s blog, but I was completely floored by this comment:

What’s clear from WALL•E and Kung Fu Panda , as never before, is that computer animation is a dead end, a form of puppetry even more limited than stop motion.

This is the kind of statement that makes me think I’m wasting my time “blogging” about animation.  How could anyone in their right mind say something like this?  The animation in those two films is far from being a form of dead puppetry.  I can’t even form the right words to respond intelligently to it.  Strangely enough I can’t link to the original post to read any comments, but I’m not sure it would be worth it.

But what I was really surprised to read today was this comment from Michael Sporn:

Continue reading post...

Bill Tytla Speaks!

July 23, 2008

Didier Ghez has posted a clip of an interview with the famous Disney animator, Bill Tytla.

Personally I never really thought Tytla was all that great - the devil in Fantasia didn’t do much for me, but Stromboli was pretty cool.  I appreciate the “strength” and “force” with which he animated, but I was never really a Tytla fan-boy.

Still, this clip is a rare find and an excellent gift to the world of character animation.

(via The Disney Blog)

Splinecast Interview with Doug Sweetland

July 19, 2008

Just finished listening to this and I thought it was great that they brought up his freshman “CG” film Everything That Comes Around (I think that’s the name).

If there was thing I remember about Doug from CalArts it was that film.  It’s pretty much the only story I have to tell when someone brings up his name.

I was an upperclassman who, because of my devotion to traditional hand-drawn animation, rarely stepped inside the computer lab.  Well, one day I had to go in there to do some editing and I was stopped dead in my tracks by that film.  It was just looping incessantly over and over on one of the Amiga computers.  I was with there with some of my friends and we couldn’t believe what we were seeing.  The timing was impeccable, the spacing elegant.  As I recall it was just some guy flipping a yo-yo but it was miles beyond what anyone else was doing with the computer at that time.  Super-appealing.  We couldn’t figure out if it was drawn, if it was scanned it, whatever.

When we asked around who did that, someone simply answered, “Oh, that’s Doug Sweetland.  He’s really good.”

And they were right.  Woody coming out of the box in Toy Story 2, Buzz on the bed meeting Woody for the first time in Toy Story, and now Presto.

Hopefully someone has a copy of this short film and can post it.

I also liked his explanation of CalArts as a school filled with “drawing” kids.  Having been one of those kids singled out in high school because I drew all the time (mainly Disney characters on my grocery-bag book covers), I could totally relate.

Disney Story Class at Comic-Con

July 17, 2008

If I was going to the San Diego Comic-Con next week, I’d definitely have to sit in on this one:

The Disney Animation Story Process—Nathan Greno (head of story, Bolt), Don Hall (head of story, The Princess and the Frog), Mark Kennedy (head of story, Rapunzel), Joe Mateo (story artist, Bolt), Michael LaBash (story artist, Bolt), Paul Briggs (story artist, The Princess and the Frog), and Josie Trinidad (story artist, The Princess and the Frog) offer an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look into the story process at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Coming together exclusively at Comic-Con, these story team leaders will take you from first concept to final story approval as they discuss the art of storyboarding, re-create story pitches, and share boarding styles from their upcoming animated features. Don’t miss this revealing and humorous panel and your chance to get a sneak peek at Disney’s next animated feature, Bolt!

A couple of familiar names in there!

(via Write It So)

According to the director’s commentary on the Ratatouille Blu-ray disc, this dog (hidden in silhouette in the movie) is featured in the upcoming movie Up.  The scene is near the beginning when Remy is running through an apartment - the one where he gets chased by a dog.  Brad Bird mentions that it was a teaser for one of Pixar’s forthcoming films.

(via animated-news)

If there is any one thing I can point to as inciting my interest in character animation it would have to be the above special from 1981.  I remember clearly sitting in Ms. Guho’s Art Class at Hart High (c. 1988) when she turned down the lights and started this video.  I’m pretty sure I was the only one who sat enthralled for all 45 minutes or so, but when the lights came up I immediately knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

The high point, of course, was Glen flipping through his scene from The Fox and the Hound.  I asked my teacher if I could dub it (you know, with two VCR decks - old school style) and she was gracious enough to let me.  I must’ve watched this show 500 times over that summer.  It was also the reason why I decided to drop out of football 4 days into Hell Week.  Why get pummeled into the ground on a regular basis when I could be home still-framing through the classics and deciding which I liked better - top pegs or bottom pegs?

Thanks so much to whoever posted this.  It was on my long list of things to digitize and publish (I still have the tape), but unfortunately never seemed to get around to.

Link to Video

Pixar: Changing the Game

July 8, 2008

Bill Taylor, author of Mavericks at Work posts what he considers to be some of the secrets behind Pixar’s constant success.

His first is Pixar’s preference for long-term agreements over picture-to-picture deals:

a tightknit company of long-term collaborators who stick together, learn from one another, and strive to improve with every production. Andrew Stanton, who directed Wall-E, was a key figure behind Finding Nemo, which won two Oscars, generated worldwide box-office of $840 million, and became the best-selling DVD of all time. But Stanton didn’t follow the success of Nemo by offering himself to the highest bidder or demanding perks and special treatment. He went back to his job as an employee of the studio, to pitch in on other films and eventually begin work on his next major project.

He then goes on to give great praise to Pixar University and its availability to all employees, regardless of position.  Dean Randy Nelson explains why:

“Why teach drawing to accountants? Because drawing class doesn’t just teach people to draw. It teaches them to be more observant. There’s no company on earth that wouldn’t benefit from having people become more observant.”

I still have yet to see Wall-E, but from what most of I’ve read I’m sure it will be phenomenal.  There are some people I’ve talked to who say the film takes a nosedive once the humans enter the picture, but the majority of reviews I’ve read absolutely love it.  In fact, in some places they’re already talking Best Picture nom. come Oscar time next year.  I haven’t heard that about any other film this year so far - animation or live action.

From everything I’ve read and everything I know about working at other studios, Pixar represents a completely different way of approaching filmmaking.  Ironically, it’s the closest to what I imagine it would’ve been like to work at the Disney studios in the 1930s and 40s.  So it’s not so much revolutionary as it is just plain smart business.  After nine consecutive number-one hits, they’re obviously doing something right.

As Bill puts it,

You can’t win big unless you change the game in your field.

(via SvN)

Assistant animators Al Stetter and Chuck Williams take time out for coffee during the 1960s.  Probably complaining about what a pain-in-the-ass Milt was to work with.

Must have been awesome.

(via floyd norman)

Wall-E Super-Fan Makes It to the Wrap Party

July 3, 2008

Remember the girl who recorded herself crying over the trailer for Wall-E?

Apparently Pixar was kind enough to not only give her a Crew Jacket for Christmas, but also to invite her to the wrap party in San Francisco last month.  Before the screening, Andrew Stanton had this to say:

Six months ago, when the first trailer for Wall-E came out, we were only halfway done with the film, and we weren’t exactly sure how we were going to get it done. We were exhausted. And then, one day, a movie showed up on YouTube showing a girl watching the trailer for Wall-E. And every time she watched it, she would cry on cue. When we saw that, we knew we were on the right track.

The rest of her experiences seeing the film with those who made it can be read on her blog, here.

(via the disney blog)

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