The Visit is a short animated film I was working on about 5 years ago. I was unable to finish. However, the story is so captivating to me and my drive to finish projects so strong that I am gearing up to complete the thing sometime this year (2014). The story is my adaptation of an old Ukrainian folk tale about a little girl who is cast out of her home to live in the forest. It’s a pretty serious and tough little story. No laughs really.
Category Archives: Animation
Animation: Red Rabbit
Egmont Mayer of Germany made this 3D animated film. A man lives with his secret rabbit and cuts his social interactions to nearly nothing as a result of his shame. I like the way animators are starting to revel in making their films look like they are rendered in 3D software rather than trying to defeat the software to make things look realistic.
Animation: Pushkin
Pushkin is a stop-motion animation by Trevor Hardy for his Fool Hardy Films studio. The film is full of very easy-going humor that starts as soon as the old woman first opens her mouth to ask if anyone has seen her missing cat. I think the way the character talks is just hilarious. This little studio is a one-man outfit that is producing totally marvelous work.
I found this via the fantastic no fat clips!!!
Pixar Grant’s a Girl’s Dying Wish
Disney’s Pixar Animation Studio received a message from a friend of the family of ten-year-old Colby Curtin who was dying of cancer. The message told Pixar that the girl wanted to stay alive long enough to see Up. She was too sick to risk being moved to a movie theater and a DVD was the only possible option. It seems that Pixar management dispatched an employee to the girl’s home with a DVD, a poster and some toys based on the movie. The girl was able to enjoy the screening even though she could not open her eyes. As the movie played, her mother described the images on screen. The girl passed away several hours later with her family at her side.
This is sad story, but it’s a great thing Pixar did and it was a wonderful wish for a little girl to have. Very nice. I’m sure this simple act by a few people at a big company made a sick little girl very happy in her last hours. Well done, Pixar.
Animation: The Legend of the Turning Stone
This French animation was made by Mélanie Climent, Élodie Fraysse, and Émilie Frezet for Supinfocom Arles in 2006. Some sort of puppeteer tells a story and sets it all in motion with a table-top town. A puppet woman with a child is tempted to cross toward a mysterious stone that hides a magical secret.
I found this via a fantastic cinema site called No fat clips!!!
Dostoyevsky’s ‘Crime and Punishment’ as Animated Commercial
ToonBox, a Russian animation studio, made this intensely goofball take on Raskolnikov’s crime – or attempted crime – from Crime and Punishment.
Animation: The Terrible Thing From Alpha-9!
Cartoon Brew TV is showing this student animation called The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9! It was directed by Jake Armstrong as his thesis for the School of Visual Arts. It’s got a very free drawing style and combines a great sci-fi sensibility with gentle humor. If you head over to Cartoon Brew, they’ve got a full interview with the director with lots of information about the making of the film.
Animation: Café Serré
A cop sits in a diner having his simple breakfast and, without so much as breaking a sweat, he foils a robbery. Café Serré is a short animation by Denis Bouyer for Supinfocom Arles. I love the way the cop reaches for his coffee spoon and misses it the first time. Great detail. Nice timing. Fabulous diner too.
Film: I Dreamt of Flying
Filmmaker Alex Bland made this animated/live action film about RAF bomber squadrons during World War II. He mixes hand-drawn illustration and archive footage from the war. The soundtrack is excellent. I really like how the film explodes into abstraction as the planes fly through the spotlights during an attack. Mr. Bland also made an excellent animation called Unforgettable Evil From Mars.
Animation: ‘Cars’ Goes to Tokyo
In this fast-paced and colorful short, Pixar sends Mater to do some incredible street racing in Tokyo. This one’s a lot of fun.
Who’s Hungry: Animation Based on Hansel & Gretel
Freshman CalArts animation student, David Ochs made this wonderfully dark and violent take on the Grimms story, Hansel and Gretel. It is everything a good fairy tale should be – full of evil, danger, self-reliant heroes, terrible and disgusting villains, and threatening environments. The artwork is gorgeous and the piece is beautifully animated and has a very unsettling soundtrack.
Thanks to Cartoon Brew for posting this.
Reach: Animated Short
Reach is a rather sad but lovely animation by Australian animator Luke Randall. The story is told with perfect simplicity and it is quite moving.
The WotWots: Excellent Pre-School TV Show
Two fantastic, insane and rambunctious little alien characters travel around in a steampunk spaceship. The WotWots is a children’s television show from Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop, the company that did the special effects for Lord of the Rings. This introductory episode shows the two WotWots landing at the zoo to explore the various animals there. The WotWots are very inquisitive and energetic little beings with a great joy for adventure. I like it. It looks really good and the characters are the best I’ve seen in years.
Thanks to Boing Boing for posting this.
Ferdinand the Bull: 1938 Disney Cartoon Based on Book
Here’s an Oscar-winning short from Disney that is based on a popular children’s book, The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf with illustrations by Robert Lawson. Ferdinand the bull would much rather sit under his favorite tree smelling the flowers than do anything serious. But he gets caught up in the bull-fighting business and hilarity ensues when he tries to enjoy his favorite pastime in the ring.
Animation: Chris Ware’s Quimby the Mouse
Quimby The Mouse from This American Life on Vimeo.
Here’s a brilliant animation designed by comic artist Chris Ware. The music is by Andrew Bird and the animation is by John Kuramoto. The little tale of a terribly abusive relationship between a mouse and a head is disturbingly hilarious. I love the way everything moves with such clean precision to the the music. Truly creepy and charming at the same time. How’d they do that?
