Lineboil » Behind the Scenes

Seth MacFarlane – Hollywood Coverboy

Aaron — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:33:03 +0000

Animators, animation writers and executives, for the most part, live a life of obscurity. While often working and living in the same Hollywood bubble as their live-action counterparts, animation folk don’t show up in US Magazine, get invited to sit down with Letterman, or end up disgraced on TMZ.com. There’s a few exceptions to this rule, however – Matt Stone and Trey Parker (South Park, Book of Mormon), Seth Green (Robot Chicken, Family Guy) and the other Seth – Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show). There’s other ‘big names’ in the animation game (Groening, Lasseter, Judge, Burton, Miyazaki), but the public isn’t terribly interested in what they look like when they jog or eat dinner. This isn’t a wonderful gauge of success or happiness, but I’m pointing it out because today we have a prime example of how bright Seth MacFarlane’s star is burning. Today he’s on the cover of the insider mag The Hollywood Reporter, and his jet-owning, club-going lifestyle has indeed landed him on TMZ more than once.

In this behind-the-scenes video of his cover shoot, you’ll see MacFarlane shoulder-to-shoulder with Groening and Judge, perhaps ‘accepting the torch.’ He is standing on the shoulders of these two animation greats, but he’s also redefining the reach of an animation icon, establishing that animation is but a part of his interests. In the cover article (Seth MacFarlane: The Restless Mind of a Complicated Cartoonist), we learn that MacFarlane “thinks that Family Guy should have already ended,” but let’s not forget that in 2003, it did, only to be resuscitated for 8 more seasons. There’s also interesting details on the reboot of The Flintstones, and his surprising goal of “infusing more scientific accuracy into entertainment programming.”

Who is Allen Gregory?

Aaron — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:56:00 +0000

In the run-up to the October 30th premiere of their new animated series, Allen Gregory, FOX has released some character profile videos that examine what makes the show tick. I can’t quite tell yet why this was animated, and not shot live-action. It seems pretty ‘sit-commy’ and doesn’t appear to challenge the bounds of reality too much.

Allen Gregory character profile

Richard’s unusual love affair with Jeremy

South Park – Six Days To Air Documentary

Aaron — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:34:12 +0000

Next Sunday, October 9th at 10pm, Comedy Central will air an all-new documentary that focuses on Matt Parker, Trey Stone and their wildly successful series South Park. Directed by Arthur Bradford, Six Days to Air: The Making of South Park uncovers the hidden secrets of the “unapologetically disrespectful” series. Here’s a trailer:

60 Minutes or Less – Behind the Scenes of South Park

Aaron — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:58:33 +0000

You may have caught Sunday’s 60 Minutes story on South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, but I found the 5-minute online-only assembly more interesting than the TV segment. We get closer to the work in this cut below, and while there’s no revelations from the team behind The Book of Mormon, it should get your pulse racing as Matt and Trey whip through the production of another episode in 6 days.

Trains, Wine, Cars and Toys – A Day With John Lasseter

Aaron — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:51:30 +0000

To help promote Cars 2, the Disney/Pixar team recently released a 25-minute piece titled A Day In The Life of John Lasseter. The first section of the video is essentially Pixar: Cribs – with Lasseter walking us through his Hawaiian shirt collection, his trains, Oscars, wine cellar and movie theater. Then at the 6-minute mark, Lasseter leaves his Sonoma Valley mansion and heads to work. And this father of 5 could almost be mistaken for Lots-O-Huggin Bear – the man likes to hug it out!

Second Home Studios Brews Pilsner Urquell Spot

Aaron — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:53:19 +0000

Director Chris Randall, by way of his shop Second Home Studios, handled the intricate stop-motion production of this new spot for the Czech beer Pilsner Urquell. The ad is titled The Day Pilsen Struck Gold:

… and here’s a behind the scenes segment, where you’ll see how Randall and his team pulled off that tricky raindrop sequence.

Behind the Scenes on Planters’ Alejandro

Aaron — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:22:49 +0000

Remember Alejandro, the Planters Almonds Super Bowl spot? It was the stop-motion ad directed by Ringan Ledwidge, who we meet in this behind-the-scenes piece that was just released. We also are introduced to the supervising animation director from LAIKA/house, Mark Gustafson.

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Steve Jobs Fooled By Pixar April Fools Gag

Aaron — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:13:51 +0000

Remember those Pixar Studio Stories released along with the Toy Story DVD? Here’s another that illustrates Tia Kratter’s seasonal sense of humor.

Lasseter Opens Up About Early Plans for Cars 2

Aaron — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:44:45 +0000

As many of your know, John Lasseter, who hasn’t directed a feature-length film since Cars in 2006, is helming the sequel. Due out on June 24th of this year, the concept for Cars 2 has deep roots that go back to the development years of the original. Here’s Lasseter himself detailing how the project emerged:

Behind the Scenes of VWs Black Beetle Ad

Aaron — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:55:30 +0000

Last week’s VW spots arguably ruled the Super Bowl, with the Darth Vader spot making a massive impact (25 million views in a week?). We featured the excellent Black Beetle spot, which was animated at The Mill in London. Deutsch LA released a behind-the-scenes piece yesterday that illustrates the painstaking effort that went into the ad.

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