Toy Story 3 madness is in full swing. With 8 days to go, the crew at Chris Cross Media have created a live-action re-enactment of the opening minutes of the first Toy Story film. Enjoy:
Also, here’s some soundbites from Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich:
Back in March, we posted the first two installments of A History of Aardman, as told by the studio co-founder Dave Sproxton. Here’s part 4 of the series, that focuses on how Nick Park, the creator of Wallace and Gromit, joined Aardman Animations and went on to conceive, direct and animate Creature Comforts.
In this interview below, Shrek Forever After director Mike Mitchell calls the original Shrek “one of the greatest told fairy tales of all time.” If you count box office dollars as votes, the audience agrees. The first 3 Shrek films hold 3 of the top 6 all-time grossing animated movie slots, with Shrek 2 in the top spot.
The animation community doesn’t seem to respect this DreamWorks Animation series in quite the same way, and I’d say the visual appeal, which is mediocre, and the abundance of what you might call “cheap” pop-culture gags combine to create that dischord. Plus, the 3rd movie was pretty awful, tallying a 44% on RottenTomatoes.com, further irritating the animation community. With Shrek Forever After releasing on May 21st, do you think it will live up to Mitchell’s lofty praise for the original, or will it fall into the sequel garbage heap?
Mike Mitchell
…and here’s a clip featuring Puss ‘n Boots and Shrek
To help celebrate the 200th episode of South Park (last week’s 200), Boing Boing’s Xeni Jardin swooped in on South Park Studios to interview the series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. In both the episode and this interview we learn that while Muhammad’s image is censored, he appeared in a 2001 episode without a fuss. As you may remember, inbetween these two shows, something happened – the Danish cartoon controversy.
Anyway, have a watch and learn why “South Park matters.”
After premiering last week at the Berlinale, we are now treated to the first footage of Sylvain Chomet’s upcoming feature The Illusionist. The 2D film from the Oscar-nominated director of Les Triplettes de Belleville introduces us to a struggling illusionist and his relationship with a young woman. Based in Scottland, it’s based on a story by the late Jacques Tati, a French director/actor/mime. The footage begins with an interview with Chomet (in French) and then around the :40 second mark, they introduce some footage.
Pixar and ILM veteran Kyle Balda graduated from the world-reknowned CalArts in 1991, but in this video below he visited what is perhaps the best animation school on the planet – Gobelins L’Ecole de L’Image. As part of his own 3D Masterclass, Balda interviewed Eric Riewer, head of the film animation department, and in 10 minutes you learn a few of the many reasons why Gobelins graduates such amazing artists every year. You’ll also hear how The Annecy International Animation Film Festival played a role in the formation of Gobelins, and what prospective students must accomplish to gain access. Riewer boasts that Gobelins has “the toughest entrance exam of any animation school in the world,” which is comprised of a 3-hour animation test and a storyboard test. I also found myself nodding along as Riewer discusses brevity. Around the 8-minute mark of the video, he talks at length about how student films should strive to be short (1-2 minutes), and why.
The 20th anniversary of Wallace & Gromit has Google’s UK website all dressed up for the occasion (inset). It’s one of only 3 “doodles” to be made outside Google headquarters. Not to be outdone, the team at Aardman has prepared by asking Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park 20 questions, on a wide variety of topics. Enjoy!
