Lineboil

William Kentridge Brings His Animation to The Met

Aaron — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:36:22 +0000

I don’t seek out opera tickets all that often, but here’s a production I’m dying to see. The Nose, an opera composed by Dmitri Shostakovich, opened last Friday at the Metropolitan Opera (six performances only) in New York City, and it features giant animated projections throughout the show. William Kentridge, the South African artist, is the director and set designer on the production, and he’s also a very accomplished animator. The Nose is based on Russian Nikolai Gogol’s short story, thus the heavy influence of Soviet avant-garde constructivist artwork. Here’s some clips from the production, and below that an interview with Kentridge.

Archer Gives You Job Offer Tonight

Aaron — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:36:03 +0000

A new Archer episode, titled Job Offer, hits FX tonight at 10pm. Archer is watched by a little less than a million viewers each night, but that’s enough for it to get a second season pick-up. I’ve heard it’s relatively inexpensive, so I’d expect to see many seasons of this show on FX.

Die, Sweet Roadrunner, Die Reborn On YouTube

Aaron — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:35:46 +0000

One of the funnier pieces to come out of Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade Of Cartoon Comedy was Die, Sweet Roadrunner, Die – an almost existential look at an animation classic. The short was re-released on YouTube recently, and a new, :30 second, animated Priceline bumper was bolted to the front. It’s worth another look.

Tokyo Mater Drifts to Disney Channel This Friday

Aaron — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:41:48 +0000

Tokyo Mater is the latest episode of Cars Toons, an animated short series from the world of Cars directed by John Lasseter, Rob Gibbs and Victor Navone. It actually premiered theatrically in 2008 in front of Bolt, but now it’s coming to Disney Channel on March 12th at 8:55 p.m., ET/PT. Here’s a clip:

Watch Clips From Comedy Central’s Ugly Americans

Aaron — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:41:36 +0000

The new Comedy Central animated series Ugly Americans is lurching toward your television. The Flash-animated series, which is being produced by Augenblick Studios (Superjail) and Cuppa Coffee, was created by David M. Stern and Devin Clark. The series premieres March 17th at 10:30pm/9:30c, and below are few new clips:

Christ Angel

Fun Bags

Passion Pictures Takes Action for Children

Aaron — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:41:16 +0000

Passion Pictures director Dan Sumich helmed this new PSA for Action for Children, “a source for early learning, parent resources, school readiness, and professional development for the childcare workforce.”

Logorama Creators Relax Poolside With Oscar

Aaron — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:06:38 +0000

Over at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd, I met up with 3 of the clever people behind the Oscar-winning film Logorama yesterday – (inset: left to right) co-director Hervé de Crécy, producer Nicolas Schmerkin and co-director Francois Alaux. They all had a look in their eyes that I think only Oscar winners get, and I heard quick mentions of partying with Madonna the night before and an upcoming CNN interview – all while their cell phones endlessly rang.

Next up for Autour de Minuit founder Schmerkin is a series of CG/live-action shorts called Babioles. I’ve seen the first episode, and it’s wonderful. Here’s a teaser from the project, which is being directed by Matray:

PantoGraph Points Viewers to Google Chrome

Aaron — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:06:23 +0000

This whimsical stop-motion ad for Googles rapidly-rising browser Chrome (which I use) was produced by PantoGraph, who have teamed up with Google in the past. There’s a nice little behind-the-scenes photo collection over on PantoGraph’s blog too. It’s titled Chrome Starts Fast.

Pinocchio On the Run From Conar

Aaron — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:06:03 +0000

In Disney’s 1940 animated film Pinocchio, the wooden puppet gets all loopy on a cigar, so we’ve always known he was a bit of a bad-ass. Live-action director Luiz Ferré recently led the team at Bossa Nova Films through the production of this spot featuring Pinocchio on the lamb. It’s an ad for Conar, a Brazillian organization that help the ad industry self regulate misleading advertising.

Oscar Winner Pete Docter Offers Animation Advice

Aaron — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:48:58 +0000

Surprising almost noone, Up took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film last night. In this clip below, director Pete Docter offers advice on how to get your own Oscar – “draw, draw, draw.” He also touches on the collaborative nature of his fellow Pixar directors like John Lasseter and Brad Bird. Big congrats to the whole team at Pixar, and to François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain, the three directors of Logorama, which won the Best Animated Short prize.