My favorite book of this kind is still Of Mice and Magic I think but Michael Barrier’s Hollywood Cartoons manages a close second. “Cartoons” is denser, more thoroughly researched but it doesn’t have some of Maltin’s charm and enthusiasm. What it does have is opinion and, though I often don’t agree with what Barrier has to say, I was happy to see someone expressing a viewpoint in what ostensibly was supposed to be a simple history. Despite being both “dense” and “opinionated” Hollywood Cartoons is still a fairly breeezy read (if a 600 page book can be considered breezy).
Barrier is supposedly working on a comprehensive biography of Walt Disney. Based on the strength of “Cartoons” I would definitely pick it up when it is finally released.
Hollywood Cartoons
Michael Barrier
**** (out 0f five)
I didn’t discover this on my own. I had a little help from Jason Schleifer. He posted a few at his site so I followed the link and found the balance of the strips to be funny and exceedingly peculiar. –Which is cool.
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net
Weird, Dr. Seuss-y Koala thingie.
[© me.]
Finally got around to this one; it’s been sitting on the stack for quite a while. I’m a big fan. Calling it “Frank Miller’s Sin City” was right on the money. This is the most faithful adaptation of anything I’ve ever seen: This film is a moving version of the comics and I love the comics. The DVD itself was obviously made with love. The extras are uniformly excellent and the menus are beautiful. I particularly love Rodriguez’ regular features “15 minute Film School” and “10 minute Cooking School”. Fun stuff.
A worthy purchase for all you Sin City fans.
Sin City
Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, Writer/Directors
**** (out of five)
Here’s another doodle from my sketchbook. Hereagain, this is from a short film I contemplated doing. A very short film in this case; pretty much one joke. The caption and the dialogue balloon say it all. Needless to say this wouldn’t have been one for the kids.
[Image copyright me.]
Well, here’s that long-delayed review of the Gnomon Workshop’s 3 volume set on character animation. Based on the amount of time that’s gone by, you should be able to predict that this review is not a particularly positive one. I was always seeming to find other things to do to get out of watching volume 3. It’s not that these videos are bad per se they’re just not particularly useful. All I was left with was an overview of how instructor Cameron Hood animates in Maya. There’s precious little here on theory and principle. It’s just six solid hours of Hood setting poses and tweaking f-curves. The lessons are so specific to the particular animations that are being done that I didn’t feel like I came away with much that was applicable in other situations.
Sadly, I’m thinking about cutting my losses and Ebay-ing these babies…
Character Animation 1-3
Cameron Hood, instructor
**1/2 (out of five)
It occurred to me from the beginning of this new site that there isn’t much here of a personal nature. It’s high time I posted some of my own drawings. Now I’m quite aware that I’m no Michelangelo but, whatever, I think my sketchbooks have some interesting things in them.
This first piece is for a short film I’ve had in the back of my head for quite some time: The Angriest Boy in the World. This is “Toby” the main character. He may or may not be the first thing I build in my new copy of SoftImage XSI.
[Image is of course copyright yours truly.]
It just occurred to me that a friend and former co-worker has become quite a prominent illustrator in the U.K. and I haven’t given him a shout-out (not that he needs it mind you).
James Ryman. Check him out.
James Ryman.
[Image is of course copyright Mr. Ryman.]
The headline says it all. –It looks like Kricfalusi is having some trouble formatting his page (”Damn this new-fangled Internet!”) but he’ll get up to speed. Totally worth your time..
Below and to the right as per usual:
John K.’s Blog.
The Blackwing Diaries by Jenny. Wow. Not only can this girl really draw she’s also extremely articulate.
As always, below and to the right:
The Blackwing Diaries.
I’m really happy to have this collection. I was a big fan of the show when it first aired and it was good to see some of these episodes again. As a whole the set is decidedly uneven. Some of the entries aren’t that great but shows like “Space Madness”, “Son of Stimpy” and “The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen” make it all worthwhile. John K. and his Spumco cronies actually made cartoons funny again. Funny and occasionally really, really disturbing. It’s great to see a real point of view and stylistic stamp in animation. It’s all too rare in the world of kids’ cartoon fare.
Aside #1: I felt that all of the commentaries on this set were ruined by the frequent and inexplicable laughter of artist Eddie Fitzgerald. You’ll see what I mean. It’s really grating and detracts from the comments of Kricfalusi and the rest.
Aside #2: I don’t expect I’ll be buying any more of these sets since John K. was fired after this volume and the show became decidedly unfunny under the traitorous supervision of Bob Camp. I hear they may release a set of Spumco’s recent episodes made for Spike TV. Now that I’d get.
Ren and Stimpy Volume One
***1/2 (out of five)
This book is as important in its own way as Disney Animation The Illusion of Life. I’ve owned it for years and only ever referred to it; not read it in its entirety until now. Williams’ style is so accessible as to be effortless. At all times you feel he’s talking to you in the manner of an experienced colleague and friend. He’s the kindly guy at the studio with tons of experience and a willingness to share. “Kit” is by and large a series of formulae but what formulae. One could easily start at the beginning of this book and treat it like a program of study, working through until all of the principles have been mastered. Who knows how long this would take but it would be a very worthy endeavor.
Highest recommendation.
The Animator’s Survival Kit
Richard Williams
***** (out of five)
Hey, why buck the trend now?
In a very real way Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker provides an ending to the Batman the Animated Series saga I just completed. In this story (well-crafted as usual by Paul Dini) we learn the fates of all our heroes. The re-introduction of the Joker into the proceedings is inventive and dark, dark, dark. The flashback sequence in “Joker” should dispel any lingering thoughts of Batman being just a show for kids. Tim Drake’s ordeal in the past is harsh. Though I never really cottoned to Batman Beyond I do find this direct-to-video feature very satisfying.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
***1/2 (out of five)
Why is it so tough to get back on track after a series of distractions? Both myself and my wife have been fairly ill recently so, sorry, no computer time for yours truly. The scene I was working on has been unhappily neglected. When you couple that with the fact that I just recently purchased myself a copy of SoftImage Foundation 5 you’ve got a whole lot of me not working on what I’m supposed to be working on. Of course I’d like to be doing all of my work in Soft from now on (Short Films etc.) so that involves me learning the tools, right? Well, sure but I can’t do it at the expense of my reel. I’ve got to work out a schedule for myself that involves like 3 parts animating and 2 parts learning SoftImage. And I’m afraid I’m going to have to reinstitute the use of the kitchen timer (which was working pretty well for me pre-illness).
Who’d have thought that a grown man would take so much training?
What can I say? I was on a roll.
Well, Volume 4 brings to a close Batman the Animated Series. As the last episode played out, I found myself getting a little sad. This last set of 24 introduces the “new look” Batman; the sleeker more stylized overhaul which Bruce Timm and company brought in after a two year hiatus. Some characters suffer for their new look –the Joker in particular is too simplistic and angular, I feel –but overall, this is one of the best-looking cartoons ever done for television. The color palette is rich and vivid and Batman himself has never looked or moved cooler. Writing-wise there are more stinkers in this bunch. I could do without the episode “Critters” (about an evil farmer and some giant bio-engineered cattle) and pretty much anything written by Hilary J. Bader but the good far outweighs the bad. The tone here is lighter then the prior three volumes and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There’s definitely some fun adventure to be had here. And, in amongst the froth, we get one of the best episodes of the entire series: “Over the Edge”. This possible-future scenario is one of the best-written half hours of action I’ve ever seen. “Edge” and “Mad Love” cement Paul Dini as one of the finest Dark Knight writers ever in any medium.
I’m glad I’ve got all of these episodes now but, man, how I wish they’d done at least one more season of the “new look” shows. Ah, well.
Batman the Animated Series Volume 4
***1/2 (out of five)
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