MetaFilter posts tagged with Animation and music

Jazz that nobody asked for, an animated short film

filthy light thief — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:06:36 -0800

Sometimes you want to be somber, or serious, or just enjoy some peace and quiet. And in some of those instances, you get jazz that nobody asked for. Jazz that just won't die. The jazz in question is Quaker City Jazz, by Jan Savitt (born Jacob Savetnick) and his Top Hatters Orchestra. More information about the story behind the short at the jazz movie.com, including the credit for the title to a genre of Brian Eno's own conception, as noted in On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times Of Brian Eno.

'I’d have to date an astronaut to get a longer distance relationship.'

shakespeherian — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 06:56:21 -0800

Artmaking, a love story. How viral I Have Your Heart film brought two creators together from worlds away. [Different Kim Boekbinder video previously]

It's hard to describe - impossible to forget

codacorolla — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:45:28 -0800

"THIS is my favorite video on the internet. I insist that you watch it!!!! ... Generally what the vid is about is training girls to be an Amazoness. GOD IT’S SO GOOD." Mildly NWS. From the same animation studio who brought you Gal-O.

New York Biotopes, abstract plants and creatures growing in NYC

filthy light thief — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:45:14 -0800

New York Biotopes deals with abstract plants and creatures, which change their forms because of insufficient living space and adapt themselves to the surroundings of the metropolis New York City. Set to the music of Man Mantis. More videos from Lena Steinkühler on her Vimeo channel.

mcbess: cartoon art of bearded men, busty women, and some dead pirates

filthy light thief — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:12:54 -0800

Welcome to mcbess, a land of odd illustrations in black and white*, something of a dark and dingy take on Merry Melodies, where the men are bearded, and the ladies are toothy, busty (and often topless, in a vaguely NSFW cartoony way). There are also some large-scale illustrations with all those elements, and more. Matthieu Bessudo, aka mcbess, is also in a band, The Dead Pirates, and his art and music met with the video Wood (Vimeo; also on YouTube; more info here). There's also a mc bess YouTube channel, with a rather random assortment of videos, including time-lapse illustration videos Bonus videos: mcbess drawing live for inkygoodness 4 "PLAY" (another timelapse illustration); an ad for Deezer, featuring *colored illustrations by mcbess and CRCR; Spine TV interviews McBess; McBess, State of an Industry; The Mill's mcbess at Pictoplasma Festival Berlin 2011; The Mill's mcbess paints the Berlin Wall

Papercraft animation

dhruva — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:49:10 -0800

Papercraft animation "The latest stop motion music video from animation duo Katarzyna Kijek and Przemysław Adamski for Japanese singer-songwriter Shugo Tokumaru." [via]

crunchy transistors, nom!

raihan_ — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 01:03:40 -0800

LA-based electronic artist Flying Lotus has teamed up with the interesting animator Cyriak Harris (Previously) for a video to his new single "Putty Boy Strut". A small game based on the collaboration was released prior to the video. A blog post by Creators Project summarizes the video as a more terrifying version of Katamari Damacy!

Dubstep Dispute

vanar sena — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 05:11:53 -0800

A robotic disagreement turns serious when they drop the bass.

Angry Melting Zombie Face with Worms. Spinning. Also: Snakes.

quin — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:23:23 -0800

Ghosst(s) is a disturbing and intriguing animated video short by French artistic collective Lorn. [via]

A Brief Introduction On Dubstep Production

quin — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 07:15:01 -0800

Dubstep Class - An Animated Guide [slyt] [via]

Revisioning Red Riding Hood

filthy light thief — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:56:05 -0800

Animation veteran Steve Moore recently posted a short from the archives of Disney TV Animation, written by Dan O’Shannon, narrated by Garrison Keillor, and voiced by Mia Farrow, Michael Richards, June Foray, and Adam West, all set to a jazz soundtrack. Take 15 minutes and watch Redux Riding Hood. Steve tells the story of the short on his blog. (Via Cartoon Brew)

The themes of "The Marvel Super Heroes"

Trurl — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:04:23 -0800

When Captain America throws his mighty shield, all those who chose to oppose his shield must yield. Doc Bruce Banner, pelted by gamma rays, turns into The Hulk; ain't he unglamorous? Tony Stark makes you feel; he's a cool exec with a heart of steel. Cross the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard, where the booming heavens roar, you'll behold in breathless wonder the god of Thunder, mighty Thor. Stronger than a whale, he can swim anywhere; he can breathe underwater and go flying through the air. Produced by Grantray-Lawrence Animation, headed by Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson and Robert Lawrence, [The Marvel Super Heroes] was an umbrella series of five segments, each approximately seven minutes long, broadcast on local television stations that aired the show at different times. The series ran initially as a half-hour program made up of three seven-minute segments of a single superhero, separated by a short description of one of the other four heroes. It has also been broadcast as a mixture of various heroes in a half-hour timeslot, and as individual segments as filler or within a children's TV program. This mid-60s were a golden age for Marvel cartoon themes - including The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man - the latter the subject of this excellent post. For further research: Mike's Classic Cartoon Themes. (previously)

You can vote once per day per category

netbros — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:31:38 -0800

2012 Vimeo Awards Nominations — There are 13 categories including four new ones. The Experimental category is lots of fun. [previously]

SoftPanorama, a vast resource with a Russian edge

nickyskye — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:12:52 -0800

SoftPanorama / SoftPanorama Switchboard, created by Nikolai Bezroukov, is one of those vast, practical resources with a fun side too. There is the excellent and very useful Classification of Corporate Psychopaths | Coping with the toxic stress in IT environment | Surviving a Bad Performance Review | Information Overload: How Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime | Science, PseudoScience and Society. But then there is the fun side of the site too: Russian Music Oldies on YouTube | economic crisis humor | Songs from Famous Russian Cartoons on Youtube. It's not especially beautiful to look at, has some quirky Russian-English grammar/misspellings and dead links but is well worth exploring. These are a few examples of the Russian Oldies: ВИА Верасы "Люблю тебя" Песня года - 1979 My Address is the Soviet Union VIA "Flame" Song of Friendship На сопках Манчжурии / The Hills of Manchuria Then there is the basso profundo collection. Wow. I never heard any human voice that low! (Except for the Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir) check this one out: Vladimir Pasjukov - Do not reject me in my old age | Basso Profondo LOW G CAGE MATCH! | lowest note Vladimir Pasuik & Viktor Wichniakov | The Largest bass voices | Russian Red Army Choir - Song of the Volga Boatmen (1965) | Evening bells - Вечерний звон - Abendglocken | Mark Reizen sings Song of the Flea A couple of the economic crisis humor gems: Bird and Fortune - Subprime Crisis | Greek Debt Song A couple of Songs from Famous Russian Cartoons on Youtube: Львенок и черепаха мульт (the lion and turtle song) | Four inseparable cockroach and cricket

The Big Organ and Other Nightmares

oneswellfoop — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:51:30 -0800

The cautionary tale of the shiny new device that's smarter than its users and ends up taking over is pretty much cliché... but it took Australian pop musicker Gotye (prounced like Gaultier, if that helps) to apply it to a Lowrey Organ (the Cotillion D575, a vintage model he acquired for $100 and uses both in his recordings and concerts). Add retro-style animation, and you have something scary yet whimsical and truly "State of the Art". Wouter "Wally" De Backer, aka Gotye, has other music videos, mostly animated and often improving on his music (IMO), including... "Bronte", a tale of great, furry kawaii beasts and growing up (or not)... "Learnalilgivinanlovin", dreaming and flying, as happy and light as 'Bronte' is melancholy and dark... "Thanks for Your Time" using cut-out animation and telephone samples to humorously depict Customer Service Hell... "Somebody That I Used to Know", his biggest hit so far, a duet with Aussie songstress Kimbra using some Peter-Gabriel-'Sledgehammer'-inspired animated body painting (semi-NSFW)... Recurring themes: Long-legged robotic thingies marching through wastelands in "Hearts a Mess" and "Eyes Wide Open"... Victims of Alien Experimentation in "Coming Back" and "Easy Way Out"... and the newest release, "Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You", featuring, well, Dancing Druids?

One of his Minor Works

Chinese Jet Pilot — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:22:33 -0800

The original recordings of Ray Ellis' background music for Filmation Studios were recently destroyed, but enthusiasts carefully isolate and preserve the scores from broadcast cartoons. These archetypal cues were originally composed for Star Trek: The Animated Series, and used in subsequent series for over a decade: "Tension Mounts", "Danger Approaching (Variation)", "Action Cue 03".

Syd Dale, Legend of Library

Trurl — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 08:11:42 -0800

There is no questioning Syd Dale's [mid-60s UK NSFW] place amongst the legends of library music. ... his lavish big band inspired compositions were quickly brought to the public's attention through their use in countless t.v. shows and advertisements. Much of his work could be as classed as easy listening however Dale was also adept at incorporating elements of funk and spy jazz.* [The music of the 1967 Spider-Man animated TV series - to which he so memorably contributed - has been discussed previously.] He possessed a particular genius for writing memorable melodies that, while often complex, were always designed for the ear to follow. He excelled at marrying them to modern rhythms (usually funk-based), and coupled with his rich, colourful style of orchestration, gave his music a unique and distinctive sound. Whether he was writing a hard-hitting theme for a detective or documentary series, a delicate underscore for a romantic interlude, a period piece or a humorous ‘throwaway’ number, the common factor uniting them all were his lavish, flamboyant arrangements.

Here comes a Lion... oh yes, it's a Lion...

Rhaomi — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:28:53 -0800

Nants ingonyama bagithi baba! It's been nearly two decades since that glorious savanna sunrise, and once again The Lion King is at the top of the box office. It's a good chance to revisit what made the original the capstone of the Disney Renaissance, starting with the music. Not the gaudy show tunes or the Elton John ballads, but the soaring, elegiac score by Hans Zimmer which, despite winning an Oscar, never saw a full release outside of an unofficial bootleg. Luckily, it's unabridged and high-quality, allowing one to lay Zimmer's haunting, pulse-pounding, joyful tracks alongside the original video (part 2, 3, 4), revealing the subtle leitmotifs and careful matching of music and action. In addition, South African collaborator Lebo M wove traditional Zulu chorals into the score, providing veiled commentary on scenes like this; his work was later expanded into a full album, the Broadway stage show, and projects closer to his heart. Speaking of expanded works, there were inevitable sequels -- all of which you can experience with The Lion King: Full Circle (download guide), a fan-made, three-hour supercut of the original film and its two follow-ups. Want more? Look... harder... Music: Excellent orchestral covers of the score by the SAMOHI Orchestra (synced with the film) and the Bulldogs on Broadway, along with the Broadway cast recording. Also: Lebo M stages an impromptu show while accepting a 2004 award. Scripts: The original working script with production notes [PDF], a full annotated transcript, and original promotional notes. Concept art: Never-before-seen concept art from Disney, a slideshow of original art from the first film, and test sketches and video from a former animator's blog. See also the line test of the three-minute stampede scene, which involved 800 cel-shaded CGI wildebeests following cutting-edge flocking algorithms that took three years to animate (discussed here under "Building the Perfect Wildebeests"). Fansite lionking.org also has a large gallery of surprisingly moody production and concept art in several galleries:

Concept Paintings - Composite and Matte Backgrounds - Layout Drawings - Flora - Storyboard Art - Character Cross-references

More: The maddening Sega Genesis game - Multilanguage mixes, including the first Zulu dub (previously) - The MAD parody - Was The Lion King stolen from Kimba the White Lion? (or Hamlet?) - TVTropes!

Kim Deitch: My Life in Records

mediareport — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 11:44:02 -0800

"I decided I wanted to buy the Dorsey Brothers’ mambo record. However, I did not have the required 39 cents." Over at The Comics Journal, cartoonist Kim Deitch (previously), son of animator Gene Deitch (previously), has been posting a wonderful, rambling memoir about the music in his life.
Part 1: The Dorseys and Beyond "Watch for Russ Columbo playing some hot violin in this one."
Part 2: An Early Education - Jazz, folk and the ’40s - Alan Lomax, Jelly Roll Morton and jazz fandom
Part 3: Our hero stumbles on the birth of television, specifically, music on television
Part 4: Rock ‘n Roll - "For a lot of Americans it was like the whole damn African jungle had landed in the middle of Ed Sullivan’s stage"
Part 5: Rocking Forward Music/comics geeks might like the comments under each post, too.

Orange you glad you got your Nickelodeon?

Rhaomi — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:33:49 -0800

Two and a half years ago, we explored the early history of Cartoon Network... but it wasn't the only player in the youth television game. As a matter of fact, Fred Seibert -- the man responsible for the most inventive projects discussed in that post -- first stretched his creative legs at the network's truly venerable forerunner: Nickelodeon. Founded as Pinwheel, a six-hour block on Warner Cable's innovative QUBE system, this humble channel struggled for years before Seibert's innovative branding work transformed it into a national icon and capstone of a media empire. Much has changed since then, from the mascots and game shows to the versatile orange "splat." But starting tonight in response to popular demand, the network is looking back with a summer programming block dedicated to the greatest hits of the 1990s, including Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Double Dare, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and All That. To celebrate, look inside for the complete story of the early days of the network that incensed the religious right, brought doo-wop to television, and slimed a million fans -- the golden age of Nickelodeon. (warning: monster post inside) PART 1: The Early Years Nick started out as a young children's program called Pinwheel that mixed puppetry and live action with animated shorts from overseas. Only a few bootlegs survive from this era, making video hard to track down. As the nascent channel struggled to find an audience, it started rerunning episodes of the Canadian comedy show You Can't Do That On Television!, which proved to be a big hit and laid the groundwork for future variety shows like it once the network found its legs. The show also introduced the infamous green slime that would characterize the network's later game show programs. Semi-active fansite YCDTOTV.com provides official recipes, and is positively overflowing with other content about this era. PART 2: "From Worst to First" Fred Seibert arrived at Nickelodeon fresh from success at MTV, where he and colleague Alan Goodman had developed the iconic "Man on the Moon" sequence that launched the channel in 1981. The Fred/Alan team found Nickelodeon floundering, hemorrhaging millions of dollars and dead last in the ratings. Their solution: a complete re-branding, starting with the logo. Out went the clunky silver balloon, in came The Splat. Inspired by MTV's shifting psychedelic design, The Splat was an all-purpose wonder, an amorphous blob of bright orange gunk that could be anything and everything. Using fun style guides, producers applied the Nick name to bones, rocket ships, dinosaurs, and dozens of other forms across hundreds of products over the next few decades. The logo was so versatile, in fact, that it went through only one major revision (blog post; guide) before Viacom, in the way of all corporate giants, dispensed with The Splat in 2009 for a new unified brand -- one very similar, ironically enough, to the logo that saddled the network in its infancy. To introduce Nick's new brand, Seibert and Goodman contracted with dozens of artists to create a series of striking and innovative "bumpers" all showcasing the bright orange Splat. Perhaps the most fortuitous hire was a capella band The Jive Five. As Seibert explains in his article "The Doo-Wopping of Television":

Alan's former colleague, writer and producer Marty Pekar, had started Ambient Sound to capture contemporary recordings of classic doo-wop groups from the 50s and 60s. He introduced them to the leader of The Jive 5, Eugene Pitt, as "not only a great singer, but a smart man." They found Eugene to be, as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame CEO Terry Stewart said, "the most underrated soul singer in America," and a wonderful collaborator. When the opportunity to work with Nickelodeon presented itself, Fred, Alan, and producer Tom Pomposello immediately knew the Jive 5 would be the perfect underpinning for defining the vocabulary of the network. Convincing Nickelodeon was another story. [...] Fred/Alan tried a lot of arguments to bring them around to a doo-wop sound, but they fell on deaf ears. "Doo-wop's 30 years old, no kid has ever heard of it." We won the day on two grounds. Fred played on the executives' liberal backgrounds. "We love all forms of African-American music, and using doo-wop will be a great way to educate American kids without anyone being the wiser." Alan's worked even better. He opened his mouth and, quoting The Marcels' arrangement of chestnut "Blue Moon," sang: "Bom-ma-bom, a-bom-bom-a-bom, ba-ba-bom-bom-a-bomp, b-dang-a-dang-dang, b-ding-a-dong-ding." "What kid isn’t going to relate to that right away?" Alan asked. Case closed.

The Jive Five proceeded to record a number of joyful and infectiously catchy doo-wop melodies for the artists to animate in a wide variety of styles, spots that went on to form the core of the channel's new identity (and the first of which became the its enduring theme song):

N-Nick Nick Nick N-Nick Nick Nick... Nickelodeon! (Main Theme) - Hon De Laud Hup Hivvel Up Nick (Calling Cades MasterMix) - Orange you glad you got your Nickelodeon? (Fruit variant) - Bulldog Crew (Jungle) - Tweedley Dum (Space Beans) - Shoo Be Doo (Worms) - It's Time, It's Time (Haircut) - Say Hey Say Hi Say Ho (Skating) - Better Off By Far (Space) - Waiting for You (Fish) - Dino Bop - Doo-Wop-a-Saurus - Your TV Network (Jive Five) - Top of the Hour - Easy Groove - Alligator and Frog - Dragon and Frog - Full Montage

The campaign was a tremendous, CLIO award-winning success -- within six months Nickelodeon had rocketed to the number one slot on the ratings chart. And the doo-wop was just the beginning -- that first batch inspired a wider range of spots in later years, from the cute to the bizarre:

Pinchface - Bone - Picnic Ants - Big Beast Quintet - Nicktoons Blob - Scissors Man - Opera - Reggae - Toothbrush Morph - Monkey Balloon - Dancing Dogs - Monster Disco - Banner - Around the World - Waiter - Laundry - Rock Dance - Teacup - What You Want claymation - Doug - Spelling - Barnyard - Comet - Flying Chair - Origami - Asian ID - Sea Monster - Box Face - Stage - Cave Paintings - Octopus - Tractor - Head on Chair - Windshield - Lockers - Rugrats - Gymnastics - Nick Takes Over Your School - Compilation (with lots more) - Shorts: Inside-Out Boy and Angela Anaconda

A Maine summer camp was even invited to submit student-created bumpers, which turned into a fun campaign of its own. PART 3: Nickelodeon Studios Years of sustained success led to the 1990 foundation of Nickelodeon Studios, a combination film studio, animation mecca, and theme park at Universal Studios in Orlando. The studio, with its colorful facade and infamous Slime Geyser, would become the nerve center of the company and a backdrop for many programs throughout the next decade, especially game shows like Double Dare, the notoriously difficult Legends of the Hidden Temple obstacle course (which you can attempt yourself!), and Global GUTS with its imposing Aggro Crag. The network also developed spin-offs and sister channels, such as Nick Jr. (full of colorful fare like Face and Gullah Gullah Island for the toddler set) and Nick at Nite, which featured reruns of popular sitcoms from decades past (which, if you think about it, is basically what this '90s programming block is doing right now -- oh noes!). Sadly, the studios closed its doors in 2005 in the face of flagging attendance, storm damage, and staff relocations to other offices. The building still stands, but all has been stripped away, including the Geyser and the studio time capsule (reburied at a company resort talked about previously). Gone, but not forgotten, though -- enjoy this thorough behind-the-scenes guided tour of the facility from before the closure by a former employee. PART 4: Live Action The Nick Studio was home to many live action programs, from sitcoms to horror to variety shows (and Stick Stickly!): Two early sitcoms, Hey Dude and Clarissa Explains it All, have been given full retrospectives by the AV Club, while fan favorite The Adventures of Pete & Pete is getting an episode-by-episode review. Speaking of which, don't miss the full version of "Hey Sandy," the great theme song by Polaris that carried some surprisingly dark undertones, or this original short uploaded by Fred Seibert. As for the cast, where are they now? Horror series Are You Afraid of the Dark? went through several incarnations, many episodes of which can be found online. Brave the list of scariest episodes (or TVTropes' High Octane Nightmare Fuel page for the show) ...if you dare. And of course there were the two big variety shows, both the work of Dan Schneider ("the Norman Lear of children’s television"). Each were modeled on the earlier YCDTOT -- the SNL-lite All That and spin-off Kenan & Kel (both of which helped propel star Kenan Thompson to actual SNL stardom). The nature of the shows makes video more scattered, but there's plenty to take in; this 100+ video playlist is a good start, as is the TVTropes page. (And lest we forget: Camp Anawanna, Alex Mack, Cousin Skee-- well, you can probably forget that one.) For the cynics out there: The Nostalgia Critic's skeptical 18-minute mocking of the above (except for Pete & Pete, which he loves unconditionally). PART 5: Nicktoons Of course, the most well-known Nick properties were their many original animated series, or Nicktoons. A ToonZone member explains their genesis:

Sometime in 1989, at the Montclair, New Jersey house of Nick president Geraldine Laybourne, Laybourne, her husband Kit, Herb Scannell, Fred Seibert, and others had a meeting where they watched TV shows currently running at the time and compared them to classic shorts such as the Looney Tunes. They came to the conclusion that then-current animation from studios such as DIC and Hanna-Barbera was formulaic and had no unique style. Geraldine Laybourne believed that the best characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Kermit the Frog, were those characters who were linked to their creator. Laybourne and the team decided that the creator should be the one who was the center of the production, just as it was in the old days. Also, having a library of animated shows that they owned would allow them to both prevent having to license other animation and make money for the network- and also eventually make back the high cost of producing original animation, since animation is costly to produce, but has a long shelf life. It was an expensive and laborious project- around $12 million in total ($1 to $2 million per pilot) to commission eight pilots, of which they hoped four would be able to air as an animated block with a target date of August 1991.

Only three of the eight made made it through to production: Doug, Rugrats, and the wonderfully edgy Ren & Stimpy. The success of these inspired others throughout the next decade, including:

Rocko's Modern Life, whose first season is on review at AV Club Hey Arnold!, whose main voice actress (for Helga) recently did an informative Q&A over at Reddit Kablam!, the comics-inspired variety animation show with one catchy theme song ("Two Tone Army" by The Toasters) The ongoing Spongebob Squarepants juggernaut, whose first few seasons could be pretty twisted Invader Zim (lots of episodes here), whose twistedness was a little more obvious And of course plenty of Mefites are familiar with the artistry and good storytelling of Avatar (no, not the 3D one)

One notable project was Seibert's Oh Yeah! Cartoons, an innovative series of one-off creator-driven shorts that would inspire later work on Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons series (which in turn led to programs like Dexter's Lab and Powerpuff Girls, discussed here). There's a full list of shorts to peruse on Wikipedia -- many are on YouTube, but far to many to post here. Seibert himself has put a lot of media from the show on the web, like multiple 100+ page books of art from his Frederator Studios, which helmed the project and now makes series like Adventure Time. Don't miss the ongoing 16-part history of the studio (full table of contents are only in that last post). Also interesting, if unrelated, is Seibert's collection of media from his time at Hanna-Barbera in the early '90s. If you want more (lots more), check out Jerry Beck's Not Just Toons: Nicktoons! or Heather Hendershot's more scholarly Nickelodeon Nation. (The Nostalgia Critic is slightly more tolerant of the 'toons) PART 6: Nickelodeon Magazine For years, Nick promoted subscriptions to Nickelodeon Magazine, its flagship print product with a peak circulation of more than seven million. Interestingly, while the magazine was largely concerned with pranks and jokes and celebrity interviews, it was also a haven for the underground comix scene, featuring work from cartooning luminaries like Kim Deitch and Craig Thompson, whose works were popular enough to justify periodic all-comic specials and support award programs and convention events. As cartoonist Rod McKie described his first read through an issue:

So, having heard good things about Nickelodeon Magazine (US), I decided to get a hold of the thing and go over it with a fine tooth-comb, and try to think my way into the thing. The thing was, I had no idea what to expect, it was a kids magazine after all. Well, I was astonished when I saw it, really astonished. I'm not kidding, I was really bowled over by the magazine, I had never seen a publication more visually literate, more cartoon and illustration friendly, it was a cartoonist's delight. [...] I found myself responding to it with the same levels of wonder and delight as a cartoonist, as a parent, and as a teacher. I had never seen anything like this, and I had never seen such a range of mainstream and indie cartoonists all gathered together in one publication.

Though the magazine unfortunately folded in 2009, information and art from its many features can still be found on the web: Fiona of the Felines by Terry LaBan - Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters by Jef Czekaj - Impy & Wormer by James Kochalka - Juanita and Clem by Craig Thompson - Mervin the Magnificent by Richard Sala - Patty-Cake by Scott Roberts - Sam Hill & Ray-9 by Mark Martin - Scene But Not Heard by Sam Henderson - Southern Fried Fugitives by Simon and Kim Deitch - Teeny Weeny, the Tiniest Hot Dog in the World by Mark Martin - The Uncredibly Confabulated Tales of Lucinda Ziggles by Andy Ristaino - Underpants-On-His-Head Man by Michael Kupperman - Yam by Corey Barba Lots more material in the unofficial Nickmag-Comics LiveJournal site, or browse an old issue at Archive.org. PART 7: Nick News In 1992, the channel hired respected journalist Linda Ellerbee to helm Nick News, a new educational program meant to air periodically in classrooms and in primetime. The show gained renown (and eventually won a Peabody and an Edward R. Murrow Award) for tackling difficult and complex issues like AIDS and global warming in a frank way, taking its young audience seriously and relying heavily on interviews with kids and teens to explore their problems and concerns. Politically aware, the program's regular "Kids Pick the President" mock election correctly called five of the last six winners (save Kerry in 2004). Perhaps the most notable episode of the show was the controversial 2002 special report "My Family is Different" (discussed previously), which dealt with same-sex parentage and attendant issues such as sexual harassment and hate crimes. In a time when homosexuality enjoyed far weaker public support in America, Ellerbee's earnest and nonjudgmental take on the subject provoked bitter outrage from conservative groups, who pledged to boycott Nickelodeon in retaliation. The episode, the show's highest-rated, went on to win a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Television Journalism. The show's still going strong, most recently covering the long-term consequences of the Haiti earthquake. PART 8: Nick Movies In its heyday, the company produced original live-action movies, such as Harriet the Spy (1996) and Good Burger (1997), in addition to adaptations of its animated stable. It later branched out into producing big screen versions of other works, from A Series of Unfortunate Events and Nacho Libre to Rango and the terrible M. Night Shyamalan version of beloved Nicktoon Avatar (The Last Airbender). PART 9: SPECIAL MUSICAL BONUS!! An official "Best of Nicktoons" CD featuring a random assortment of earwormy tunes from across the network; available for download here or with selected tracks on YouTube: Nick Nick Nick (Main Theme) - 3D Laughing Boy Open - Rugrats Theme - Nick Video Open - Kablam! Theme - Thunder Girl - Nick-o-Las Tell Underture - Ren & Stimpy Theme - Happy Happy Joy Joy - Log Commercial - Calling Cades - Aaahh!! Real Monsters Theme - Artman Open - Angry Beavers Theme - I Think I Like You - Hey Arnold! Theme - Haunted Train Blues - Darling You Left My Heart - Look Up! - Simple Things - Rocko's Modern Life Theme - Orange You Glad? - CatDog Theme And what musical bonus is complete without a little amateur a capella? PART 10: It all comes back For the foreseeable future, rotating blocks of the old shows are now set to air weeknights at midnight EST on sister network TeenNick, starting with All That, Kenan & Kel, Clarissa Explains It All, and Doug. If you're not a fan of those, changes will be made to the schedule in response to feedback online through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels. Also, regular marathons of the old animated shows run overnight on fellow sister network Nicktoons at the same time, offering some variety for anybody who wants it.

Sunday in the Park with Ponies

Gordafarin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:07:00 -0800

Apparently there is a Sondheim fan on the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic staff. The Art of the Dress versus Putting it Together (starts at 4:55) from Sunday in the Park with George (or Barbra Streisand's arrangement). At the Gala versus Ever After from Into the Woods. Ponies previously: 1 2 3

People come and go so quickly around here

Gordafarin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:04:36 -0800

The Mellow Brick Road. The Wizard of Oz condensed into 4 minutes, with soundtrack by P o g o.

From toons to tunes! Animator makes great music.

Quasimike — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:26:06 -0800

Meaghan Smith took an unusual route to the music business. She can't read music, for one thing. She went to school to study animation for another. Yet, along the way, she took her hobby of playing the guitar to work with her, giving impromptu performances of her songs in the stairwell of the animation building for her friends. One thing lead to another, and she just won the Pop Album of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards in Canada for her recording called "The Cricket's Orchestra." Her sound is a mixture of the music of the 20s 30s and 40s with the pop songs of today. Her videos often feature animation. A good place to start is "A Little Love" and also "I Know." Her song "Here Comes Your Man" was featured in the film 500 Days of Summer. She is also a pretty good artist!

Bloody Kids!

bwg — Sun, 29 May 2011 18:12:03 -0800

IS TROPICAL - THE GREEKS: Official music video (Vimeo, 3.25); live action combined with animation for real comic-book violence. NSFW owing to boys being shot, blown up, shot, electrocuted, shot, slashed and then shot some more.

"This is the last song I'll write about you"

jbickers — Tue, 24 May 2011 07:39:00 -0800

I Feel Better: A brief rotoscoped video for the song by the Scottish band Frightened Rabbit, in which a real-life HUD and an infinite number of parallel universes conspire to help our hero get motivated. [SLYT]