MetaFilter posts tagged with animation and Disney

It all started with Alice...

Ambrosia Voyeur — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:04:32 -0800

Last month, Virginia Davis passed away at 90 years of age. She was the real life (warning: lousy formatting) little girl (warning: teh kyoot) whom Walt Disney sent into the land of cartoons, responding to the popularity of Max Fleisher's Out of the Inkwell series, which used his "rotoscope" and brought cartoon figures into filmed space. Walt reversed the formula, and found his first star.
1923: Alice's Wonderland 1924: Alice's Day at Sea 1 2 Alice's Spooky Adventure Alice's Wild West Show Alice's Fishy Story 1 2 Alice and the Dog Catcher 1 2 Alice Gets in Dutch Alice and the Three Bears 1925: Alice Cans the Cannibals Alice the Toreador Alice Gets Stung Alice Solves the Puzzle Alice Loses Out Alice is Stage Struck Alice Picks the Champ Alice the Jail Bird Alice's Tin Pony Alice Chops the Suey Alice Rattled By Rats Alice in the Jungle

Religious Studies 101: A Handful of Thorns

fearthehat — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:17:19 -0800

Religious Studies 101: A Handful of Thorns - A Radio Play Crossover Event (Intro, Act 1, Act 2, Act 3). Producer and scriptwriter Greg Weisman unites the characters of the critically acclaimed animated series Gargoyles and The Spectacular Spider-Man in a script originally performed at the 2009 Gathering of the Gargoyles fan convention. Please be warned that the script contains spoilers for the aforementioned shows. The script, although not part of canon for either series, is welcome new material for fans of the shows, both of which face uncertain futures, especially in the wake of Disney's recent purchase of Marvel (previously on MeFi). While both shows were primarily aimed at a younger audience, the script acknowledges that the shows, and Gargoyles in particular, draw much of their support from an older Periphery Demographic. There are several Parental Bonuses ("Not that kind of threesome") and even a shout out to pornographic comic company Blue Mug Productions (very NSFW, obviously). There's also a rather brief appearance by previously unused Spidey villain Carnage, who was presumably included in an attempt to dispel persistent rumours (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that Weisman does not like the character. Previous discussion of 'Ask Greg' and Gargoyles on MetaFilter.

Dali's Destino Completed

hippybear — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:23:47 -0800

In 1946 legendary surrealist Salvador Dali formed an unlikely friendship with Walt Disney, and they spent some time collaborating on a short film called Destino. Dali and Disney artist John Hench worked on a lot of storyboards, but only 18 seconds of test footage were shot before the project was abandoned. Previously

Graduate of Hogwarts

hippybear — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:09:24 -0800

Mike Jittlov worked in special effects back before computers took over. His legendary film short, The Wizard Of Speed And Time, was actually a self-created remake of an earlier short. That short was expanded into a full length motion picture also called The Wizard Of Speed And Time, which Jittlov has released online under a "karma license", a sort of self-created version of the Creative Commons license. His early work included much brilliant work for Disney (link includes the original Wizard short, plus his entire 30 minute demo reel, strung together as a playlist.) Whether his work will receive legitimate release is unclear, even still. He does still have his own website, full of Web 0.5 deliciousness. Previously, sort of.

Video excerpts from the AMPAS' Milt Kahl tribute.

archagon — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:45:47 -0800

Video excerpts of the panel discussions from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' recent Milt Kahl tribute. One of Disney's famous Nine Old Men, Kahl was renown for his incredible skill in all things related to animation, particularly draftsmanship. If you'd like to learn more about the early Disney Studios (as well as animation in general), I would highly recommend picking up The Illusion of Life by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas.

SQUIRREL!

Artw — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:26:02 -0800

The real world location behind “Up’s” Paradise Falls. But could that house really fly?

Brazil - a good neighbor

PercussivePaul — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:25:50 -0800

If you've ever heard the song Aquarela do Brasil (often called simply "Brazil" -- here's my favourite cover), then you'll probably enjoy this classic 1942 animation which first made it famous. The clip is the finale from the feature Saludos Amigos (hello friends), created during a US government-funded goodwill tour of South America aimed at strengthening Pan-American relations, which some argue may have helped bring South America onto the side of the Allies in World War II. The goodwill tour is the subject of the 2008 documentary film Walt & El Grupo.

Not so "magical" anymore, is it?

Zambrano — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:45:23 -0800

Disney made one movie, and they've been tracing it ever since.

They are fighting for a new world of freedom and peace.

anastasiav — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:05:00 -0800

Toons at War previously on the same topic

Technology + Art = Magic

netbros — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:10:21 -0800

Behind Pixar’s string of hit movies, says the studio’s president, is a peer-driven process for solving problems. How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity (alternate print link for those having trouble with the first link), by the co-founder of Pixar and the president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios Ed Catmull. "For 20 years, I pursued a dream of making the first computer-animated film. To be honest, after that goal was realized — when we finished Toy Story — I was a bit lost. But then I realized the most exciting thing I had ever done was to help create the unique environment that allowed that film to be made. My new goal became, with John, to build a studio that had the depth, robustness, and will to keep searching for the hard truths that preserve the confluence of forces necessary to create magic. In the two years since Pixar’s merger with Disney, we’ve had the good fortune to expand that goal to include the revival of Disney Animation Studios. It has been extremely gratifying to see the principles and approaches we developed at Pixar transform this studio. But the ultimate test of whether John and I have achieved our goals is if Pixar and Disney are still producing animated films that touch world culture in a positive way long after we two, and our friends who founded and built Pixar with us, are gone."

There will also be a singing crocadile

Navelgazer — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:46:22 -0800

In January of 2004, Disney shut down their Florida animation studio, part of their decision to move away from 2D, or cell-shaded, animation for good. Two years later, as part of the new deal with Pixar, John Lasseter and Ed Catmull were brought in as heads of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, and promptly declared that 2-D Animation would thrive again on their watch. For their first new project, the team wanted to show support for the still-struggling New Orleans, and simultaneously introduce Disney's first Black Princess in "The Frog Princess" (Or The Princess and the Frog, as it is now known), a fairy tale set in 1920's Jazz-era Louisiana, with Randy Newman providing a period-specific score. Much response to the project has been quite positive, but as with all things, the devil is in the details.

Ollie Johnston, R.I.P.

May Kasahara — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:07:42 -0800

The last of Disney's Nine Old Men, Ollie Johnston, has passed away at the age of 95. His work at Disney on several classic features and his books with Frank Thomas (The Illusion of Life in particular), have long been inspiring to animators like myself. He was one of the great ones, and will be missed.

a parable of rodents and men

madamjujujive — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 08:37:56 -0800

Peace on Earth - 1939 Disney animation directed by Hugh Harman. And Goodwill to Men, a 1955 remake by Hanna-Barbera.

Conservative Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue!

Effigy2000 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:16:11 -0800

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue was an animated drug prevention television special starring many popular cartoon characters from American Saturday morning television. Airing in 1990 and financed by McDonald's, it was simulcast on all three major American television networks. The VHS home video edition of the special also opened with an introduction from then-President George Bush Snr and Barbara Bush. And thanks to the wonders of the interwebs, you can watch the whole thing here. And you really should. After all, where else are you going to get to hear cartoon characters like Garfield and Winnie the Pooh talking about smoking crack and shooting juice? If you don't want to (or simply can't bear to) sit through the whole thing, at the very least you should subject yourself to the horrors of what is arguably one of the worst songs in animated TV specials history ever, Wonderful Ways to Say No, where the collected group of characters explain all the ways you can say no to drugs. It' worth it just for the irony of seeing Kermit the Frog telling kids to say no to drugs despite the fact Henson practically conceived the character in a drug fuelled haze (previously).

The Art and Flair of Mary Blair.

dgbellak — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 08:56:17 -0800

The A r t and F l a i r of Mary Blair .

Donald Fauntelroy Duck

Effigy2000 — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:08:31 -0800

The Donald Duck animated short film anthology. Donald Duck's family tree. More Donald Duck family trees. Donald, Donald, Donald. Quack, Quack, Quack.

3D: Dali and Disney = Destino

Xurando — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 13:43:17 -0800

Salvador Dali and Walt Disney collaborated in 1946 on the short animation Destino. Disney had concerns about some of the graphics and it was never released. Lost for 56 years, it was restored in 2003 and has not yet been released for wholesale distribution. Tommorrow is your last chance to see it at the Dali and Film exhibit at the Tate Gallery. Previously.

Animation Treasures

stavrosthewonderchicken — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 03:58:45 -0800

The author of this site takes screen-shots from long-pan scenes of classic animation and puts them together to re-create the original larger background images. Much cooler than it sounds, honest. [via MeFi's own kokogiak, sort of]

Space Oddity

madamjujujive — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 22:22:40 -0800

Mars and Beyond - 50 years ago, this animated episode of Tomorrowland aired on Disneyland a few months after the launch of Sputnik - an entertaining melange of astronomy, sci-fi, pop culture, science, speculation, and surreality. Walt himself and Wernher von Braun make guest appearances and clip 5 is particularly trippy. (Parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Hanna-Barbera never did this.

thirteenkiller — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:38:25 -0800

Cloned Disney cels: page 1 [Russian, bad English], page 2 [Russian, bad English]

That's (Almost) All, Folks

tsarfan — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 20:01:43 -0800

The 50 Greatest Cartoons Ever: the List - including links to the full-length videos of the corresponding toons on YouTube and Google, etc. Based on a twelve year-old-vote by the animation industry, which explains why there are no appearances by Cartman, Bart, or Fry.

Ub Iwerks

Astro Zombie — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 04:38:06 -0800

He had an awesome name for an animator. He created Mickey Mouse. He won two Academy Awards. He invented rotoscoping. Now he is mostly forgotten, except among cartoon aficionados. Also forgotten: Flip the Frog. He was Ub Iwerks.

A House, a Mouse, and a Louse

maryh — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 04:05:11 -0800

Tom Hignite wasn't content owning one of Wisconsin's most successful companies, Miracle Homes. The evangelical contracting magnate had a dream. He would be the Walt Disney(sound) of the 21st century. So he turned a portion of his 7,000 square foot house into a studio, hired a crew of veteran Disney and Warner Bros. animators, and proceeded to make a feature film QT starring his own creation, Miracle Mouse. This is the story of how it all went wrong.

Ask Greg

ruthsarian — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 11:33:56 -0800

Ask Greg allows fans of Disney's first dramatic animated series, Gargoyles, to submit questions to series co-creator and producer Greg Weisman. It's been around since 1996 and has become a treasure trove of information and insight into not just the show, but the animation industry in general. Ask Greg and a fan-run annual gathering has kept the flame of the Gargoyles Universe alive and their efforts are paying off. Recently Disney began releasing the show on DVD and now it's set to return in the form of a comic published by Slave Labor Graphics and written by Greg Weisman.

Advanced Animation by Preston Blair

soiled cowboy — Sun, 07 May 2006 09:16:45 -0800

Advanced Animation by Preston Blair, "the best 'how to' book on cartoon animation ever published." Blair, a Disney and MGM animator, put the book together in 1947 to illustrate the various basic principles of animation, only to have the book pulled from shelves after the rights to use some of the characters were revoked. Animation historian Jerry Beck has been hunting for a first edition of Blair's landmark book for many years. He finally found a copy and is sharing high-quality scans on the Animation Archive. (Archive previously linked in this thread; discovered via this thread.)