Kevin J. Weir is an artist, making ads (
1,
2,
3,
4,
5), and more interestingly, not ads. In the latter category, he has made 3 stand-alone sites:
the Flux Machine, a tumblr of public domain images turned into animated GIFs, ranging from amusing to surreal (with an extra dash of Lovecraft), which
Cartoon Brew likened to
Terry Gilliam and
Stan VanDerBeek;
Nyan Waits, another spin-off of the
Nyan Cat meme/theme, now with more Tom Waits; and
Loud Portraits, an interactive portrait gallery.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Apr 4, 2012 -
9 comments
Gauche the Cellist [Google video, 63 minutes] is based on a story [Japanese; English translation #1, #2] by Kenji Miyazawa, one of the most-loved poet/storytellers in Japan (Miyazaki and Takahata love his works, and have been influenced by him). The movie was made as an independent project by a Japanese animation studio, OH Production (wiki), and took 6 years to complete. It is rather difficult to make a Kenji story into a movie because there are many Japanese just waiting to rip you apart if you screw up, but Gauche has been highly acclaimed, and is considered one of the best Miyazawa movies (IMDb). The story is about a cellist, Gauche, who becomes a better cellist by interacting with animals who visit his home every night. *
posted by filthy light thief
on Oct 8, 2011 -
8 comments
"In Japan, animation is not seen as the exclusive realm of children's and family films, but is often used for adult, science fiction and action stories, where it allows a kind of freedom impossible in real life. Some Hollywood films strain so desperately against the constraints of the possible that you wish they'd just caved in and gone with animation." --
Roger Ebert on anime, with this excerpt being related to
Tokyo Godfathers. Ebert has been a fan of anime for a while, especially the works of
Hayao Miyazaki. Ebert has reviewed 6 of the 18
Studio Ghibli films released to date, and
even interviewed Miyazaki with a bit of fanboy glee.
More reviews and videos inside. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Aug 30, 2010 -
92 comments
Telephoneme: Even if your Alphabet Conspiracy succeeds and you destroy the books, machines have no minds of their own. They are easily confused by different voices and different accents. It is the brain of man that tells them what to do.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Aug 20, 2010 -
10 comments
Lucasfilm Animation is currently developing an all-new animated Star Wars series. Not
that one, a new series. And no relation to
the holiday special (
1978) or
Ewoks, the
animated series (
1985), or even
Droids:
The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO (
1985). The new
new series is set to feature creative involvement from Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, creators and executive producers
Robot Chicken, writing from The Daily Show's Brendan Hay, produced by Jennifer Hill (
The Backyardigans), and directed by Todd Grimes (
Back at the Barnyard). Unlike
the Clone Wars animated series, the latest venture into animation will be
one more humorous in tone and aimed at younger kids. Pre-School to Kindergarten aged kids young, and
the working title is believed to be "Squishies" (
or not).
posted by filthy light thief
on Apr 6, 2010 -
76 comments
Jon Klassen is an illustrator and designer, with a
blog and a lovely
website full of artwork, including
The Miser (3:53, 2004, made with
Kyle McQueen and Dan Rodrigues),
An Eye for Annai (5:27, 2005,
previously, also made with Dan Rodrigues,
.MOV video link),
an interpretation of
a Mayan folktale (available in full in
Flight vol 4,
previously),
The Adventures of Ship,
a family art project,
visual development and drawings
for sets and props for the movie adaptation of
Coraline (
a couple previous), amongst other bits and bobs. Illustration Mundo had an
interview with Klassen earlier this year.
posted by filthy light thief
on Sep 4, 2009 -
3 comments
