Much Better Now — A bookmark is stuck in a forgotten book that is one day knocked over by wind. It experiences its environment by surfing the pages that turn in to ocean-waves, enjoying the ride of its life. As the book cover closes, light reveals new challenges.
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posted by netbros
on Oct 19, 2012 -
3 comments
Why does some cave art feature animals with multiple limbs and heads?
French and
Finnish researchers claim that prehistoric man was deliberately creating animated art, with the animals appearing to move in flickering torch or fire light.
posted by Wordshore
on Sep 25, 2012 -
29 comments
"
Jan Švankmajer is a major figure of contemporary East European animation whose surrealistic, often macabre work owes more to the nightmarish visions of Kafka and Buñuel than to the sunny daydreams of Walt Disney and his creative progeny. Noted for investing otherwise ordinary objects with ominous overtones, Švankmajer reached his widest audience to date with a feature-length adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" (1988) which blended animated and live-action footage--a technique he had earlier used to hair-raising effect in "Down to the Cellar" (1983)." --
TMC. Often credited with influencing the Brothers Quay, they hadn't actually seen his work until relatively late in their careers,
as they mentioned in an introduction to their documentary on Švankmajer (YT playlist). More of Švankmajer inside.
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posted by filthy light thief
on Sep 23, 2012 -
21 comments
Poetry Reincarnations. "I hope you may enjoy these glimpses at some of the long-gone poets and literary figures, etc., in the form of scratchy old movies, as if they had been filmed by candle light."
posted by Iridic
on Sep 20, 2012 -
6 comments
Animal Soccer World is a release by the late no-budget European publisher Phoenix Games. The primary feature of the "game" is a 30 minute animated feature (Youtube playlist
here) full of blatantly copied Disney characters, dozens of characters voiced by the same person, some of the worst animation you will ever see, and a throbbing jungle beat that literally never stops.
posted by Shadax
on Sep 2, 2012 -
10 comments
"Over the years in animation, there have been a lot of great animators.
Ub Iwerks was one of those people. We know his work, but we don't necessarily know the man."
The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story (in 5 parts on DailyMotion:
1,
2,
3,
4, and
5) tells of the life of Ubbe Eert Iwerks, from the formation of the friendship with Walt Disney when they met at advertisement studio in Kansas City, their artistic collaborations and Ub's 20 years of animation, to Iwerk's technical creations that kept Disney animated pictures ahead of other studios.
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posted by filthy light thief
on Aug 31, 2012 -
14 comments
"Although best-known for its restoration of feature films, UCLA Film & Television Archive has been preserving animated films for more than three decades, with over one hundred titles to its credit. The short subjects, trailers, and promotional films presented here provide a representative sampling of that work. They have been preserved from best-surviving and sole-surviving 35mm nitrate and 16mm prints, showcasing many forms of animation spanning the entire silent film era."
The UCLA Preserved Silent Animation project, one of over 80
collections made available through the UCLA Digital Library Program.
posted by cog_nate
on Aug 30, 2012 -
4 comments
The first color cartoon came out in 1957, from
the Miami, Florida studio Soundac, beating out LA-based
Hanna-Barbera's The Ruff & Reddy Show by a few months. Soundac's
Colonel Bleep was
styled after space-age design ideas of the era, featured in three to six-minute long segments with limited animation, designed for syndication into local kids shows with live hosts. Of the 104 episodes,
less than half survive, as
most of that and other Soundac material was stolen from a studio van in the ’70s, when the studio was closing. Luckily, episodes have been found in the collections and archives of various TV studios, so
Col. Bleep and his side-kicks Squeek and Scratch are available online (YT),
some clips on Archive.org, and
more on YouTube (playlist with 43 clips).
posted by filthy light thief
on Aug 27, 2012 -
20 comments
I, pet goat II - 'A story about the fire at the heart of suffering. Bringing together dancers, musicians, visual artists and 3d animators, the film takes a critical look at the events of the past decade that have shaped our world.' (SLVimeo, parts may be NSFW)
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on Jun 29, 2012 -
21 comments
Fatman on Batman, Kevin Smith's new podcast on all things Batman, so far featuring excellent interviews with Batman: The Animated Series alumni Paul Dini and Mark Hamill.
(WARNING: Contains Kevin Smith. But he is knowlegable about the subject, asks goods questions and shuts up and listens to the answers. Yes I am as suprised as you are. Also you probably want to mash forwards hard for the ads at the begining. Also maybe some stuff at the end of his conversation with Paul Dini... shudder. And dear god! That picture! What the hell? Is he... is he? I don't want to think about it. But seriously, very good.)
posted by Artw
on Jun 19, 2012 -
30 comments
Isle of Spagg... On the other side of the Vertic Sea where things are distinctly fishier, lives the proud fisherman Inger and his half-mermaid (but not the half you'd expect) daughter Herring. When the
least respected old character on the island dies, conflict ensues and a favorite garment is ruined. Meanwhile two haberdashers with a checkered past deal with their own loss. Can Dr. Beez or one of the Oracles help? Can the Isle's 15 minstrels make music to make things better? And what about little Claude? It all happens in a 30 minute cartoon from the
Brothers McLeod, Greg and Myles, who have also animated (scroll down for video clips)
Fuggy Fuggy for MTV,
Pablo and Frankensheep and
Quiff and Boot for the BBC,
Billy for the Royal Shakespeare Company,
The Existential Pleading of the Inner Heart for anybody who wants it and other very random stuff.
posted by oneswellfoop
on Jun 17, 2012 -
4 comments
Every child comes equipped with
(Whether it's a boy or girl)
A big serving of explosives
Might be up to half a pound
They must be in constant motion
Push, and kick, and flail, and shout
If they can't, they just explode
Bang! Kaboom!
Your luck's run out. [includes Soviet animation and baby monkeys] [more inside]
posted by Nomyte
on May 26, 2012 -
9 comments
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.
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posted by Trurl
on May 17, 2012 -
61 comments
