President Obama visit at Dreamworks

Well, the momentum from Big Money seems unstoppable. The GOP and "tea-party" members will probably howl about "Hollywood liberals", but they all seem to be in Wall Street's hip pocket.

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-visit-demonstration.html

http://www.thewrap.com/obama-visit-dreamworks-animation-protest-visual-effects

http://ktla.com/2013/11/24/obama-visit-will-shut-down-streets-from-beverly-hills-to-glendale/#axzz2lgw9LJQI

Okay, I know I'm being a lunkhead, but my "visual commentary" has to be part of our freedom of speech. I say that President Obama, or any presidential candidate has to put on the "Golden Handcuffs" before he or she can put a hand on that Bible. And then nothing seems to change. The Military, Banks, Wall Street and the Media has an incredible amount of momentum, and it takes time and a horrendous amount of energy to force it to change course. (That's Donkey's silhouette by the way; all art copyright Dreamworks SKG and the U.S. "Gummint")

I'm not against a business or studio succeeding, especially with the distribution issues Dreamworks has had to face. But I still cite Henry Ford when he realized he had to make a product his employees could afford. Movie tickets cost too damn much, and bad writing leaves a lot of animation and visual effects on the digital cutting room floor. With the media monopolies, we are still clubbed over the head by virtual "Pinkerton Men", whether we are out on the sidewalks protesting or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JLKw0q4kY

UPDATE: This in from Cartoon Brew and Variety

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/will-obama-be-greeted-by-a-sea-of-green-at-dreamworks-91463.html

http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/vfx-soldier-daniel-lay-vfx-protest-1200887757/

Hollywood Reporter

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/vfx-workers-stage-protest-dreamworks-660287

UPDATE: I have to admit, it's the first time any President of the United States ever visited an animation studio. Cartoon Brew gave me that little tap on the shoulder. But I don't think it will have any effect on the job situation out here.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/will-obama-be-greeted-by-a-sea-of-green-at-dreamworks-91463.html

Woodbury Stop Motion demo at CTN Expo

Finally made it to the 2013 CTN Expo. I was still feeling sick, but I still managed to do some basic stop motion animation.

Pow! Boff! Zap! Working out some aggression I guess.

The Woodbury students were great troopers. But I was still out of it, and didn't get their names.

Ric Heitzman set up the stop mo demo, inviting expo goers to try some stop mo. Most people still seem surprised at how much time it takes to produce a few seconds of footage...

R2D2 Death Star Mashup

More mischief - surprised no one has done this yet. No one will hassle this little R2 unit!

(artwork now copyright Disney/Lucas. Apologies to George Lucas, Kenny Baker, and all Star Wars fans everywhere.)

CTN Expo this weekend.

And I've been sick as a dog. Hope I can make it.

http://www.ctnanimationexpo.com/

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/events/ctn-animation-expo-returns-to-burbank-this-weekend-90955.html

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/

Stay tuned...

Beany and Cecil - Rocky and Bullwinkle Saturday Morning Mashup

Okay, I haven't posted in awhile, and I needed to cause some mischief between Halloween and Thanksgiving: What if the classic Saturday morning teams of Rocky and Bullwinkle had to swap partners with Beany and Cecil? No, not that kind of swap! I was feeling nostalgic again, and wondered how much fun a team-up with Rocky and Cecil, and Beany and Bullwinkle would be in a 60's Saturday Morning Mashup. I've Googled this, and no one else seems to have done it before, so I went for broke.

(Artwork originally copyright of Bill Ward and Jay Scott, plus Bob Clampett!)


We basically still have young, plucky little guys with big, dumb but lovable buddies. Technically, I think it would work. Dishonest John would still get the better of Bullwinkle (until the end). And I'll bet Cecil would love to thrash Boris Badenov.

I did something like this with Johnny Socko and the Iron Giant last year. I think this would be fun:)

UPDATE: Bullwinkle DID team up with Beany Boy briefly on an ad for Thermos lunchboxes. Looks like the mid 1960's to me.

(courtesy of crypt of wrestling)

http://cryptofwrestling.tumblr.com/post/22406007205/in-store-thermos-lunch-box-poster-with-bullwinkle