NBC-Comcast-Universal takes over DreamWorks Animation

Jeffrey Katzenberg steps down after 22 years at DreamWorks Animation...

 

 

(copyright DreamWorks Animation)

http://www.animationxpress.com/index.php/latest-news/nbcuniversal-announces-new-senior-management-for-dreamworks-animation

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/adios-jeffrey.html

 

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/studios/thank-jk-dreamworks-artist-remembers-studio-katzenberg-created-142622.html

 

After hits like "Kung Fu Panda", "Madagascar" and "How to "Train your Dragon", we'll have to see how it goes with the new management. I was at DW back in the day, but I had to move on due to office politics. A student who had assisted me this summer has landed his first job there, I wish him all the best for the future, and the future of DreamWorks Animation.

Herman Bear on the planet Solstice

Here's some sketches from July in Canada...

Herman Bear lands on my new planet Solstice...

I didn't want him to be alone on the planet,
so I gave him a new companion.

(Cubcake is also there, but I'm not sure I'll keep her in the story.)

 

The bear has to make a new friend, literally! Herman assembles "Athena" from different organisms to build a composite creature. Sort of a cross between Larry Niven's Pierson's Puppeteers, and Sylvia the "Zbornak" from Disney's "Wander over Yonder".

http://larryniven.net/puppeteer/pupbod.shtml

(It's a long story)

When Herman first sees Athena, she is just some kind of seed pod that drags itself along the ground with some sort of beak. Herman has to put her together as an intelligence test designed by other aliens. Enjoy!

Kubo and the Two Strings

(copyright Laika studios) It's mortals vs. the gods in Kubo and the Two Strings. An outcast boy whose music and stories that brings origami to life goes from hustling on the street to a real challenge when he learns more about his true origins.

Laika has got another winner here! The plot is a little vague at the beginning, but things are not what they seem, as Joseph Campbell might have once said, and that's good for the film. The stop motion is well done, almost looking like CG animation. Director Travis Knight and his crew didn't cut any corners on this film

The action, although theatrical, is intense, and I am still surprised (and annoyed) at parents bringing very small children in the cinema. Still, the story succeeds on concepts of being true to yourself, appreciating your parents, and your gifts.

Get a good seat! I'm looking forward to the Blue Ray already.