Akira - Premiere in Japan: July 16, 1988

Little memory jolt from Tom Sito on Facebook today: Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic film Akira premiered in Tokyo on July 16, 1988, 34 years ago. I picked up this handout that was floating around the east side when I was working in Beachwood, Ohio. Just a hasty, but still stylish paste-up that was reproduced on an old photocopier.

 (original copyright Katsuhiro Otomo. Original poster artist unknown.)

I think this was from 1989 or 1990? But Akira brought the house down, back at the good ol' Cleveland Cinematheque. Akira was a giant step away from the old Speed Racer and the original Transformers. This director meant business. No one under 13 admitted!

By now, most Anime' fans know of this grim, near future dystopian tale: Two friends in a motorcycle gang stumble upon a secret government plan that made nuclear weapons look like mere firecrackers. Akira helped develop an appetite in the U.S. for more serious work like the Animatrix, and the great films of Hayao Miyazaki.

https://www.facebook.com/ken.roskos/posts/1085670169022040:5 

 So, charge up your bikes, rile up the gang, and take the wild ride again!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_(1988_film)

Brad Bird Incredibles 2 Interview - KCRW The Treatment

While flipping around the dial, I managed to stumble upon this rebroadcast:
Brad Bird discusses story, character and film inspiration on "The Treatment" on KCRW 89.9 FM, hosted by Elvis Mitchell. Tune in!

https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/the-treatment/brad-bird-incredibles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5qOzqD9Rms#action=share

'Vicious Cycle' by Michael Marczewski

 Tragic commentary on society, with superb computer animation and good basic storytelling.

http://floobynooby.blogspot.com/2017/01/vicious-cycle-by-michael-marczewski.html?m=1

 http://www.michaelm.tv/

Vicious Cycle from Michael Marczewski on Vimeo.

Planet Soltice - More Sketches

Late Summer/Early Fall sketches

 

One point perspective on some Borg-like tech, this is actually for something else...

Landscape...

 

Another one point perspective, need the practice.

Shane Acker's 9 movie

Just realized it is September 9th, seven years since the release of Shane Acker's "9"movie.

(copyright 2009 Focus Features)

While everyone else is celebrating 50 years of Star Trek, (which is fine), I thought I should bring this little gem back out into the spotlight. As a student at UCLA, Acker created this short film about war, oppression, loss of personal freedom, and science run amok as his student project. "9" caught the attention of Tim Burton who worked with Acker to produce "9" as a feature film.

While I am a little tired of the post apocalyptic story theme, the David and Goliath struggle of the little doll people struggling against a devil device bent on devouring their souls is still worth watching. Acker's commentary on current world affairs is still disturbingly trendy, even more now today!

And it has one of my favorite actors, Martin Landau providing the voice of "2".

 

Enjoy!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472033/

http://www.focusfeatures.com/9

 

 

Jack Davis, R.I.P.

Ah, no...

http://www.newsfromme.com/2016/07/27/jack-davis-r-p/

All those Mad magazines, gee whiz.

Still, a great artist, great caricaturist.

http://www.americanartarchives.com/davis,jack.htm

(copyright publisher, from The Art of Jack Davis)

Maybe he's still doodling in the great bullpen in the sky...

http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2016-07-27/famed-cartoonist-jack-davis-noted-uga-bulldog-drawings-dead-91

The Iron Giant's Dream (New Scene)

Imagining Zootopia--Part 1:Legacy

Here's another youtube channel. Let's enjoy this again until it gets pulled down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eQgypYsA5U

Making Of Zootopia

copyright Disney

Zootopia Documentary

courtesy of Cartoon Brew.

UPDATE: Sorry folks, this video was pulled.

The Social Commentary of Zootopia

I finally saw Zootopia, and I was surprised at some of the issues the directors took on, such prejudice, class and disillusionment. For example:

Good people fall back on old negative stereotypes.

(Every Disney movie has plot point where the hero makes a horrible mistake, and then has to overcome the consequences of that error. Judy's press interview for instance.)

"Treat me like a criminal, I will act like a criminal."

(Nick Wilde is Zootopia's Han Solo, but he is also finally coaxed away from his criminal past.)

 Characters get hurt emotionally as well as physically.
(Both Judy and Nick during their childhoods.)

(my photo from CTN 2015, characters copyright Disney)

While the world of Zootopia doesn't have our level of wars, poverty and injustices, the basic personal issues still remain:

I have an image to maintain.
Jumping to conclusions.

Not sure who to trust.
What's in it for me?

 On the other hand, Zootopia did cheer me up a little bit, when I look past their cloying cutesiness:

 Things are not what they seem.
The strong don't always prey on the weak.
People can go beyond their apparent limitations.
The past does not have to decide your future.

Imho, Some of the old cartoon jokes hurt the movie, like the population counter of Bunny Borough, but that's showbiz.

This blogger has a more severe view:

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/03/03/zootopia-review-a-muddled-mess-of-racial-messaging...-and-cute-animalshttp://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/03/03/zootopia-review-a-muddled-mess-of-racial-messaging...-and-cute-animals

 Good points. What are our real cultural and ethnic blind spots? How do you present these issues to younger children without sugar-coating it too much?

Minor points:

Where does the protein for carnivores come from? What forests were cut down, and what mountains were strip mined to build the city? There all kinds of  logistical and technical questions that interfere with my suspension of disbelief, but Zootopia is still a clever, thoughtful movie nevertheless.

The Gnomon Workshop presents an Evening with Grzegorz Jonkajtys

Polish animator Grzegorz Jonkajtys has an interesting technique in combining miniature hand built sets with CG characters. Glad I made it over to Gnomon to see the talk.

Grzegorz's film credits include Sin City, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Mist, Rango, Pacific Rim, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Warcraft, and The Revenant. His titles were VFX Artist and Lead Animator.

(copyright Grzegorz Jonkajtys?)

After such grim short films such as ARK, where an animated Leonard Nimoy type character is trapped on a doomed plague ship, Grzegorz is bringing us a family oriented film based on a Polish character, Teddy Floppy-Ear. 

Teddy, and his friend Hare find out that a toy factory is not all fun and games. Grzegorz slips in some social commentary when the system tries to toss Teddy into an incinerator for having one minor defect, in this case, his floppy ear,

After years of CG work, Grzegorz said it was refreshing to build miniature sets by hand. He pointed out that his hand built sets have a more convincing depth and character than the usual CG backgrounds. This was his strategy in filming "ARK". Grzegorz had his crew do lighting checks with real miniature models so the lighting on the CG characters would match the hand made backgrounds in a more convincing way.

Using kit-bashing and Styrofoam containers, drinking straws and mint candy box tins, Grzegorz and his crew built the charming, and at the same time, frightening world of Teddy Floppy Ear.

http://jonkajtysfilm.com/following/all/jonkajtysfilm.com/Teddy-Bear

http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/news/2016/03/an-evening-with-grzegorz-jonkajtys-combining-cg-animation-miniature-sets/

Crunchy Bunches- A serial about breakfast!

One more web comic, worthy of further perusal...

http://www.crunchybunches.com/

Follow Munchy as he and his pals go on fantastic adventures to bring home the ultimate crispy, crunchy breakfast experience.

Wild's End Comic

Guilty pleasure time. Think of H.G. Welles "War of the Worlds" meets "Wind in the Willows".

http://www.boom-studios.com/wild-s-end-01-cover-a.html

Check it out!

Best Animated Feature 2016 - Inside Out

No surprises here.

(images copyright Pixar/Disney)

http://oscar.go.com/nominees/animated-feature-film/inside-out

I may have to watch it again. If this was a film about depression, or childhood trauma, or just how a human being becomes lost when key moments in life do not come together in the right way, then all the eye candy in this film distracted me from those points.

Best Animated Short 2016 - Bear Story

 Okay, it's not heavy journalism, but now I want to see this.

I guess that's what the Oscars are for, more exposure.

(images copyright of the authors)

http://oscar.go.com/nominees/short-film-animated/bear-story

Poppy O' Possum is back!

And Poppy is back after a late fall/early winter hiatus!

http://www.poppy-opossum.com/comic/poppy-6-page-28/

Commander Kitty is back!

http://www.commanderkitty.com/2016/02/05/communication-error/

One of my favorite webcomics is back online.

Hope it makes to the climax of this story...

Star Wars: A Look Back with ILM Veteran Jeff Light

http://blog.siggraph.org/2015/12/star-wars-look-back.html/

Cartoon Crossroads Columbus - CXC

Managed to stumble on this while channel surfing in Ohio before Christmas.

Very good discussion.

Will have to get back down to Columbus someday soon.