San Diego Comic Con

(swiped from Facebook)

 

Sometimes I still get the fear of missing out on Comic-Con, but the stress and expense are too much. And a lot of trains have left the station since then. Comic-Con used to be about talking to artists and writers, and just scrounging thru boxes of back issues, but since it "went Hollywood", the bloom is off the rose for me. I can't deny the success of the MCU. The giants like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created a modern mythos that Joseph Campbell would understand. But to me, the original Marvel Bullpen seems to be becoming hazy legends like Homer and the Odyssey, or even Shakespeare.

Those times were from my crazy youth, and I'll always cherish them.
But it's time to move on now.

Looking back on the Con from 1994(?)

 Still, enjoy the day!

Slamdance DIG - A Showcase of Interactive Art

https://showcase.slamdance.com/DIG

Hello Blog, health and finance issues kept me away for awhile. But I was able to make it downtown Friday for the Slamdance Digital Interactive Game seminar at the L.A. Artist collective in St. Vincent Court. The subject of the discussion was about how information and storytelling are coming together into a new art form. Guest speakers included Chadwick Turner from Tailspin, Bryan Davis, founder of Lost Spirits distillery, Ray Mosco "VR Evangelist and Artist/Animator Sasha Samochina from NASA's "The Studio" at JPL. The host was Dekker Dreyer.

Forgot to mention how Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will become more and more commonplace. Will update this article asap.

Legend Quest - Netflix

Stumbled on Legend Quest on the Animation Scoop website. Netflix is putting out this new series from Anima Estudios. Looks like fun so far. The style and characters look like they took some inspiration from Gravity Falls and Star vs. the Forces of Evil.

(copyright Anima Estudios & Netflix)

The plot revolves around Leo, and his new friends as they challenge the evil schemes of Quetzalcóatl.

The story takes place in 18th century Mexico where Leo has encountered ghosts and demons as a child, and now must do so again with his new friends: Don Andrés, who is the ghost of an old conquistador, Teodora, who is a actually a hologram of a girl somehow transported from the 21st century, and Alebrije, a magical creature based on Mexican folk art.

Looks like it has a lot of fun and action, I hope it does well.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1381414425/

http://www.animationscoop.com/netflix-legend-quest-full-opening-titles/

https://mic.com/articles/166148/netflix-s-legend-quest-is-enjoyable-for-adults-and-reminds-latino-kids-that-they-matter#.V6O5uCxbl

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

 

 

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.

3D print dragon

Finally got my female dragon head. The resolution is a little low, 

but it gives the figure an interesting texture.

Sculpted in Maya, "Cassandra" was made in 

Woodbury University's Digital Fabrication Lab, kudos to Matt and his crew!

Here is the Dimension UPrint + (SD) unit that did the dirty work.

Super cool! Good modeling experience, 

but I need more practice in modeling the interior 

to get the proper wall thickness.

She has a few errors on her surfaces, and the eyes 

didn't print for some reason. Will have to go over that again.

Matt and William use Rhino software to convert .obj files into .stl (stereo lithography) files.

Have a good summer gang, school starts at the end of August.

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

Jodorowsky's Dune (2014) - HD Trailer

I just found out about director Alejandro Jodorowsky's plans for Frank Herbert's book from a Dune quiz on Facebook. The art by Moebius, and the storyboards look fantastic. I think this would have been far superior to David Lynch's creep-out movie. Now if I can just find it!

3D Printing

After all these years, Herman Bear emerges as a 3D print out!

Still have to clean him up, get the support material out of his mouth.

Kudos to Woodbury University's Digital Fabrication Lab. 

http://architecture.woodbury.edu/fabrication-labs/

(Forbidden Planet, original copyright MGM)

We don't have sci-fi replication technology just yet, but we're getting there!

Will update details asap.

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 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/

Wander Over Yonder cancelled

Well, this is not what I wanted to hear:

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/craig-mccracken-confirms-wander-over-yonder-finished-137583.html

 

(copyright Disney)

 http://wifflegif.com/tags/177984-wander-over-yonder-gifs

 

I was enjoying this series, even though it was designed for a younger audience. There are a few, *ahem*, mature quirks in the show, but you have to look very closely.

Some of the episodes really pushed the artistic boundaries, such as "The Void" where everything this side of "Yellow Submarine" was possible.

 

http://crackmccraigen.tumblr.com/post/140529754374/wander-over-yonder-over

"WOY" creator Craig McCracken has confirmed this. Personally, I think Wander was railroaded the way the original Star Trek was put into lousy time slots by NBC during its original broadcasts. The Mouse picked up a Cartoon Network type show, and didn't know what to do with it.

http://crackmccraigen.tumblr.com/

 

No toys, no other merchandise, All I can say is "Bah, Humbug".

Speaking of Star Trek, I was hoping we would see Lord Dominator get her comeuppance. Maybe in the way Trelane did in the "Squire of Gothos".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqQa1Xhu9cQ

 

Still, I fell in love with the characters, and the designs, so Wander, Sylvia, and all the villains will still have a place in my heart. 

 

Except for Hater, he's still a jerk. 

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!

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...

Joe Sinnott sketch of Ben Grimm, the Thing.

I don't remember if I went to comic con that year, but I met Joe Sinnott on an Amtrak train going east in the summer of 1995. He saw me sketching, and seemed impressed that I could draw on a moving train. He later gave me this sketch of Ben Grimm, the Thing. I think he said something about not wanting to be deterred by a rocking train.

(Ben Grimm - the Thing by Joe Sinnott, now copyright Marvel/Disney.)

Found this sketch in the bookshelf today. (I have it framed now.) Man, it's been almost 20 years?!

I've lost track of time it seems. Joe Sinnott gave me this beautiful sketch 2 years after I met Jack Kirby. Just wanted to set the record straight. The Thing is truly one of Jack's creations!

Christopher Lee in the Last Unicorn

Almost forgot, Christopher Lee as King Haggard in the Last Unicorn. If someone else had done the voice for this character, King Haggard would have been just another anime' villain. But with other stars such as Mia Farrow and Jeff Bridges (the DUDE!) lending their voices to this movie, Lee helped make Peter S. Beagle's story the rare gem it is. I understand that Mr. Lee was a big fan of the book.

The Last Unicorn came on cable at a time when I was finding out how things don't work out the way we planned. It's painful for me to watch it now. I had to pass it up when it came to Los Angeles this winter.

http://lastunicorntour.com/

(original copyright 1982 Rankin/Bass)

But here's to the charisma, and the dignity that Christopher Lee brought to all his film roles.