STAR WARS Episode 9: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Trailer (2019)

Not to be left out...
(copyright LucasFilm/Disney)

SIGGRAPH 2019 Keynote Speaker Victoria Alonso from Marvel Studios

First rumblings of Siggraph, which will be in L.A. this summer.

Being a comic book geek, I'm kind of anxious to hear one of the keynote speakers, Victoria Alonso, Executive Vice President of Production for Marvel Studios.

 

(photo copyright Siggraph)

From her bio in the first link below, Alonso started at Digital Domain, then joined Marvel as Executive Vice President of Visual Effects. She has won awards from the Visual Effects Society (VES), and the Harold Lloyd Award from the Advanced Imaging Society.

No info yet on the time or date of her talk.

The main dates for Siggraph I've found are from Sun, Jul 28, 2019 to Thu, Aug 1, 2019.

Will try to update more asap.
 

UPDATE: Victoria Alonso is scheduled to speak Monday, July 29, 2:00 - 3:15 PM.

Special thanks to Ginger Alford for the info!

https://s2019.siggraph.org/conference/programs-events/keynote-session/?fbclid=IwAR3z1lhDp0cOmGdTezMNUmKfVlfRqOzE9lLN3cfAXMUTWN7nXh3ZVEEQJC0

https://s2019.siggraph.org/ 

https://blog.siggraph.org/

Dragons and Unicorns - Stuffed Productions

On Sundays I need something fun and witty to look at, so check out "Stuffed", the misadventures of a little girl and her stuffed animals. Sibling rivalry breaks out when the little girl's favorite toy becomes jealous of the newcomer who steals the little girl's heart.

 

(copyright Stuffed Productions)

 

The kicker is that the toys are still inanimate, while still being able to observe their situation, and become sort of a Greek chorus to the little girl's adventures while making witty remarks to each other.

 

Sort of a Toy Story meets Calvin and Hobbes.

Enjoy!

 

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/stuffed/list?title_no=215575&page=1

 

 https://www.facebook.com/StuffedTheComic

And plush toys are also available as well. I support them on Patreon, in the cheapskate section.

https://www.patreon.com/stuffedthecomic/posts

Satina Wants a Glass of Water

                                
Welcome to the Ninth Level where dysfunctional families can still get together and get the most out of life. Or the After life, as the case may be. Meet Satina, the cutest little demon who manages to keep her hapless parents on the run!

Satina, her simmering Demon Queen mother Lucia, and lovable doofus dad Dave are created by Hannah Daigle, a student at the Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts. It's great how a project can take on a life of its own, plus Hannah's music choices help support the comical situation.

Hannah has lovable characters in one of the worst marital situations of all time, namely, what do you do when your fling with the devil ends up with such an adorable child? Stay tuned, and check Hannah's patreon page. I'm hooked and now I'm a supporter! But don't let the boss catch you.

https://www.patreon.com/satina/posts

You can also get to Hannah's youtube channel here-

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1fjSSxPEEHb7WqAdd6xChQ

Disney Acquires 21st Century Fox for $71 Billion

Grrr... The next mega-merger! So the Mouse finally owns the rights to the original Star Wars? Someday soon there will be just only one channel/theater/website. Less choices, less jobs!

None of the links below talk about lost jobs and only mention employees briefly.

Shows you where their priorities are.

UPDATE:

"Thousands of layoffs expected"

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/read-the-memo-disney-ceo-bob-iger-sent-to-employees-after-closing-the-dollar71-billion-fox-deal/ar-BBV0D1Y?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

(copyright Disney, of course)

https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/disney-fox-deal-complete-1203167374/?fbclid=IwAR30g3HSqxs0_UD2dUeesGohV3WLlZhV9HuFbIz46EmL27iaBmTHpyjKtCA

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/disney-closes-dollar71-billion-deal-with-fox/ar-BBUYFq5?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/business/media/walt-disney-21st-century-fox-deal.html

http://www.talkmedianews.com/featured/2019/03/19/ryan-joins-board-of-foxs-newly-established-public-company/

Director James Gunn Reinstated For ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy 3’

 After the political hit job, and much clutching of pearls over past sins, and past payments for sins, Guardians Of The Galaxy Director James Gunn is reinstated by Disney. We may finally get proper introduction of Adam Warlock in the MCU.

 (artwork copyright Marvel/Disney)

https://deadline.com/2019/03/james-gunn-reinstated-guardians-of-the-galaxy-3-disney-suicide-squad-2-indefensible-social-media-messages-1202576444/?fbclid=IwAR1c4alcrxcBsdLozrWMmLmg-k9S7NYUt0LWQW3tStjBvcxj09pcp8d8G40

T-Mobile and Sprint merger

Well, I only just found out about the T-Mobile and Sprint merger at a St. Patrick's Day party.
Another merger, and I feel like we're being boxed in, and losing our choices.
And it's more dough for a privileged few.
No mention on the usual news sources.

https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-and-sprint-are-merging-heres-everything-you-need-to-know/

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/14/18223819/t-mobile-sprint-merger-regulators-congress-hearing

https://www.wired.com/story/t-mobile-sprint-merger-is-scrambling-telecom-politics/

https://consumerist.com/2014/02/12/why-sprints-case-for-t-mobile-merger-is-logical-but-bad-for-consumers/

Oscars - Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short for 2018

The nominees for 2018 are -

Animated Feature
“Incredibles 2,” Brad Bird
“Isle of Dogs,” Wes Anderson
“Mirai,” Mamoru Hosoda
“Ralph Breaks the Internet,” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Animated Short
“Animal Behaviour,” Alison Snowden, David Fine
“Bao,” Domee Shi
“Late Afternoon,” Louise Bagnall
“One Small Step,” Andrew Chesworth, Bobby Pontillas
“Weekends,” Trevor Jimenez

With some bad news...

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/awards/academy-voters-dont-watch-the-animated-features-they-vote-on-and-the-academy-is-fine-with-that-170670.html?fbclid=IwAR0fyGO6Nzkyhppfr7V_L1xmc3Nd13TKa1q1X-sMX-BGt1SRpyf-0ktH_yo

And the winners are...
 Best Animated Feature
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
and
Best Animated Short
Bao

https://www.sonypictures-guilds.com/spiderman-into-the-spiderverse

 (copyright A.M.P.A.S, Marvel, Sony and Time-Warner. Sorta)

Visual EFX Awards for 2018

Hello, other issues made me late to the party again, here's the results for this year's winners in visual effects. Who will get the Oscar for best Animated Feature?

https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/ayear/17th-annual-ves-awards

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/vfx/the-best-breakdowns-in-vfx-right-now-170276.html

https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/2019-academy-vfx-bake-celebrating-year-excellence-visual-effects

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/awards/ves-awards-2019-winners-spider-verse-sweeps-animation-categories-169877.html

https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/

UPA studios in Burbank

Photos of the old UPA studios, next to the Smokehouse restaurant in Burbank. I wish I could have been there to have seen some of my childhood favorites in production.

 

(original copyright UPA productions)

https://midcenturymomanddad.wordpress.com/tag/upa/?fbclid=IwAR3Wqpna25Dc7EHlgyCxYabpAQlTRjMQ0MSVCmXE7yiFI-rGOBRCQzirH_M

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/books/inside-upa-a-cartoon-brew-book-4073.html?fbclid=IwAR0-oJjXwdoVKv0BHg__rtOrWtbo6zkkMkbFtqdrb5K5ZDc9NAbZki12Cl4

https://mrmagooschristmascarol.blogspot.com/2010/10/?fbclid=IwAR02Y9KURsV8vudYoSZMq3BFrNhVc_GyMx12iA3EQDJOIPHv1jUHgG4HvhA

 http://floydnormancom.squarespace.com/blog/2014/6/13/remembering-upa?fbclid=IwAR09MyJVjscoRzTeBAURZ6Yg1oJxKXEao8EKAvltXDdynEXxA9z02noibyk

Animateducated Live Stream: The Gary K Wolf interview

Animateducated Live Stream: The Gary K Wolf interview

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

'Nuff said!

https://www.sonypictures-guilds.com/

https://www.awn.com/news/spider-man-spider-verse-wins-best-animated-feature-46th-annie-awards

Bud Light x Game of Thrones Super Bowl Commercial - Joust

Marvel Studios' Avengers: Endgame - Big Game TV Spot

Super Bowl 2019 ads

Extra Christmas or New Year's Day celebration?

As we chow down, and root for our team, let's not forget the artists and technicians that bring us these mini movies that may be more entertaining than the game!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/Ad-Meter/2019/02/02/super-bowl-commercials-ad-meter/2753528002/

 https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2019-super-bowl-ads-your-guide-to-the-leaked-tv-commercials-to-know-in-the-big-game/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/superbowl-commercials-hub?ocid=mailsignout

46th Annual Annie Awards

https://annieawards.org/watch-it-live

How to Fix the Future by Andrew Keen

Managed to catch this on KPFK; Ralph Nader interviews author Andrew Keen.

https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/how-to-fix-the-future/

 (from Technological Threat, directed by Bill Kroyer 1988)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096238/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32508662-how-to-fix-the-future

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/TechnologicalThreat

The Little Bummer Droid

Just getting a quick sketch down.

The Holiday rush has begun, at least for me.

My concern is "Digital Dickensian-ism":

We are at a point where not having the latest phone or gadget not only means a loss of status, but a threat to health and safety as well. If a cell tower goes down, can the public still get vital information on wildfires or hurricanes threatening their town? There's still battery powered radios, but who really keeps one? My upbringing has helped me try to tread as lightly on the Earth as I can. (And I still hang to a lot of old tech to pinch a penny.) But it is tech that media manufacturers and telecom companies don't want to deal with anymore. My point is that we should be able live with whatever level of technology we want, and actually need. I'm still impressed by the Amish back East!

I hope the world can heal, and get past its rage and madness in 2019.

Best,

Ken R.

RIP SpongeBob SquarePants Creator Stephen Hillenburg

 I'm reading more and more about middle age people in showbiz passing away, and it's scary. Whereas Stan Lee lived to nearly a century at 95, it's saddening to hear about SpongeBob SquarePants Creator Stephen Hillenburg. Granted he was suffering from ALS, once known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a neurodegenerative disease with no known cure.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stephen-hillenburg-dead-spongebob-squarepants-creator-dies-at-57-1164132

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/rip/stephen-hillenburg-creator-of-spongebob-squarepants-dies-at-57-167113.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/11/27/spongebob-squarepants-creator-stephen-hillenburg-has-died/?utm_term=.6d613d30b1bf

I must begrudgingly admit, I did get a few laughs from the folks down in Bikini Bottom. And it's a reminder to keep going on my projects, no matter what. Spongebob will be like the Simpsons, just one of those shows that will always seem to be around. The amount of work, and adventures Stephen Hillenburg had as a marine biology teacher is still impressive. Here's a sketch of SpongeBob I did back in 2006.

(copyright Nickelodeon)

 

Here's to ya mate!

Animate In Virtual Reality with Disney's PoseVR

Saw this article on Cartoon Brew; worth passing along. https://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/disneys-posevr-is-a-mind-blowing-tool-that-lets-you-animate-in-vr-166721.html