Taste Visualization

Michel Gagné, the lauded artist/designer behind the "taste visualization" sequences in Ratatouille, has posted a link to his website on the Animation Nation BB, where he has some conceptual artwork and info on how these sequences were achieved. People seem mostly impressed:

Two of my favorite scenes! Made me think back fondly to the "meet the soundtrack" moment in Fantasia and darned if it didn't occur to me that you must have had a hand in doing those bits. Very, very fun piece; in a movie filled with the atmosphere of food this got me to experience taste. Thank you!

Not everyone is so enthused, though:

I thought this was a very interesting concept, but the final result felt a little conservative in art terms.I like your work, Mister Gagne,yet I wish I'd seen a little more color, flair and exoticism in some of those shots. Cool, but not pushed enough.

You can't please everyone, I guess.

The 20 Year Curse?

Semaj has posted posted an interesting observation at the Animation Nation BB:

Why does it seem like somebody or something wants to kill off Disney animation every 20 years?

1940's: WWII causes Disney to put full-narrative films on hold while most of their resources were put into wartime training and propoganda.

The anthology films were minor successes, which kept the studio alive thru near-bankruptcy. Walt Disney takes his next shot at full narratives with Cinderella, wherein the film's failure would've ended the studio for good.

He goes on to state that Disney animation was in trouble in the 1960s, the 1980s, and early in 2000. Mr. Fun replies, skeptical that Disney is even out of trouble at this point:

Today, Disney is more a marketing and distribution company than a creative one. Do I wish it were different? You bet I do. But, business is business, and I doubt things will ever be the same. ... In the old days, creative people ran the studios while the "suits" spent their afternoons in the bar or on the golf course. Today, managers meddle in every detail of production because they feel they have to. Today's films cost millions, and should they fail to deliver, someone's head is gonna roll.

Woody Woodpecker

Over at Something Old, Nothing New, Jaime J. Weinman posts a link to a list featuring descriptions of all the cartoons on the upcoming Woody Woodpecker DVD, and discusses Woody's origin in an Andy Panda cartoon:

He's hardly the only popular cartoon character to start out in someone else's cartoon. Popeye's debut cartoon, "Popeye the Sailor," is sort of an early version of a stealth spinoff pilot -- since it launched the character in a Betty Boop cartoon. Daffy Duck, of course, made his debut in a Porky Pig cartoon.

His readers go on to discuss other characters who started out in another character's cartoon:

Goofy first appeared in a Mickey Mouse cartoon (Mickey's Revue, 1932), and depending on your view on the matter, Bugs Bunny might've made his debut in a Porky cartoon (Porky's Hare Hunt. 1938 d. Ben HArdaway).

Ratatouille's stinky B.O.

Over at his blog, Jim Hill discusses Ratatouille's less-than-stellar opening weekend. Basically, it may not as big of a deal as it seems:

I just got off the phone with Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Walt Disney Studios. Who basically told me that it wouldn't be wise to label "Ratatouille" Pixar's first real disappointment. Not yet, anyway.

"We've now got the best reviewed film in the country which people just love once they actually get to see it," Chuck continued. "So you can bet that -- when people sit down at the picnic table over the Fourth of July and talk about what movies they've just seen -- 'Ratatouille' is going to come up. And it's that word-of-mouth that's going to make all the difference here."

Though Hill himself seems less than convinced:

Me personally, I have to admit that I don't share Viane's optimism. In a summer where virtually every major studio release has seen ticket sales fall off by more than 55 - 65 % over its second weekend in release, I find it extremely hard to believe that "Ratatouille" going to be the one movie that bucks that trend.

I'd like to think that a film as good as Ratatouille would be a shoe-in to rake in the bucks, but then again quality and box-office grosses are very often mutually exclusive.

Disney -- No Girls Allowed

Over at the Animation Nation BB, Offbeat posts the somewhat disturbing rejection letter that's been making the rounds in the last little while.



The gist of it basically being that the only animation job that girls are suitable for is as an inker. EustaceScrubb comments:

The most infamous example of that "girls don't work in the animation dept." form letter is the one that was sent to Lillian Friedman who had five years experience as an animator at the Fleischer Studio when she applied to work at Disney, but got that letter in return ! However, around the same time they had hired Retta Scott in the Story Dept. and were training her to be an animator. Go figure ... seems to have been a very arbitrary "rule" .

Popeye, DVNR. Yes or no?

ParamountCartoons93 asks if the new Popeye DVD will use DVNR. (Here's an explanation of what DVNR does to cartoons, for those who aren't sure). Jerry Beck quickly puts everyone at ease:

You are worried about nothing. They will be unedited. No DVNR. I promise. [The restorations] will blow you away.

He even posts an image from one of the cartoons to ease people's minds.



This backfires a bit. Dphirschler comments:

Based on the "action" frame posted, I see evidence of DVNR. You can see vague shadows of the previous frame in that one. That's the tell-tale sign.

Not everyone agrees, however. Thad Komorowski:

That frame doesn't have DVNR, that's the girl's sexy see-through outfit.

So it looks like the jury's still out on this one; we'll have to wait until the DVD actually comes out to know for sure.

Straight-to-video no more

At the Animation show forums, Reverend Ned posts the news that Disney will no longer be producing cheapo direct-to-DVD sequels. From the news piece:

"Although the direct-to-DVD sequels - such as "Meet the Robinsons 2," "Chicken Little 2" and "The Aristocats 2" - have generally been very profitable, the new Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney, John Lasseter, has publicly said the sequels are inferior to the originals and erode the Disney brand."

And of course, people seem happy about this:

"As bad as these cheapquels were, they were still highly lucrative for Disney, so the folks at Wall Street are probably not going to be as enthusiastic about this as we are. However, the fact that Lasseter and Co. were gutsy enough to pull the plug on this speaks volumes about the good times that are ahead."

Tex Avery Documentary

Over at the Golden Age Cartoons forums, frootloops has posted a five part Tex Avery documentary that he found on youtube. I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but it seems interesting. Matthew Hunter concurs:

That was FASCINATING. Not the same old stories, I learned something. Thanks for sharing that.

Here's the first part:

Welcome to the blog

So I figured I should probably do a "first post" basically detailing what I'm planning with this blog. Essentially, I plan on posting any interesting animation news or forum discussions that I come across. My goal is to make it somewhat like the now defunct Fanboy Rampage, which was a really great blog about comics. I'll mostly be talking about classic animation (ie. stuff made before the '50s), but I will occasionally talk about contemporary stuff.