Around the Horn

It's been a while since I've done one of these.  A lot has happened and I'll try to touch on a few of them.

Digital Domain seems to be making a big push to expand.  Not only have they announced the opening of a large studio in Florida (You can guess the reason for that location.  It certainly wasn't because of the talent base!) to do features.  They also seem to be opening studios in several other locations.  San Francisco, Vancouver, Sydney, London, India, Florida and of course the original LA.  Their work continues to be bits of films, commercials, and now, their big moves into doing a CG feature.  As far as I understand, the features will be done entirely in Florida.  However, I wouldn't be surprised to see much of it shipped to India.  This will be interesting to watch.  I don't really have an opinion on how successful they'll be or not.  However, I can't help but think they are expanding way too fast for their own good.  Let's wait and see.

DreamWorks just recently made an announcement that Kevin Lima was coming back to direct another animated film.  For those of you not aware, he temporarily left animation to direct a live action film (albeit with animation in it).  I'm glad he is coming back.  Usually when an animated film director goes on to live action, they never really return.  This DreamWorks film also marks a first.  It will be their first film to be entirely produced in India!  Oh boy.  Here we go.

There is an interesting video on YouTube called A Day in the Life of John Lasseter.  It was quite good and worth a watch.  Nice house he has there!  I don't really have much to say other than go watch it if you haven't already.

I've been hearing rumblings about a couple of CG films.  These are one-off productions.  Both directed by the same guy who developed a CG feature you've probably seen.  Film #1 is already funded and will be distributed by a major studio.  Unfortunately, it seems to be in story hell right now with the executives offering wayyy too much input.  Sound familiar?  Film #2 is not fully funded yet, but has a portion.  This one may actually go into production before film #1 (the one that is funded and has distribution)!  Both films have good stories.

Someone asked in the comments about that studio I used to bring up from time to time.  As said in a previous post from quite a while ago.  I've lost hope in them.  If they haven't gotten funding by now, it probably won't happen unless one or both of the following happen.  A) A change in leadership and/or  B) Slimming down the plans and asking for less $$.  I've pretty much erased them from my watch list.  So don't hold your breathe.  They made the mistake of trying to go too big too fast.  While it was an impressive list of films, producers, directors, and a very well thought-out business plan, $800 or so million is just hard to pull together these days.

That's it for now.  As I settle back into animation world, I'll have more to say.

This and That

As mentioned in the previous post, I've been away doing other things. I wouldn't say I burned out on animation, but I came close. It was in my best interest to step away before it got any worse.

During my time away, I worked with another startup. Completely unrelated to animation. The sad part, while I was away, I wouldn't say I lost interest in animation. But it wasn't in the front of my mind. In retrospect, I feel sad that I allowed that to happen.

You can now see why I didn't post to this blog. I simply didn't care. This thing has always just been something I did every once in a while in boredom. But, when I was having this hiatus from animation, I had absolutely zero interest in posting here.

As this other job wound down, I talked with a friend who is going through a similar experience. He has been in animation a long time. Like me, he loves it - it has been his whole life. But, he has interests outside of animation too. He is an animator, and a very good one at that. But, it turns out he has another talent I didn't know about it. He is tinkering with the idea of getting funding to build that business. However, it will take him farther away from his lifelong career in animation. One that started in his teens (he is now in his 40's). It is just about the only thing he has ever known.

I could hear it in his voice. He is confused and not sure what to do. On one hand, he loves animation and everything about it. On the other, this new business is technically very challenging and requires a lot of problem solving. Something that he enjoys (besides being a CG animator, he has been instrumental in a few studio pipelines). Another plus is that the potential earnings are astronomical in comparison to 99% of those working in the animation industry will ever see.

I wish I had an answer. But hell, I can't even help myself. I floated the idea of going with the new business for a while. See what comes of it. If he can be even somewhat competitive in this small field, he could fund a movie himself. Go this new route and thrive with the new challenges. Maybe you can return to animation and create your own film in several years. He had already considered the same thing. Only time will tell what he decides. If he pursues this new thing, I'll try to help him find his seed money.

If you were hoping to read a post on the state of the industry, sorry. Maybe next time. I'm still catching up with friends to get a feel for things myself. Check back soon.

I'm back bitches

Don't have much time at the moment. I'm busy doing useless things.

Did you guys see the latest Arthur Christmas trailer? Wow that sucked big ones. Don't bother doing a search on it. Save your time for something more interesting. Like taking a dump.

Heard some rumors about a couple of CG features getting funding. The studios are not ones you've heard of before. Portions of it will possibly be done in the states. However, the majority will be from Europe. The stories look pretty good. Not much to say at the moment. When funding happens, I'll blab more about them.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll be back with more in the next year or two.

Megamind

A new teaser came out for Megamind. Amid over at Cartoon Brew has some hate for it. He doesn't seem to be much of a fan of DWA, so I'm not surprised.

IMO, the teaser is okay. The character design is interesting, but is a little bland. Reminds me of the Great Gazoo from the Flinstones. The animation however, is pretty nice. I like it.

I don't know what to expect from this movie, but it is a little hard to make much of it from this one little teaser. I'm not ready to flame it until more can be seen.

Reel FX CG Feature

It was only a matter of time. Reel FX has been doing outsource work for other studios for quite some time. They did a lot of Open Season 2, and are doing most of Open Season 3. They've done bit parts on a few other studio films. While the work on these projects haven't been all that great, the studio is capable of nice stuff.

An announcement came yesterday that they have $35 million to make their first CG feature. Now, that may not seem like much. But keep in mind, these guys are in Dallas, not San Fran or LA. Open Season 2 & 3 budgets were under $5 million. I'm confident these guys can really stretch the dollar nicely.

Of course, that is if they can keep the production in control. Meaning, don't fall into the same trap that Disney/DreamWorks/Pixar does. And that is re-working the story until everyone is blue in the face. Those other studios have the $$ to do such a thing. But at $35 million, you can't do it. And especially, you can't go back and rework the story after production begins.

We'll see in a few years how this all pans out. But for now, I bet they'll be able to do a lot with the $35. Hopefully they can find a distribution partner that can get it in front of faces.

Around the Horn

Lost interest in this blog. I'm back for another post. No promises for when the next will come.

ImageMovers shuts down its Novato studio. Sorry for the people working there, but I'm not sorry to see the company go. Now, if only we could get Zemeckis out of animation for good.

"Princess-Frog" came and went. Yawn.

Pixar releases promo still for its new short that will play before Toy Story 3. Has some 2D animation in it. Will save my comments until after I've seen it. I'm a big fan of studios doing shorts, but this one doesn't have me all that excited.

Snuck into Disney to see some footage of "Tangled". Incredible animation. May be some of the best CG animation I've seen to date. The look is great too. Can't wait to see the finished movie. Before you ask, yeah the name change is stupid and from a business standpoint, I really don't think it will make an iota of difference.

"Up" won the Best Animated Film category. No surprise there. Good film. Not great imo, but good. The release schedule from Pixar is peppered with sequels. Bummer. Are we out of new film ideas already?

Heard that Core is closing. This is the same Core that produced that butt ugly CG film "The Wild". Tough times!

"How To Train Your Dragon" will be out soon. This looks pretty entertaining. Early reviews are overwhelmingly positive. I'll probably go to the theater for this one. If for no other reason, to look cool in those 3-D glasses.

That's it for now.

Roy Disney passes

Roy died this morning at the age of 79. Thoughts go out to his family.

Princess/Frog

Disney's re-entry into 2D w/ Princess and the Frog came up with around $27 million. It opened at #1, and despite it not having the totals of a Pixar movie, I'd have to bet that the execs at Disney are pleased.

The budget for this film was lower than the 3D films produced at either Pixar or Disney. So, $$ expectations are lower. While at first glance, it almost seems like a disappointment, the fact that it made back somewhere around half of its production costs in the opening weekend is a good sign.

I'll bet that Disney will greenlight another 2D film before too long.

Prep and Landing

Last night, Prep and Landing aired on ABC. This was a Christmas themed special made at Disney.

Unlike much of the animated content made especially for TV these days, this was feature quality. Or at least very close. The lighting, texturing, and animation were all top notch. Even the story was enjoyable (albeit predictable).

There seemed to be a surge in Holiday themed animation this year. The Monsters Vs Aliens Halloween special (missed that one!), the Madagascar Christmas, and P&L were all well done. Nice to see such an effort put forth.

For all of you filmmakers out there, there is a market for making Holiday themed content. If done well, it is something that can air every year, making money each season. Not to mention DVD sales.

If you missed it last night, head over there to Hulu to see it for yourself.

Friday thoughts...

Here we go again. A lapse between posts. I give up. I can't do this at a consistent pace. I'd apologize if there was anyone actually reading this blog.

Seems that DWA has been talking about an upcoming film of theirs. The Guardian will star Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Frost.

Click on the image for a bigger version (stolen from Cartoon Brew). I know ripping on DWA is the fashionable thing to do, but I like to buck the trend. The character and design look nice to me. As far as Leonardo as the voice. Well, I'm not very excited about that. However, maybe he can pull it off. We'll see.

On another note, I was watching Up the other day. It is a really enjoyable movie. Not Pixar's best work, but very nice. However, I did notice in parts that the lipsync looked off. Mouths didn't seem to be closing on the m's, b's, etc. Maybe something was screwed up with my BluRay disc, but it just felt wrong in more than a few places. I know Pixar is the end all and be all of animation (rolling eyes), but something just didn't feel right. Ignoring that, it was a fun movie. Also, in the extras section, when they documented their time in South America for research. That was very interesting. What an incredible place to visit. I wonder what the bill was for that field trip.

Boy, aren't you glad you came to the blog to read this lame post?

CG Sesame Street

Visit the link above to see a new CG muppet short. You may be surprised to hear that I wasn't completely disgusted by it. While it doesn't look real close to the muppets we've all come to love, it does have a nice feel to it.

And when you compare it to other kids animated product (as a parent, I've had to sit through plenty), it actually has a pretty high production value.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Madagascar Christmas

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I missed the DreamWorks MvA Halloween special a few weeks ago. Lucky for me, the networks are already thinking about Christmas and DWA has a second tv special about to air.

Tomorrow night, the Madagascar Christmas special will take place. Hopefully I can remember to watch this one. And shortly, Disney will have their own called Prep and Landing.

I love seeing these high quality animated tv specials. Not only does it keep our artists busy, it opens the doors for more projects. Let's hope that they are all successful.

Despicable Me

Another trailer came out for Despicable Me a week or two ago. For those living under a rock, this is a film through the new animation arm of Universal called Illumination Entertainment. The actual animation production is being done at Mac Guf Ligne, a studio in France.

I really enjoyed this trailer. It was well done on all fronts. Upon reflection, the first trailer was pretty good as well, but I was a little wishy-washy on the character design. However, this latest one makes me want to see more. The two "villians" look entertaining enough.

IE is banking on a different production model then Pixar/Disney/DWA/Blue Sky/etc. They come up with the ideas and farm out the actual animation production. Not unlike what Sony Pictures Animation is doing with Open Season 3 (and did with OS2). Frankly, I think this is a smart decision from a business standpoint. While I hate outsourcing to foreign lands, the reasons are obvious for IE. France offers tax breaks.

As the economy straightens itself out, and if the US doesn't go bankrupt thanks to some idiotic government spending, we may see more of this as banks begin to hand out money again.

How To Train Your Dragon

This trailer came out a few days ago and for the most part, I liked it. However, a couple of things threw me off. First of all, the character "Hiccup" seems to have a voice that is hinging on the side of boring or even worse, annoying. Seems like an odd choice. I can't really put my finger on it, but something rubs me the wrong way. Second, I was a little disappointed with the dragon character designs. The human designs looked nice enough, but something about the dragon was just odd. He almost looks like a toad. With that said, it isn't enough to make me turn my back on this one. I've seen enough now, where I'm interested in seeing more. And of course, that is the point of a trailer.

The textures and lighting looked nice. There is something about it that makes it feel really warm. Additionally, the fur and hair are well done. Nice step up from MvA. The animation is also a step up from some of their previous films. Except, the mouth animation seems a little on the dry side and imo, could stand to be a bit more exaggerated.

Can't wait to see more.

Sony Pictures Animation

During my downtime, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs released. I was actually surprised the movie did as well as it did. Congratulations to SPA.

I still haven't seen the movie. Many of my friends ask how I can be in this business and not go to see every animated film when it releases. There are many reasons. Everything from having a wife and kids (too young to go to the theater) to spend time with and not wanting to deal with the distractions of rude movie goers. On top of that, before the economy got super-crappy, we spent a ton of money on a home theater room. Big screen projection, nice reclining chairs, and cup holders. I only bring this up because I'd much rather enjoy the movie at home where the distractions are few and the quality is high. Unfortunately, that means that I've seen almost everything well after the fact. And more related to this post, I haven't seen Cloudy/Meatballs.

SPA's next film will be Hotel Transylvania. I've heard good things about the artwork, but haven't heard anything good or bad about the story. Hopefully they can continue to pump out films that make money.

While we are talking about Sony. On the heels of Open Season 2 (direct to video) success, they're hard at work on Open Season 3. Like the last, this will be at least partially animated in Texas at Reel FX. OS2 was created for well below $8 million and DVD sales were high. Of course this put the third installment in motion. I've yet to hear what the budget will be for this one, but they'd be smart to keep it similar.

Astro Boy fails on lift off

I haven't seen this movie. And judging by the box office, not many others have either.

From what I understand, Gatchaman is next up to bat. I think Imagi is asking for another bomb. Sadly, the best business move for them would be to try and replicate the type of stories that typically make animated movies successful. From a creative standpoint, I'm all for variety, but from a pure business/money standpoint, it is risky to continue down the same path they're going.

Don't forget about Twitter

Oh yes, this old man has joined the Twitter revolution. Follow my tweets (okay, now I sound ridiculous) here: http://twitter.com/Staloren

I'm famous!

It's 10:45pm on a Monday. I can't sleep. After writing the previous post, I decided to take a trip around the internet.

In my travels, I stumbled across Cartoon Brew. And low and behold, there was a post about the closing of the San Fran version of Wild Brain. And in that post was a mention and link to this crappy blog you are reading now!

I can't say for sure, but I'm almost positive Cartoon Brew gets more than 1 visitor a day. Which makes it far more successful than my blog. Man, I've hit the big time. To all my new readers, welcome to hell!

I can't wait to check the visitor stats tomorrow. Right now, it tells me I get 1 visitor per day, and I'm pretty sure that visitor is me. If it's above 5 after this mention in CB, I'll consider it a success!


Against my better judgment, I actually read the comment section of Cartoon Brew to see what the responses were. However, I'm much too cool to reply there, so I'll do it here.

To Judas:

Re-read my post Einstein. I said Wild Brain SF was shuttered. Not the entire company. Oh wait, maybe you're responding to the CB post and not mine. Hmm. My apologies. No wait, I take it back. No apologies! (I need to maintain my bad-boy image.)


To Rainbow Tear (do rainbows cry?)

Of course my post was poorly written. That's how I roll. By the way, absolutely no research goes into this website. That would be reserved for people who actually care about integrity.



I'm glad I could get that off my chest. I feel much better now.

The Crappy Christmas Carol

While watching TV on Monday night, we were bombarded by advertisements for Disney's upcoming "Christmas Carol". Now, 30 seconds isn't much time to judge a movie, but it looks incredibly awful.

Anyone who reads this blog knows I'm not a fan of motion capture. But even with the motion aside, this doesn't look very good at all. The characters are not pleasing to the eye. The lighting and textures seemed weird. (Even my wife, unprompted I might add, commented on its sheer ugliness.)

And...

I'm glad. I hope this movie fails miserably and falls flat on its ugly CG face. I'm sure I'll get more motion capture fan boys defending this steaming pile of shiite, but it needs to die a horrible death.

Wild Brain SF shuts down

I was somewhat surprised a few months ago when I heard that Wild Brain, in San Francisco is shutting down. Everyone was either laid off or quit. Even the partners that owned the studio went elsewhere! There is only a skeleton crew left.

How did this happen? Well, I cannot say for sure. But the rumor going around is that when the previous CEO left, they brought in a woman to run the company. She was a TV producer down in LA and her big bright idea was to shutter the SF office. Supposedly she put the kibosh on any incoming projects, just to guarantee there was no work to support the studio.

Nothing like what it was in SF, but WB still exists in LA. I've heard they are doing some really crappy work. They've still got Yo Gabba Gabba and a few other projects, but I'm pretty sure there isn't much else.