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Animation

And Speaking of Monsters…

Mar 7th, 2016
by rodney.
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Wendy Grieb is a professional animation storyboard artist. She is also the illustrator of the Monster & Me series of illustrated children’s books, written by Paul Czajak. There are some good reviews of the adventures of Monster and Boy (in such books as Monster Needs A Costume, Monster Needs A Party, and Monster Needs Your Vote) over at Kid Lit Reviews. “All of the Monster & Me books are fun, carefree, and highly entertaining. Wendy Grieb’s brightly colored illustrations breathe extra life into Paul Czajak’s stories. Monster is a great character. Who wouldn’t want to listen to Monster tell a story. Who wouldn’t want to pretend they are Boy and sled down a hill with Monster at their side, or with Monster screaming up and down a rollercoaster hills?” You can also visit Ms. Grieb’s web site to find out more about her illustrations and storyboards.

image c. 2016 by Wendy Grieb

image c. 2016 by Wendy Grieb

Bird, You Are Goin’ DOWN!

Mar 2nd, 2016
by rodney.
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Out of nowhere department: Thanks to the folks over at Cartoonbrew we learn that Sony Pictures Animation are hard at work on a direct-to-video sequel to the 2007 surfing penguin epic, Surf’s Up.  (Gad, did it really come out that long ago??) Only this time it’s surfing… wrestling… penguins. Got that? “Cody Maverick, hungry for a new challenge, convinces an infamous big wave riding crew known as The Hang 5, voiced by WWE stars John Cena, The Undertaker, Triple H, WWE Diva Paige, and Mr. McMahon, to let him join them on their journey to a mysterious surf spot known as The Trenches, where legend has it, they’ll find the biggest waves in the world.” Okay then. “Abdul Williams (writer of the urban-comedy Lottery Ticket) will script Surf’s Up 2, and story artist Henry Yu will make his directorial debut. Yu’s previous credits include Sym-Bionic Titan and both Hotel Transylvania movies… Animation will be provided by Rainmaker Entertainment, the studio behind the upcoming Ratchet & Clank feature, as well as Sony’s Open Season: Scared Silly.” Check out the Cartoonbrew article for lots of preliminary artwork and an interview with the director. Look for Surf’s Up 2: Wave Mania cresting in the spring of 2017.

image c. 2016 Sony Pictures Animation

image c. 2016 Sony Pictures Animation

Before the Movie, the Manga

Feb 27th, 2016
by rodney.
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Just in time for the full North American release of  Mamoru Hosoda’s latest anime feature, The Boy and the Beast (on the same weekend as Zootopia’s release, grumble grumble…), Yen Press have published Mr. Hosoda’s black & white manga of the same title. “Fleeing tragedy and mistreatment, a young boy named Ren hides among the crowds in Tokyo’s busy Shibuya ward. His efforts to run away are more successful than he realizes when he ends up in the world of the beasts! A rough-living bear named Kumatetsu gives Ren a new life and a new name–Kyuta–but is Kumatetsu really up to the job of being a mentor?” Find out! And check it out over at Yen’s web site.

image c. 2016 Yen Press

image c. 2016 Yen Press

Back to Save Your Tail Feathers

Feb 26th, 2016
by rodney.
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Everyone’s favorite insane seabird super-spy squad is back again in a new 4-issue full-color mini-series, Penguins of Madagascar: Elite-ist of the Elite. “It’s the start of a senses-shattering four-part Penguins of Madagascar epic story! An army of robots threatens to take over the world – and only our four feathered friends can stop them!” Taking a spin on Dreamworks’ (not as successful as they had hoped…) Penguins animated feature, the comic also includes back-up stories with the baby penguins and The North Wind. Written by Cavan Scott and illustrated by Lucas Ferreyra, this new series hits the shelves in March. Check out the alternate covers and more at Titan’s Tumblr page.

image c. 2016 Titan Comics

image c. 2016 Titan Comics

Cartoon Critters All OVER You!

Feb 22nd, 2016
by rodney.
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The artist known as Kira is the creator of artwork known as KiraKiraDoodles. (“Kirakira” is Japanese for “sparkle”, she happily tell you. She’ll also tell you she’s from Germany but recently moved to Southern California.) Taking a cue from popular Japanese art, she not only draws cute “chibi” characters (little doggies, little kitties, pokemon, and so forth) but she draws dozens of them together in exotic patterns that remind one of truly unusual wall paper. Then, she turns these patterns into not only art prints but lots of useful stuff like phone cases, purses, and even dresses — lots of dresses. (Look closely.) You can see lot of examples of her art pattern work at her web site, which includes links to her Etsy store, Redbubble store, and so forth.

image c. 2016 by KiraKiraDoodles

image c. 2016 by KiraKiraDoodles

From Deep in the Disney Vaults

Feb 17th, 2016
by rodney.
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IDW Publishing have a new hardcover collection out of truly rare comic strips. From their web site: “After more than 80 years—the complete Silly Symphony newspaper strips are collected in English for the first time ever! The artwork for these rare strips has come straight from the Disney vaults. Each page has been meticulously colored using as a guide the original bound file copies that belonged to Walt Disney himself! This first of four volumes includes all the strips featuring Bucky Bug, the first Disney character to be originated in newspaper comics. The book also includes the very first Donald Duck newspaper strip—an adaptation of The Wise Little Hen. Other classic adaptations are Birds of a Feather, Penguin Isle, The Boarding School Mystery, The Robber Kitten, and Cookieland.” Also, Westfield Comics has an interview with Bruce Canwell, associate editor at IDW.

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

image c. 2016 IDW Publishing

Black Bug Singing in the Dead of Night…

Feb 14th, 2016
by rodney.
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Netflix have recently announced a new CGI animated series, Beat Bugs. Premiering this summer, it’s bug-size stories set to the music of The Beatles. Yes.  According to Animation World Network: “Beat Bugs features original characters and a world created by Josh Wakely, who will direct, write and produce the series… Beat Bugs incorporates songs from the Lennon/McCartney ‘Northern Songs’ catalogue, to tell uplifting and life-affirming stories filled with hope and melody. World-leading artists, animators and writers have come together to work on this extraordinary show. The Beat Bugs are charming, funny, adventurous, and have a knack for getting themselves into mischief and mayhem. Each of the five friends (Jay, Kumi, Crick, Buzz, and Walter) has a distinctive personality, and they display the charm and energy of five knockabout, lovable kids. They are best friends who band together to explore and learn in an overgrown suburban backyard, which to them is their entire universe.” The article also has a teaser trailer for the show.

Image c. 2016 Netflix

Image c. 2016 Netflix

Big Head, Big Heart, Big Adventure

Feb 10th, 2016
by rodney.
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In case you have missed Harvey Beaks, it’s an animated TV series on Nickelodeon, created by C.H. Greenblatt (who also created the successful series Chowder). From Wikipedia: “The series focuses on Harvey Beaks, a young, friendly bird, and his two best friends, the rambunctious twins Fee and Foo. Together, the trio seek adventure and mischief in Littlebark Grove, a magical forest that they call home.” Now Papercutz (yea, the home of Geronimo Stilton) have announced the publication of a series of Harvey Beaks full-color graphic novels for young readers. “Harvey has a big head and an even bigger heart, which is why everyone in Bigbark Woods loves him! He may be a rule follower, but after Fee and Foo show him some amazing adventures, this bird might just spread his wings.” The first one, Harvey Beaks: Inside Joke, is available in hardcover and paperback this coming March.

image c. 2016 Papercutz

image c. 2016 Papercutz

The Annie Awards, Part 2

Feb 8th, 2016
by rodney.
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In addition to the industry-voted honors, each year the Annies celebrate several talented individuals with special honorary awards. This year, all four recipients had a history of anthropomorphic works of one sort or another. The June Foray Award (for service to the community and art of animation) went to veteran Disney producer Don Hahn, who of course helped to shepherd Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King (among many other films) into existence. The Windsor McCay Award went to three individuals for their lifetime achievement in cartoons. Isao Takahata (co-founder of Stuido Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki) is celebrated far and wide for anime films like The Grave of the Fireflies and The Tale of Princess Kaguya, but he also directed the tenuki adventure Pom Poko. (And, early in his career, he directed episodes of Panda! Go Panda!) Phil Roman founded his animation studio Film Roman in the 80’s, and they have since become famous as the home of The Simpsons and King of the Hill. But they are also the studio that gave us furrier works like Garfield and Friends, Cro, Mother Goose and Grimm, C-Bear and Jamal, and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat. Finally, a special posthumous McCay Award was presented to the memory of Joe Ranft, Pixar Studio’s head of Story, who died in a tragic car accident ten years ago. Over the years Joe worked on numerous animated films at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, but he may perhaps best be remembered as the voice of Heimlich the caterpillar in Pixar’s movie A Bug’s Life.

image c. 2016 Pixar, Walt Disney Company

image c. 2016 Pixar, Walt Disney Company

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