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July 21, 2008
 I'm all for do-it-yourself projects. Self-starters can take part in Montreal's newest film festival, M60. Participants will make a 60-second film, animated or live-action, which must be completed by August 24th, to be screened for 2 days in September. Register at the launch party on Thursday, July 24th from 9:oo pm to midnight. The theme will be revealed during the launch. While you're there, enjoy the short sets from several bands, one of which is Ragni (including fps's newest blogger, Brenden Fletcher).  The 2008 Animation Block Party begins on Friday, July 25 and continues until Sunday, July 27. If you're near Brooklyn you can catch three different programs of animated shorts. Friday's program will be screened outdoors at Rooftop Films and the remaining programs, played twice each day, can be seen at the BAMcinematek. Not only do you get to see tons of shorts, the event lives up to its name with beer and live music every night. Party on! July 19, 2008
 A little while ago, I got a copy of Animania in the mail. It was a copy-for-blogging exchange, and I was glad I got a chance to see it. I had caught it on local cable a couple of weeks ago, and was curious to see the rest. Turns out, I had only missed about the first ten or fifteen minutes. The documentary itself is only about an hour long, with a half-hour special features section called "Anime Uncovered." Despite my interest in fan studies, I thought that this was the more interesting part of the package -- and not just because it featured our friend Emru. I liked hearing from experts, specifically Canadian experts, and I also enjoyed hearing about the mechanics of modern animation. The documentary itself revolves around a group of cosplayers (not a cosplay group, just different cosplayers) who attend Anime North, Toronto's major anime convention. The filmmaker, Felice Gorica, asks them the same questions, most of which are about why they like anime, how long they've been watching it, why they cosplay, and what they think life is like for teenagers in the twenty-first century. Also included are interviews with the parents of each cosplayer. Whether this was intentional or not, there seems to be a clear cultural divide between the minority parents and the white ones -- the Chinese, Japanese, and Caribbean parents all profess to love the way cosplay gives their kids projects to do, teaches them discipline and stick-to-it-iveness, and keeps them out of "normal" trouble. The white parents, however, seem intensely worried about how their son uses anime to help create his identity, how much money he spends on his anime habit, and whether he should be "living his life by the rules set out by a world of fantasy." (My husband then pointed out that the American Dream is more of a fantasy than anything anyone could animate, and that living one's life by its rules is probably twice as unhealthy as any fannish obsession.) If I had one criticism of this documentary, it would be that the editing needs work. Technically it's fine -- it's not like the audio and visual tracks leap apart, or anything -- but there's a lot of extraneous footage used to split up the segments that make no immediately-apparent sense. We get unexplained cuts of anime like Slayers, but no commentary on why Slayers fits with what the interviewees have just said. Then there's the wrestling footage. To be fair, Anime North has wrestling exhibitions in full view of the registration line (it gives people something to watch while standing for hours), so it does make sense to at least acknowledge that. However, the frequent intercuts to the footage make it seem as though the wrestling should have some narrative or thematic significance to the points being made in the interviews. And it doesn't, unless the point was to highlight the fact that both wrestlers and cosplayers wear costumes. Aside from that, though, I recommend it. It's nice to see something that's exclusively about Canadian fandom, and cosplay specifically. I also liked the inclusion of the parents' commentary. These parents seem to have great relationships with their kids, and they clearly savour the opportunity to spend time with their children at a time when most children can't wait to get out of the house or otherwise spurn parental attention. Their contribution is perhaps the most unique to the documentary, and this low-key approach was just right for talking to both halves of the relationship. Labels: anime, Anime North, Canada, conventions, documentaries, Toronto July 18, 2008
 Bruce Timm, Dave Bullock, Darwyn Cooke, Stan Berkowitz and company have a reason to party when they hook up at the San Diego Con next week - their beautiful animated adaptation of Cooke's graphic novel, The New Frontier has been nominated for an Emmy in the "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour Or More) category! Our warmest congratulations go out to everyone responsible for this remarkable DTV production. I don't want to cover the same ground as Emru's masterful review but I will add that the film's presentation on the Blu-ray disc is phenomenal! Perhaps this distilled version of the story isn't for everyone, but the high-def video and audio is truly something to behold. If you can, pop this one into your PS3 and have a gander at what more lines of resolution can do for your enjoyment of 2D animation. Previously on fps: Justice League: The New Frontier Labels: Bruce TImm, Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics, Justice League, OAVs  I guess it's Ghibli Day, here at fps. Aptly so, on the eve of Ponyo's release to Japanese cinemas. If you've ever dreamed of working side-by-side with Miyazki-San and Takahata-San, this may turn out to be a dream come true! Details are up on Ghibli.jp (in Japanese, of course) of a recruitment drive for the studio. Translation from the GhibliWiki: * Duty place is Toyota City, Aichi prefecture not Tokyo. Apparently, you also need to know a reasonable amount of Japanese to get the job. Can't say I'm at all surprised. Labels: anime, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli With one day left before it's release, Studio Ghibli unleashes this fresh Ponyo awesomeness on our unsuspecting eyes. What did we do before YouTube? Previously on fps: Miyazaki's Ponyo Trailer Online Labels: anime, Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo, Studio Ghibli July 17, 2008
 On the eve of Ponyo's premiere in Japan, Studio Ghibli president Hoshino Koji let's slip plans for their next release - a new Isao Takahata film! "Ever since Hohokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun (ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん, My Neighbors the Yamadas) in 1999, Takahata hasn't produced anymore films. In fact, his new movie is now being prepared. We can’t tell the details, though it has been more crystallized than it was some years ago. He hasn't produced movie in these 10 years, but was busy on writing or lecturing. If Miyazaki is the one who gathers attention under the sun, Takahata is the type who quietly cruises underwater. If they have any common point, then they both have amazingly deep fountain of creation. Takahata is now very fine. Please, expect his next film. Goro is also preparing his new film." Via GhibliWorld.com Previously on fps: Studio Ghibli: The Art of Miyazaki's Ponyo Ghibli by Pixar: Totoro Forest Project Labels: anime, Goro Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Ponyo, Studio Ghibli  Animation World has a fantastic little interview with Aeon Flux animator, Peter Chung. In it, he speaks about his background working under Ralph Bakshi, storyboarding Transformers and finally arriving at his process for creating Aeon Flux. But what is he doing at the moment? "One of the things that I'm working on now is an adaptation of Cyborg 009, which is a Japanese comic book character and an animation series from the '60s, which I grew up with...I've written a story and redesigned the characters." Take a gander at what it might look like if the Cyborgs cram a Rally's 99¢ cheese-double-cheese, Chung-Style, right after the jump: Via Animation World Labels: Aeon Flux, Cyborg 009, Disney, Peter Chung, Ralph Bakshi  And you thought it was all over, didn't you? It turns out there will be one more little slice of Inuyasha to enjoy - if you happen to be in Japan, that is. The short film, Black Tessaiga, will screen at the Rumiko Takahashi exhibit in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district from July 30th to August 11th. There are no plans at present for this final piece of the Inuyasha puzzle to play outside of the exhibit, so catch it while you can! Video after the jump: via FireFoxNews.org Labels: anime, Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi  If you haven't heard about the new Wonder Woman animated film, then you clearly haven't picked up the fantastic Batman: Gotham Knight DVD or Blu-ray and fired up the sneak peek included as one of the multitudinous special features. Lauren Montgomery (Ben 10, Justice League, Legion of Super Heroes) is the lady in the captain's chair of the upcoming DTV feature, sharing credit for the updated design of DC Comics' amazon princess with Mister Animated Super-Hero, Bruce Timm. Check out her blog, This Sucks for some production and design insights, along with some fantastic art. Via ComicsToFilm.com Previously on fps: Batman: Gotham Knight Labels: Batman, Ben 10, Blu-ray, Bruce TImm, DC Comics, DVD, Justice League, Legion of Super Heroes, OAVs, Wonder Woman July 16, 2008
 Montreal is home to the world's largest comedy festival, Just For Laughs. The festival's annual live action and animated Eat My Shorts program begins today and continues until July 18. Among the animated offerings are John and Karen and Lapsus (pictured above) two recent shorts I enjoyed. Space Chimps, a CG feature by the Vanguard in the UK and Starz Animation in Canada, will also be previewed tonight. July 15, 2008
 - The classic Speed Racer animated series will finally be available as a box set on October 7th from Lionsgate. There is a mysterious 6th disc included in the collection which we're hoping will contain the bonus features sorely lacking on the individual DVDs. Via tvshowsondvd.com - BET Networks and Marvel Animation have announced the impending arrival of a Black Panther animated series. A sneak preview will be screened at the San Diego Comic Con on July 26th. Via marketwatch.com - Sony Pictures Animation is preparing to release it's premiere stereoscopic 3-D digital effort: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Via hollywoodreporter.com - Live-action/animation hybrid, Go Girl has been greenlit for Canadian animation channel, Teletoon. Casting will take place via a Facebook events page and YouTube submissions. Via vfxworld.com - Directing animator, Angus Lane shares insight into the animation process behind the film, Wall-E. via ign.com Labels: Angus Lane, Black Entertainment Television, Black Panther, DVD, Lionsgate, Marvel Comics, Pixar, San Diego Comic Con, Sony Pictures Animation, Speed Racer, Teletoon, Wall-E  The Kraken returns! Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk), famous franchise re-imaginer is setting his sites on Ray Harryhausen's amazing 80's mythological epic, Clash of the Titans. He spoke with ECranLarge about his intentions with the project and his intent to honour the work of the master of stop-motion animation film fantasy. Video after the jump: Via DarkHorizons.com Labels: Clash of the Titans, Ray Harryhausen, stop-motion July 14, 2008
Who missed the point here? Did someone at Marvel assume that kids wouldn't see or wouldn't remember the story of this summers smash hit Iron Man film? Is there anyone on the planet who feels that Tony Stark would be a more compelling human being at the age of 16? Has the concept of well executed exploitation of a successful brand gone by the wayside at the House of Ideas? Allow me to add further skepticism by pointing out the below-par cel-shaded model animation on display in the trailer above. sigh. I'll reserve final judgment until my 8 year old nephew has the chance to sink his teeth into this series. Iron Man: Armored Adventures will be screening and supported by a panel at the San Diego Comic Con on July 26th at 10AM. via Marvel.com Labels: Cel Shaded, Iron Man, Marvel Comics, Robert Downey Jr., San Diego Comic Con |
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