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The Academy is touting the diversity of its new member invites, but how diverse are they really in the animation and vfx branches?

The post Oscars Invite Record 110 Animation People Into Animation/VFX Branches appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

A South American film won the animated short for the first-time ever, and a woman won the visual effects category for the first-time ever.

The post ‘Bear Story’ and ‘Ex Machina’ Makes Animation History at the Oscars appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Watch Konstantin Bronzit's film, which also won the top prize at Annecy last year.

The post WATCH: Oscar-Nominated ‘We Can’t Live Without Cosmos’ Premieres Online appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

"Prologue," he says, "is the only thing so far in my career that I've ever been really been pleased with."

The post Interview: Richard Williams Talks About His Oscar and BAFTA-Nominated Short ‘Prologue’ appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Don Hertzfeldt comes out on top in a survey of international animation experts.

The post Don Hertzfeldt’s ‘World of Tomorrow’ Selected Best Animated Short of 2015 appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Which animated short films qualified? Find out in our exclusive Award Tracker.

Find out which animated features and shorts are competing for end-of-the-year honors in 2015.

Male artists and the Disney Company continue to dominate the Academy's animation and vfx branches.

What animated shorts and features are contending for an Oscar this year?

We've all been there. So close, but not yet. Passed by, again. Promised, but the promise floats off, vanishes on the horizong. The hard work, the high hopes, the quiet.

We make music. Others star. No matter where we are, in our work out here, it can feel like we've missed the boat called "Big Time."

Is it the boat we want to be on? Can we even answer that question?

Is it our fault? Is it anybody's fault? Is it talent? Is it timing? Is it luck?

Last night I watched the 2014 Oscar winning documentary, "Twenty Feet from Stardom." Didn't expect as much depth as I encountered. Didn't think I'd cry; I did. Merry Clayton, Darlene Love, Claudia Lennear, Lisa Fischer. Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder, Sting. The distance between the back-ups and the spotlight. The barriers—the right song or luck (not the talent, in these cases)—that stand between. The things that happen to those who press ahead and those who step aside. The regrets, in both cases, the need for grace in it all.

This is an important story for the artists it introduces (again). For the superstars we already know, but who speak (not surprisingly, in all these cases) from a magnanimous place. For us, wherever we are, whatever we want, whichever doubts we entertain. For the music that, nonetheless, got made.

Twenty Feet from Stardom. 

And?

Hundreds of other animated shorts were released last year; which ones were the best?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has shortlisted ten films for the Best Animated Short category. From these ten selections, five nominees will be selected:

Adam and Dog, Minkyu Lee, director (Lodge Films)

Combustible, Katsuhiro Otomo, director (Sunrise Inc.)

Dripped, Léo Verrier, director (ChezEddy)

The Eagleman Stag, Mikey Please, director, and Benedict Please, music scores and sound design (Royal College of Art)

The Fall of the House of Usher, Raul Garcia, director, and Stephan Roelants, producer (Melusine Productions, R&R Communications Inc., Les Armateurs, The Big Farm)

Fresh Guacamole, PES, director (PES)

Head over Heels, Timothy Reckart, director, and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, producer (National Film and Television School)

Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare, David Silverman, director (Gracie Films)

Paperman, John Kahrs, director (Disney Animation Studios)

Tram, Michaela Pavlátová, director, and Ron Dyens, producer (Sacrebleu Productions)

For the record, I tweeted a few days ago about the four films from this year’s qualifying animated shorts that I felt were truly Oscar-worthy. Not a single one was selected for the shortlist, but don’t let that stop you from seeking them out. They are all fantastic shorts that engage and challenge the viewer in a meaningful way:

Here is the the complete list of 57 animated shorts that qualified for the 2012 animated short Oscar, courtesy of Michael Sporn. Bear in mind, anyone can qualify a film for Oscar consideration so being on this list doesn’t mean you’ve accomplished anything special.

Members of the Academy’s animation branch have voted on these shorts. Their votes will result in a shortlist of 10 films. Then, a second round of voting will whittle down the shortlist to the five Oscar nominees.

Say what you will about the ceremony itself (I actually found it to be refreshingly tender and dignified, for the most part), Sunday night’s Academy Awards were a tribute to Oscar’s own medium – the history, customs, elders, and influence of cinema.  From the retro popcorn girls in the aisles and the live band in the balcony, to the themes of the films and the longevity of the careers that were saluted, Oscar celebrated his own crib and the significant contribution the film industry has made to our lives.

For many of us, though, there was another medium honored throughout a surprisingly large portion of the evening – children’s books.  Back in January, Publishers Weekly noted that 21 of the nominations were ‘nods for films based on kids books,’ specifically Hugo (11 nominations), War Horse (6), Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows (3), and Tin Tin (1).

I would argue the number to be 24, if you count Puss in Boots, Jane Eyre (now widely considered to be a YA novel) and The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, a children’s book app as well as a short film, that in and of itself celebrates books and reading.

This is great news for children’s book authors of all stripes (though it would have been nice – and politic – to hear Brian Selznick’s name mentioned at least once over the course of the evening’s 5 awards given to Hugo.)  It demonstrates the enduring appeal of stories for and about young people, from classic fairy tales, novels and comics to the richness of today’s middle grade and YA fiction and the exciting possibilities that new media represents for the entire genre.

But for me there was a subtler connection at play between the mediums of film and childrens literature on Sunday night.  The films on offer this year were notably less snarky, trendy or cynical than those of recent years. Those familiar Hollywood qualities were largely replaced by conscience, compassion and – dare I say it – hope.  What’s going on?  Even in the darkest realms of YA, these are the universal themes of childrens lit!

Whatever it is, I like it. Let’s hope it sticks around awhile… or at least for as long as some of Sunday night’s honorees have.

Lauren, Publicity Assistant

Kathryn Kalinak is Professor of English and Film Studies at Rhode Island College. Her extensive writing on film music includes numerous articles and several books, the most recent of which is Film Music: A Very Short Introduction. Below, she has made predictions for the Oscar Music (Original Score) category, and picked her favorites.

We want to know your thoughts as well! Who do you think will win the Oscar for Original Score? Original Song? Send your predictions to [email protected] by tomorrow, March 6, with the subject line “Oscars” and we’ll send a free copy of Film Music: A Very Short Introduction to the first 5 people who guessed correctly.

We also welcome you to tune in to WNYC at 2pm ET today to hear Kathryn discuss Oscar-nominated music on Soundcheck.

This Sunday’s Oscars will recognize an exceptionally fine slate of film scores, and it’s nice to see such a deserving group of composers. The nominees represent a range of films and scores including the lush and symphonic (Avatar), whimsical (Fantastic Mr. Fox), edgy and tension-producing (The Hurt Locker), eclectic and genre-bending (Sherlock Holmes), and beautifully melodic (Up). While there are always surprises, I’ve considered each composer and score, coming to the following conclusions and predictions.

On Avatar:
James Horner has been around a long time, having been nominated ten times in the last 32 years, and receiving Best Score and Best Song Oscars for Titanic. He’s a pro at what he does best: big, symphonic scores that hearken back to the classical Hollywood studio years. Horner’s music gives Avatar exactly what it needs—warmth and emotional resonance—and connects the audience to a series of images and characters that might be difficult to relate to otherwise. If Horner wins Sunday night, look for the evening to go Avatar’s way.

On Fantastic Mr. Fox

In 2001, my first book, Circles of Confusion, was chosen for the Oregonian’s Book Club. The paper sent a photographer to take a picture of me at my local bookstore, Annie Blooms. The photographer liked the store’s black cat and asked me to pose with it on my lap.

While I’m a cat-person, that cat is not a people-cat, not at all. In the photograph, I’m wearing the strangest expression, a pained smile that’s on its way to just plain pain. It’s because the cat has sunk his claws deep into my thigh.

On Sunday, the Oregonian published an essay I wrote about what it’s really like to quit your day job. They also used that photo from so long ago. Today when I was out for a run, a couple walking a dog stopped me and congratulated me. I kept trying to place them, but couldn’t. Did my kid go to school with theirs? Were they neighbors? It was only after I started running again that I realized they must have recognized me from that photo. Maybe I wear the same pained expression as I stagger up the hill.

You can read the essay here. No photo, though.

Where do the wonderful world of theatre and the world of film collide?  Thomas S. Hischak, author of The Oxford Companion To The American Musical: Theatre, Film and Television is here to document the scene. Hischak is a Professor of Theatre at the State University of New York College at Cortland. He is the author of sixteen books on theater, film, and popular music as well as the author of twenty published plays. In The Oxford Companion To The American Musical Hischak offers over two thousand entries on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers and much more.

There are only two shows that have won the Best Musical Tony Award and gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar in their film versions: My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music. What does this say about the compatibility of the two awards? Well, it points out once again that theatre and film are two very different media. It also suggests that many great stage musicals were turned into less-than-satisfying movies. You might even go so far as conclude that Tony voters and Oscar voters have very different ideas about what makes an exceptional musical.

Let’s look at the champs in each medium. The Producers holds the record for winning the most Tony Awards, 12 including Best Musical. The film version however, which was a scene-by-scene replica of the Broadway production, won no Oscars. In Hollywood, the musical that won more Academy Awards (10) than any other is West Side Story. Yet on Broadway the original stage production only earned one Tony, for the choreography of Jerome Robbins. The Tony voters that season favored The Music Man in most categories; yet when it was faithfully filmed the year after West Side Story, it only won a lone Oscar, for best scoring. Of course the competition must be considered. The Music Man was up against Lawrence of Arabia (the Best Picture winner), To Kill a Mockingbird, The Longest Day, and Mutiny on the Bounty. West Side Story only had to contend with Fanny, The Hustler, Judgment at Nuremberg and The Guns of Navarone.

The obvious disadvantage in Hollywood is that musicals are nominated against all kinds of movies whereas on Broadway they compete against other musicals. Tony-winning musicals must be turned into satisfying films (no easy task, that) and then hope they open in a year when the comedies, dramas, and even Hollywood-grown musicals aren’t so impressive. Consider these well-made but unlucky movie versions of Tony Award musicals: The King and I lost to Around the World in 80 Days, Hello, Dolly! to Midnight Cowboy, Fiddler on the Roof was defeated by The French Connection, and The Godfather beat Cabaret. The many outstanding film versions of Tony musicals that were not even nominated for Best Picture include The Pajama Game, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Evita, Hairspray and Sweeney Todd.

Aside from My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music, which stage-based musicals has Hollywood liked? The only others to win the Best Picture Oscar are the aforementioned West Side Story, the British Oliver!, and the surprise hit Chicago. While none of their stage versions won the Tony Award, they were all Tony-quality shows so it’s not too surprising that they made excellent films and won Oscars. Also, each was done on quite an impressive scaled, having been “opened up” for the screen. Oliver! managed to beat out such worthwhile films as The Lion in Winter, Rachel, Rachel, Romeo and Juliet, and Funny Girl (a Broadway hit but not a Tony winner). Chicago won over the less-impressive competition of The Pianist, Gangs of New York, The Hours, and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Finally, one can’t help but heave a sigh of regret and look at all the Tony-winning musicals that were turned into disappointing films. No one spends much time wondering why Oscar nominations didn’t go to South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, Kismet, Bye Bye Birdie, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Man of La Mancha, A Little Night Music, The Wiz, A Chorus Line, Annie, The Phantom of the Opera, or Rent. As much as these stage works were (and are) beloved by audiences, theatre goers would probably agree with Oscar that the screen versions were lacking.

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Kirsty expertly handled link love last week so some of these links are a week old- but I think they are still relevant. So get busy procrastinating!

Web 2.0 isn’t exactly democratic but does it matter if it works?

Jeff Jarvis’s tribute to twitter.

A visual tour through 79 years of Best Picture awards. My favorite poster is GiGi. (more…)

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1) My dog breaking through the electric fence and attacking a dog that was walking by.

2) My dog with bleeding eye and paw

3) Having to spend the afternoon when I *thought* I'd be writing my political column at the vets.

4) Waiting anxiously for the other person to tell me if their dog is ok and wondering if they are going to sue me.

5) Having the vet tell me that I should call the doggie shrink.

6) Thinking - "Holy Cr*p! I'm in therapy. My kids are in therapy. Now my freakin' DOG is going to be in therapy!"

7) The $350 vet bill.

8) Wondering how much the doggie therapist bill will be.

9) Going to the drive through Dunkin Donuts for an iced coffee and deciding to order myself a pumpkin muffin for emotional eating purposes.

10) Finding out they are out of pumpkin muffins.

11) Ordering 4 chocolate Dunkin munchkins as substitute emotional eating fix. Driving away and realizing that they've given me five non-chocolate Dunkin' munchkins.

!2) Wanting to bang my head against the steering wheel and burst into tears because my Munchkins are the wrong flavor.

Remember that song “Autobahn” by Kraftwerk: “fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn”? I’ve got no idea what it means, but it was running through my head today as the_webmeister and I tootled along the autobahn on our way to Berlin.

Perhaps tootled is the wrong word. Here’s a screen shot of the Webmeister’s US GPS which he was using to get an idea of his speed in mph as opposed to km/h.



Man. And I thought I was speeding the day before when it clocked me at 99.6 mph. Sheesh. Still, at least I managed to prove to the Webmeister that I do know how to drive a manual, to the point that he said he MIGHT someday let me drive his BMW M5. That’s when I realized it must be love. Ha!Ha!

Anyway, we made it to Berlin in one piece, checked into our hotel, which is a very cool Artotel on an Andy Warhol theme.

Then we trekked over to the Berlin Zoo to see the adorable, the one and only: KNUT!!!



To say this polar bear cub is adorable is an understatement. Maybe that’s why he has such a fan club:



Although this rather cheeky woman had quite a fan club herself:



(sounds of Sarah singing “Who wears short shorts?”)

I can’t blame her for wanting to be minimalist on the clothing front, although I think she took it a little too far for a child friendly environment. It’s 93 degrees in Berlin and there ain’t a whole lotta places with A/C. I almost cried with joy when I spotted a Dunkin’ Donuts and was able to get an ICED COFFEE!!!!



Funnily enough, that was a large. It’s the same size as a medium at a Dunkin’ Donuts in the States.

I felt really pathetically American for having to go into a US chain while in Germany. But hey – they had ice.