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Why produce expensive hand-drawn animation when you can placate your audience for the cost of lunch at Spago’s? Animation artist Henrique Jardim noticed that at yesterday’s CTN Road Expo animation event in Burbank, Disney was handing out papercraft animation desks complete with disc and peg bar. He tweeted the photo above along with this note:

Artist Katie Woodger is claiming on her Tumblr this morning that Disney’s Consumer Products division has been reproducing her Alice in Wonderland artwork on Disney merchandise without permission. She has a compelling case:

My painting was created back in 2010, and since then so many people have expressed their love for it, not just on tumblr, but in many places. At least 9 people had it tattooed on their bodies. It’s one of my favourite images I created at University and I was proud of it in many ways.

Disney have used it on a cosmetics bag HERE (look at the back)

and they have produced a Tshirt HERE with a really similar design clearly modeled from my painting.

I’m so mad because I have no chance at getting Disney to do anything about it. I had so much respect for the company and now I am just SO upset and disappointed.

Bear in mind that Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is a public domain property and Woodger’s art was styled in an original manner that is distinct from the Disney versions. If her claims hold up, this would be a bold example of copyright theft by the Disney Company.

Imagine that you could interview Milt Kahl at the height of his powers and ask him anything you wanted. That’s the opportunity a little old lady in Dallas got in 1973. Andreas Deja recently posted the segment on his goodie-filled blog, and even by the low standards of local television, it’s a disaster.

Resembling a bad sketch-comedy routine, she asks Milt nonsensical things that only vaguely resemble questions like, “How far back do they go? Do they go back…what are some of the …Nutcracker?” and “Do you think it’s an inspired thing that they get these characters?” One gets the sense that Kahl would have decked the lady had the interview gone on a minute longer. Perhaps the reason she’s wearing dark sunglasses indoors is that the last person she interviewed gave her a black eye for her utter lack of journalistic ability.

The saving grace is Milt doing his famous eyeglass-dangle at 1:15, not to mention that fabulous patchwork sports jacket.

The answer is 56 writers (and 3 story editors). The show was THIS.

The Draw Shrek Tumblr is described as “a place where we draw Shrek.” For those of you rebellious artist-types who were considering drawing other characters from the classic DreamWorks franchise, don’t even think about it! The site’s rules clearly state: “NO DONKEY FUCK FIONA ONLY SHREK. SHREK TIL U DIE.”

Shrekquille O’Neal

Shrek Fighter by Aaron Cowdery

Ballin Shrek by Edgar

Shrek Kawaii

Shrek Onion by Matt Marblo

Shrekbath by Sean Glaze

One of the memes that has gained popularity during the recent visual effects industry turmoil is asking, What would Hollywood films look like without visual effects? We may not find out the answer to that question anytime soon, but we do know now what a Turkish TV series looks like without visual effects.

Turkish Redditors are claiming that the TV network STV accidentally aired an episode of a dramatic show with unprocessed chroma key shots, that is, with the green screen actors still running around the screen. Here is the footage that allegedly went over the air:

(via Uproxx)

Last Thursday, Rhode Island-based 38 Studios laid off its entire staff of nearly 400 people, which presumably included many artists and animators. The unceremonious layoff notice sent to their employees can be read on Gamasutra.

The game studio was started by former baseball player Curt Schilling, and had received a $75 million loan guarantee from the state of Rhode Island, which gambled that Schilling’s company would bring high-paying tech jobs to the state. The company managed to slip out one game before collapsing, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which both looks and sounds like the creation of a sweaty-palmed, pimple-faced high school student.

Amalur shipped 1.2 million copies in its first 90 days (at least, according to Schilling). The governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, said in a press conference a couple days ago that the game would have needed to sell twice as many copies just to break even.

There’s a lot of lessons to be learned here, the first of which would be that just because you know how to throw a ball doesn’t entitle you to tens of millions of taxpayer dollars so that you can pretend to run a video game technology company. Schilling just made it that much harder for legitimate video game entrepreneurs to receive any type of investment for their companies.

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: 38 Studios, Curt Schilling, Rhode Island

Today Disney announced the official start of production on their live-action Maleficent and released the first image of Angelina Jolie in the title role. The film is helmed by first-time director Robert Stromberg (production designer, Avatar, Alice in Wonderland), produced by Joe Roth, written by Linda Woolverton (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast) and executive produced by Angelina Jolie, Don Hahn, Matt Smith and Palak Patel.

Scheduled for release on March 14, 2014, the film recounts “the untold story of Disney’s most beloved villain, Maleficent, from the 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty. The film reveals the events that hardened her heart and drove her to curse the baby, Aurora.” Next in Disney’s series of unnecessary films that destroy the mystery of cartoon villains: the story of the Queen in Snow White and which supermarket she bought the apple from that was used to poison Snow White.

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Angelina Jolie, Don Hahn, Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty

Have you ever wondered what Disney’s Seven Dwarfs would look like if the characters were designed by an artist who had no fundamental understanding of drawing, color theory or appeal? Wonder no more. The designs above, which look more like an animation student’s first pass in a character design class than functional designs for a TV series, will be used in a new Disney TV production called 7D, that will premiere on Disney Junior in 2014.

A bunch of Tiny Toons and Animaniacs alumni are involved: Tom Ruegger exec produces, Alfred Gimeno directs and Sherri Stoner story edits. Fish Hooks creator Noah Z. Jones designed the characters. He’s made it impossible to differentiate between the dwarfs, but I can only assume that turning them into generic icons was a directive from above.

According to Deadline:

Described as a comedic take on the world of Seven Dwarfs in a contemporary storybook world, 7D takes place in Jollywood where Queen Delightful relies on the 7D — Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Grumpy and Doc — to keep the kingdom in order. Standing in their way are two laughably evil villains, Grim and Hildy Gloom, who plot to take over the kingdom by stealing the magical jewels in the 7D’s mine.

Man, what I wouldn’t give for a couple of solid, well-constructed drawings just about now….

Aah…that’s better.

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | One comment | Post tags: 7D, Alfred Gimeno, Disney Jr., Noah Z. Jones, Sherri Stoner, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Tom Ruegger

What says “Chuck Jones centennial celebration” better than this kitschy painting of Bugs and Daffy riding motorcycles? According to the Chuck Jones Gallery, the artist Mike Kungl has created something of a masterpiece: “With his sleek styling, geometric patterns and luxurious color palette, he is able to evoke the sophistication of the Art Deco era and at the same time add a contemporary look to the beloved cartoon characters brought to such magical life by Chuck Jones.” The gallery is selling the limited edition piece for $600. Pay an extra $300 to have an artist “hand-embellish” the piece. For an extra $500, they’ll complete the deal and have one of their gallery employees whiz on Chuck’s grave.

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | 8 comments | Post tags: Animation Art, Chuck Jones

At least it’s not animation. Billboards and posters for this mysterious children’s film have been appearing all over town for weeks. The film opened yesterday to disastrous reviews. This project has the stench of Delgo all over it.

Unfortunately, as animation is still perceived as children’s fare, a film like this could harm the good will animated features have built up in recent years. The Oogieloves in The Big Balloon Adventure (it hurts just to type that) opens this weekend on 2000 screens. The $55 million dollar production (that figure includes production and marketing) is being bankrolled and self-distributed by a would-be Walt Disney (or perhaps Jim Henson) named Kenn Viselman.

Viselman was previously a “marketing visionary” and producer on Thomas the Tank Engine and Teletubbies. He is so sure that he can “sell” parents and kids on this film, he has a sequel ready to shoot in October. This guy is either a genius—or a madman. My mind is made up regardless—based on the trailer, this guy is crazy. I look forward to reading the grosses next week.

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | 63 comments | Post tags: Kenn Viselman, Oogieloves

Good Lord, no…

Here we go again… trendy New York hip-hop clothing maker Mishka is tying its new fall fashion line to Harvey Comics characters. I’m going to assume this deal was put in place before Dreamworks bought the characters…

From their press release:

“We were elated to pay tribute those characters by using them as the basis for the entire Mishka x Harvey Comics Collection. Here’s the Harvey Comics for Mishka Fall 2012 Lookbook starring none other than Casper The Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, Spooky, The Ghostly Trio, Hot Stuff The Little Devil, Baby Huey, and Wendy The Good Little Witch. These beloved icons can be seen sporting the very best of our Fall Collection, decked out in everything from Richie’s khaki’s + button-up country club ready outfit, to The Ghostly Trio’s imposing camo uniforms.”

The Ghostly Trio’s “Camo uniforms”? I won’t even begin to dissect the schizo-illogic of invisible characters needing camouflage uniforms… But I also going to assume the characters are in better hands now and crap like this won’t be happening again.

(Thanks, Mark Bieraugel)

Remember the DreamWorks artist who was accused of shooting a dog and then pounding it to death with a hammer? Last Friday, Young Song, 41, who has done CG surfacing since 2003 at DreamWorks, admitted in court that he went into his neighbor’s yard, beat a German Shepherd that was tethered and muzzled, and then disposed of the body.

Song had initially entered a “not guilty” plea, but on the first day of the trial, jurors were shown surveillance footage that showed him attacking the dog. After the tape was shown, Song changed his plea to “no contest.” The judge sentenced him to one year in county jail, three years of probation, and ordered him to not own any pets or animals for ten years. He will begin serving his sentence next month. More details at the Pasadena Star-News.

(Photo of dog via Shutterstock)

In Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, Nesquik nearly kills two of the film’s main characters. Well, they weren’t joking about the deadly nature of the sugary drink. Wreck-It Ralph-themed Nesquik can also kill you in real life.

Nestle USA is recalling 200,000 cans of Nesquik Chocolate Powder due to possible salmonella contamination, which can be life-threatening to infants, pregnant women, the elderly and individuals with weakened immune systems. The recall affects 10.9, 21.8 and 40.7-ounce canisters with a “best if sold by” date of October 2014.

Spotted at Best Buy this weekend: Chop Kick Panda. I have no idea what this is, but a clip on You Tube (embed below) doesn’t seem so bad – looks like a rejected Cartoon Network pilot (and I mean that as a compliment). Anyone know who’s responsible?

(Thanks, Brian Lonanao)

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Chop Kick Panda

The problem with publishing a magazine about animation that nobody wants to read is that one often has to resort to questionable tactics to raise money. One of Animation Magazine’s most insanely screwball stunts is their annual Pitch Party, which they’ve been getting away with for the past ten years.

Here’s how it works. Contestants pay $375 to “pitch” their animated project. Except, they don’t really pitch anything. Instead, they submit one 2″ x 5″ image to the magazine that contains their entire idea. I can’t even fit my daily to-do list in a space that small, much less an idea for an entire animated project. But amateurs and students who don’t know better still try to do it:

Anybody who has worked in the animation industry for more than a week knows that this isn’t an even remotely realistic way to sell a series, and anybody who hasn’t worked in the industry could learn that by spending a few bucks on David Levy’s excellent primer Animation Development: From Pitch to Production. The sad thing is that Animation Magazine knows this too. They’ve published enough interviews with executives over the years that they could compile their own book of dos and donts for pitching.

What’s so wrong about giving industry access to amateurs and students who otherwise haven’t learned the proper (and free) way to contact executives. Nothing, if Animation Magazine billed this as an educational opportunity to develop a project and receive feedback from execs. They don’t do that though. They frame the contest as an “economical marketing campaign that lets you—the independent artist—and your animation project reach decision-makers the smart way.” In other words, they lead entrants to believe that this is a legitimate way for them to put their ideas in front of an audience of professionals. Ahh, if only it were that easy.

One of the main attractions of the event is that the entries are “judged” by development execs and producers, pictured above. Commenters on the Brew often make fun of those who judge movie posters as an indicator of a film’s quality, but guess what, professional industry execs have the magical ability to judge an entire series concept by looking at a miniature rectangle. This year’s nine judges, all respected professionals, should know better than to participate in this shakedown of budding creators. Not only are they squandering their own hard-earned reputations, they’re making our industry weaker by misleading people about how the animation business really works.

To end on a personal note, a couple weeks ago when I moved, my movers told me about their idea for an animated series. They’d even recorded tracks, but didn’t know the first thing about producing animation. I offered to meet with them for coffee and give them some basic guidance and tips. That’s how you help people. Animation Magazine and the exe

No one turns to the Wall Street Journal for insightful animation coverage, but that’s still no excuse for this egregious error in an article about the use of motion capture on Rise of the Planet of the Apes:

The film, which follows the development of the chimp Caesar from baby to adult, takes advantage of “motion capture,” a technology the visual-effects company Weta Digital Ltd. first developed for the 2009 blockbuster “Avatar” and has evolved one step further.

The sentence is written in such a way as to imply that Weta developed motion capture, which it clearly did not. Motion capture is a major filmmaking technology that has been used in dozens of films and has been utilized for decades. A newspaper claiming that it was invented in 2009 by Weta defies comprehension.

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | 11 comments | Post tags: motion capture, Wall Street Journal, WETA

Remember Officer Bubbles, the Toronto cop who tried to sue YouTube because he didn’t like cartoons that satirized his abuses of power? Well, some police officers in the US are trying to outdo him in the crooked cop department. The prosecutor and police department of Renton, Washington are trying to arrest a person who used [...]

Welcome to Jugmugland, a place that’s a thousand miles from Earth within a world of crayons. If that doesn’t make any sense, neither will the rest of Titlee in Jugmugland, which is a proposal for an animated series by Udaipur, India-based Eden Animation. Frankly, the only reason I clicked on the link was because of the lascivious title, but I got this instead:

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Eden Animation, India, Titlee in Jugmugland

Paris-trained mime Lorin Eric Salm answers the age-old question, Are mimes relevant in animation? That’s only second in importance to the question: if a mime falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does anyone care?

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | One comment | Post tags: Lorin Eric Salm, Mime

Nice to know the Preston Blair book has made it to Iran. Here’s a perfect area rug for a cartoon nerd (like me) who happens to have $2800 to spare (NOT me). Now on eBay, a 5×8 “Mickey Mouse” Persian Rug. Check the detail in the thumbnails below (click to enlarge pics), you’ll spot off-model images of The Pink Panther, Mickey Mouse, Tom, something like Bugs Bunny, a Ninja Turtle, and the White Rabbit. This’ll go great in the room with my Donald Duck black velvet painting!

(Thanks, Rick Law)

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Persian Rugs

I wanted to find out what was the most viewed Tom and Jerry short on YouTube tonight, and it turned out to be Salt Water Tabby with 24.4 million views. But this is no ordinary copy of the short; it has a completely new dialogue track in a Moroccan Arabic dialect by Bouchana Abdelilah. By comparison, the non-Arabic version (i.e. the boring original) of Salt Water Tabby has a mere 346,000 views. Why does a remixed version of a classic short have seventy (yes, 70!) times more viewers than the original? And will an Arabic voice-over make any cartoon funny and popular? In that case, Allen Gregory could’ve used a whole lot of Arabic. I don’t claim to have the answers to such questions, but I’m intrigued by this YouTube anomaly.

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Tom and Jerry

If you’re gonna crap all over The Lorax, you might need this:

The Lorax became the number #1 movie in the country last weekend, and part of that success was establishing merchandising tie-ins with numerous licensees. But here’s one even last year’s Winnie The Pooh (a more appropriate match) didn’t think of. Apparently the 7th Generation company is selling all sorts of eco-friendly Lorax products including these “Lorax-approved” baby diapers. For those Seuss collectors who have to have everything, you better hurry: they are a limited edition – and yeah, images of the little orange Danny Devito voiced creature are printed on the tab fastener of the diaper.

(Thanks, Jeffery McAndrew)

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: The Lorax

Forget Mel Blanc’s vocal cords; Just spotted at Disneyland’s Candy Palace: Goofy’s balls – sour balls, that is. And they come in a large sac. Family-size! Gawrsh!

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Goofy

Not to be confused with Dreamworks’ Madagascar…

…actually, the makers of Life’s A Jungle are desperately trying to trick consumers to pick up this low budget travesty. People say the DVD market is dying – if it puts an end to crap like this I’m all for it. And if you think the box art is bad… wait’ll you check out the trailer:

(Thanks, ParamountCartoons)

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Life's A Jungle