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The Oscar-winning Louisiana animation studio Moonbot recently announced that it is developing multiple feature-length film projects. It has acquired the film rights to two YA book series: the "Olivia Kidney" trilogy by Ellen Potter, which it plans to do as a live-action/animation hybrid; and "The Extincts" by Veronica Cossanteli.

We’re extremely delighted to announce today that the winner of Cartoon Brew’s 2012 Student Animation Festival AUDIENCE PRIZE is Money Bunny Blues by Ellen Coons. The award was voted by Cartoon Brew readers who participated in a poll earlier this month. (We audited the poll and eliminated any IP that voted multipled times.) Ellen’s film was created at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. She will receive $500, in addition to the money she already earned for being a part of our Student Festival.

Today, as part of Cartoon Brew’s Student Animation Festival, we’re delighted to present Money Bunny Blues by Ellen Coons of Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. As stop motion animation in feature films becomes slicker and increasingly indiscernible from CGI, it’s refreshing to find a stop motion short that embraces the technique’s quirky and whimsical possibilities. The film’s setting is an intricate handmade universe comprised of common household objects—candy, coins, fruit, playing cards. Within this fantasy backdrop and accompanied by a folksy, unadorned song of economic woe, loose-limbed Dolly attempts to connect with the elusive Money Bunny. Whether you’re in need of a few bucks or have more money than you know what to do with, the free-spirited charm of Money Bunny Blues will put a smile on your face.

Click HERE to read an interview with the filmmaker Ellen Coons.

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Today, as part of Cartoon Brew’s Student Animation Festival, we’re delighted to present Money Bunny Blues by Ellen Coons of Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. As stop motion animation in feature films becomes slicker and increasingly indiscernible from CGI, it’s refreshing to find a stop motion short that embraces the technique’s quirky and whimsical possibilities. The film’s setting is an intricate handmade universe comprised of common household objects—candy, coins, fruit, playing cards. Within this fantasy backdrop and accompanied by a folksy, unadorned song of economic woe, loose-limbed Dolly attempts to connect with the elusive Money Bunny. Whether you’re in need of a few bucks or have more money than you know what to do with, the free-spirited charm of Money Bunny Blues will put a smile on your face.

Continue reading for comments from the filmmaker Ellen Coons:

THE IDEA
Money Bunny Blues was built around a song I wrote last summer in the midst of unpaid work. It was written out of the frustration of dependency. The Money Bunny character sort of grew from the concept of Money Karma, believing that what you give will eventually make its way back around. I won a cash raffle with a dollar that I found in a parking lot that summer… it might’ve been what started this whole thing. Money Bunny was a sick infusion of childhood’s Easter Bunny with my semi-grown-up financial priorities.

TOOLBOX
The film is all stop motion animation, shot with Dragon Stop Motion on a Canon Rebel XS and composited in Adobe After Effects. Money Bunny has a steel ball and socket armature, and Dolly is made from wire—I like to think that this allowed for more contrast of movement between the characters. The sets were made mostly from cardboard and things that were lying around in disuse. I like to use what is available to me before I go gather new materials.

CHALLENGES/LESSONS LEARNED
My biggest challenge was probably working on the story. It’s difficult to build one from scratch, and I’ve always struggled with endings. I wanted to work through a sort of cat-and-mouse storyline, with a lot of opportunity for animating action. Making it into something with a real climax and ending was a struggle, and I’ve learned to spend more time on these things before starting production. It’s always the tendency to want to jump in and start making things, but when you don’t finish the story first, it’ll get crammed in later, without the love and care it deserves.

INSPIRATIONS
During production, I was very interested in experimenting with materials. I think that stop motion is unique in allowing objects from everyday life to be incorporated into fantastical and completely unreal environments. It was great to make a rainbow out of candy, because I love rainbows, and I love candy, and together they make dreams come true! I tried incorporating things I’d found whenever it seemed right, and finding ways to sneak them in when I could was fun and gratifying. Other inspirations include Billie Holiday, George Pal, A Town Called Panic, bunnies, Screen Novelties, friends and family, competitive instinct, success and failure, and lots of other things I’m sure.

FILMMAKER WEBSITE:
Ellen Coons

We’re delighted to announce the selections for Cartoon Brew’s third annual Student Animation Festival. This year we topped over 200 submissions, which made programming this year’s festival a challenging task. We chose filmmakers whose work displayed confidence and maturity while being unafraid to experiment with new ideas, techniques and styles.

(A brief note: for the first time, we have multiple selections from two schools: Rhode Island School of Design and Sheridan. In particular, there are three films from Sheridan. We received a record two-dozen entries from Sheridan this year, and we appreciated the diverse range of voices coming out of there, as well as the consistently high technical proficiency of the school’s students.)

Each of the ten filmmakers below will receive $300. Further, we’re introducing a new twist this year. After all the films have debuted, we will conduct a poll where viewers can vote for their favorite film. The winner of the audience choice award will receive an additional $500.

Cartoon Brew’s Student Animation Festival is made possible by JibJab, our major sponsor for this year’s festival. JibJab has consistently demonstrated generous support for young and emerging talent, and we are proud to recognize them as the sponsor of our festival.

Once again, a hearty congratulations to this year’s selections in our Student Animation Festival. Mark your calendars: the first film will debut on Cartoon Brew on Monday, July 2.

The Ballad of Poisonberry Pete
Directed by Uri Lotan, Adam Campbell, Elizabeth McMahill
School: Ringling College of Art and Design
Country: USA (Florida)

Ballpit
Directed by Kyle Mowat
School: Sheridan College
Country: Canada

Gum
Directed by Noam Sussman
School: Sheridan College
Country: Canada

Money Bunny Blues
Directed by Ellen Coons
School: College for Creative Studies
Country: USA (Michigan)

Otzi
Directed by Evan Red Borja
School: School of Visual Arts
Country: USA (New York)

Peace One Day
Directed by Angie Phillips and Phoebe Halstead
School: Kingston University
Country: UK

Pest
Directed by Nooree Kim
School: Sheridan College
Country: Canada

Troubleshooting
Directed by Eric Ko
School: Rhode Isla