French animated films, avec baguette
Nov
10
2022
Animation Fest at TRK, a compilation of 13 short French animated films created by young film makers from renowned French animation schools, contains themes best digested by adults — the richness and variety of the proposed selection tackle eclectic themes and current issues, turning a critical gaze on modern society using the power of animation. ...
Female artists of film animation honored @ AMPAS
Aug
2
2017
From the earliest pioneers of hand-rendered animated films, to the advent of digital technology, women have been at the forefront of the animation medium. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will celebrate the women who have been at the forefront of film animation Mindy Johnson, author of Ink & Paint: The Women of ...
A fond farewell to animator Hal Geer
Feb
6
2017
“Hal Geer, my great mentor at Warner Brothers Animation, has passed away at age 100,” writes Geer’s fellow animator Jack Enyart in a recent e-newsletter. As Enyart recalls, “I was in my 20s when Hal brought me into the department. On his desk, each time he faced me with his sly Bugs Bunny grin, rested ...
‘Tooner’ trio tipped to tell ’bout time at Hanna-Barbera
A trio of ‘tooners’: Tony Benedict, Willie Ito and Jerry Eisenberg, talented, original animators from the Hanna-Barbera Studio in the sixties, will share memories of working at the legendary animation house — the home of Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, the Jetsons, and the Flintstones. The ‘kid fun for grown-ups’ program will address how Bill Hanna and ...
Koehler on Cinema: A great movie week
It’s pure coincidence that this is one of the best opening weeks for new movies in Los Angeles in recent memory. Not only are “The Lego Movie,” “In Bloom” and “The Last of the Unjust” all essential viewing—along with “A Field in England,” the latest brilliant black comedy from director Ben Wheatley and writer Amy ...
Animated women of film-animation world step out — in gallery show
“Ladies of Animation,” a gallery exhibit featuring personal works by female artists from major film studios including Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks opened a few days ago at GRspace. Artists Victoria Ying, Sho Murase, Helen Chen, Nicole Mitchell, Clio Chiang, Griselda Sastrawinata, Anna Chambers, Lorelay Bove, Claire Keane, Fawn Veerasunthorn, Brittney Lee, Kendelle Hoyer and Lissa ...
Mary Blair, the woman artist who inspired Disney’s “Nine Old Men” 1
At last night’s panel discussion of Walt Disney’s animated classic, “Peter Pan” (1953) (the new blu-ray version is now playing at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre), we learned about the film’s core group of animators. Walt Disney jokingly referred to this crew not as “Pan-imators,” but rather as his “Nine Old Men.” The expression puns on ...
Jerry Beck & the fine art of classic animation on TCM
Expert Jerry Beck defines classic animation as “theatrically-released studio or independent animated shorts and features from 1906 through roughly 1976.” The fun, arty fodder is getting its due this Sunday, October 21, with “Rare Animation,” a six-hour broadcast on Turner Classic Movies. Jerry, who blogs at cartoonbrew, co-hosts the evening with Robert Osborne. I had ...
Music and dance contribute to early Disney animation
In this clip from a talk at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival last summer, the amazing Marge Champion, 91, chats with the Pillow’s Director of Preservation, Norton Owen, about her participation in Walt Disney’s Snow White (1937). The occasion was the publishing of Mindy Aloff’s super book, “Hippo in a Tutu: Dancing in Disney Animation.” Mindy, ...