Latest Goeblins shorts

The latest shorts from Goeblins, need I say more. These are great looking shorts. I especially like the one with the sun.

What I've been up to, and Insperation

On Wednesday I was invited by a good friend of mine and talk to some animation students from Los Angles and from Taiwan. Mike Nguyen was also there. He gave a talk about finding character in animation and story structure. It was a good chance to meet and talk with Mike, I've been following his website for quite some time. If you haven't seen it you should check it out, its one of the best animation blogs on the web.

Mike's talk was truly inspiring. I hope that Mark keeps doing these animation lunch ins and keeps inviting animators to speak at them (it sounds like he will). I'd also like to see him incorporate open life drawing into it.

I've decided to try harder to breath some life back into this blog. I used to be in the habit of writing pretty often, now I find it difficult to find the time.

What I've been up to: I finished up on Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. It was a ton of fun. It has a really solid story and I think it will do well when it's out. I know my daughter is excited to see it.

I have a few weeks at home to spend with the family, then it's up to Canada to enjoy a nice warm winter up there. I'll be working on an animation project that I'm not sure if I can talk about yet. I think it's OK to talk about but better safe then sorry. I'll be back in LA once the project wraps up. There's a lot of really great animation going on up north it'll be great to see it in person. I hope to catch Ottawa while I'm there.

A quoi ca sert l'amour

I really like this short. It's got a great look to it, great animation and great pacing. Check it out:

Quimbly The Mouse

I'm a big fan of Chris Ware's work. But he really out did himself with this new short. Apparently it was done to promote This American Life Live. It's a great short, nice style and lot of fun.

Quimby The Mouse from This American Life on Vimeo.

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

I'm really looking forward to this one. It opens on August 14th. Here's the new trailer:

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/ponyo-cliff-by-the-sea/french-trailer

How Feature Films are Written

Here's Monty Python showing us how Films get written:

Ralph Bakshi Surviving Tough Times

I like this video, I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of Ralph Bakshi's films. I did like what he did with Mighty Mouse, and I think he has a really nice drawing style and some great cartoony sensibilitys. But beyond that, his stuff just isn't my thing.

I do have to admit that he does make a good point in this video I don't agree with everything he says but I like the attitude in which he says it. Pixar got to be where it is today by making short films, they studied and perfected the craft of making them. And doing that got them to be where they are today. Sure theres a lot of other factors but if Pixar didn't make those shorts they'd still be making software today. A lot of good can come from a well crafted short. Go out there and make one.