animation

Adam Reed was searching for inspiration. He’d just sold his stake in the production company he co-founded, 70/30 Productions — responsible for his animated series Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo — and fled to Europe, to embark on what he calls a “pilgrimage.” One day during his expedition, he was idling at a café in Salamanca, Spain, and observed a group of stunning women. He wondered who could possibly have the courage to approach them. And then, all of a sudden, a suave fellow sat down at the table, ordered a bottle of…

In mid-March during the Oscars, Netflix’s Pinocchio took home the award for Best Animated Feature. During his acceptance speech, co-director Guillermo del Toro said the animation medium was ready to be taken to “the next step,” a statement that was meant to be inspiring after animation was belittled at that very ceremony just minutes prior. The category presenters were dismissive of animation overall, basically calling it kiddie fare that parents have to suffer through just to shut their kids up.Spoilers of the Week: July…

In what may be the early signs of a mid-life crisis DreamWorks Animation — first founded back in 1994 — has made the bold move of revamping its iconic intro. Beginning with the surprisingly outstanding Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the studio’s movies no longer feature the traditional intro starring that boy with the fishing rod chilling on the moon. Instead, DreamWorks’ new logo animation celebrates many of the biggest and most popular franchises the studio has to its name, ranging from those that helped build the…

So I’m watching Oliver and Company, the 1988 Disney animated film featuring the voices of Billy Joel and Bette Midler, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. As Oliver, Dodger, and the crew are being chased through New York City, they head into the subway and jump on the tracks. “This reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” I thought. Minutes later, the credits rolled and I saw the following words: “Animation Screenplay - James Mangold.”'Even AI Rappers are Harassed by Police' | AI UnlockedJames Mangold, the…

A free-spirited young beauty in late 19th-century rural Poland falls foul of the repressive patriarchy, the petty-minded jealousies simmering in her village and her own extremely poor judgment in this lavish rotoscoped and oil-painted animation. Directors DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman, the team behind the Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent, employ the same painstaking and striking animation technique as they used to explore the final days in the life of Vincent van Gogh.This time, the source material is The Peasants, the 1924…

This weekend, Neil Patrick Harris will do battle with the Doctor and Donna Noble in the third and final Doctor Who 60th anniversary special—playing a new version of one of the show’s oldest and most obscure villains. Mostly obscured by the fact the last story they were in aired 57 years ago, and 75% of it is lost to time. That’s about to change though.Zillow Says You’ll Buy Your Next House With… AI? | AI UnlockedIn the run up to this weekend’s episode, “The Giggle,” the BBC has released a new preview clip briefly…

More AI tools are popping up to advance features of the popular generators that are already available, and the latest one is blowing people’s minds. One AI research company, Runway, has recently introduced the second generation of its Motion Brush tool, which helps animate aspects of AI-generated images, such as those created in Midjourney. The simple brush tool to animate images feels like magic — which is always true when AI is done right. The video below, as posted by AI enthusiast, Rory Flynn, shows the new tool…

Image: DreamWorks AnimationIf you’re someone who likes knowing how media gets made and what things looked like before their final product, you’ll be pleased to hear that test footage of the original Shrek movie has been released online. And it’s...well, you can see below.Are Fans Tired of Marvel and DC? Superhero Fatigue at NYCC 2023Posted on YouTube by the Zoom Art Studio, the footage is short, but fascinating. It’s the titular ogre dancing in the street to James Brown’s “I Feel Good,” and upon getting held up by a…

Disney celebrates its centenary with a grimly cynical marketing exercise wrapped in the sparkly cloak of an escapist animated fairytale. Chris Buck’s film unfolds in a utopian kingdom ruled by a sorcerer monarch named Magnifico (Chris Pine). Understanding that hopes and dreams are a potential source of discontent in his populace, Magnifico confiscates the dearest wishes of his people and keeps them safe, very occasionally deigning to grant one. Teenager Asha (Ariana DeBose) realises that stripping the people of their…

A YouTuber named RwanLink recreated Castle Town from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a Studio Ghibli film and to show off their efforts. This is to celebrate the game’s 25th anniversary and the YouTuber made the environment and characters in Unreal Engine 5, putting in over 600 hours of work to complete the project. It was a one person job, aside from the music, as reported by Eurogamer. It’s got a gorgeous opening cinematic in the style of, you guessed it, Studio Ghibli, which is followed up by gameplay in…