Marv Newland really gets around! Postalolio, the short that Marv produced with Frederator will be screening all over the world over the coming months. If you’re in any of these countries or states, make sure you come out to support this great film.

04 - 08 November 2009
Holland Animated Film Festival
Utrecht

11 - 15 November 2009
15th Cucalorus Film Festival
Wilmington, North Carolina

03 - 06 November 2009
Les Sommets Du Cinéma D’Animation
Montreal, Canada

25 - 29 November 2009
I Castelli Animati
Italy

01 - 04 April 2010
11th Dawson City International Short Film Festival
at the Klondike Institute of Art
Dawson City, Yukon, Canada

21 - 27 June 2010
Melbourne International Animation Festival
Australia

Congratulations to Marv on gaining entry to these prestigious festivals and best of luck!

Sing Beast Sing (excerpt) Directed by Marv Newland from fredseibert on Vimeo.

Regular readers aren’t at all surprised by the affection director Marv Newland inspires in animation fans. Like me. What most people don’t know is how much Marv loves blues and jazz. An affliction we share.It shouldn’t be surprise to close Marv watchers though. In addition to his award winning short Sing Beast Sing (excerpted above) featuring Willie Mabon (it’s actually where I first heard of Mabon), his film Tales from the Far Side (Gary Larson’s another huge jazz fan) is scored by guitarist Bill Frisell.And anyone who’s caught Marv’s Anijam (an early cartoon jam featuring 22 world famous animators) should know that he’s incorporated the lessons of improvisation are woven deeply into the core of his filmmaking ethos.

So, when I started thinking about producing a jazz documentary entirely in animation I immediately thought of Marv. He been incorporating the lessons of improvisation deeply into his filmmaking ethos from the very beginning (front and center in his film Anijam), and his generosity to other animators reminds deeply of the best jazz band leaders I’ve witnessed.

Here’s hoping I can figure out how to get this thing made.

There’s a ton of Marv Newland news in the hopper.

Tomorrow night, Marv’s got a gallery opening of postcards in Serignan, France. If you can’t make it, you can check out some of the cards at his Marvcards site (and those who know Marv best can marvel at the fact that there’s a website!).

We’ve mentioned before that Frederator was producing a short film of Marv’s over the last couple of years, and, lo and behold, the subject matter is… postcards! Well, Postalolio is finished (complete credits are below the fold) and started it’s festival run. It started at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this past Saturday, and continues on to Brazil’s Anima Mundi Festival throughout July.

Postalolio (sample #1), by Marv Newland from fredseibert on Vimeo.

I wanted to give a taste of what you’re missing, and assure you I’ll let you know the rest of the worldwide screening schedules where you might see the film yourself in person.

Go Marv!

[Read more…]

Bambi Meats Anime Hell from tohoscope on Vimeo.

I found this over at the RAW blog, and since Marv Newland is my hero (and he’s mentioned a lot on our blog)…

A video flier for the May 2009 Anime Hell shows. Inspired by Marv Newland’s Bambi Meets Godzilla.

If you’ve never seen Marv Newland’s Bambi Meets Godzilla then this will mean nothing to you. In this age of youTube I’d be surprised. After all, it’s only been around since 1969. Here’s the Wikipedia entry…

Posted by Tohoscope

Animator/creator Jon Izen’s “Black & White Episode 44: Bearly Worth Watching” is some of the fastest, funniest animation around.

Channel Frederator: Where did you get your animation education?

Jon Izen: University of Manitoba and Vancouver Film School

CF: Who or what has influenced your work the most?

JI: Two things -

1. People that push themselves to create fantastic and unique work . To name a few - Marv Newland, Danny Antonucci, Scotty Underwood, Todd Ramsay, Alex Dron, Hobo Divine, and the killer talented Mike Geiger.

2. The desire to produce work and make a living, that is fueled by nothing more than the ability to express myself in any way I choose…

CF: “Black & White” is so random! How did you come up with it?

JI: I thought they made sense…I”ll have to get back to you on that.

CF: Are you working on any new projects you can tell us about?

JI: I am not sure if I can leak this one, but “Flushy Feinstein” might be taking the world by storm soon (the storm might only be a drizzle, but either way there will be mild discomfort). It’s a 9 billion dollar project. I am meeting with the bail-out folks to see if we can make it happen.

Unrelated to animation, I am having a solo show at the Magic Pony Gallery in Toronto on April 17th. I will be showing approximately 1200 mini portraits. It should be nuts. If anyone is kicking around TO on that day, please come by and say hi!!

CF: What is the craziest thing that has ever happened to you?

JI: It looks like the last series I created with Jono Howard called Yam Roll is being turned into a Broadway style musical…seriously. No…seriously! Oh ya… and I got a picture taken with Fabio at the Cajun Bistro on the Sunset Strip.

I think he was wearing a black spandex bodysuit with jeans. Yup.

Thanks for the interview, Jon! You can check out “Black & White Episode 44: Bearly Worth Watching” right here on Channel Frederator!

-Bailee DesRocher

Frame grab from “Top of the Hour”, by Marv Newland/International Rocketship

“The Fred/Alan television branding execution often started with defining a network’s sound.”

Slowly over the last few years I’ve been putting some of my archives online. For me it’s easier to organize than shelves and drawers.

Anyhow, one of the things I uncovered was this fave that I think regular readers of Frederator Blogs are going to love. My partner Alan Goodman and I took one of our favorite doo-wop groups, Eugene Pitt’s The Jive Five, and built the on-air Nickelodeon brand around them.

Frame grab from “The Jive Five”, by Jon Kane/Optic Nerve

With the help of our producer Tom Pomposello, and animators/production companies Eli Noyes & Kit Laybourne, Joey Ahlbum, Colossal Pictures, David Lubell, Jerry Lieberman & Kim Deitch, Marv Newland/International Rocketship, and Jon Kane/Optic Nerve, we established Nickelodeon’s identity at a moment they were teetering on complete and abject failure. And, we had a righteous ball doing it. (You can get the whole story here.)

Fred/Alan IDs 1985-1991 from fredseibert on Vimeo.

Todd Ramsay

Todd Ramsay’s series, Honkbarn, is a musical monsterfest. Maybe because he had a babysitter most of us would would sell our own mothers for. Sorry, Mom. Read on…

Channel Frederator: Where did you study animation?

Todd Ramsay: I took 4 years of Fine Arts at Okanagan University College followed by the Classical Animation program at the Vancouver Film School.

CF: Who or what has influenced your work the most?

TR: My biggest influence over the years would have to be Jim Henson. As a child I loved everything he did, I never missed an episode of Fraggle Rock or Sesame Street. I was so into the Muppet Show that my parents would leave me in front of the television and go to the bar for an hour. I guess that would also make Jim Henson my babysitter.

CF: What are your favorite films/filmmakers?

TR: Some of my favorite filmmakers would have to be Don Hertzfeldt, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Nick Park, and Bill Plympton to name a few. Marv Newland and Jon Izen are a couple of filmmakers who have really inspired my animation style. They have such distinct styles and aren’t afraid to colour outside the lines. I’m so used to working on shows that have such a clean line and so many rules. I like it when artists put the eraser away and keep things messy, it’s seems to add a kid like quality and is so much more expressive.

CF: What was the first animation you ever saw?

TR: I don’t remember much about watching cartoons when I was a toddler. I do however, remember watching He-Man and I remember it being the most awesome thing ever.

CF: Why little monsters as opposed to animals or people?

TR: There’s a lot more freedom and imagination when drawing monsters. Nobody really knows what a monster looks like other than the ones they imagine. When drawing people or animals there’s only so much you can do. All people have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. If you add or subtract one of these things then those people become monsters and the possibilities are endless. Also, when creating the series Honkbarn I didn’t want to have any dialogue. I think monsters are funnier when they don’t communicate in the English language.

Thanks, Todd!

You can check out “Honkbarn: Episode #5″ in Channel Frederator episode #158 right here!

– Bailee DesRocher

Krazy! The Delirious World Of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art is an exhibit currently on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It explores the related fields of comics (including manga and those “serious” graphic novels), animation (including anime), and video game design. Nice roundup at Canadian Art.

The animation section was curated by Tim Johnson, director of Antz and Over the Hedge and these films are highlighted:

GERTIE THE DINOSAUR | 1915
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED | 1926
GERALD McBOING BOING | 1950
BLACK HULA | 1988
AKIRA | 1988
WALLACE & GROMIT in THE WRONG TROUSERS | 1993
OVER THE HEDGE | 2006
PAPRIKA | 2006

Marv Newland is in the exhibit (Black Hula), so that gives me an excuse to insert his most famous creation (and possible the greatest very short animated film ever), “Bambi Meets Godzilla”, here:

[Read more…]

Artwork by Joanna Davidovich

Essay by Amid Amidi

Why Cartoons?

Tex Avery. Chuck Jones. Bob Clampett. John Hubley. Bobe Cannon. Frank Tashlin. Friz Freleng. Bob McKimson. Emile Cohl. Winsor McCay. Ward Kimball. Jack Kinney. Hugh Harman. Rudolf Ising. Max Fleischer. Lotte Reiniger. Bill Hanna. Joe Barbera. Willis O’Brien. Otto Messmer. Walt Disney. Ray Harryhausen. Ub Iwerks.

Why Cartoons?

Karel Zeman. Bretislav Pojar. Jiri Trnka. George Pal. Walerian Borowczyk. Osamu Tezuka. Bob Godfrey. George Dunning. Alexandre Alexeieff. Claire Parker. Stan Brakhage. John Whitney. Jan Lenica. Witold Giersz. Terry Gilliam. Vladimir Kristl. Lou Bunin. Dusan Vukotic. Boris Kolar. Fyodor Khitruk. Peter Sachs. Richard Williams. Yoji Kuri. Stan VanDerBeek. Ralph Bakshi. Gene Deitch. Len Glasser. Luzzati & Gianini. Norman McLaren. John Korty. Kihachiro Kawamoto. Ladislas Starewicz. Ryan Larkin. Ernest Pintoff. Fred Crippen. Jan Svankmajer. Len Lye. Hy Hirsh. Frederick Back. Oskar Fischinger. Jay Ward. Peter Foldes.

Why Cartoons?

Bruce Bickford. Brad Bird. Trey Parker. Matt Stone. John Lasseter. Smith & Foulkes. Marv Newland. Michael Sporn. Yuri Norstein. Isao Takahata. William Kentridge. John Canemaker. Don Hertzfeldt. Koji Yamamura. Bill Plympton. PES. George Griffin. Joanna Quinn. Patrick Smith. JJ Villard. Nick Park. Raimund Krumme. Pritt Parn. Paul Fierlinger. Guilherme Marcondes. Peter Chung. Mike Judge. Koji Morimoto. Pete Docter. Caroline Leaf. Marcell Jankovics. Henry Selick. Richard Condie. Paul Vester. Bob Jaques. Sylvain Chomet. Phil Mulloy. Oscar Grillo. Hayao Miyazaki. Paul Driessen. Aaron Springer. Masaaki Yuasa. Tim Burton. John Kricfalusi. Andreas Hykade. Georges Schwizgebel. Jonas Odell. The Brothers Quay.

Why Cartoons?

Bill Littlejohn. Rod Scribner. Irven Spence. Emery Hawkins. Bill Melendez. Pat Matthews. Tom Oreb. Dick Lundy. Frank Smith. Jimmy Murakami. Grim Natwick. Ken Harris. Ben Washam. Hawley Pratt. Paul Julian. Bob Givens. Pete Alvarado. Gene Hazelton. Bill Tytla. John Sibley. Hardie Gramatky. JP Miller. Jim Tyer. Lillian Friedman. Ty Wong. Pete Burness. John Gentilella. Don Morgan. Walt Peregoy. Ralph Hulett. Jim Bodrero. Art Babbitt. Jack Zander. Preston Blair. Jules Engel. Herb Klynn. Victor Haboush. Ray Aragon. Iwao Takamoto. Warren Foster. Mike Maltese. John Dunn. Abe Liss. Ted Parmelee. Maurice Noble. Ed Benedict. Eyvind Earle. Mary Blair. Ken Anderson. Bill Peet. Don DaGradi. Freddie Moore. Marc Davis. Milt Kahl. Frank Thomas. Ollie Johnston. Eric Larson. John Lounsbery. Bill Scott. Bill Hurtz. Art Heinemann. Gene Fleury. Bernyce Polifka. John McGrew. Phil Eastman. Bob Dranko. Phil DeGuard.

With artists like these working in the animation medium, the only question should be:
Why Anything Else?

Artwork by Jim Manocchio

Why Cartoons?
Essay By David B. Levy

Most of us working in this industry know how lucky we are. An animation artist’s life is enriched by their work. This does not mean to suggest that animators are work-a-holics (although some clearly are).

Why cartoons? Oscar-nominated animation filmmaker Michael Sporn explained it best in a bonus feature on the DVD for his award-winning films White Wash and Champagne:
“Animation has the potential to be the greatest of all the arts. It combines drawing, painting, music, acting, photography, and computer art. Anything you can think of can be combined by the animator to be used at his or her disposal.”

The word “cartoons” conjures up a medium for children despite all the art and craft inherent in bringing to life any cartoon. I first encountered the bias against cartoons as a serious pursuit in a conversation with my high school guidance counselor. When I informed him of my decision to become an animator he asked, “What’s that?”

I replied, “You know, cartoons? Walt Disney? Bugs Bunny?”

“That’s kid stuff,” he said, dismissively.

I snapped back, “It’s for kids, but adults make it.”

Then he informed me that I needed a real career, one that I could count on. He suggested becoming a plumber or an electrician.

All these years later I think I finally understand his attitude. Cartoons are often loud, silly, and meant for children. Animation is a far broader term. I wouldn’t say that I work in cartoons. I would say I work in animation, sometimes on projects aimed at preschoolers, other times on projects geared to stoned college kids.

My guidance counselor was right about one thing. Animation is not an industry one can count on and many find it very difficult to break in to a first job let alone to build a career. An animation artist’s life, even after becoming established in a career, is often one of instability. Jobs are short term and sometimes few and far between. There’s usually no health insurance and often the animation artist does not work at any one job long enough to qualify for unemployment insurance. Such conditions naturally weed out those who are not fully committed to a life spent in this art form.

Acclaimed independent animator Patrick Smith recently spoke to my School of Visual Arts class, telling the students that he used to wake up at 6 AM and work on his own film until 9 AM and then go to work at MTV for a full day. He carried on this way for years until his first film, Drink, was complete. In this way Pat Smith showed his personal commitment to achieving something no matter what the industry might throw his way. Each of us has the potential to make our own luck, to pave the road for our own opportunities, and to make a very happy life for ourselves in animation or cartoons.

Artwork & essay by Eric Robles
Why Cartoons? Ever since I could remember, I have always related cartoons with some form of emotional reality. Whatever the characters were feeling, the end result left me with a feeling of pure enjoyment. Animation is my world and cartoons are my life.

Artwork & essay by Joey Ahlbum
Animation is like a drug, you make something move and you’re hooked. But then, just making things move is not enough, you want a bigger rush, so you try to tell a story or maybe make people laugh. Before you know it, you’ve spent a year animating Custer’s Last Stand complete with the 7th calvary and entire Cheyenne Nation.

I guess that’s WHY CARTOONS, because if you wanted to, you could animate just about anything you could imagine. By the time you finish, you might find yourself broke, no friends and living at home with your parents, but you just might have created an amazing piece of animation that’s never been seen before.

Artwork by Joanna Davidovich

Essay by Amid Amidi

Why Cartoons?

Tex Avery. Chuck Jones. Bob Clampett. John Hubley. Bobe Cannon. Frank Tashlin. Friz Freleng. Bob McKimson. Emile Cohl. Winsor McCay. Ward Kimball. Jack Kinney. Hugh Harman. Rudolf Ising. Max Fleischer. Lotte Reiniger. Bill Hanna. Joe Barbera. Willis O’Brien. Otto Messmer. Walt Disney. Ray Harryhausen. Ub Iwerks.

Why Cartoons?

Karel Zeman. Bretislav Pojar. Jiri Trnka. George Pal. Walerian Borowczyk. Osamu Tezuka. Bob Godfrey. George Dunning. Alexandre Alexeieff. Claire Parker. Stan Brakhage. John Whitney. Jan Lenica. Witold Giersz. Terry Gilliam. Vladimir Kristl. Lou Bunin. Dusan Vukotic. Boris Kolar. Fyodor Khitruk. Peter Sachs. Richard Williams. Yoji Kuri. Stan VanDerBeek. Ralph Bakshi. Gene Deitch. Len Glasser. Luzzati & Gianini. Norman McLaren. John Korty. Kihachiro Kawamoto. Ladislas Starewicz. Ryan Larkin. Ernest Pintoff. Fred Crippen. Jan Svankmajer. Len Lye. Hy Hirsh. Frederick Back. Oskar Fischinger. Jay Ward. Peter Foldes.

Why Cartoons?

Bruce Bickford. Brad Bird. Trey Parker. Matt Stone. John Lasseter. Smith & Foulkes. Marv Newland. Michael Sporn. Yuri Norstein. Isao Takahata. William Kentridge. John Canemaker. Don Hertzfeldt. Koji Yamamura. Bill Plympton. PES. George Griffin. Joanna Quinn. Patrick Smith. JJ Villard. Nick Park. Raimund Krumme. Pritt Parn. Paul Fierlinger. Guilherme Marcondes. Peter Chung. Mike Judge. Koji Morimoto. Pete Docter. Caroline Leaf. Marcell Jankovics. Henry Selick. Richard Condie. Paul Vester. Bob Jaques. Sylvain Chomet. Phil Mulloy. Oscar Grillo. Hayao Miyazaki. Paul Driessen. Aaron Springer. Masaaki Yuasa. Tim Burton. John Kricfalusi. Andreas Hykade. Georges Schwizgebel. Jonas Odell. The Brothers Quay.

Why Cartoons?

Bill Littlejohn. Rod Scribner. Irven Spence. Emery Hawkins. Bill Melendez. Pat Matthews. Tom Oreb. Dick Lundy. Frank Smith. Jimmy Murakami. Grim Natwick. Ken Harris. Ben Washam. Hawley Pratt. Paul Julian. Bob Givens. Pete Alvarado. Gene Hazelton. Bill Tytla. John Sibley. Hardie Gramatky. JP Miller. Jim Tyer. Lillian Friedman. Ty Wong. Pete Burness. John Gentilella. Don Morgan. Walt Peregoy. Ralph Hulett. Jim Bodrero. Art Babbitt. Jack Zander. Preston Blair. Jules Engel. Herb Klynn. Victor Haboush. Ray Aragon. Iwao Takamoto. Warren Foster. Mike Maltese. John Dunn. Abe Liss. Ted Parmelee. Maurice Noble. Ed Benedict. Eyvind Earle. Mary Blair. Ken Anderson. Bill Peet. Don DaGradi. Freddie Moore. Marc Davis. Milt Kahl. Frank Thomas. Ollie Johnston. Eric Larson. John Lounsbery. Bill Scott. Bill Hurtz. Art Heinemann. Gene Fleury. Bernyce Polifka. John McGrew. Phil Eastman. Bob Dranko. Phil DeGuard.

With artists like these working in the animation medium, the only question should be:
Why Anything Else?

Artwork by Jim Manocchio

Why Cartoons?
Essay by David B. Levy

Most of us working in this industry know how lucky we are. An animation artist’s life is enriched by their work. This does not mean to suggest that animators are work-a-holics (although some clearly are).

Why cartoons? Oscar-nominated animation filmmaker Michael Sporn explained it best in a bonus feature on the DVD for his award-winning films White Wash and Champagne:
“Animation has the potential to be the greatest of all the arts. It combines drawing, painting, music, acting, photography, and computer art. Anything you can think of can be combined by the animator to be used at his or her disposal.”

The word “cartoons” conjures up a medium for children despite all the art and craft inherent in bringing to life any cartoon. I first encountered the bias against cartoons as a serious pursuit in a conversation with my high school guidance counselor. When I informed him of my decision to become an animator he asked, “What’s that?”

I replied, “You know, cartoons? Walt Disney? Bugs Bunny?”

“That’s kid stuff,” he said, dismissively.

I snapped back, “It’s for kids, but adults make it.”

Then he informed me that I needed a real career, one that I could count on. He suggested becoming a plumber or an electrician.

All these years later I think I finally understand his attitude. Cartoons are often loud, silly, and meant for children. Animation is a far broader term. I wouldn’t say that I work in cartoons. I would say I work in animation, sometimes on projects aimed at preschoolers, other times on projects geared to stoned college kids.

My guidance counselor was right about one thing. Animation is not an industry one can count on and many find it very difficult to break in to a first job let alone to build a career. An animation artist’s life, even after becoming established in a career, is often one of instability. Jobs are short term and sometimes few and far between. There’s usually no health insurance and often the animation artist does not work at any one job long enough to qualify for unemployment insurance. Such conditions naturally weed out those who are not fully committed to a life spent in this art form.

Acclaimed independent animator Patrick Smith recently spoke to my School of Visual Arts class, telling the students that he used to wake up at 6 AM and work on his own film until 9 AM and then go to work at MTV for a full day. He carried on this way for years until his first film, Drink, was complete. In this way Pat Smith showed his personal commitment to achieving something no matter what the industry might throw his way. Each of us has the potential to make our own luck, to pave the road for our own opportunities, and to make a very happy life for ourselves in animation or cartoons.

Artwork & essay by Eric Robles
Why Cartoons? Ever since I could remember, I have always related cartoons with some form of emotional reality. Whatever the characters were feeling, the end result left me with a feeling of pure enjoyment. Animation is my world and cartoons are my life.

Artwork & essay by Joey Ahlbum

Animation is like a drug, you make something move and you’re hooked. But then, just making things move is not enough, you want a bigger rush, so you try to tell a story or maybe make people laugh. Before you know it, you’ve spent a year animating Custer’s Last Stand complete with the 7th calvary and entire Cheyenne Nation.

I guess that’s WHY CARTOONS, because if you wanted to, you could animate just about anything you could imagine. By the time you finish, you might find yourself broke, no friends and living at home with your parents, but you just might have created an amazing piece of animation that’s never been seen before.