Channel Frederator Blog

When Walt Disney lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1928, the Disney studio turned to Mickey Mouse as their star character, but cartoon mice and rats have been a staple of animation since before even then.

It is interesting to see just how many variations on a theme there are! Some mice can talk, while others remain silent. Some walk on all fours while others walk around like mini people.

Some characters are more self aware of their size and stature than others. The personalities of some cartoon mice seem to focus on their size, hinting at some sort of Napoleon complex…

while others know far too well that they are near the bottom of nature’s pecking order (though they may have higher aspirations).

Mice and rats lend themselves very well to animation, and that’s probably why we have seen so many over the years. Even though mice and rats have been in animation [Read more…]

I’ve been playing a few new PS3 titles the last two weeks, and one that has really impressed me has been “Heavenly Sword”.

Why is the game so good? Well, it looks incredible, plays great, and has an interesting and in depth story that will keep you playing until the last sword strike.

There are a lot of nods to other games while still keeping things fresh. While some elements may remind you of the God of War series, other times the game feels a lot like Dragon’s Lair, delivering amazing visuals while you hit key buttons at just the right times.

If you are looking for an amazing game, look no further than “Heavenly Sword”.

-Floyd Bishop

Today is World Egg Day. What better way to observe the day than with “I love Egg”?

“I love Egg” has been in the digital and merchandise markets in Korea and the UK for some time. There is a Chinese comic book, and “I love Egg” also appears on Cartoon Network in Japan. The oblong source of protein will also now be appearing on mobile phones in China and South East Asia .

The “I love Egg” family member including Angel Egg, Bear Egg, Bomb Egg, Demon Egg, Flower Egg, Nurse Egg, Penguin Egg, Rabbit Egg, Rainbow Egg, Rudolf Egg, Santa Egg, Sausage Egg, Sebastian Egg, Strawberry Egg, Teacher Egg, etc.

-Floyd Bishop

Slashfilm has a report about the upcoming AstroBoy film. Imagi Animation Studios, the team responsible for the recent computer animated TMNT film, are making a big screen computer animated adaptation of AstroBoy and Gatchaman (known as G Force or Battle of the Planets here in the US).

I really enjoyed the TMNT film, so I have high hopes for these new films. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.
[Read more…]

Many people starting out see the current animated works that are out there and try to shoot for the moon, right out of the gate. People seem to forget that today’s top animators were once starting out in the industry as well.

In this clip, we see Nick Park talking about one of his first cartoons. At over a minute in length, it’s quite an impressive film for someone just learning the craft. It’s interesting to see an early film from someone such as Nick Park and then compare that film to what they are doing now in animation.

Keep creating!
-Floyd Bishop

A friend recently sent me this link. It’s interesting to see this in real life, and just how difficult it would be to get to the top of those girders.

Donkey Kong is the super popular video game that first showed up in arcades in 1981. Creator Shigeru Miyamoto (who later created Mario Bros, Link, etc) didn’t know what to call it, but the theme seemed to be a variation on the old King Kong movies. And since the game would be played in English-speaking arcades, he needed another word to describe his new villain. Something that described how stubborn and inflexible this creature was. Something that just wouldn’t do what it was told. He already had one animal. What other animals were known for being notoriously hard to deal with? Mules… camels… donkeys…

The character you controlled was named Mario, after Mario Segali, the landlord of the Nintendo of America [Read more…]

You can smell it in the air. Can you smell that? It’s the smell of Newness here at Camp Frederator. It sorta smells like new car scent. Lean in to your computer, press those nostrils to the screen, and take a deep, deep whiff, close your eyes and enjoy. AHHHHHH.
To quote Michael Keaton from one of my favorite films, The Dream Team, “It’s great to be young and insane.”
The Dream Team that makes up Channel Frederator bring you, Episode 101. It smells great, and will drive you insane as well. In a great way.
Enjoy!

—Let’s Make Out, submitted by Mark Taplin
Imagine if Big Daddy Roth invented Speed Racer and had Rob Zombie on storyboards. You’d probably get this awesome music video for DoesItOffendYou,Yea by Mark Taplin of Taplabs. This was rad.

—The Scritch-Scratch of Busy Little Hands, submitted by Twins are Weird
The Scritch Scratch of Busy Little Hands by Noelle and Joy Vaccese (real-life Twins!) of [Read more…]

Doug Bresler, the Doog of Doogtoons, submitted his epic music video he made for His Weirdness, the one and only Weird Al, entitled Trapped in The Drive-Thru! It’s an 11 minute animated music video, and it is EPIC.
Have you ever spent a looong time stuck at the drive-thru? I know I have at one point or another…
Weird Al takes R.Kelly’s, Trapped in the closet, and puts his spin on it in this highly entertaining parody song video.
In Doug’s Interview we rap about animation, his varied influences, and thoughts on our fast food nation.
Makes me hungry.
Bon Appétit Mon Amis!
1) Who are some of your Influences?
I have countless influences, but to name a few, not in any order:
a) Sam Raimi - Gotta love Evil Dead.
b) Claudio Fragasso - The genius behind Troll 2. “Nilbog is Goblin spelled backwards!”
c) James Cameron - I saw “The Terminator” when I was 5 and it made me want to make [Read more…]

“Dream On Silly Dreamer” is now available on Apple’s iTunes Music Store.

Nearly two years in the making, DREAM ON SILLY DREAMER marks the sad, final chapter of the now extinct hand-drawn art form that was the cornerstone of Walt Disney Feature Animation. Building on the rich seventy seven year history of an American icon and paying homage to the Disney classics, Dan Lund and Tony West tell the revealing tale of how that storied icon came to a crashing, albeit untimely, end.

If Disney starts doing 2D animation again, it would be interesting to see a follow up film, chronicling the hiatus of the art form and what lead to its rebirth at the studio.

-Floyd Bishop

MSNBC is reporting that “HALO” creators, Bungie, are leaving Microsoft.

Microsoft and Bungie LLC, as the privately held company will be called, will continue to work together for “the continued success of the ‘Halo’ franchise,” the game studio said in a statement Friday. The companies said they will expand the partnership to include new games.

“Working with Microsoft was great for us, it allowed us to grow as a team and make the ambitious, blockbuster games we all wanted to work on,” said Jason Jones, Bungie founder and partner. “But Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees.”

Best of luck to this new version of the studio. I’ve been playing Bungie games since Marathon on the Mac. I’m anxious to see what new games they come up with!

-Floyd Bishop