Channel Frederator Blog

Masstransiscope has been restored! And if you ride the NYC subway, you should go see it.

Bill Brand’s Masstransiscope was installed in the abandoned Myrtle Avenue subway station in Brooklyn, New York in September 1980. It has been seen by millions of commuters for over twenty-five years. The 228 hand-painted panels are viewed through a series of vertical slits set into a specially constructed housing. The piece works on the principle of the Zoetrope, a 19th century optical toy.

Basically, it is a series of paintings that are animated by the movement of passing trains. Creator Bill Brand also makes experimental films and video. His site is here.

To observe the beauty, take the B or Q train from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The Masstransiscope will be visible between the DeKalb Avenue stop and Manhattan. (I enjoyed seeing it every day for about a year when I worked in a jewelry factory out in Sunset Park. That, [Read more…]

The Cobble Hill Theater, my local go-to cinema, has a great family series called “Big Movies for Little Kids”. On November 3 they will screen episodes of the French animated series Barbapapa. Barbapapa started out as a popular series of books, written and illustrated by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor. They star a shape-shifting blob that finds love and gets married. The bulbous couple then has a colorful brood of seven Barbababies. Barbapapa (barbe à papa) is French for candy floss, or a “father’s beard”. (Gotta say that he looks like a European cousin of the Shmoo from Al Capp’s Li’l Abner.)

Although I was not familiar with the books until now, they have been translated into 30 languages. There were two animated series based upon the books: a French series from the 1970’s (45 episodes, five minutes each), filmed by Polyscope in the Netherlands; and a more recent series (50 episodes, five minutes each), produced by the Japanese firm Kodansha in the late 90’s. The globe-trotting Japanese version was called Barbapapa Sekai Wo Mawaru (Barbapapa Around the World).

Apparently the first series was syndicated in the US in 1981. Does anyone remember seeing it?

You can buy tons of Barbapapa items at this U.K. website. Animation lover Harry McCracken has a photo of the Barbapapa store on his blog here.

So far, I have not been able to find any source of Barbapapa VHS or DVD in the United States. Even the official site is of no help. Too bad, because I think this cuddly cult could be big!

After the jump, a Barbapapa theme song techno remix and a rockin’ montage! [Read more…]

Rawwwwww!

Corey

[Read more…]

Pikapika is an animation technique that uses flashlights. It’s also referred to as “lightning doodle projects”. The YouTube video above gives a sampling of what you can do with the method. There’s a website here and this video explains it all in robotic English.

Check out a smattering of recent Pikapika videos on this YouTube page. Here’s one:

Not to be confused with what is after the jump: [Read more…]

In 2007, animation artists and Pixar colleagues Scott Morse, Lou Romano, Don Shank, and Nate Wragg collaborated on The Ancient Book of Myth and War (AdHouse Books, now out-of-print.) They’re reuniting for a tasty follow-up tome called The Ancient Book of Sex and Science. The book is currently in production, but a set of four prints was for sale at Comicon this summer. See images of the complete set here. (Art above by Nate Wragg.)

We’ll just have to wait until next spring for Sex and Science, but until then, check out the artist links above for more information about this fantastic foursome.

And in particular, I’m really loving the ultra-abstract paintings that Lou Romano has been posting on his blog lately. Here’s one:

Check out a few more after the jump: [Read more…]

Before you hit the road, watch the classic 50s cartoon “Stop Driving Us Crazy” and follow its advice. Remember: “Reckless driving is a sin”. Rusty the Martian says so!

Commissioned by the Methodist Church. Animated at Creative Arts Studio. Character design by Cliff Roberts. Music by Benny Golson with Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers. Also, Howard Morris does the voice. (He was “Uncle Goofy”–among other characters–on Your Show of Shows!)

—Anne D. Bernstein

© Fischinger Trust

Our small misadventure with ReFrederator the other day thankfully provided a great side benefit, a direct contact with Cindy Keefer at the Fischinger Archive. During our conversation she let me know how hard they’re working to continue to rescue many of Oskar Fischinger’s animated films, which, because the kinds of materials the films were originally made from and age, are still in danger.

I promised we’d put the word out to the Channel Frederator community to help. Donate here if you can, buy DVD’s here if you can. Put the word out on your own sites if you can. Try and help this important innovator of animation, someone who set the stage for much of the work many of us do.

Mr. Fischinger’s daughters, Barbara and Angelica Fischinger, maintain the Fischinger Archive (www.oskarfischinger.org), and Barbara sent us the following note:

Many of his films still need to be restored, digitally transferred, and released through future [Read more…]

©Fischinger Trust

Yesterday, on ReFrederator day, we ran a vintage Oskar Fischinger animation from a great DVD, Oskar Fischinger: Ten Films. I made a terrible mistake, believing we had the rights to play it when we didn’t. It certainly shouldn’t stop you from running out and checking all Oskar’s groundbreaking, innovative work. My partner and friend Alan Goodman introduced me to Fischinger in the 1970s, and I’ve never been able to shake it from my head, like thousands of other fans before and after. It’s worth seeing.

–Fred

[Read more…]