Channel Frederator Blog

I heard today that one of our favorite CF contributors, Joel Trussell is doing his first solo gallery show. Congrats Joel! The show starts December 4th at the Grassy Knoll Gallery in Portland, OR. I so wish I had plans to visit Portland over the next few weeks, but alas, I do not. I hope that any of you Portland-based CF-ers that might attend will comment about the show.
If, like me, you can’t get to Portland make sure you stroll on over to “Joel Trussell’s Scribble Dumpster” where Joel blogs about the many things keeping this Tennessee-based artist busy. Joel goes way back with Channel Frederator. His cartoon, War Photographer was the fifth cartoon to ever air on Channel Frederator and since then we’ve shown a number of his films. He’s also a two-time Channel Frederator Award recipient.
Good luck Joel!- Carrie

A “boiling” line is the inevitable wobble seen in animation drawn by hand. The effect has even been exaggerated and used as a style choice on popular TV series like Ed, Edd ‘n’ Eddy and Dr. Katz.

Line Boil is also a great new animation blog about character animation in general, founded by the Cold Hard Flash guys. Besides the cool name, Line Boil will have animation, news, and interviews. The site isn’t limited to Flash only stuff (like Cold Hard Flash), so expect to see a much wider range of animation content.

Be sure to give them a visit.

-Floyd Bishop

Pixar Planet has posted some images from the short film “BURN•E”, directed by Angus Maclane, who served as supervising animator on “WALL•E”. The film will be included on the “WALL•E” DVD and Blu Ray release on November 18th.

On a related note, check out the Lego WALL•E that Angus made for Brickfest 2007. Hopefully the Disney and Lego people get together and make some kits like this.

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When I wrote about the new Kanye West video for “Heartless” earlier this week, I wondered what Ralph Bakshi was thinking about the fact that his feature American Pop was cited as the source of its inspiration. Well, I received an email from Bakshi and it seems that he is definitely pleased:

First of all I absolutely loved the video for its color, strength, and music. I appreciate your writing about it, and the honesty of its original inspiration. We are all so excited about Obama, I am doubly proud that West also did the Obama song.

You can watch the trailer for American Pop on this page, which is part of the official Ralph Bakshi website. The site features an extensive store, where you can buy DVDs, production art, T-shirts, and even original clown paintings.

After the jump, a link to “The Obama Song” mentioned above (I think!)… [Read more…]

Kanye West got my attention this week because his latest video is animated and greatly influenced by Ralph Bakshi. Also, The Jetsons make a cameo appearance.

This statement is from Kanye’s blog:

“This video was rotoscoped. We recorded real people and then had 65 animators in Hong Kong hand draw over every cell. Inspired by the movie American Pop. Hype [Williams] showed me the movie and I was sold.”

The question on every animation fan’s mind is, of course, did he also show him the controversial Coonskin? And what does Bakshi think about this tribute? Did they throw any bling his way?

(For more on Bakshi, check out the comprehensive book Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi by Jon M. Gibson and Meathaus publisher Chris McDonnell.)

—Anne D. Bernstein

Mark Mayerson has posted a great news clip he found from a CBC news story from 1961. In the clip, we see Joe Barbera and William Hanna walk the reporter through the stages of production from the initial layout to the final audio mix. One interesting note is that even though the news clip (and the cartoons at the time) were broadcast in black & white, the cartoons were all produced in color. Joe mentions that when everyone gets to see the cartoons in color, it will be really exciting. I would have to agree.

 -Floyd Bishop

RAW Art Today!

James Sugrue

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Fox has cancelled “King of the Hill”. Above is the pitch trailer Mike Judge used to help sell the show, animated by Heart of Texas Productions back in 1996.

Mike’s new series, “The Goode Family”, will debut on ABC midseason.

-Floyd Bishop

So I’m a bit late on posting the October Cartoon of the Month winner, but this one is worth the wait. We had 5 episodes that ran in September, making them eligible for the October prize.
The October Cartoon of the Month prize comes from episode 145 and goes to the cartoon Hot Town by Fabian Dores Pais! Hot Town is a fabulous example of how simple, yet creative and well executed animation can take the cake. I had the chance to ask Fab a few questions about his cartoon and animation in general. Check out his answers below!

What inspired you to create “Hot Town”?

I was inspired by the music  called “Hot Town” by Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra. I wanted to work in the same way as the old cartoons based on the rhythm. I only listened to the music and some ideas appears in my mind.What techniques did you use to create it, and about how long did it take? [Read more…]

Check out this amazing RAW Art!

Adonis Alexantrou

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