Someone has posted a few seconds of film recorded at SIGGRAPH from what is reported to be Disney’s 2009 Animated Feature release, Rapunzel. Apparently Rapunzel combines hand drawn animation (onto computer tablets) with cg affects to provide the 3D look you see in this film. Glen Keane directs. Whatever it is, I really like it.… Read More »Rapuzel Unbraided
This video has been making the rounds today (CartoonBrew, BoingBoing) It’s a video that shows some animation for a proposed video game featuring Mickey Mouse. Here’s the summary: Based on a Neo-comic style, Mickey exists in a world of transluscent imagery, shape shifting creatures and detailed patterns. With the help of a power-packed Neo-Suit full… Read More »Neo-Mickey, a modern look at the mouse
Walt Disney has a long history of appropriating legends and fairytales for his own stories. One of my favorite characters that falls into this category is Pecos Bill. The rootin’ tootin’ cowboy from Melody Time. 2719 Hyperion blog revisits his ‘What a Character!’ post about Pecos Bill. Do you remember that 1995 live action movie… Read More »History of Pecos Bill
It’s finally time for another shameless plug. (I called in a "Shamless" plug at first, but I guess that works, too.) The first part of the latest edition of my Kenversations(TM) column was posted today on LaughingPlace.com. In this three-part column, I examine the big changes both inside Disney and around Disney over the last… Read More »Shameless Plug – Kenversations(TM)
The LA Times has run a story claiming that if Steve Jobs played loose with backdated stock option numbers then it looks like Disney probably overpaid when it acquired Pixar. Apparently Disney is looking into the matter. It’s a complicated picture for sure. I’m curious to see if anything comes from the allegations. (Read)
The Los Angeles Times has run an editorial on the new push for 3-D cinema. There’s even a recounting of what sounds like an early version of Alien/Stitch Encounter: Selected chairs were equipped with hidden vibrating devices. At the film’s climactic moment, the scorpion-like Tingler seemed to rip through the screen toward the audience, then… Read More »Cameron’s 3-D Flick is Still Two Years Away, But…
Gina Keating of Reuters writes about Disney using hand-drawn "two-dimensional" a.k.a. "traditional" animation. Hand-drawn animation, out of fashion in the computer age, experienced a rescue worthy of a fairy tale on Thursday, when Walt Disney animators announced they would bring back the art form to the big screen. "We will be bringing back hand-drawn (two-dimensional)… Read More »Disney Open to Multiple Animation Methods
Pixar does their thing, and Disney is returning to more hand-drawn features. Now, according to Reuters, the Walt Disney Co. and director Robert Zemeckis (Polar Express, Monster House) have joined to create a new company that will work entirely with 3-D animation. While Zemeckis’ has already directed two such movies (see above) and is currently… Read More »3-D Makes 3 Kinds of Official Animation at Disney