This and That

April 10, 2008 by Cedric

I’m super busy finishing up a client project, so today I’ll just post a few miscellaneous links:

• Calling Minnesota Animators. My friend Kelly McNutt is a very talented artist and animator in his own right. Check out his blog and website. He’s currently looking for some Minnesota animation artists to help him out with a client project.

• Disney’s Announces Upcoming Animated Films. The Disney/Pixar studio has announced their upcoming slate of animated films. They will be releasing ten new animated films over the next few years. Most are original stories but there will also be two sequels: Toy Story 3 and Cars 2. Normally I’m not a fan of sequels, especially of the Disney variety. In recent years Disney has made quick profits with “cheapquels”—low quality sequels to classic animated films. But now that John Lasseter is running things, this time things could be much different. After all, Lasseter’s Toy Story 2 was (in my opinion) better than the original. No small feat!

• New Mac Ads. Apple has released two new ads featuring the Mac guy and the PC guy. These ads are always a treat to watch.

• Stuff I’m Selling. I’ve been cleaning out my closets and unloading a few animation-related items on ebay. If anyone is interested, here’s what I’m selling: Disney yearbooks from Mulan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (the yearbooks were only given to artists and crew members who worked on the films. I bought my copies on ebay). I’m also selling a copy of the Ken Southworth Animation Program. There’s still a day or two to put in bids before the auctions end.

• Mascot Contest Ends Tomorrow! Don’t forget to take your shot at my advertising mascot contest. If you can correctly name the products associated with all twelve mascots, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free copy of the new book Hi-Fi Color For Comics: Digital Techniques for Professional Results. The deadline is midnight tomorrow.

Interview With Disney Legend Bill Peet

April 2, 2008 by Cedric

Here’s an interview with Disney animation artist and legend Bill Peet. The interview is rather long and I haven’t had time to read it yet myself. But my friend Dan sent it to me and he’s usually pretty good at passing on interesting sites related to art and animation.

“3-2-1 Penguins!” Character Designs (part 2)

April 1, 2008 by Cedric

Continuing yesterday’s post…I also designed a future version of Zidgel, the ship’s captain. He’s big on vanity and low on brains. As an old man, er…penguin, at first he appears to have retained his youth and vigor. Then, through a series of gags we find that he is actually wearing a truss, false teeth, and a toupe. It was a lot of fun to design both versions.

Finally, there’s Kevin. In this episode the malfunctioning time machine has a reverse effect on him. Instead of growing older, Kevin actually regresses to a young penguin and eventually an egg:

There was one last misc. alien character I designed for a brief “talking heads” scene on the ship’s monitor. Here’s the turnarounds and an expressions chart:

“3-2-1 Penguins!” Character Designs (part 1)

March 31, 2008 by Cedric

On Saturday NBC aired another episode of 3-2-1 Penguins! for which I did some character designs. The plot centered around a malfunctioning time machine that sends the penguins’ space ship into the future where they meet their future selves. (The lesson for kids was about respecting the advice of our elders.)

The original penguins were designed several years ago when the series premiered on DVD. I don’t know who came up with the original designs, but I’ve always admired them. The characters have great personality, contrast, and appeal. It was a real treat to take three of the four characters and create an elderly version of each one. Here’s the first two:

I was also asked to design a generic alien character, a veeery old war-weary soldier. The director suggested he have three eyes and one of them be covered with an eye patch. The character only has a couple of scenes (no dialogue), and while he is held up as someone for the kids to revere he’s also played as a comic character. I wanted the design that was both respectable and a little silly:

I did a lot of art for this episode, so more will be posted tomorrow.

Free Animation eBook!

March 12, 2008 by Cedric

Award winning animator Shawn Kelly has written a 90-page eBook called Animation Tips and Tricks. It’s hot off the presses, so to speak, and chock full of advice for aspiring animators. Best of all, it’s free! It’s being offered as a PDF download from the folks at Animation Mentor. Just sign up to download the book.

Here’s a neat little bonus: Animation Mentor has also just published a helfpul article called Myths Of The Animation Industry. Check it out!

(Thanks to Nimblepix Animation for the heads up.)

“3-2-1 Penguins!” Character Designs

March 3, 2008 by Cedric

On Saturday NBC aired another episode of 3-2-1 Penguins! which I did some character design work for. This was a funny episode (directed by Tom Bancroft) with a lesson about the importance of inner beauty and character as opposed to vanity.