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T H E B U S I N E S S , T E C H N O LO G Y & A R T O F A N I M AT I O N A N D V F X
October
2010
™
Fall TV
Preview
Issue
Alpha and Legend of the
Omega’s Guardians:
Puppy Love Zack Snyder’s
$5.95 U.S.
1 0> Heroic Owls
0 74470 82258 5
Take Flight
w w w . a n i m a t i o n m a g a z i n e . n e t
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Volume 24, Issue 7, Number 206, October 2010
CONTENTS www.animationmagazine.net
10 28 37 44
26 Science Gets Seussical! the noted European gathering
Frame-by-Frame The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot showcases 62 new animated
8 October Animation Planner ...
About That! brings the timeless projects from the continent.
Books We Love Dr. Seuss character to animated 41 Monster Animation Creates a
life while serving up some fun Positive Role Model. A young girl
Features scientific lessons. with Down syndrome is the focus
10 A Real Hoot! Director Zack 28 Cartoon Network Goes MAD. of a new Irish toon.
Snyder leaves his live-action Warner Bros. Animation brings
soldiers and superheroes behind Alfred E. Neuman and the satirizing Home Entertainment
to tackle a sweeping 3-D sizzle of MAD to animated life with 42 Magic, Mayhem and Mad Click With Animag
animated adaptation of Legend its new skit series. [by Mercedes Science—Now on Disc! Disney Online Every Day!
of the Guardians, featuring a Milligan] classics, DC heroes, Viking
brave parliament of owls. [by Visit Animag’s popular website
31 Kids’ Toons Find a New Home. adventurers and pint-sized
Ramin Zahed] (www.animationmagazine.net)
The Hub’s president and CEO inventors populate the home every day for your daily dose of toon
14 Call of the Wild. Alpha Margaret Loesch discusses the entertainment shelves this month. news and the chance to win the
and Omega, the new 3-D new Hasbro/Discovery venture’s [by Mercedes Milligan] Beauty and the Beast: Diamond
CG-animated pic from Crest programming lineup and 44 An Enchanting Encounter. Edition 3-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo
Animation and Lionsgate, charts (available for purchase on Oct. 5)
philosophy. [by Ramin Zahed] Director Bradley Raymond and
[courtesy of Disney].
the unlikely friendship between 34 A Big, Big International producer Helen Kalafatic share
two very different kinds of wolves. Friendship. Canada’s the magic of Tinker Bell’s third solo
16 One Man’s Best Friend. Paul Breakthrough Entertainment and flight on DVD. [by Ramin Zahed]
and Sandra Fierlinger’s animated Brazil’s 2Dlab join forces on the
adaptation of My Dog Tulip tells uplifting new preschool series, Opportunities
a poignant, personal tale through My Big Big Friend. [by Mercedes 46 A Tale of Two Demons. Shane
realistic and simple drawings and Milligan] Acker’s latest project, Plus Minus,
paperless TVPaint technology. 37 Scaling the Heights. Disney makes the grade with Gnomon
[by Ramin Zahed] Channel’s new animated series students. [by Ellen Wolff]
Fish Hooks introduces viewers to a
Television hilarious cast of characters with a 48 A Day In the Life. Get to know
18 Fall TV Preview: 2010 Edition. backdrop of a great-looking pet Elizabeth Ito, a brilliant Pasadena- Cover: Warner Bros.’
The latest smattering of quirky, shop. based storyboard artist and toy Legend of the Guardians: The
OCT•10
cute and just plain raunchy toons 40 Hungarian Haven. Billed as designer. Owls of Ga’Hoole.
debuting in North America this the first Cartoon Forum in a new MIP Junior Cover: Breakthrough
season. E.U. country, the 21st edition of Entertainment’s My Big Big
Friend.
5
Brand Licensing Cover: Mondo
TV’s Puppy in My Pocket.
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ANIMATION MAGAZINE
It’s been a sad month for those of us who loved the won- October 2010
EDITOR’S NOTE
derful work of the late Japanese director Satoshi Kon. Vol. 24, Issue 7, No. 206
While the animation community is mourning the loss of this Info@animationmagazine.net
brilliant artist, there’s also
a great sense of loss about
the many more movies he President Jean Thoren
would have been able to Publisher Jodi Bluth
make had he not died of pancreatic cancer Accounting Jan Bayouth
on August 24. Webmaster Eric Brandenberg
Like many of his other fans, I learned about
his spectacular imagination and unique vi-
www.animationmagazine.net
Satoshi Kon (1963-2010) EDITORIAL

sion around 12 years ago when his first feature Edit@animationmagazine.net
Perfect Blue hit the big screen. This Hitchcockian thriller centers on a pop idol Editor-in-Chief Ramin Zahed
who is trying to make it as an actress and is being stalked by an obsessive fan. Web Editor Tom McLean
But nothing is what it seems, and the director does an excellent job of blurring Associate Editor Mercedes Milligan
the line between fantasy and reality in this wonderful debut feature. Digital Reviews Editor Todd Sheridan Perry
His second feature, Millennium Actress, offered a beautiful homage to a ficti-
tious movie star who worked with the biggest Japanese directors of her time Contributors
(think Ozu and Kurosawa). With Tokyo Godfathers, he told the poignant tale Robby London, Michael Mallory, Ellen Wolff
of three homeless characters—a drag queen, a young runaway girl and an
alcoholic—who find an abandoned baby on a cold
Christmas Eve and decide to track down her parents. ADVERTISING SALES
Kon loved to explore the human subconscious and Sales@animationmagazine.net
to play with our notions of reality and dreams. In fact, Sheri Shelton
all summer long, the Internet was buzzing with how
much Chris Nolan’s Inception owed its premise to
PRODUCTION
the director’s imagi- Millennium Actress Prod@animationmagazine.net
native and haunting
Art Director/Production Manager
2006 feature Paprika.
Susanne Rector
Kon’s 13-part TV series
Paranoia Agent also
offered much to pon- CIRCULATION
der about the human Circ@animationmagazine.net
mind and the role of Circulation Director Jan Bayouth
the media.
At the time of his TO ADVERTISE:
death, Kon was work- Phone: 818-991-2884
Fax: 818-991-3773
ing on a new movie titled The Dreaming Ma-
Email: Sales@animationmagazine.net
chine, which he had described as “a road Website: www.animationmagazine.net
movie for robots.” It was heartbreaking to read
what this talented man had posted on his List Rental
Quantum List Marketing
website during his last living days. He thanked 480-860-6036
his family, his friends, everyone he had worked ANIMATION MAGAZINE
(USPS 015-877/ISSN 1041-617X)
with and all his fans. He also expressed much
Published monthly, except for combined issues of April/May, June/July and
sadness about not being able to finish his final Dec/Jan, by: Animation Magazine
movie. 30941 West Agoura Road, Suite 102
Westlake Village, CA 91361
He wrote, “I am really sorry to all of the staff.
Periodicals postage paid at Thousand Oaks Post Office, CA, and additional
However, I want them to understand, if only
mailing offices.
a little bit. Satoshi Kon was that kind of guy,
POSTMASTER:
and, that’s why he was able to make rather SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO:
weird anime that was a bit different ... So, to ANIMATION MAGAZINE
30941 West Agoura Road, Suite 102
everyone who stuck with me through this long Westlake Village, CA 91361
The Dreaming Machine
document, thank you. With my heart full of TO SUBSCRIBE:
gratitude for everything good in the world, I’ll put down my pen. Now excuse For the U.S., the rate is $55 for 1 year or $90 for 2 years. Rates for Canada and Mexico are
US$70 for 1 year or US$115 for 2 years delivered by foreign airmail. Foreign rates are US$85
me, I have to go.” for 1 year or US$140 for 2 years delivered by foreign airmail. Please allow six to eight weeks
for initial delivery.
OCT•10
Thank you for being that kind of guy, Mr. Also available in a digital version for $36 for 1 year or $60 for 2 years.
Kon. Animation Magazine

© 2010 Animation Magazine
6 Ramin Zahed
Prior written approval must be obtained to duplicate any and all contents.
The copyrights and trademarks of images featured herein are the property of their respective owners. Animation Magazine
acknowledges the creators and copyright
Editor-in-Chief holders of the materials mentioned herein, and does not seek to infringe on those rights.
rzahed@animationmagazine.net
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www.animationmagazine.net OCT•10
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The Animation Planner

FRAME-BY-FRAME
October
1 Let Me In, the American
version of the acclaimed
2-3 MIPJunior brings
children’s TV professionals to
4-8 MIPCOM,
the granddaddy of all TV markets
5 It must be some sort of national awesome
animated DVD holiday today because we have
European little vampire girl the Carlton hotel in Cannes. is happening this week at the Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Three-Disc
movie, opens wide in theaters Michael Poryes (co-creator Cannes Palais des Festivals. It Diamond Edition DVD/Blu-ray Combo) and the
today. We have our fingers of Hannah Montana) is the may not be as glam as the Cannes Oscar-nominated The Secret of Kells arriving in stores together. Other
crossed! keynote speaker this year. Film Festival, but you’ll be able to new items include Phineas and Ferb: A Very Perry
(www.mipworld.com/en/ meet a lot of important execs from Christmas, Dr. Who: Dreamland, Ben 10 Alien Force
mipjunior) the global toon world in one place. Vol. 9 and the Peanuts Holiday Collection Blu-ray
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer is the package. Wowee!
keynote speaker. (www.mipcom.com)
8-10
No, this
12 Too many choices, too little
time. The avalanche of releases
15 Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and the company do more crazy stunts
and inflict pain on their bodies in
is not some sort of Inception- today includes Dexter’s Laboratory: Jackass 3-D.
inspired dream scenario: The Season One, Wolverine and the Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and
New York Comic-Con and the X-Men: The Complete Series Morgan Freeman play former black-
New York Anime Festival both Blu-Ray, The Original Christmas ops agents in this adaptation of the
take place at Classics Gift Set, The Essential graphic novel RED, directed by Robert
the same time Bugs Bunny DVD, The He-Man and Schwentke.
at the Jacob She-Ra Christmas Special and In toon news, DreamWorks’ How to
K. Javits Center this weekend. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Train Your Dragon soars to DVD and
(www.nycomiccon.com) on Blu-ray. Blu-ray today.
16-17 The Alternative 19 Get your daily comedy

dose with Shaun the Sheep:
20-24 Sylvain 22 Matt Damon and
Press Expo is happening this Chomet’s The Illusionist is Bryce Dallas Howard star
Season One, or some sweet only one of the acclaimed
weekend at the Concourse in the supernatural thriller
sci-fi action with Generator gems screening at this
Exhibition Center in San Hereafter
Rex, Vol. 1, out today. year’s Ottawa International
Francisco. (www.comic-con. directed
org/ape) Animation Festival. (www. by the
animationfestival.ca) peerless
Clint
Eastwood.
22-31 You can catch

26 Clones are everywhere
on DVD today!
26-29 The VIEW 29 Wes Craven’s My Soul
over 250 of the best films Conference in Turin, Italy, to Take and Tod Williams’
Grab Star
and videos made for children zeroes in on computer graphics, Paranormal Activity 2 (Oct.
Wars: The
from over 40 countries at animation, 3-D and new 22) will both be trying to
Clone Wars -
the annual Chicago Int’l technologies. DreamWorks’ Tim scare the living daylight out
The Complete
Children’s Film Festival. Johnson (How to of moviegoers, just in time for
Season Two or count Hank
(www.cicff.org) Train Your Dragon) Halloween.
and Dean’s
is the keynote
reincarnations
speaker. (www.
OCT•10
in The Venture
viewconference.it)
Bros.: Season
8 4, Vol. 1.
To get your company’s events and products listed in this monthly calendar, please e-mail mercedes@animationmagazine.net.
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Books We Love
FRAME-BY-FRAME www.animationmagazine.net
Animated Performance: Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast
By Charles Solomon
Bringing Imaginary [Disney Editions, $40]
Animal, Human and
Fantasy Characters to Life
By Nancy Beiman
F
ans were disappointed to hear that Disney
has shelved plans to release the 3-D version of
Beauty and the Beast in the near future, but they
[Ava Publishing, $49.95]
can rejoice in the fact that Charles Solomon’s
excellent book about the making of the movie
Do we
n e e d
a n o t h e r
is now available for purchase online and in stores. This richly illustrated book offers
readers a chance to learn about the history of the project, which goes all the way
back to the late 1930s. Tale as Old as Time includes insightful interviews with directors
book on how
Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, story supervisor Roger Allers, producer Don Hahn, com-
to bring ani-
poser Alan Menken, art director Brian McEntee and many of the key creatives who
mated char-
realized this magnificent adaptation of the 18th century French fairy tale. Solomon,
acters to life?
a well-respected animation historian and critic who has written numerous books on
After poring
animation, brings his usual keen sense of history and critical analysis to the subject.
over Bei-
He is the perfect, knowledgeable guide on this memorable journey. Let’s just hope
man’s won-
the powers that be decide on a release date for the 3-D version. After all, just think
derful new primer, I can easily say
how great it would be to watch that famous dance number between Belle and the
that the answer is a resounding
Beast in stereoscopic 3-D.
“Yes.” The author, who is a well-
respected animator and a profes-
sor at Sheridan Institute of Tech- Animating Space: From Mickey to WALL•E
nology and Advance Learning in By J.P. Telotte
Canada, has delivered a beauti- [The University Press of Kentucky, $40]
ful 234-page instructional text that
should inspire both beginners and
longtime experts in animation.
Packed with amusing illustrations,
I f you’re looking for a well-researched, scholarly look at the
influence of animation in the modern era, you should look no
further than J. P. Telotte’s recent tome. Telotte, who teaches lit-
inspiring anecdotes and lively ex- erature, communication and culture at the Georgia Institute of
amples, Beiman’s book acts as Technology, begins his book with a look back at the early days
the kind of teacher we all wish of animation, from Winsor McCay’s Gertie the dinosaur and Mickey Mouse to the
we had in school. Covering topics 21st century magic of Pixar. The author explores the relationship between modern-
such as portraying animal quali- ism and animation and describes its influences on other arenas such as architecture,
ties in human characters, staging painting and expressionist film. While the book is a collection of brainy essays on how
and composition, and the ages the art form has colored our experiences, we wish it included more interviews with
of man and woman, Beiman also those who create animation for a living.
sprinkles words of wisdom from
renowned animation figures such
as Goofy’s animator and director Day & Night
Art Babbitt, who tells the author, By Teddy Newton
“The medium of animation is not [Chronicle Books, $14.99]
meant to simulate live action…
See, animation, first of all, is not
earth-bound…You can do things F or many of us, one of the best movie-going experiences
of this summer was Teddy Netwon’s innovative, timely
and all-around enjoyable 3-D short that accompanied Pix-
that are not possible in live action.
And if you don’t use the strength ar’s Toy Story 3 in theaters. Not only did the longtime Pixar
that exists in animation, then why animator’s four-minute-long short blend 3-D technology with 2D animation in a most
bother with it?” Instances like that creative way, it also said volumes about celebrating our differences and bridging
make us wish everybody working the gaps between us in a few brief minutes on the screen. This handsome 40-page
in animation today would browse hardcover lets you relive the short’s magic until you can find it on the TS3 DVD/Blu-
through Beiman’s book during ray package later this year. It’s the kind of item that will also make a great holiday
OCT•10
their lunch break. gift or a birthday present for the cool people in your life! ■
—Ramin Zahed
9
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FEATURES
www.animationmagazine.net TOC
A Real Hoot!
Director Zack Snyder leaves his live-action
soldiers and superheroes behind to tackle
a sweeping 3-D animated adaptation of
Legend of the Guardians, featuring a brave
parliament of owls. by Ramin Zahed
A
lthough the name of the movie Legend characters. “After seeing their wonderful
Director Zack
of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole presentation, I thought, this is cool,” recalls the Snyder poses
may not exactly roll off the tongue, one director. “This is something I would be interested with a
look at the striking 3-D animation is enough in. So then I did the research and read the books, feathered
friend.
to convince audiences that this late-summer and I loved the way the whole owl kingdom
movie is going to be one heck of a ride. was constructed. I’m a huge fan of adventure
Based on the first three Guardians of Ga’Hoole movies, and thought that the books were in the
books by Kathryn Lasky, the film is directed by vein of Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia.”
none other than Zack Snyder, who is admired Snyder and his team started out with the script
by legions of fanboys around the world for for the project, which was penned by John Orloff
helming visually arresting films such as 300 and and Emil Stern. With the help of the experienced
Watchmen. The CG-animated epic centers team at Animal Logic, which animated the
on a young owl named Soren (voiced by Jim Oscar-winning Happy Feet and is also working shooting miniatures. We built the digital assets
Sturgess) who dreams of leaving his home and on the 2005 film’s 3-D sequel, they figured out and shot the film as if we were working on a
joining a mythic band of winged warriors in how to rig the Legend’s cast of feathered real location. We really wanted to emphasize
their fight against the evil Pure Ones. warriors. “We went through all the stages of the organic nature of this world and that really
Snyder says he and his wife Deborah (who storyboarding the scenes, layout, animation influenced the way we realized the movie.”
is one of the pic’s exec producers) originally clean up and lighting,” says the helmer. “It was Writer John Orloff says Snyder was a
OCT•10
got involved with the project after Australian all a lot of fun for me because this was my first wonderful choice to lead this adventure.
animation studio Animal Logic blew him away fully animated CG movie. We treated the owls “Zack instantly brought a visual aesthetic that
10 with some initial paintings of the book’s lead as if they were six feet tall, it wasn’t like we were has never been seen in an ‘animated’ film,”
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FEATURES www.animationmagazine.net
In the Heights: Chronicling the adventures of a brave,
young owl, Legend of the Guardians also showcases the
voices of Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Emilie de Ravin,
Helen Mirren, Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush and Abbie Cornish.
he notes. “He didn’t conceive the film as to make more changes to the movie, and I world that built upon what we had learnt on
‘animated’ in the sense of over the top stylized normally don’t work like that in live action.” Happy Feet,” he recalls. “We wanted long
worlds or characters. Visually, it’s all grounded Animal Logic’s Leighton says the story was feathered, intricately patterned owls instead of
in reality and I think Zack brought a depth of being adjusted in major ways right up to the tightly feathered black and white penguins. We
field, a three dimensionality of the frame— end of animation. “The biggest challenge we wanted dense forests instead of icebergs. We
not just 3-D as a gimmick, but I mean three had by far was to try to maintain the consistent wanted engaging performances from creatures
dimensions within the frame - camera moves, integrity of our characters’ performances in the that are far less anthropomorphic and far more
racking of focus, speed changes, etc.” face of these ongoing modifications to the edit anatomically complex than penguins. Penguins
Since Snyder has worked with the animation and dialogue. Fortunately, we were blessed don’t need to fold their wings! There were five
and vfx team at Animal Logic since 300, he has with an amazingly professional and talented or six different penguin species in Happy Feet,
developed a certain short-hand with animation international animal crew that relished the task,” Guardians has something like 15 different owl
director Eric Leighton and art director Grant he notes. “Our team was more than willing to species, not to mention a snake, an echidna,
Freckelton, which makes the process much shoot from the hip and adapt to story changes, a Tasmanian Devil and a handful of smaller
easier. He says the biggest challenge of working while maintaining a completely dedicated mammals and birds ... Sometimes the problems
on an animated project is that somehow belief in their acting, which always kept their were vast and highly technical, like creating a
there always seems to be more adjustments work fresh and energized on the screen.” CG feathering system from scratch. Sometimes
and fine-tuning involved. “Because it’s not Working on Animal Logic’s previous big they were small and trivial, like figuring out how
a photographed film and you’re constantly animated feature Happy Feet also helped dirty a character’s feet should be. Everyone on
OCT•10
looking at rough animation, everyone is the team prepare for some of the massive the crew contributed to the problem solving
constantly viewing it as an unfinished project,” challenges of Guardians says Freckelton. “From process and as each problem was solved, we
he explains. “It opens it up to everyone wanting the beginning we wanted a visually complex would get a little closer to a finished film.” 11
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Epic Landscapes: Zack Snyder

and the talented animators
of Australia’s Animal Logic
(who also worked on the
Oscar-winning Happy Feet)
FEATURES
went the extra mile to make

the stereoscopic images
accentuate the owls’ eye-
popping adventures.
Animation, however,
also provided Snyder a
wider palette and a larger
scope. “I love to draw and I
always thought it would be
interesting to make a fully
CG animated work come
to life,” he adds. “I also
love adventure films and
wanted to make a classic adventure tale in Adventures in the Third Dimension with him to his next two live-action features,
the Campbellian sense of the word.” Of course, if you’re making a CG-animated 2011’s Sucker Punch and the 300 sequel,
By Campbellian, the director is referring to studio movie for audiences in 2010, you have Xerxes. Snyder says audiences can expect
the teachings of Joseph Campbell, the much- to keep in mind that everyone expects the to see a lot more CG-animated characters in
admired author whose theories of storytelling technical aspects of the project to be top- the sequel.
and his book The Power of Myth have been notch. Snyder says he was fully aware of all It’s also quite refreshing to hear the director
widely used and emulated in Hollywood, these expectations, especially when it comes talk about the influence of classic animation
especially by pop cinematic visionaries like to creating a stereoscopic 3-D world. “I on his body of work. “I used to watch all the
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. In a feel like we really pushed the 3-D envelope classic Saturday morning cartoons, Bugs
typical Campbellian tale, a young hero or everywhere,” he says. “I cut my teeth on 3-D Bunny and The Road Runner,” he says. “I am
heroine goes on a “hero’s journey” and is often here. You have to go through it shot by shot also a fan of anime—shows like Star Blazers
aided by an older, wise man or woman who and because you’re putting the animals in and movies like Appleseed and Akira. Right
offers guidance and wisdom to the protagonist. the places that you want them, you can now there is truly a large number of wonderful
Orloff also mentions that he instantly fell in explore the results of the 3-D and change it if material out there for the whole family to
love with the characters when he read the you don’t like it. The goal is to stay organic in enjoy together. It’s possible to provide families
book. “So much fantasy is often derivative of terms of cinematic language, but you want with these timeless splendors that can inspire
Tolkien, but this world was totally unique. The to explore the possibilities of the medium as kids’ imaginations and help them learn and
first time you see the talking owls in the movie much as you can. That’s what they did with grow—and keep them entertained with a
is pretty amazing. They don’t look like cartoon Avatar. You also have to be careful not to great adventure story.” ■
owls—they’re almost photo-real. Then, it just distract the audience with the 3-D—you don’t
OCT•10
gets more and more visually arresting with want it to tell you how to shoot the movie.”
each passing scene, thanks to Zack and The owls of Ga’Hoole may also have taught
12 Animal Logic.” the director a few tricks that he will be taking
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FEATURES www.animationmagazine.net OCT•10
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We were constantly
FEATURES
adding things even

while it was in full pro-
duction.”
Because Crest Ani-
mation has been in
the business since
1990 and has pro-

Ben Gluck
duced several fea-
tures, including
Roadside Romeo,
Dashavatar and Ha-
numan, the produc-
tion could rely on
its existing pipelines.
“This is their first main-
stream release in the Anthony Bell
U.S. and it was also
a big deal for Lionsgate, which is now
venturing into the family film arena,”
Call of the Wild explains Gluck. “That’s why the proj-

ect’s energy level was amazing. Peo-
ple were very passionate about mak-
ing the movie, and it was inspiring for
Alpha and Omega, the new 3-D CG-animated pic us to be working with such a team of
from Crest Animation and Lionsgate, charts the unlikely hardworking, talented people.”
friendship between two very different kinds of wolves. Since the wolves’ names are Kate
and Humphrey, it’s easy to figure out
Y
ou’ve seen the dynamic before: connected with the movie’s themes,” that the creators were inspired by
The tough-as-nails guy from the he explains. “I liked the fact that it the famous 1951 Katharine Hepburn/
wrong side of the tracks gets in- dealt with family and love and break- Humphrey Bogart movie The African
volved with the uptown girl, and they ing down the barriers between the Queen, where the prim and proper
fight and bicker all the way until the characters. I also loved the fact that Hepburn character gets stuck with a
very end of the movie when they kind the project was a movie about wolves, tough-as-nails Bogart. As Gluck tell us,
of realize they were made for each which was great for me, because I had “It’s the classic relationship between an
other. This time around, though, the worked on a few animal movies in the unlikely couple—there’s always tension
story unfolds in a CG-animated world past.” In addition to directing Brother in those romantic comedies and that’s
and the characters are a couple of Bear 2, Gluck has worked on a variety what makes if fun. We wanted to get
young wolves (voiced by Hayden Pa- of animated flicks in various capacities, really strong performances. The trick
nettiere and Justin Long) captured by including head of story for 9, head of was to give human-like performances
park rangers and thrown together by story and writer on Piglet’s Big Movie while being true to the integrity of the
unexpected circumstances. and story artist on Home on the Range. way the animals move in nature and
The plot belongs to the movie Alpha He says although the two-year process not make them anthropomorphic.”
and Omega, the first joint venture of of making the movie was a bit chal- The film’s overall look also owes a lot
Indian studio Crest Animation and U.S. lenging at times, he enjoyed working to LAIKA veteran Ovi Nedelcu (Cora-
indie studio Lionsgate, which hits the- with the team at Mumbai-based Crest line, Jackie Chan Adventures), who
aters this month. Produced by anima- Animation to polish the 3-D animation delivered a stylized variation on what
tion veteran Richard Rich (The Fox and and bring the wolves’ world to life. we have come to expect from wolves
the Hound, The Black Cauldron) and “We worked with the original script by in animated films. “We wanted to in-
directed by Ben Gluck (Brother Bear 2) comic-strip artist Steve Moore (Open corporate the natural design of the
and Anthony Bell (The Sissy Duckling, Season) and Chris Denk, and then re- fur with the characters’ personalities.
The Boondocks), the pic belongs to the worked some of the relationships and Humphrey is an Omega wolf, who is
new breed of indie projects that com- fine-tuned the details with the board scruffy, scraggly and streetwise, while
pete with the majors for the attention artists,” he recalls. “We also had some Kate’s fur is smooth, fine and feminine.
OCT•10
of family audiences. wonderful ad-lib work by Justin Long, Fortunately, we are now able to get a
Gluck says what drew him to the proj- so we would go back and add some variety of fur depictions from the CG
14 ect was the source material. “I really of the fun moments back to our story. fur programs such as Shave and a
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Haircut. You have to The future also
keep the hair short looks extra bright
enough to allow for for Gluck, who
the parts where the knew at a very
fur intercepts with young age that
the body.” he wanted to be
The film’s co-direc- an animator. “I
tor Anthony Bell says was 10 years old
he also gravitated when [Disney’s
to the project be- legendary anima-
Capturing the Moment: According to
cause it had heart the film’s directors, the look of Alpha tors] Frank Thomas
and was entertain- and Omega incorporated more and Ollie Johnston
ing at the same time. naturalistic depiction of the wolves set visited St. Louis on
“I think the story had against the Jasper National Park. their tour for their
a really important book on the art of
message,” he notes. Bambi. So I tried
“I tend to pick and to pitch them a
choose projects that story, but they told
really speak to me. me they couldn’t
Alpha and Omega accept any pitch-
tells a universal story es and I had to
about love. The fact call the execu-
that we were creat- tives at Disney in
ing these amazing California, so I did!
wolves in a 3-D world Years later, after I
also provided us with graduated from
a great challenge.” CalArts, I ended
Bell, who is also up at the story
working on the next department at
Crest/Lionsgate mov- Disney Animation.
ie Norm of the North, Back then, Dis-
says he is especially proud of some of is the storytelling angle. “Whether it’s ney was the only game in town,
the more poignant moments in the 2D, Flash or CGI, it’s all about making but today, we are fortunate to be
film. “You can see how this adventure it fresh and exciting for the audience. able to work at so many different
changes Humphrey at the end of their Although I’m traditionally a 2D guy, places and tell all kinds of stories.”
journey. He kind of opens up to Kate what’s fascinating for me in CG is that Gluck says he feels fortunate to be
and says, ‘Hey, I know everything is dif- you can place the movie camera any- able to go from working on a dark post-
ferent, but we can make this work.” where to tell an interesting story and apocalyptic movie like Shane Acker’s 9
Just like Gluck, Bell is a huge fan of guide the eyes of the audience to the to a 3-D CG-animated romantic com-
the classic Disney animated films and important, focal parts.” edy about wolves. “It ultimately comes
he mentions The Jungle Book as one The film’s art director Donald Parks, down to the fundamentals of telling a
of the pic’s big influences. “It was very who has also been working with exec great story and allowing audiences to
helpful to revisit that movie in terms of producer Richard Rich for over three connect with the characters,” he con-
figuring out how to create the right feel decades, tells us that he used real- cludes. “What I love about animation
and weight of a character. To make world points of reference such as Jas- is that we keep moving forward. We’re
it flow like classic Disney, you have to per National Park to get all the details seeing animated films exploring more
really feel the emotions that motivate right. “This is the first full length CG-an- sophisticated issues. We all need to
the actions while keeping the animals’ imated feature that I’ve worked on, take more risks and not worry about
point of view of the character. It’s all and I really enjoyed telling the story being like everyone else. Let’s make
about the characters’ personality, in- from the wolves’ standpoint. Painting our unique movie even if we don’t
stead of moving geometry.” nature is one of my favorite things, so have DreamWorks or Pixar’s budgets.
The directors and their team relied on I really enjoyed working on this movie. Let’s just keep pushing the art form into
Maya technology to bring the wolves Our big challenge was not venturing more exciting territories.” ■
and their Canadian landscape to CG too far into stylization and to be as
OCT•10
animated life. Bell says although he naturalistic as possible. I believe we’ll

has had a lot of experience in 2D ani- venture further more into stylization in
mation, what’s most important to him our future Crest projects.” 15
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One Man’s Best

FEATURES
Friend
Paul and Sandra Fierlinger’s animated adaptation of My

Dog Tulip tells a poignant, personal tale through realistic
and simple drawings and paperless TVPaint technology.
by Ramin Zahed Paul and Sandra Fierlinger and their
canine pal, Oscar.
Y
ou’ve got to love indie anima- topher Plummer as the author, the late linger and his wife worked together
tors Paul and Sandra Fierlinger. Lynn Redgrave as his sister and Isabella from their home in a small Philadelphia
The talented husband-and-wife Rossellini as a sympathetic vet. suburb with an estimated budget of
team have been creating award-win- “It’s funny how it all happened,” 1.3 million dollars—which included the
says Fier- big salaries of the film’s major stars.
linger dur- “It took us about two and half years
ing a phone to draw and paint and then several
call from the months for pre- and post-production,”
Pennsylva- says the septuagenarian animator.
nia home “We put in about 12 to 16 hours every
he shares day. We live very hermetic, mundane
with Sandra. lives with our two dogs, Gracie and Os-
“We got a car.”
call out of Fierlinger is quick to point out that
nowhere their version of Ackerley’s memoir is the
from pro- polar opposite of a Disney toon. “It’s a
ducers How- very scatological book,” he says. “It’s
ard Norman all about doggie bodily functions and
and Howard mating. Dogs are all about eating,
ning hand-drawn projects such as the Kaminsky, who told us that they want- pooping and humping! Our dog Gra-
PBS projects Drawn from Memory, Still ed to make an animated feature film cie has enough German Shepherd in
Life with Animated Dogs and A Room with us. They said pick a well-known her so we were able to base a lot of
Nearby in the past couple of decades. book and they’ll supply the stars to our drawings on her.”
In a world where it’s common to chase voice the char-
after formulas that will reach the wid- acters! They’d
est audience possible and target the never produced
cheapest common denominator, the an animated
Fierlingers stand out because of their project before,
devotion to personal, eccentric mate- and we were
rial that speaks to them as artists. recommended
This month, New Yorker Films will re- to them by a
lease the latest feature by Fierlinger friend. So we de-
and his wife Sandra in select theaters cided to tackle
in New York and Los Angeles. Based My Dog Tulip
on the acclaimed 1956 memoir by the because we
late British author J.R. Ackerley, My Dog had animated
Tulip tells the poignant tale of the au- dogs before. We
thor’s 14-year friendship with his adopt- didn’t want our
ed German Shepherd. The 82-minute- film to be cutesy
long film, which was the official selec- like so many other films about dogs The way Fierlinger and his wife ap-
tion at last year’s Toronto International are. It’s the kind of movie that people proach each project is very similar to
OCT•10
Film Festival and also played at the are either going to love or hate!” the way an author works on a book,
Ottawa Animation Festival, boasts a Unlike most feature film animators he says. “You start with scene one and
16 stellar voice cast which includes Chris- who work with the major studios, Fier- keep drawing until you’re done with
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watercolors. Everything you
see in Tulip was done with a
Fierlinger’s
Wacom tablet, but it looks Ideal World for
hand-painted.” Animators
Fierlinger says working with
paperless technology has
saved him a lot of time. “I draw
every second frame, which
“D o you
politicians?
dislike
Then don’t be like one

makes 12 original frames for of them yourself. Don’t
each second of projection say and do things just
time, therefore that’s 12 times to please the larg-
60 or 720 drawings per minute, est possible amount of
which totals 58,320 drawings people without believ-
for the 81 minutes length of ing for a minute what
the movie. It’s safe to say that you’ve been saying.
the movie. Everything starts to fit in like the first Sandra had to make about 600 individual Don’t search for clever
easy pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. But I always background paintings.” formulas and don’t try
get stuck at some point. I paint myself into a Years before Fierlinger made his animated to memorize the bon
corner, because I never look too far ahead. films for PBS, he established himself as an indie mots others repeat: Be
That’s when I call Sandra to the rescue. ‘Look animation producer in Czechoslovakia, work- authentic, tell the truth,
what’s happened,’ I tell her, and she has to ing for the acclaimed Kratky Film and creat- and above all, be hon-
help me out of the corner, which she usually ing numerous children’s shorts for film and TV. est to yourself. I would
does because she approaches the prob- In the 1970s, he formed AR&T Associates and like everybody to never
lem with a clean imitate something some-
slate!” one else has done al-
The Fierlingers ready. If that would hap-
have been using pen, everyone would be
TVPaint technol- happy because no one
ogy to create would be in competi-
their animated tion with anyone else.
films for the past This requires that we all
12 years. “I hated become elitists in pursuit
to work with cels of the truth until we dis-
because they cover an original way to
were susceptible express ourselves.
to dust scratches Then, I’d like some-
and flairs. I experi- thing else to happen,
mented with Xerox which is that those who
machines, but didn’t like that either. TVPaint produced shorts for Sesame Street, including clearly don’t fit into this
emulates tactile tools, just like brushes and the popular Teeny Little Super Guys series. He archetype and even
even received an Oscar nomination for the find my answer some-
short It’s So Nice to Have a Wolf Around the what repulsive, would
House in 1980. Despite all the work it takes to acknowledge this simple
create one of his animated movies, he says fact and continue their
he’s never been happier. “I made my first search for uniqueness in
animated work when I was 12 and started another discipline. Then
to work professionally in 1958,” he says with a there would be no mass
smile. “But now that I’m 73, I find it even more art, no kitsch, no fraudu-
rewarding to work from home, because you lent stereotypes and no
don’t want to leave your house. You do what lack of homework for
you love to do best: It’s a wonderful way to anyone of us left be-
enjoy old age—I’ve truly never been hap- hind.”
pier.” ■
—As told to Paul’s
OCT•10
New Yorker Films’ My Dog Tulip began its

friend, animator
national theatrical release in New York City
Asaf Agranat.
on September 1 at Film Forum.
17
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Fall TV Preview:
TELEVISION
2010 Edition
The latest smattering of quirky, cute and just plain
raunchy toons debuting in North America this season ...

Of course, only the ones those secretive network cabbals
want you to know about! Clear your schedules (or fire up
the TiVo) for these awesome new animated offerings:
Cartoon Network
Regular Show
Synopsis: Mordecai, a six-foot-tall blue jay, and Rigby, a hyperactive raccoon, are the best of friends.
They are also groundskeepers at a park owned by Pops, a humanoid-looking lollipop. Intrigued yet?
While the insane hijinx they get up to to avoid their terribly dull jobs amuse Pops, they tend not to go
over well with their boss Benson—who is an anthropomorphic gumball machine, obviously!
Production Company: Cartoon Network
Premiere Date: September 6, 2010 at 8:15 p.m.
Created By: J. G. Quintel
MAD
Synopsis: For almost 60 years, MAD Magazine has viciously poked fun at pop culture, and now that delight-
ful irreverence is getting a fresh new animated take! A variety of animation styles take on spoofy mash-ups
like CSiCarly or The Fantastic Megan Fox, commercial parodies like Toys4Brats and classic MAD characters
like Spy vs. Spy.
Production Company: Warner Bros. Animation
Created By: Sam Register (exec producer), Kevin Shinick and Mark Marek (producers)
Sym-Bionic Titan
Synopsis: Ilana, a princess; Lance, a rebellious but skilled soldier; and Octus,
a bio-cybernetic robot, are three alien teens who crash-land on Earth while
attempting to escape an evil General who has taken over their home plan-
et, Galaluna. On their new planetary home, they must balance saving the
Earth from inter-galactic attacks (and their own fumbles), battling the Gen-
eral’s mutant minions, and most treacherously of all, trying to get through
everyday life as average Earthly high schoolers!
Production Company: Cartoon Network
Created By: Genndy Tartakovsky, Bryan Andrews, Paul Rudish
Firebreather
Synopsis: CN’s first world premiere original CGI movie event delivers fierce
action in the clash of two worlds where dragons roam the Earth and past
secrets are exposed. At the center of it all, teenager Duncan struggles to
find his place as half-Kaiju and half-human.
OCT•10
Premiere Date: Fall 2010

Created By: Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn (comic-book series),
18 Peter Chung (director)
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19
TELEVISION www.animationmagazine.net OCT•10
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Cartoon Network’s [adult swim]

TELEVISION
Mongo Wrestling Alliance

Synopsis: This body-slamming comedy follows the exploits of the Kleburkuh family, whose once great
200-year-old wrestling franchise, the Mongo Wrestling Alliance, is now the laughing stock of the
universal pro-wrestling industry. The intimate ins and outs of the ring are revealed as the Kleburkuh
brothers, Rusty and Bruno, form their own group to fight their way back to the top.
Premiere Date: November 2010
Created By: Tommy Blacha
Disney Channel
Fish Hooks
Synopsis: Milo, Bea and Oscar are three BFFs (best fish friends) living
in a fish tank in Bud’s Pet Shop. Together they experience the typi-
cal problems of most high school kids: friendship, dating, sports ...
not to mention giant lobster attacks and field trips to the hamster
cages. Thought up by children’s book illustrator Noah Z. Jones, the
series features a mix of digital and photo collage animation.
Production Company: Disney Television Animation
Premiere Date: September 24, 2010 at 9 p.m.
Created By: Noah Z. Jones
Timmy Time
Synopsis: A spin-off to the popular Shaun the Sheep series, this
sweet and humorous show for tykes follows the adventures of
Timmy, a little lamb with a lot to learn as he enters preschool.
Production Company: Aardman Animations
Premiere Date: September 13, 2010 on Playhouse Disney
Created By: Jackie Cockle
Disney XD
The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
Synopsis: Join Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Hawk-
eye, Ant-man/Giant Man, Wasp and Black Panther, a.k.a. the Avengers—a
team assembled when no single hero’s powers can save the world—as they
take on the Marvel universe’s most unbeatable foes. When a tidal wave of
super villains is loosed from prison, only the Avengers can step up to defeat
them.
Production Company: Marvel Animation
Created By: Marvel Animation
FOX
Bob’s Burgers
Synopsis: Bob Belcher is a third-generation restaurateur with
big ideas about burgers, but not many about customer
service or business management. With the help of his be-
grudging wife and three kids—Tina, a hopeless romantic;
Gene, an avid prankster and aspiring musician; and Louise,
OCT•10
a hyperactive odd-duck who causes chaos in the kitchen,

despite her enthusiasm—Bob gets through each day at
20 the burger joint and tries to out dish the pizzeria across the
street.
Production Company: 20th Century Fox
Premiere Date: Fall/Winter 2010
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Nickelodeon
TELEVISION
Planet Sheen
Synopsis: Hit CG kid genius Jimmy Neutron’s pal gets his own animated
go-round in this new series. Sheen Guevera Estevez is a hyperactive, atten-
tion-span-challenged kid who, after “borrowing” a rocket, crash lands on
a Luddite planet called Zeenu. In addition to the planet’s bizarre customs
and strange creatures, Sheen must deal with a jealous villain; a lovestruck,
10-foot-tall princess with two faces; and a talking chimp who was blasted
off by the ‘60s space program, who joins Sheen in his quest to return home.
Production Companies: O Entertainment for Nickelodeon
Created By: Steve Oedekerk and Keith Alcorn
T.U.F.F. Puppy
Synopsis: What happens when a gung-ho, dim-witted dog named Dud-
ley Puppy finds himself accidentally thrust into the role of secret agent by
the super-secret, crime-fighting organization, T.U.F.F. (Turbo Undercover
Fighting Force)? He partners with Kitty Katswell, a feline super spy, kung-
fu master and weapons expert. Naturally, they don’t get along, but to-
gether they protect their hometown of Petropolis and the rest of the world
against the evil animal organization, D.O.O.M. (Diabolical Order of May-
hem).
Production Company: Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Created By: Butch Hartman
PBS KIDS
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!
Synopsis: Dr. Seuss’ beloved, well accessorized feline comes to animated life (voiced by award-
winning actor Martin Short) to guide his friends Sally and Nick on fun-filled
adventures where they discover the intriguing scientific secrets of the natural
world—with a little help from the Fish, Thing 1 and Thing 2!
Production Companies: Portfolio Entertainment, Collingwood O’Hare
Productions
Premiere Date: September 6, 2010
Created By: Based on the books by Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
PBS KIDS GO!

Wild Kratts
Synopsis: Award-winning zoologists and kids’ show creators the Kratt
Brothers (Kratt’s Creatures, Zoboomafoo) leap into a new animated reality
for their latest venture, which finds them leading kids and their families on
extraordinary animal-powered adventures, visiting wild animals in their little-
seen habitats and showcasing key science concepts along the way.
OCT•10
Production Company: 9 Story Entertainment

Premiere Date: January 3, 2011
22 Created By: Chris and Martin Kratt
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Teletoon (Canada)
Total Drama World Tour
TELEVISION
Synopsis: Bringing an international twist and a musical spin to this season, Total
Drama World Tour continues the series’ hilarious tradition of parodying the best
moments of reality TV with some of the fan-favorite past contestants and a few
exciting new faces. The participants get another chance at fame and fortune as
they are flown to exotic locations all over the world to sing their way through larger-
than-life elimination competitions, stomach curdling challenges, death-defying
stunts, romances, friendships and ultimately, a chance at another million dollar
grand prize.
Production Companies: TELETOON and Fresh TV
Premiere Date: September 9 at 8 p.m.
Skatoony
Synopsis: This side-splitting trivia quiz show, based on the U.K. series of the same name, puts real-life kids into
a Hollywood Squares inspired situation alongside an assortment of beloved animated characters from the
TELETOON universe. Host Chudd Chudders and his sidekick announcer The Earl guide the live-action contes-
tants through the cartoon inflected mayhem.
Production Companies: TELETOON and marblemedia
Premiere Date: October 28 at 8:30 p.m.
Teletoon at Night
The Dating Guy
Synopsis: This comedic cocktail of dating, sex and
friendship follows four 20-something friends—Mark,
Woody, Sam and VJ—through their romantic, career
and everyday struggles as they attempt to find love
(or some kind of “happy ending”). From the ins and outs of dating a werewolf to the subtleties of seduc-
ing a virgin porn star, the series turns a no-holds-barred eclectic and comical eye on the world of dating.
Production Companies: TELETOON and marblemedia
Premiere Date: October 2010
YTV (Canada)
Sidekick
Synopsis: Eric Neddles is a young orphan who lives in Sidekick, a world popu-
lated by super heroes and villains ... and then there’s the sidekicks, like Eric
and his second string friends, who are always given the worst jobs and are
most likely to be used as projectiles! On the day Eric was to become sidekick
to the greatest super hero of all time, Maxum Man, Maxum went missing. Lest
the world descend into panic, this rookie must cover for Maxum’s absence.
Production Company: Nelvana Studio
Premiere Date: September 11 at 10:30 a.m. during the CRUNCH block
Babar and the Adventures of Badou

Synopsis: Eight-year-old Badou has an appetite for adventure
... and a tendency to get caught in some tricky situations,
along with his colorful friends Chiku the monkey and Zawadi
the zebra. Navigating the ups and downs of growing up in
Celesteville’s royal palace, Badou never forgets that his fa-
mous grandpa, King Babar, will always be there to offer guid-
ance and support.
OCT•10
Production Companies: Nelvana Studio and TeamTO

Premiere Date: November 22 at 11 a.m. during the Playtime
24 block ■
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Science Gets
but we’ve been able to
TELEVISION
produce very fluid and

bouncy animation with
Seussical! the technology,” she

notes. “You can stretch
and squash as much as
you need to!”
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! brings the The production’s team
timeless Dr. Seuss character to animated life while serving of designers used the
Julie Stall
up some fun scientific lessons. original source material as their starting point
for the show’s visual style. “The books have a
I
f you’re still having nightmares about the served his own animated TV show, so she con- very limited color palette and we needed to
obnoxious Mike Myers live-action version of tacted the execs at Random House and began have a richer, more vibrant look,” explains Stall.
The Cat in the Hat, we have some fantastic pursuing the project and putting the producers “In addition, we also had to design a number
news! This month, PBS will premiere a wonderful, together. of new characters and locations. We had to
animated version of Dr. Seuss’ (Theodor Geisel) One of key ingredients of the show is its edu- understand the Seuss style and then translate
evergreen preschool books that is bound to cational component which encourages young it to brand new characters. One of the new
erase the memory of the 2003 movie. A co-ven- children to get prepared for first-grade science characters looked so Seussian that even the
ture between Canada’s Portfolio Entertainment curriculum in a fun, gentle manner. “I find myself author’s estate holders were shocked to find
and U.K.’s Collingwood O’Hare Productions, constantly surprised by some of the things I’ve out that it wasn’t in the original library!”
the new 40-part show is titled The Cat in the learned as a result of working on the show,” says Meeting the approval of the Seuss estate
Hat Knows a Lot About That! and features the Stall. “For example, there’s an episode where and incorporating all the producing broadcast-
ers’ notes took a lot of revisions
The Bee’s Knees: The new animated and detail work, but Stall says
series based on the famous Dr. Seuss that thanks to the hard work of
books teaches preschoolers about the the design, storyboard and ani-
natural world. mation teams, they were able
to meet and surpass everyone’s
expectations. “From the start,
our big challenge was being
true to the book and keep-
ing the quality as high as one
would expect from a Dr. Seuss
project,” she notes. “I think we
were also very lucky to secure
our wonderful voice cast, es-
pecially Martin Short, who has
brought so much to the part. His
adlibs, interjections and catch
phrases are just hysterical, and
he always brings something or-
ganic to the show.”
voice of Martin Short as the mischievous main kids learn about how bees make honey, and Stall says she believes that parents are go-
character. I had no idea that bees actually do a special ing to really enjoy meeting this new incarnation
“We wanted to take this familiar charac- dance to show each other where the nectar of the Cat. “We don’t allow any outrageous
ter and build an ongoing series around him,” is in the flower or that honey actually contains behavior—he’s just a big fun kid himself and
says Julie Stall, the series producer at Portfolio. the spit from the bees mixed in with the nectar!” he’s going to help the kids at home learn more
“We have the two kids Nick and Sally drive the Portfolio shares the Canadian animation about the world around them.” In other words,
show’s plotlines. We also wanted to retain the work with Ottawa’s PIP studio (Caillou, Cy- you and the little ones can relax and watch
Cat’s sense of curiosity, silliness and over-the- berchase), while London-based Collingwood with a big smile on your face: No scary Mike
top enthusiasm, but we wanted to contain him O’Hare handles the leica reels, story editing, Myers shenanigans are allowed here! ■
in a way that he wasn’t scary and doesn’t dis- music composition, audio tracks and effects,
turb the comfort level of the kids.” under the direction of toon veteran Tony Collin-
According to Stall, it was PBS senior director gwood (The Secret Show, Gordon the Garden
OCT•10
of children’s programming Linda Simensky who Gnome). Stall says the animators use Flash
was one of the early champions of the project. technology to bring the Seussian world to life.
26 Simensky believed early on that the Cat de- “A lot of people can’t believe that it’s Flash,
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recreate many of the iconic bits and

TELEVISION
characters MAD is known for.”

Shinick points out that most animated
comedy series on the air have very dis-
tinct, love-it-or-hate-it styles. Because
of the variety of spoofs, bits and char-
acters the show would incorporate, the
studio decided to combine a variety of
animation styles into “a virtual hub of

cartoon chaos.”
MAD is being helmed by Shinick and
fellow producer Mark Marek, as well
as executive producer and Warner’s
EVP for creative affairs Sam Register,
who is currently toiling on several other
new and upcoming WB toons including
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and
Young Justice. The studio’s SVP of series
and alternative animation, Peter Girar-
Cartoon Network di, serves as creative executive, bring-

ing his experience from adult comedy
Goes MAD
fare Minoriteam and Saul of the Mole
Men to bat. The show will incorporate
work from a bevy of MAD Magazine’s
notable artists (in the vein of Sergio Ara-
Warner Bros. Animation brings Alfred E. Neuman and the gonés) as well as some of the talented
upstart animators behind kitschy [adult
satirizing sizzle of MAD to animated life with its new skit
swim] favorites.
series. by Mercedes Milligan
E
pitomizing pop-culture lampoon- become, now seemed like the perfect A Cartoon Collage
ing since 1952, MAD Magazine time to move the spotlight back onto According to producer Mark Marek,
has delighted generations of ado- the mother of all comedy mags. Once who has cut his chops animating a va-
lescents (and plenty of adults who may that was decided, the idea of making riety of projects including DJ & The Fro,
not admit it) by poking fun at film, televi- it animated seemed obvious, since it Crank Yankers and Team Umizoomi,
sion, celebrities and any other phenom- would allow us to push boundaries and the greatest challenge in crafting the
enon that needs to be
taken down a peg.
After spawning a hit
live-action series, the
comedy rag’s richly
pun-ny humor is hitting
the tooniverse, thanks
to Warner Bros. Anima-
tion.
“I think it was inevi-
table. In fact, it might
actually be one of the
signs of the apoca-
lypse,” jokes producer
and story editor Kev-
in Shinick, who has
served as a writer and
actor on gems like Ro-
bot Chicken and Ugly
OCT•10
Americans. “Consider-
ing how pop culture
28 crazy our society has
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it takes a bit more pre-
TELEVISION
The Heart of MADness: Warner
planning before you
Bros. assembled a varied roster
of studios and artists to create get to that stage.”
diverse new looks for MAD’s However, Marek is
lampooning skits, as well as quick to say that de-
bring back old favorites like spite the added diffi-
Alfred E. Neuman. culty, the stop-motion
pieces are some of his
favorite elements in the
show. He is also a fan
of the movie parodies
(“Trans-bore-mores”
and “The Fantastic Me-
gan Fox” for example);
“It’s fun to work long-
form—relatively speak-
ing, in a show that fea-
tures 10-second bits for
the most part!”
For Shinick, the faux
commercials strike a
chord, and keep your
show’s 26 ordered episodes is jug- eyes peeled for his top pick parody
gling the various studios charged “Grey’s in Anime.” But genius genre
with the different techniques re- splicing doesn’t always come easy!
quired for each skit. “Since most people discover MAD
“We have roughly eight artists somewhere between the ages of
working in-house, and a floating eight and 15, we wanted to make
stable of seven or eight outside stu- that our target audience,” he shares,
dios involved,” he explains. “Theo- “So at first I was like, ‘What are these
retically, the production time is two shows I have to parody? Who are
weeks per episode … however, due these people?’ Luckily we have a
to the nature of so many disparate diverse writing and animating staff,
animation pieces, approvals tend so that our spectrum of pop culture
to stretch that time frame out a bit!” references covers a wide area … re-
However, the toon veteran says that sulting in such craziness as ‘CSiCarly,’
working with and mixing the various for example!”
styles into a cohesive end product With so many animated comedies
is his favorite aspect of molding this for audiences to choose from, MAD
eclectic series. should be served well by its stand-out
As Shinick explains, “Just like a mix-n-match style and shameless sass-
single issue of MAD Magazine fea- ing of our golden pop culture idols.
tures the different styles of Sergio Marek believes those who tune in will
Aragonés, Mort Drucker, Tom Rich- be impressed by the show’s energy,
mond, Don Martin, Spy vs. Spy and edgy writing and visual variety. And
an assortment of others, we’re do- Shinick concurs. “When you watch
ing the same thing with the very the show, I think it’ll be hard not to
same artists, while also adding new appreciate the amount of time and
artists with their own distinct style.” energy that’s gone into bringing it to
Marek reveals that the series will in- Of course, working with so many dif- life. But I really just want people to enjoy
corporate techniques and technolo- ferent techniques can bring up the it for what MAD has always been.”
gies including Flash, After Effects, Maya, challenges that each presents. “Stop- Which is?
stop-motion, traditional cel and photo motion is probably the most difficult “Joyful stupidity.”
OCT•10
collage. Shinick has a simpler answer: “I style to work with, due to the unforgiving …And who doesn’t need more of that
use something called a ‘Mark Marek.’ nature of the technique,” Marek opines. in their life? ■
It’s a little slow, but man does it do a “You essentially get one shot at render-
good job!” ing and shooting your models, therefore 29
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OCT•10 www.animationmagazine.net TELEVISION
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Kids’ Toons Find a

Out of the approxi-
TELEVISION
mate 1,339 episodes
of new programming
New Home acquired by The Hub,

the majority is ani-
mation, says Loesch
during a phone in-
The Hub’s president and CEO Margaret Loesch discusses terview from her Bur-
Margaret Loesch
the new Hasbro/Discovery venture’s programming lineup bank-based offices.
and philosophy. by Ramin Zahed “I would say that the qualities we’re
looking for in our programs are playful-
L
ast year, when it was widely report- new programs. “We are offering 10 new ness and an adherence to the values of
ed that Discovery Communica- animated series, and that’s a lot given discovery and exploration, but first and
tions and Hasbro were launching the fact that we’re just starting out. We foremost, we look for well-written sto-
a new kids’ cable channel called The think this is the largest amount of new ries. One other thing we’re looking for is
Hub, everyone in the business was curi- production for a kids network launch, something that parents can share with
ous about the kinds of shows the new because both Nick and Cartoon Net- their children—a sense of nostalgia, new
outlet would be offering. This fall, after work were already on the air for a while versions of shows that kids’ parents might
months of care- h a v e
ful planning and grown up
Dan Vs.
spending about with—pro-
$20 million to programs like
mote its content, Fraggle
The Hub is ready Rock, My
to unveil its eclec- Little Pony
tic line-up on Oc- or G.I.
tober 10, when Joe.”
it will launch to Loesch
about 60 million says she
homes. finds that
“Our goal is this sense
to appeal to a of fa-
broad group of miliarity
viewers and well with the
over 50 percent brands
of our content will has been
be animated,” resonat-
says the joint ven- ing with
ture’s president many of
and CEO Marga- The Hub’s
ret Loesch. “We advertis-
like to follow one ers. “We
working philoso- walk in to
phy of animation the room
and that is anything is possible— and show a clip from the new
from the most elaborate CG ani- show My Little Pony, and there’s
mation to simpler more elemen- an instant connection with those
tary types of material. We have who used to watch the original
an open-door policy to all kinds of show as kids, and now they can
animation.” share this new version with their
Loesch, who has led numerous children.” She has also noted
entertainment companies over that The Hub has been able to of-
the past few decades (including fer advertisers better prices than
OCT•10
Fox Kids Network, Jim Henson TV, some of its competition—a factor
Hallmark Channel and The Hatch- that certainly adds up to the allure
ery) says she is looking forward to mov- before they went full steam ahead with of the cabler in these financially chal-
ing full force ahead with a full slate of new productions.” lenging times. 31
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TELEVISION
G.I. Joe Renegades
Animal Mechanicals The Hub’s new lineup will include The Loesch and her team are also on
99 (a Teshkeel Media/Endemol Digital the lookout for properties that may not
production), Animal Mechanicals (Hali- seem like the obvious candidates for
fax Films), Cosmic Quantum Ray (Moon- a big U.S.-based kids network. “Some
scoop), Deltora Quest (Dentsu Enter- of the most interesting series we have
tainment), Fraggle Rock (The Henson are British shows such as In the Night
Company), Maryoku Yummy (Ameri- Garden and Dennis and Gnasher,” she
can Greetings/DQ Entertainment), The adds. “This is the first incarnation of Den-
WotWots (Pukeko Pictures) and Twisted nis, and I believe it’s the first time he’s
Whiskers (American Greetings/DQ/ come to this country. We will also pre-
Moonscoop). Obviously, a healthy por- miere The WotWots, a CG animated
tion of the channel’s programming will series created by Weta’s Richard Taylor
consist of Hasbro-branded shows such and Martin Boynton.”
as G.I. Joe Renegades, Pound Puppies Of course, Loesch’s years of experi-
and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. ence in the kids’ TV universe have taught
The cabler will also offer game shows her many important lessons that she’s us-
based on Hasbro titles such as Cranium, ing every day on the new job. “I remem-
Bop-It, Connect 4 and Clue, as well as ber years ago when I was at Fox Kids, I
reruns of Doogie Howser, M.D. and The bought an Australian children’s pup-
Wonder Years for older audiences. pet show and we decided to dub with
According to previous reports, the American voices. Then two weeks after
children’s network’s day will be divided we started airing it, I happened to watch
into a preschool block from 9 a.m. to 1 it from home and I realized that I had
p.m., kids afternoon/prime time from 1 made a big mistake. When we took the
to 6 p.m., family prime access from 6 to Australian accents away, we also took
7 p.m., and a family prime time from 7 the show’s unique personality out of it! So
to 11 p.m. that’s why we are definitely not dubbing
She also points out that sometimes Dennis and Gnasher and hope the origi-
The Adventures of Chuck and Friends there seems to be too much emphasis nal accents work for our audiences.”
on design and new technologies in- Loesch says one of her favorite as-
stead of stories and great characters. pects of the job is putting together a
“I am obviously a huge fan of anima- team of people who will be the future
tion—I loved it as girl and I love it as an leaders of the industry and who’ll help
adult,” she adds. “I think the state of creative talent flourish. “There are so
animation is probably healthier than it’s many people with great ideas and so
ever been. I love experimentation, but I few doors open to them, so it’s fun to
believe it has to come with great stories make programming happen for those
and character development. I see a lot who don’t necessarily have opportuni-
of amazing designs—but sometimes, ties available to them.” ■
OCT•10
what I don’t see enough of are clever

character development and strong sto-
32 rytelling skills.”
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A Big, Big International

America and TV Bra-
TELEVISION
sil came aboard and

risked something that
Friendship had not been tried

before. For Canada,
I think they found a
hard-working and pas-
Canada’s Breakthrough Entertainment and Brazil’s 2Dlab
sionate partner with a
join forces on the uplifting new preschool series, My Big great idea and that
André Breitman
Big Friend. by Mercedes Milligan brought serious mon-

ey to the table,” he
S
pend 15 minutes with any preschool we’re showing kids that when you imag- explains. “We are all
aged child, and you will quickly be ine you can, sometimes, you really can!” great friends and have
reminded of the vastness of their The 52 x 11 series is a coproduction with immense respect for
imaginations. It is a special gift young Rio-based studio 2Dlab. CEO and execu- each other … and we
kids are blessed with—the ability to turn tive producer André Breitman explains hope to have many
a cardboard box into a submarine, or the that the concept for My Big Big Friend other shows together
Nat Abraham
neighbor’s dog into a roving stegosaur— began as a short film about the relation- in the future!”
and one that many in animation strive to ship between a boy named Yuri and his Breitman notes that the latest crop of
hold on to throughout their adult lives. massive imaginary friend, Golias. series coming out of the country and mod-
That’s why Breakthrough Entertain- “We imagined that tiny little four-year- ern financing models have put Brazil firmly
ment’s newest preschool offering should old Yuri was in fact Golias’ ‘big big friend’ on the animation map, a trend he hopes
strike a chord with tykes and toon-heads just as much as Golias was Yuri’s ‘big big to see grow in the next few years. He be-
alike. My Big Big Friend follows the adven- friend,’” he says. “This complementary lieves with an expanded selection of ani-
tures of a trio of youngsters: Yuri, Lili and notion of friendship is the key we wanted mation schools in the country to increase
Matt. Together they dream up new pals, every kid to notice: That you have to be the hiring pool, the Brazilian animation
places and problems which they solve a friend to have a friend.” industry would continue to make its mark.
with their brimming imaginations, learn- The show, which combines 2D cut-out Going into the fall MIPCOM and MIP
ing lessons in friendship along the way. and full animation techniques, is crafted Junior markets in Cannes, Breakthrough’s
“Our main focus is on empowering entirely with Toon Boom software (an- Abraham has a positive outlook on the
kids to be wildly imaginative and to get other Canadian connection). “Having kids’ TV animation market as well. “The
creative when solving a problem,” says Toon Boom Harmony and Storyboard Pro programming market in general has
Breakthrough’s head of distribution, Nat in the same production made us very been recovering nicely, and with anima-
Abraham. “Through the exciting, and of- productive,” Breitman enthuses. “We go tion, the demand is getting stronger,” he
ten very funny, adventures that our char- directly to animatic and we are able to elaborates, “Children’s buyers are look-
acters create and experience—which have our designs already done in layers ing for more character-driven stories with
can range from a balloon and ready for animation.” elements of discovery and learning.” A
ride in the sky to a tun- As for Friend’s whimsical, colorfully kid- niche My Big Big Friend fits into nicely!
nel through the friendly design, Breitman describes them Breitman believes that this charming
Earth— as “in a word: Brazilian,” and points out new series has the right mixture of ele-
that the palette, designs, worlds and ments to make it a hit. “We never imag-
characters reflect the country’s unique ined how good this show would end
cultural mixture. Bringing the show’s up looking, or how amazing the scripts
expansive world—which includes would be … We definitely have a layer
dozens of fantastical settings there for parents, so, even though it’s a
dreamt up by its young he- preschool show, it should be fun for par-
ros—to life is a team of about ents as well.”
80 animators and artists, includ- “This show was made with a lot of love,”
ing 16 dedicated designers tasked the producer summarizes, “We want
with realizing the writers’ efforts at [kids] to have fun, and we want these
making each episode as fresh and ex- characters to be their friends.” Surely ev-
pansive as a child’s daydream. eryone could use friends like these! ■
With the first season nearly wrapped,
Breitman speaks positively about the in-
OCT•10
ternational co-production experience.

“For us in Brazil, we were lucky that a
34 company like Breakthrough and chan-
nels like Treehouse, Discovery Kids Latin
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Scaling the Heights Justin Roiland) and
TELEVISION
the goldfish next door
(Chelsea Staub). We
fell in love with Jones’
Disney Channel’s new animated series Fish Hooks
artwork, concept and
introduces viewers to a hilarious cast of characters with a sensibility, and then
backdrop of a great-looking pet shop. we developed the
world that we could
Noah Z. Jones
hen it comes to ideal settings for mediately impressed with him and the sustain with each epi-
animated shows, you just can’t tone of the project.” sode.”
go wrong with a pet store. But Coleman also brought in toon veteran Coleman and
Noah Z. Jones’ clever new series Fish Maxwell Atoms (The Grim Adventures of Jones came up with
Hooks, which premieres this month on Dis- Billy & Mandy) as exec producer and creative ways for the
ney Channel, has a lot more going for it Carl Greenblatt and Bill Reiss (Chow- main characters to
than just a fantastic setting. It also has a der) to direct the episodes, since this move around the pet
great cast of water-dwelling characters was Jones’ first foray into the world of store without having
and a unique photo collage look. series animation. “It was a very smooth to use complicated Eric Coleman
“Our main fish characters are regular development process,” says Coleman. land suits. The team
2D cartoons, but the backgrounds, the “We started with the kernel of an idea, also developed a wider cast of charac-
props and the other characters outside which was the notion of these fish tanks in ters, which included the other fish in the
the aquarium are real school, and a col-
photo collages,” says orful cast of teach-
Water World: Disney Channel’s great-
Jones. “I think the vi- ers. “It was a very
looking series Fish Hooks is created by
suals are very striking, natural process,”
children’s book illustrator Noah Z. Jones,
and they give the says Coleman.
developed by toon veterans Alex Hirsch
show a clumsy, indie “We would have
and Bill Reiss and exec produced by
feel.” The team at Ot- these characters
Maxwell Atoms.
tawa-based Mercury that worked so well
Filmworks helps Disney that we just had to
animate the show us- bring them back
ing the popular Toon again. We also
Boom Harmony, a have a very tal-
software that is based ented voice cast
on a centralized da- that includes Rich-
tabase system, and ard Simmons as
can be used to cre- Coach Salmons,
ate an eye-popping, Edie McClurg as
cut-out style. Mrs. Goldfishberg,
In addition to the Jerry Stiller as Prin-
great look and fun cipal Stickler and
fish characters, the Rachel Dratch as
series also has a cool Esmargot.”
development history. As Jones ex-
Jones first came to the plains it, the ba-
attention of the Dis- sic premise of
ney team when Mike the show, which
Moon, the studio’s VP targets six- to
of animation, discov- 14-year-olds, is a
ered his website. As group of teen fish
Eric Coleman, senior in high school … in
VP of original series a pet store. “They
at Disney TV tells us, have their share
“We were all very im- of normal high
OCT•10
pressed with his illus- school problems

trations, so we contacted him to see if a pet store and the relationships among and friendships, but they also have rival
he could pitch us some ideas. We then the character—the two brothers Milo schools—the Geckos, and the big city is
made a short together and were all im- and Oscar (voiced by Kyle Massey and continued on page 39 37
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TELEVISION
Making a Splash: Kyle Massey (Milo),
Chelsea Staub (Bea) and Justin
Roiland provide the voices of the
three main characters.
continued from page 37 naturally funny thanks to our great cast.”
In case you were wondering, Jones
Hamster Wood—which are all different didn’t have much luck with fish when he
areas of the pet store.” was a kid. “I had a few, but they never
Jones says it has been especially mov- stayed around for too long,” he admits.
ing to see the final results of the team’s “We do have hermit crabs at the studio
work after three years of close collabora- and they’re much easier to take care
tion. “My favorite aspect of the show is of.” He is also eager for his three-year-old
the storyboard pitches,” he says. “It’s so son and 10-month-old daughter to find
much fun to experience the energy and out what their dad has been working on
creativity of our storyboard artists. It’s also these past three years. “My son knows
very exciting to review the backgrounds that I work on a show about fish because
when we get the show back from Mer- he has seen little bits and pieces. I’m sure
cury Filmworks. It’s really going to look like he’ll see a lot more when he gets older!”
no other show on TV right now! Having been raised on a steady diet of
As if having a big show debut on Dis- Saturday morning toons like Bugs Bunny,
ney Channel this fall wasn’t enough to Underdog, Hong Kong Phooey and Dis-
keep Jones busy, he has another animat- ney shorts, Jones is still charmed by the
ed project titled Almost Naked Animals primitive look of some of the ‘70s era car-
being produced by Toronto’s 9 Story En- toons. “You look at those Scooby-Doo
tertainment, which is slated to debut on episodes, and you notice that nothing is
Canada’s YTV in February. moving except for the mouths, but they
The talented 36-year-old illustrator/ are still fun to watch.”
show creator says he can’t wait to get That is in high contrast with the way
everyone’s reaction to his fish world once television animation is expected to look
the show gets on the air. “I think Phineas these days. “Our biggest challenge is to
and Ferb opened the door for new styles keep the quality consistently high,” says
of animation and different kinds of hu- Jones. “We are holding ourselves up to
mor than people were used to from Dis- some really high standards. We want
ney,” he adds. “The characters on the this to be a show that we’re all proud of
show are so much fun, and we try hard creating.” And that, dear readers, is cer-
to have the humor come out of the char- tainly not a fish tale. ■
OCT•10
acters. Overall, I think it’s a show that chil-

dren and parents can watch together,
because the humor isn’t coming from a
gross-out place, and the voices are also 39
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Hungarian Haven Also on the agenda is a special screen-

TELEVISION
ing of the five finalists for the Cartoon D’Or

award, which is given to animated shorts
that have made the festival rounds in re-
Billed as the first Cartoon Forum in a new E.U. country, the
cent months. The 2010 contenders are
21st edition of the noted European gathering showcases Joseph Pierce for A Family Portrait, Kaspar
62 new animated projects from the continent. Jancis for Krokodill, H5 for the Oscar-win-
ning Logorama, Anita Killi for Sinna Mann
Y
ou know summer is officially over also reflected at the Forum, as an estimated and Johannes Nyholm for The Tale of Little
when many of the European anima- 41 percent of the Forum projects are ex- Puppetboy.
tion producers and financiers pack tending their reach beyond the small screen Now all you need is Queen’s hit song
their bags and their shiny new toons and and planning ahead for mobile applica- Hungarian Rhapsody playing in your
head over to the annual Cartoon Forum tions, Internet, videogames and iPads. head, and you’ll be ready for one of the
event. (If you’re a regular reader of this mag- Of course, many of the toons selected at top toon events of the season. ■
azine, you know that the Forum is a platform the Forum are presented by well-known stu-
created to boost the co-production and dis- dios such as Futurikon, Folimage, Gaumont
tribution of European TV animation.) Alphanim, Les Armateurs, Edebe, Gruppo
This year, the 21st edition of the fest is Alcuni, Tele Images Kids, Studio 100, Screen
hosted by the picturesque Sopron resort 21, Dupuis, Studio Baestarts, Ellipsanime and
Tilly and Friends (Jam
in Hungary (September 14-17). According Jam Media—many of which will take their
Media/Walker Books)
to the Forum organizers, over 110 entries development slate to the MIPCOM market
were submitted from European countries, in October.
which signals a 20 percent rise from previ-
Hector’s Haunts (Les
ous editions. French studios continue their Armateurs/Les Films de
dominance in the animation field, bringing la Perrine)
in 20 of the 62 selected projects. The U.K.
and Spain are next in line with seven and six
series each. New E.U. countries such as Hun-
gary, Poland, Croatia and Latvia also make
a strong showing with 11 projects overall.
The Magyar Cartoon Forum is clocking up
close to 360 hours of animation altogether,
with an estimated total budget of 160 million
euros (203 million U.S. dollars). Marc Vandew-
The Treehouse Club
eyer, general director of Cartoon Forum,
(Sol 90 Audiovisual)
notes, “We’re thrilled to have the event held
in a country which has had a long animation
tradition. Hungarian animation is renowned
for its famous animators, whether exiled or
not, and for its wealth of prizes gathered
from around the world. For the first time, 11
of the projects presented at the Forum
come from new E.U. countries.
This is a remarkable break-
through for Eastern Eu-
Zoli and Pokey
rope, and it illustrates
(Fabrique d’Images,
both that the world is 2 Minutes)
moving forward and that
the large European market
continues to thrive.”
T h e
o v e r -
reaching Yummy Yummy!
explosion In My Tummy
OCT•10
Sullivan (Folimages)
of content
(Storimages)
for mobile
40 platforms is
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Monster Animation
Creates a Positive
Role Model
A
few month’s ago, Seth MacFar- is created by Lindsay Sedgwick and is
lane ruffled a few feathers by scheduled to air on Ireland’s RTE next
getting some laughs out of a spring. O’Rourke says one of the things
mentally disabled character on Fam- that makes the show quite special is
ily Guy. Some argued that although it that a young actress with Down syn-
wasn’t quite the right way to feature a drome will provide the voice of Punky
on the show.
“The whole experience of work-
ing with the organization Down
Syndrome Ireland and Aimee, the
young girl who does the voice of
Punky, has been quite amazing,”
he notes. “It’s refreshing to portray
such amazing values through the
character of Punky. It really makes
you reflect on your life. We are also
very pleased that Sheila DeCourcy
handicapped character or a person at RTE shared our vision and wants to
with disabilities, at least it gave some bring this show to the small screen as
exposure to a vastly under-represent- well.”
ed minority. Monster Animation is a fully equipped
Indie Irish studio Mon-
ster Animation hopes
to change all that with
its new preschool series
Punky, which centers on a
charming six-year-old girl
with Down syndrome. “The
show explores everyday life
from Punky’s perspective
and how she deals with
and solves scenarios that
confront her,” says Gerard O’Rourke, digital 2D studio based in Dublin, which
Monster Animation’s producer. “It’s a has produced shows such as Roobarb
fun and entertaining preschool show & Custard Too, Fluffy Gardens and
OCT•10
which has a main character that has Ballybraddan. You can learn more
Down syndrome—and it’s not a Down about this wonderful indie shop and
syndrome show.” its forward-thinking projects online at
The 20 X 7-minute 2D-animated series www.monsteranimation.ie. ■ 41
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Magic, Mayhem and Mad

HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Science—Now on Disc!
Disney classics, DC heroes, Viking adventurers and pint-sized inventors populate the
home entertainment shelves this month. by Mercedes Milligan
and Batman (Kevin Mouse House’s feature animation efforts
Beauty and the Beast Conroy) encounter the hit theaters, but there
Three-Disc Diamond Edition newest Kryptonian on you have it! Ted Berman
[Disney, $39.99] the block, Kara Zor- and Richard Rich’s take
G ary Trousdale and Kirk Wise’s 1991 El (Summer Glau). But on Lloyd Alexander’s
fairy tale (the first animated feature when Darkseid (Andre Chronicles of Prydain
ever nominated for the Best Picture Oscar) Braugher) catches series tells the story of a
reenters the home entertainment market wind of the powerful young pigkeeper with
with some high def sparkle this month. new extraterrestrial in dreams of becoming a
Disney fans of all ages can enjoy Belle’s town, he kidnaps her great warrior. When an
adventures in all new digitally restored and places her under his control, pitting oracular pig is kidnapped
picture and sound on Blu-ray or DVD with Batman and Superman against a foe who by the evil Horned King,
this combo pack, which has enough can match the Man of Steel blow for blow. he gets to test his mettle by joining forces
features to butter anyone’s brioche. The action-packed toon is also available with a colorful cast of characters on a
Viewers can choose from three versions on Blu-ray ($29.99). Talk about girl power! quest to rescue the pig and put a stop to
of the film: the original [Release date: September 28] the Horned King’s plot to use The Black
theatrical release, a Cauldron to take over the land.
storyboard version or How to Train Your Dragon Magical extras like a deleted scene,
the Special Extended [DreamWorks, $29.99] behind-the-scenes art and photo gallery,
Edition featuring a new
scene and musical
number, “Human Again.”
F or a guaranteed good time, grab
the nearest scaly critter and pop in
DreamWorks’ high flying 3-D CG adventure!
original trailer and on-disc games round
off the celebratory release. Talking pig not
included.
Beaucoups de bonuses Based on the novels by Cressida Cowell, [Release date: September 14]
include a deleted scene, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois’ highly
alternate opening, praised fantasy romp follows a young Dexter’s Laboratory
making-of featurettes Beyond Beauty Viking named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) as Season One
and The Story Behind the Story, music vids he befriends and [Cartoon Network, $24.98]
starring Jordin Sparks and Celine Dion, on-
disc games and interviews with Broadway
production celebs as well as the songwriters
tames a not-so-
fearsome dragon
named Toothless,
A t long last, cartoon legend Genndy
Tartakovsky’s squat, scheming, red
haired, ambiguously accented young
behind the film’s hit musical pieces (which much to his genius makes his DVD debut! If you need a
you can enjoy in sing-along mode). Don’t chieftain father’s little extra doom, gloom and things that go
be surprised if after falling back in love with displeasure and “boom” in your life, be sure to pick up the
this classic you half expect your kitchen the confusion of first two-disc set, which collects all 13 two-
utensils to serenade you during dinner! his dragon-slaying parter episodes from the premiere season
[Release date: October 5] tribe. This beautifully spanning 1996-97. A true CN fan favorite,
crafted tale of the series features the combined powers of
Superman/Batman: acceptance and friendship can also be toon titans Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken
Apocalypse captured in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack for and Seth McFarlane, among many others,
[Warner, $19.98] $39.99. and holds up
D irector Lauren Montgomery and

producer Bruce Timm are back at it
with the much anticipated sequel to Public
[Release date: October 15]
The Black Cauldron:

supremely well after
14 years. Just don’t
let your destructive
Enemies, based on Jeph Loeb’s miniseries 25th Anniversary Special little sister get her
OCT•10
which explores the origins of Supergirl. [Disney, $19.99] hands on it!
42
When a strange spaceship splashes down
in Gotham Harbor, Superman (Tim Daly) I t’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years
since the film that almost dashed the
[Release
October 12] ■
date:
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Parker Miyazaki & monthly in George 43

Lucas Pete Docter del Toro
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at the same time. We’d get the whole

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thing up in storyboard form, and from

there, we could see what was working
and what wasn’t and we’d fine-tune
everything in the pipeline.”
The Disney team in Burbank worked
with a 200-member crew at Indian stu-
dio Prana to produce the animation,
which was done in Maya. “Our anima-
tion supervisor Sheryl Sackett worked
closely with the team in India and she
deserves a huge part of the credit,”
says Raymond.
The pic’s producer, Helen Kala-
An Enchanting fatic, who has worked on numerous

animated shows such as SpongeBob
Encounter
SquarePants and Harold and the Pur-
ple Crayon, also adds, “We are always
striving to achieve the highest quality
of animation, so there’s a conscious
Director Bradley Raymond and producer Helen Kalafatic effort to improve with each movie. Ev-
eryone wanted to really make the best
share the magic of Tinker Bell’s third solo flight on DVD.
film possible, so the whole crew had
by Ramin Zahed this great sense of pride, and I think you
I
t’s no secret that young girls all over idea to think about a magical creature can really sense that when you see the
the world seem to have a never- like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy vis- finished project.”
ending fascination with Tinker Bell. iting our house. It’s the same for Lizzy, Both Raymond and Kalafatic also
The first two CG-animated DVD movies because one day Tinker Bell inadver- praise the crucial involvement of Las-
about Peter Pan’s little friend proved tently gets caught in a fairy house that seter with the whole project. “John
so popular that the team at Disney- she has built, so she takes her home really was a great mentor who saw us
Toon Studios knew they had to deliver and they become friends.” through the whole process,” say the di-
another top-notch solo adventure for Raymond and his team began work rector. “He actually helped create the
the diminutive fairy. Titled Tinker Bell on this movie almost three years ago, franchise and it was his idea to focus
and the Great Fairy Rescue, this new when the first two features were also in on the world of the fairies. He brings
charming movie takes place before production. He pitched the story to Dis- in the Pixar experience. Everyone
our heroine even met Wendy and the ney chief creative officer John Lasseter, watches the screenings as a group
Lost Boys and focuses on a special who contributed his own ideas to the and is welcome to jump in and give
bond she develops with a nine-year- story. “We worked from a great script their opinion on how to make the mov-
old British girl named Lizzy. by Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir and ie better. That’s why we see all these
The film’s director, Bradley Raymond, an incredible storyboard team, and great movies coming out of Pixar.”
who also helmed the first Tinker Bell ad- together we’d write and storyboard According to Raymond, Lasseter
venture, has been thinking about this
particular storyline for a long time. “This
concept for this movie has been in my
head since when I first saw Peter Pan,”
he explains. “I love the idea of Wendy
telling these fantastic stories to her
brother, which turn out to be true. The
whole idea of Tink meeting her first hu-
man is a dream come true for me; I’ve
had the most fun working on a project
because I always wanted to tell that
story.”
He says Lizzy is a lot like the film’s tar-
OCT•10
get audience because she truly be-

lieves in the fairy world. “When I was
44 a kid, it seemed like such a wonderful
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was a key influence
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in making the world
of the fairies relatable
to the audience. “He
talked about ways to
make the fairies’ cloth-
ing created out of
Helen Kalafatic natural elements, like
rose petals, or having Everyday Magic:
the fairies use acorns According to director
as wheels for their ve- Bradley Raymond, it was
hicles,” he recalls. “The John Lasseter’s idea to
have Tinker Bell and the
ideas to make Fairy-
other fairies use everyday
town have all these human objects in new
contraptions made ways in their lives.
out of common natu-
Brad Raymond ral objects by the fair- used to acting with their eyes and their Bell, Lizzy and her father are more ground-
ies all came from him.” faces, but Michael completely nailed it as ed in reality. The scale difference between
Seasonal settings have played key roles a voice actor,” says Raymond. “He also them and the smaller magical creatures
in the previous movies—the first Tinker Bell has a daughter who builds fairy houses in also helps viewers see the human world
feature was set in spring while the second her backyard, so that was a great refer- from the fairies’ point of view.
had a fall backdrop—and the third out- ence for him. We were also very lucky to “Our biggest challenge was making
ing takes place in midsummer. However, introduce the young actress Lauren Mote their world believable,” adds Raymond.
one of the main design elements of The as the voice of Lizzy: She has genuine star “Our goal was to make Lizzy’s performanc-
Great Fairy Rescue takes its cue from the quality, and you can really get that sense es believable, so that our audience could
fact that much of the action takes place of wonder in her voice.” experience this story through her eyes. In
in Lizzy’s home in London. “In the first two The project also brought back the tal- fact, my favorite sequence in the movie
movies, we were in the mainland for most ented Mae Whitman as the voice of Tinker takes place after Lizzy finds out that she
of the movie, so the style was reminiscent Bell, as well as Kristin Chenoweth (Rosetta), has a real fairy in her house and she brings
of Pixie Hollow in Neverland, which was Raven-Symone (Iridessa), Pamela Adlon Tinker Bell back to her room. Tink is a little
designed by the great Mary Blair,” notes (Vidia), Jesse McCartney (Terence) and bit afraid because she’s suddenly a prison-
Raymond. “For this movie, we wanted to Lucy Liu (Silvermist). Joel McNeely, who er in a way. The moment they finally come
make it more realistic because once we’re composed the score for the previous two together and shake hands … that’s the
in Lizzy’s world, it’s in line with Wendy’s origi- movies, also delivered another soaring wish fulfillment moment of the story and
nal environment in London.” soundtrack for The Great Fairy Rescue. the real heart of the movie for me.”
Adding to the realistic elements is Raymond and Kalafatic both say that
award-winning British thespian Michael Grounded in the Real World they feel blessed that they got to work with
Sheen (The Queen, That Special Relation- In terms of character design, Lizzy and one of the best-loved and most relatable
ship) who provides the voice of Lizzy’s her father look more realistic than Tink and characters in animation history. “Tinker
father, a man of science who doesn’t the other fairies. While all the other fairies Bell has so many facets to her personal-
believe in fairies. “Live-action actors are have design elements that echo Tinker ity,” suggests Raymond. “One of the most
memorable moments in Walt Disney’s clas-
sic Peter Pan movie [1953] is when she gets
angry and turns red. There are so many
stories that could be told with such a multi-
dimensional character.”
With a little luck and some pixie dust,
we’ll be seeing several more chapters in
the charming fairy’s life come to ani-
mated life in the next few years. ■
OCT•10
45
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OPPORTUNITIES
A Tale of Two
week at Gnomon
working with the
students. “I came
Demons with some initial

sketches and then
actually started
boarding here,”
Shane Acker’s latest project makes the grade with he recalls. “The
Gnomon students. by Ellen Wolff students partici- Shane Acker
pated from the in-
W
hen Shane Acker won the catastrophic results.” ception and they
2004 Student Academy Like the short version of 9, Plus Minus were instrumental
Award for his animated short unfolds without dialogue, and Acker is in helping to shape
9, his achievement reflected four and relying on Gnomon students to bring the ideas. I love
a half years of collaboration with his it to life. The idea of creating an ani- the collaborative
fellow students at UCLA’s Animation mated short at Gnomon had been nature of anima-
Workshop. Of course, Acker went on percolating for a while in conversa- tion, and there’s
to expand the post-apocalyptic world tions between Acker and Alex Alvarez, something so fresh Alex Alvarez
of 9 into a feature with producer Tim the school’s founder and director. But about young minds.
Burton. Now Acker has returned to to make this production a reality, the They’re learning tools that they’ve
working with students. This time, the school established Gnomon Studios at applied in class but they haven’t put
students are from the Gnomon School its Hollywood headquarters, and mod- them to a production test before, so I
of Visual Effects, and this latest short is eled the facility like a modern visual ef- think it’s interesting for them.”
another Acker original, Plus Minus. fects shop. Gnomon’s student crew is using Au-
“It’s the story of two demons that “We have a space with 12 worksta- todesk Maya, mental images’ mental
are biding their time over the plains tions allocated to the project,” Alva- ray and Pixologic’s ZBrush in its toolkit,
of hell,” remarks Acker, whose easy- rez explains. “For Shane’s project we which Acker notes, “Is a new pipeline
going manner belies his penchant created a separate location, network for me. I had never used ZBrush be-
for dark stories. “One demon doesn’t and computers. Students apply to be fore, so I’m relying on the students to
have eyes and the other doesn’t have part of the project and get class cred- teach me. We used it for a lot of our
a mouth, so each is missing a piece it. These are upper term students. We early concept designs as well as for
that’s vital for communication. You get have an eight-term program, so stu- the high-res detailing of our charac-
a sense that they’ve been there for dents in terms five and up are allowed ters, which we’d then bring into Maya.
centuries. Then one demon decides to apply every term. Shane interviews One of our characters is more or less
OCT•10
that he has a piece to complete the those who apply, and selects them ‘mummified in money,’ so it’s been a
other demon, but of course, he has no based on the skills that are needed for real challenge!”
way of explaining that. So it’s a tragic the production at that point.” “When I was doing the feature film
46 tale of miscommunication that ends in Acker himself is spending four days a of 9 I kind of got away from the tools,”
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Acker admits. “The landscape has
OPPORTUNITIES www.animationmagazine.net
changed in the last four years, so it’s
been interesting to get back in the
trenches. The students here are learn-
ing the newest tools so they’re ahead
of the curve. But that comes with it’s
own complications. You have to learn
how to bend the tools to your will.
What makes this interesting is that you
put a challenge out there and then ev-
eryone has to come together and fig-
ure out how to solve it. There’s nothing
right ‘out of the box’ that allows you to
pull it off. Everyone just pushes forward
and the best idea usually wins out and have to refill that position with a new Plus Minus gets finished. But anything
becomes our methodology. It’s truly in- student who has to get up to speed. that they do we’ll make available for
dependent filmmaking.” Knowledge needs to be transferred their demo reels. Some graduates who
Another challenge of using a stu- from one person to another, so it com- have this on their resumés have gone
dent crew is that the participants plicates things a little bit.” for job interviews where a large part of
change with each 10-week term. Plus Acker, who holds a master’s degree their interview was about this project.
Minus commenced at Gnomon in in architecture as well as animation, So employers seem to be interested.
the autumn of ’09 and several partici- likens the process to building a medi- It’ll be exciting to see where this will
pants have come and gone. As Alva- eval cathedral. “Those took hundreds go.” ■
rez notes, “You get a student who’s a of years. The father would start and Ellen Wolff is a Santa Barbara-based
really talented rigger but then three the son would finish. A lot of our stu- journalist who specializes in visual ef-
months later they graduate and you dents aren’t going to be here when fects, animation and education.
OCT•10
47
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T
his month, we caught up with award-winning story artist Elzabeth Ito, who is currently working at Sony Pictures
Animation. In addition to working on animated projects at Cartoon Network, Disney TV, DreamWorks, Fox,
Film Roman, Imagi, Nickelodeon and Starz (including Adventure Time, Phineas and Ferb and Astro Boy)
A DAY IN THE LIFE
she is also the creator of the popular vinyl toy called Mister Monster. “The first job I ever told anyone I wanted
was to make children’s books, which is pretty close to where I ended up!” says the talented artist. You can find
out more about her at www.kikutowne.com.
I try to exercise every day. Maybe I have the brightest backpack I commute from Pasadena to Cul- This is the animation building at
putting a photo of it in here will possible, so on the days when I ver City. Sometimes I drive, some- Sony. We make cartoon movies
make me better about it… ride my bike, people can see me times I bike and take the metro. in here.
a mile away. I think people can On this particular day, I drove. It’s
probably see it from space. L.A., and there’s traffic all the time.
Big surprise…
A standee for Cloudy with a This is my desk. I do all my story- This is a bulletin board full of Ronald Sometimes when there’s enough
Chance of Meatballs that’s up in board drawings on the Cintiq. Searle animals. Reference and time, I go to the Mitsuwa market
the lobby of the building. Sometimes when I’m thumbnail- inspiration for all the story artists. food court in West L.A., and this is
ing, I still use real paper … but what I usually order for lunch when
I’ve really come to love working I go there.
digitally.
OCT•10
I made this ginormous cat for Hello The sun is setting over Pasadena. Kevin Dart, my fiancé, making I’ve been doing a lot of felting
Kitty’s 35th anniversary/art show. It dinner. Hands off, ladies. lately, I made a chinchilla, and
48 was fun driving him to the show. named him Feltchilla.
Now he always hangs out in my
office.
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Volume 24, Issue 7, Number 206, October 2010

Satoshi Kon (1963-2010) EDITORIAL

Kon. Animation Magazine

The Animation Planner

16-17 The Alternative 19 Get your daily comedy

22-31 You can catch

Epic Landscapes: Zack Snyder

went the extra mile to make

adding things even

1990 and has pro-

Call of the Wild explains Gluck. “That’s why the proj-

animated life. Bell says although he naturalistic as possible. I believe we’ll

One Man’s Best

Paul and Sandra Fierlinger’s animated adaptation of My

Then don’t be like one

New Yorker Films’ My Dog Tulip began its

raunchy toons debuting in North America this season ...

Premiere Date: Fall 2010

Cartoon Network’s [adult swim]

Mongo Wrestling Alliance

a hyperactive odd-duck who causes chaos in the kitchen,

PBS KIDS GO!

Production Company: 9 Story Entertainment

Babar and the Adventures of Badou

Production Companies: Nelvana Studio and TeamTO

produce very fluid and

Seussical! the technology,” she

recreate many of the iconic bits and

characters MAD is known for.”

animation styles into “a virtual hub of

Cartoon Network di, serves as creative executive, bring-

it takes a bit more pre-

Kids’ Toons Find a

New Home acquired by The Hub,

G.I. Joe Renegades

what I don’t see enough of are clever

A Big, Big International

sil came aboard and

Friendship had not been tried

Big Friend. by Mercedes Milligan brought serious mon-

ternational co-production experience.

Scaling the Heights Justin Roiland) and

pressed with his illus- school problems

acters. Overall, I think it’s a show that chil-

Hungarian Haven Also on the agenda is a special screen-

ing of the five finalists for the Cartoon D’Or

Magic, Mayhem and Mad

D irector Lauren Montgomery and

The Black Cauldron:

which explores the origins of Supergirl. [Disney, $19.99] hands on it!

HOME ENTERTAINMENT www.animationmagazine.net

Parker Miyazaki & monthly in George 43

at the same time. We’d get the whole

thing up in storyboard form, and from

An Enchanting fatic, who has worked on numerous

animated shows such as SpongeBob

get audience because she truly be-

was a key influence

HOME ENTERTAINMENT www.animationmagazine.net

Demons with some initial

Acker admits. “The landscape has

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