Year in Review:

I have been writing the ASIFA-Hollywood Blog since All Hollow`s Eve 2004. So I should have done a review at that time, not at the New Year.

But Jan. 2005 was the first month that I have site data for so I guess it works out to do the wrap up on the last day of 2005.



We have had 63,300 hits at this site since I installed a site counter half way through Dec. 2004.

We are running between 6,000 and 7,000 hits a month with from 3% to 5% from Belgium. We talked about the large site numbers coming in from that country back in Sept 27th And I still do not know why we get so many hits coming in from Belgium but I am glad to have you aboard.



Comic Con San Diego, as always, is a big deal to me. It also gave us some of our highest site stats topped only by the report on the Annie Awards.

The Animation Archives has been the biggest news of the year and or decade. The Animation Rescue Team came into being this year and did good work with such actions as the Terry Thoren collection rescue at Klasky Csypo.

I covered a lot of screening, did advanced PR for many more events and followed the world of animation form the screening of this year`s fellow Certificate of Merit winner Dream on Silly Dream to covering the Glen Keene events a Laguna College of Art & Design. It has been a busy and full year and I, for one, had a good time. Thank you for being part of the Blog and ASIFA-Hollywood.  ¶ 5:08 AM

  Archive Shaping Up! This week has been a productive one for the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. We've added the B&W Mickey Mouse cartoons to our collection, and we set up our exhibit space. Up for viewing right now is a collection of drawings from the Fleischer Studios. Included are Grim Natwick's character designs for the first Betty Boop cartoons, drawings by Willard Bowsky and Charlie Thorson, and model sheets from the Popeye series.

We also purchased desks for the Archive workstations, and they will be arriving tomorrow. When these are assembled, all we will have left to do is move the library in. There are plans for that to happen by the end of February.

Happy New Year
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood

Animation Archive

  ¶ 7:20 PM

  Still here in Gator country, just watched an Andy Griffith Show with ASIFA`s own Margaret Kerry (Tinker Bell) Artist and actor careers are always strange. Next week I will be back in California where I have a meeting of the Afternoon of Remembrance Committee. This is my first year as a member of this committee, but I never miss one of these events. You shouldn`t either.

I have been thinking a bit about some of the strange twists that my career has gone through. That is because I drove past the High Spring Women`s Club today.




the blocks on the left are 1899 and the blocks on the right are from my mold

This building was put up in 1899 out of a custom cast block. When it came time to add an extension to this community landmark there was no way to match the block until I came to town to visit my family. I use to do special effects for slasher flicks, made casts of people`s heads so that they could then seem to be removed with lots of fake blood in front of the camera. It was nothing for me to make a mold of the 1899 blocks so that they could be cast to match.

One of the things I really appreciate about Afternoon of Remembrance is the depth of information we get about these strange career path twists taken by animation people we all think that we know. Many of them have done things that we would never suspect. This year, among others, we are remembering the man who created the first mechanical heart, but this is not what you know him for.

Make plans now to attend this memorable event, find out about the people you think you know.

Saturday January 28, 2006 - 12 noon - all day! (normally to about 5 or 6)
AN AFTERNOON OF REMEMBRANCE

Hollywood Heritage Museum
2100 N. Highland (across from the Hollywood Bowl)
Hollywood  ¶ 5:09 PM

  Report from on the Road:
So here I am in Florida. Nothing very animated happened on my plane trip unless you want to talk about the lady (sic) in front of me who got into a slap fight with the airhostess and had some guys in blue waiting for her when we touched down in Atlanta. I still have 3 syllabi to write while I am out here on the road. But there is no cartoon quality to that, believe me.

Before I left California I had to email the details of my pre-award research on the Corpse Bride for this year`s Ub Iwerks Award. This seems to be the year of stop motion. And I am glad that the new technology developed for the Corpse Bride is receiving this well deserved award for scientific breakthroughs in one of the oldest forms of animation

Ian Mackinnon and Pete Saunders have truly taken stop motion into the 21st century with their clockwork real world rigging for armatures that has given the whole spectrum of emotions to the latex and silicone stop motion worlds that before could only be achieved in clay.

As someone who has been following stop motion from my childhood and has been doing stop motion on and off for the last 20 years this new technology is truly astounding. Mackinnon and Saunders have been unsung for years. I am glad to say well done guys, well done. Hope to see you at the Annies.  ¶ 7:27 PM

 

Just got this in the email from Tom Sito

I just got back from New York City where I had my first gallery show as part of a group called WHICH WAY DID THEY GO? It was artwork from former School of Visual Arts Alumni like John Dilworth (Courage the Cowardly Dog), Yvette Kaplan ( Beavis & Butthead do America, Ice Age), Chris Prynowski (The owntowners), Alex Kuperschmidt ( Muhlan, Lilo & Stitch) and me. The show is at the School of Visual Arts Museum 209 East 23rd St until Jan 21st.

While I was there I hopped the D train uptown to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and saw the huge show PIXAR: 20 YEARS OF ANIMATION. This comprehensive show displays a dazzling array of preproduction art from John Lassiters WALLY -B through the hits TOY STORY, BUGS LIFE, THE INCREDIBLES, FINDING NEMO, to the upcoming CARS. I must say I was so proud to see the work of animation buddies like Ralph Eggleston, Ronnie Del Carmen, Scott Caple, Tony Fucile, Ted Newton and more hanging on walls once reserved for Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollock. It was especially poignant to see a lot of work by the late, great Joe Ranft there.

There some wild story reels of the chase scenes in the Incredibles by Mark Andrews. Although I missed it there is supposed to be a large zoetrope of the Pixar characters of the kind done by Studio Ghibli in Tokyo.

Chuck Jones always fought for the respect and acknowledgement of the fine art world towards serious recognition of the medium of animation and it's place in American popular culture. He would be, as all of us are, proud of this wonderful show.

You don't need a special ticket like King Tut or anything. It's in the general admission. They are also running many Pixar films in the theater and there is a cool poster by Lou Romano. I hear it will travel afterwards to Europe and eventuallty wind up in San Francisco in a year. If you are anywhere East of the Mississippi between now and Feb 6th I urge you to drop everything and go see this show. And uhh.... while you're in town you can go see my show too...

-Tom Sito

  ¶ 2:55 PM

 

Christmas Eve day and I scored big time in the local thrift shop video area. Could not believe it when I stumbled across this 1989 video of the old UPA very politically incorrect Dick Tracy TV show.

Also found a TV special with footage of Walt and Virginia Davis in the garage that was the first Disney studio. Not bad for $1.50.

I`m off to Florida with the kids today to see my parents. I hope to be able to do some posts from the Sun Shine State but not sure if I will be able to do so. So happy new year to all just in case.  ¶ 7:38 AM

  Is Santa Bring Bootleg DVDs?



The living room is strewn with shredded wrapping paper. The cats use the piles of paper as a kind of fun park battleground. Santa`s empty milk glass sours on the kitchen table.

Santa picked up a cool bootleg dollar DVD at Target this year. If you want to too then you should move quickly because I think the Harryhausen Fairly Tales are still in copyright so I don`t know just how legal this disk is or how long it will be on the market?

I would have killed for this disk a year and a half ago but now that the restored Academy DVD is out this is sadly too little too late.

The source material is okay but once you`ve seen the restored Academy stuff nothing is quite as good even if you do save $29 and you also get two Ub Iwerks cinacolor cartoons (Tom Thumb and Simple Simon) a Mr. Piper very limited animation Wild Swans and yet another copy of Greedy Humpty Dumpty.

The disk is glued inside a pressboard box so future storage of the disk is in serious question. And I thought that the dollar DVDs were dead now that I am seeing them cropping up in thrift stores selling for 3 times their original price (thrift stores have a set price for DVDs that have nothing to do with the dollar stores).

We can`t hold Santa responsible for trafficking in pirated DVDs. I am sure that he acted in good faith. It is up to the store to make sure that the stuff they sell is on the up and up. (I don`t want to cross the Big Red One. I live in California and I don`t need the coal in my stocking)  ¶ 5:07 AM

  Membership Meeting Not:

As most of you know there will be no membership meeting in the month of December, there never is. For those of you on the members email list over at Yahoo groups you will get an email reminder for this meeting, their robot is ruthless in its duty.

Once their robot gets ahold of something it never lets go. It is still listing the meeting as every month at 7:30 and it has been over a year since I tried to change that to the new meeting time of 7:00. Just don`t pay attention to the robot behind the curtain and no meeting in December.  ¶ 8:07 AM

 

My friend Christian Ziebarth over at Animated News has a great interview with Eric Goldberg. Well worth a read. Goldberg  ¶ 7:55 AM

 

The June Foray Award, aptly name for a lady who has done so much for animation, is an award for service to the art of animation. Mark Kausler is an animators animator and an obsessive animated film collector, historian, and animation preservationist. Animation is like breathing to him, he can`t get along without it and the animation world is better because of this.

I just got a Christmas card from Mark so it seems like a good time to talk about why Mark is deserving of this year`s June Foray Award. Even as we speak, Mark is hard at work on his sequel to last year`s charming short animation It`s the Cat.

Mark has been quietly going about the art of animation since he was 12 years old and his father made him his first animation camera stand. His first professional job was an advertising animation job for which he was paid in animation cels that he could then use for his own projects. This strange, but satisfying, form of payment was mainly because he was far too young to be working.

He came out to California to visit friends and was given work in the animation field that turned his vacation into a career move. He has worked professionally on many of the great animation films of the last 30 years. Often his involvement in these films has gone uncredited because of his early career decision to work freelance, more money, less credit.

While working in the field during his first days in California he went to school at Chouinard Art Institute (now Cal Arts) back when student films had a budget. When he found out that other students were not taking advantage of their film budgets he cornered them and talked them out of their unused funds so that he could increase the production values of his own films.

The Cat, as seen on his Christmas card above, is returning to the film world with a new girlfriend and a dose of the green-eyed jealousy set to music. There is a refreshing 30s feel to his cat animations which is animated to the beat of the music. As everybody knows, you don`t make money making short animation so there has to be another reason. It is an act of love and obsession, a driven act.

Mark is no stranger to independent animation having been involved with independent animation from the days of Marv Newland. Nor is he a stranger to anyone involved in the history of animation or animated film preservation.

His privately maintained animation film library has been the source of many and many an animated film project. His unpaid involvement fills the commentary tracks of many a DVD, and his knowledge of the history of our field fills in gaps in many of the standard books in the field.

And then there are the screenings that he puts on and the screenings that other people put on using Mark`s films. The list of projects that owe their very existence to Mark and his collection are endless. When faced with questions of involvement in animation projects his first concerned is always the wellbeing and availability to the viewing public of animated films.  ¶ 1:26 PM

  Archive: Ray Patin and Charlie McElmurry Today, we digitized the last batch of artwork from the Ray Patin Studios...



...and a storyboard by Charlie McElmurry...



The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive will be open regular hours... Tuesday and Thursday from 1pm to 9pm throughout the holidays. Stop by and see what we are doing...

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 9:15 PM

  Conversion:
I have been looking for a good DVD conversion program of late. I have a lot of digital video to edit from the different guest speakers I have had in my classes and I need to be able to change between video and audio formats on the way out to DVD.

I thought I would cover 3 bases at the same time; I would conduct my software search, I would write a few reviews on products that my readers might have use for, and I would start work on the product review section of next year`s Animation on a $hoe$ting (tm) the fifth edition of my book on creating a home animation studio. (Okay 4 bases, I am also plugging my book )

The big problem in judging software on the net is how much the manufacturer will let you see in the trial version before you have to buy the product. I am not going to buy a product just so that I can figure out if it works. Kills the whole shoestring idea.





CovertMovie 2.1 http://movavi.com/convertmovie gives you a look at the full working program but renders with a water mark (text across the image) that makes the output useless. Fine by me. If I like the program and it does what I want then I will pay the $29.95

Input Formats: AVI, DVD, VOB, MPEG (MPG), MOV, WMV, ASF.
Output Formats: AVI, MPEG (VCD, SVCD, DVD), WMV, RM, WAV, MP3, WMA formats.
To convert your videos even faster and asier, save your settings as a preset and simply select it next time. With the batch mode, you can convert all your video files just in seconds! Use Join mode to merge multiple video files into one large movie.

As much as I like their way of showing the product I can not give it a good review. It does everything it says it will do but the audio track ends up with major sync problems. And it has the ever present directX screen capture problems that make it real hard to get any kind of screen shot for review and textbook creation. The audio problems may be something I am doing wrong but it would be nice if I didn`t have to fight a program to get what I need from it.




DVD to AVI, DVD to MPEG, etc

For what there are they do the job but there is no flexibility in these FlexImage products and the price to gain flexibility adds up really quickly because you have to buy a separate program for each type of conversion. Each one of these programs does only one file conversion type and that only in the one direction. And each program is being sold at 24.95. A limiting and costly way of doing conversions. http://www.dvd-to-mpeg.com

$24.95 USD each program




ImToo DVD Ripper $35.00 USD

Funny name, I’ll give you that. And the demo only does 5 minutes of video conversion without purchasing a registration code. But the 5 minutes output is clean usable footage. No problems with audio. If you were cheap enough you could piece together a whole DVD project out of hundreds of 5 minute clips but then your cheapness would be its own reward. Pay the $35 and forget about the problems. One other thing I like about ImToo DVD Ripper is that you can grab screen shots from with in the program without all the DirectX blank screen image dropout problems inherent in so many other system.  ¶ 2:43 PM

 

The other night I revisited my past by way of Bill Melendez, Charles Shultz, and a Charlie Brown Christmas. I am not a complete die hard fan of all things limited animation and hold that there are the good and the bad as there is with any animation or any film for that mater. The style has to fit the subject. This is some of the best fitting of style to content ever undertaken.

There is a certain grim hopeless optimism to poor ol` Charlie Brown which is belied by the simple and even cute style of Shultz`s drawing. There is also a lot of standing around and talking in the comic strip that needs to be there to be true to the content. The simple drawing and the stillness of the stripe are a nightmare for adaptation. They leave the artist nothing to hide behind.

Melendez makes it look easy but not boring. Charlie Brown is an old friend. And so is Bill Melendez, even if I have only met Bill slightly and he would not remember my name or my face. After all he and his vision of Charlie Brown has been honored guests in my living room every Christmas since 1965.  ¶ 7:42 AM

  The terse sarcastic and biting note in my teacher`s mailbox said:

THINK before you grade down your students for not following directions. YOUR SYLLABI were due the first week of class and you have still not handed them in!

The problem with the note is that it is completely false. I did hand in my syllabus on time along with a request for a enough copies for all my students. Then I come in the first night of class a couple hours early just in case and the copies I had ordered of said document for my class were not made and I spent and hour and a half of hell with a work study student trying to get enough copied through a screwed up office copier for my class that night and the file copy I had handed in, the file copy went missing in the ensuing mess.

Now I am not here to bag on my support staff at this school for this cock up even if it burns me up to get blamed in such a biting way by people for their own mistakes. I am not even blaming the support staff at this school for this mess up even if I do resent the tone of the note. (which I think you have already figured out)

The 3 ladies running the office are sharp and efficient. The problem is that they are new to so many of the tasks they are called on to do because the lady that ran this art department, a well oiled machine, has just retired after 25/30 years.

The Annies are coming up and after them the Oscars and the winners will be thanking their support staff for making it happen. It sound trite, just something to say. The truth is that this is not just polite lip service. The support staff make or break us all.

Great as they are where would Tex Avery be without Mike Lah and Preston Blare? Or Chuck Jones without Marcus Noble or Mike Maltese?

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archives aims to deal with the history of animation in a manner more natural to the process of animaiton than the studio driven histories that currently own the field. We are following the animators not the studios. Looking at the people that made animation not the companies they worked for. We are telling the stories of the people who make animations by following their career arc. Studios want to tell the story of their studio and nobody can blame them. But that is not how animation happens.

People make animations. People that work for studios on projects and them move on to other projects and other studios. This is something I try to deal with in my animation history classes but it is up hill because books aren`t put together that way.

If you haven`t checked out the ASIFA Animation Archive site you need to. Steve has been putting up some outrageous killer images. He is making my job easy. He is making ASIFA the support staff for anyone who studies animation history. And if you can get to the animation center in Burbank there are some amazing things going on.

We are open Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 PM to 9 PM. 2114 W. Burbank Blvd., Burbank.  ¶ 7:22 AM

  Animation Archive's New BIOPEDIA In the past, books on the history of animation have been organized into chapters by studio or by character. But this kind of organization doesn't tell the real story of how these films were made. The history of animation is a story of PEOPLE... artists working together and learning from each other, moving from studio to studio as their career carries them.

ASIFA-Hollywood wants to tell these people's stories. I would like you to take a look at our new Animation Biopedia. In it, you will find an index of names... each of these names links to an information page on that person. Right now, those pages are empty... That's where YOU come in...

We invite you to submit information on these people. Spend a few hours searching the web or scanning through an animation book to find information on your favorite animator, director or voice artist. Go to the library and look for references to them in magazines or newspapers. Assemble the information and submit it through the comments link at the bottom of that person's page. We will compile all of the submissions and add them to the Biopedia for the whole world to read.

These people have given us all hours and hours of animated entertainment. We can repay them with our respect and acknowledgement. Please take a few hours this holiday season to contribute to the Biopedia. Tell your friends... link to us... if you are an educator, encourage your students to participate. As time goes by, the Biopedia will grow and we will add more names. But we can't do it without your help.

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Biopedia

Thank you
Stephen Worth
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 9:11 PM

 
Speakers:
Dean Wright - Visual Effects Supervisor
Bill Westenhofer – Visual Effects Supervisor at Rhythm & Hues
Will Telford - Creature Supervisor at Rhythm & Hues
Jim Berney - Visual Effects Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks
David Schaub - Animation Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks

Program:
6:30-7:30 Social Hour
7:30-9:00 Presentation
Followed by a Screening of the Film!

Location:
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The Leonard H. Goldensen Theatre
5230 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601

Parking is $4 per car on-site.  ¶ 10:11 AM

 

Last night I got lost in downtown Santa Ana looking for the Art Institute of Orange County portfolio review. I was within a block of the place but had a hard time finding the right building. Signage guys. I was there to see the senior`s work mainly because of my good friend Jim Rivers, a former student of mine and the current recruiter and career guy at AI Orange.

Once I found the place it was well worth the trip. All the portfolios and demo reels were very professional looking and everybody was putting forth their best foot in a well-coached presentation. And that folks is what a school should be doing, getting a student ready to face the workplace.

Unfortunately the Orange County location of the review works against the 2-D animation students while it works for the gaming students. There is some good 2-D animation work here, I really liked the work of Kat Kosmala but she is a 2-D artist in the middle of gaming land and her work cries out for a lot of trips into Burbank.

Seth Haak stands out as a 2-D draftsman and character designer with a 3-D capability.

Also like the work of Jeremiah McKay (good animation name) CGI artist but there is a core storytelling in his work, something lacking in some of the others. He might want to look in the LA area too but could also go the gaming route.

There were a few others that stood out but they didn`t have demo reels left by the time I got there so I could not place the business card with the work. They`ll do okay without my review.  ¶ 10:11 AM

  Archive: Vip Partch Drawings

Today, we digitized a great book of cartoons by Virgil Partch.

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 3:55 PM

  The Great Video Sell Off continued The Great Video Sell Off continued:

In the continuation of the great VHS sell off I picked up some $2 tapes at Hollywood Video last Friday. Buba Hotep (they fake the hieroglyphs but a good film anyway) Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (What Phil did after Film Roman) and Samurai Jack.

Now Samurai Jack is a good bit of groundbreaking animation. Okay, he owes a debt to John Hubley and Rooty Toot Toot, but who doesn't? And man, he takes it so much further. Split screen never works but he makes it work. I forgot how good this is. Good to have it in the collection. Hit the video stores, the good stuff is going fast.

  ¶ 1:42 PM

 

The Weinstein`s get animated. ASIFA-Hollywood members RSVP 323-207-3088.  ¶ 8:04 AM

 

Christmas shopping in not my favorite pass time. I`m in the mall, in a bath boutique, looking for ideas for my wife. I am wearing my promo T-shirt for Kevin Altieri`s Crucial Comics unsold animation pilot of Rat Bastard. The sales girl says she likes the shirt. I say it is from an animation by a friend of mine. And long/short she is an animation student at Laguna College of Art and Design a school I will be teaching at in January.

Next, over to the art supply store down the street from the mall and the guy behind the counter is an illustration student at Cal State Fullerton, a school I am teaching at now. A couple of weeks back and I am talking about Stop Motion at Woodbury University and one of my old students walks in.

I have been teaching animation for only 10 years. What must it be like for Corny Cole? A man who has taught everywhere and everyone. I would guess 60 to 70% of the animators in the industry have had him as a teacher. What a good choice for a Winsor McCay Award. What an important career creating other careers. Congratulations Mr. Cole, you earned it and then some.  ¶ 2:35 PM

  Archive: Arthur Szyk: The New Order Today, we digitized a wonderful collection of caricatures by Arthur Szyk...



ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 5:14 PM

  Click to see super ginormous scan of the cover

In a sad note, Back in Action shows up in the 99 Cent Only store. I know that VHS are being sold off but 99 cents. Sad!  ¶ 9:31 AM

  Animation Flash just came out. I always read it as soon at it gets to my eyes but before I could even do so I got cc`d on a message. Seems I'm getting credit for Dream On Silly Dreamer. It is true, I had nothing whatever to do with this great documentary except going to see it 3 times and waiting for the DVD so that I can show it to my students. I'm getting my honor for running ASIFA`s programming and booth at Comic Con and writing this Blog and the Animation Rescue Team and the like. P.S. It was strange being in the room when they voted me this honor.  ¶ 9:09 AM

 

No, I am not trying out for the remake of the 1964 Rankin/Bass TV classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Tonight I am scheduled to make a public appearance as the one in red at a local library. Tomorrow I get to trim my beard and maybe go on a diet.  ¶ 6:19 AM

  Archive: Kay Nielsen

Today at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, we digitized a book by Kay Nielsen, concept artist on "Fantasia".

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 6:27 PM

 

Gods, I really, really love being part of ASIFA-Hollywood this time of year. Yesterday a free screener of Curse of the Were-Rabbit showed up at the door.  ¶ 5:39 AM

  2005 ANNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature

Chicken Little - Walt Disney Feature Animation
Corpse Bride - Warner Bros. Presents A Tim Burton/Laika Entertainment Production
Howl`s Moving Castle - Walt Disney Studios/Studio Ghibli
Madagascar - DreamWorks Animation
Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - Aardman Features

Best Home Entertainment Production

Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows - Creative Capers Entertainment, Inc.
Kronk`s New Groove - DisneyToon Studios
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch - DisneyToon Studios
Tarzan II - DisneyToon Studios
The Batman vs Dracula - Warner Bros. Animation

Best Animated Short Subject

The Fan and The Flower - Atomic Television/Plymptoons Productions
Life in Transition - Stretch Films, Inc.
Milch - Klasky Csupo
Moongirl - Laika
The Moon and The Sun: An Imagined Conversation - John Canemaker Productions

Best Animated Television Commercial

Conoco '1975' - Ring of Fire
Bastard Wants to Hit Me - Laika/House
Coke "Futbol" - Laika/House
GE "Tower"- Quiet Man Inc.
United Airlines "Mr. Pants" - Acme Filmworks

Best Animated Television Production

AVATAR: The Last Airbender - Nickelodeon
Foster`s Home for Imaginary Friends - Cartoon Network Studios
My Life As A Teenage Robot - Nickelodeon/Frederator
Star Wars: Clone Wars II Chapters 21-25 - Cartoon Network Studios
The Batman - Warner Bros. Animation

Best Animated Video Game

Psychonauts - Double Fine Productions, Inc.
Resident Evil 4 - Capcom
SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, PANTS! - THQ, Inc.
Tak The Great Juju Challenge - THQ, Inc.
Ultimate Spider-Man - Activision

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Animated Effects

Matt Baer - "Madagascar" - DreamWorks Animation
Rick Glumac - "Madagascar" - DreamWorks Animation
Dale Mayeda - "Chicken Little" - Walt Disney Feature Animation
Jason Wen - "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features
Martin Usiak - "Madagascar" - DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation

Claire Billett - "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features
Spike Brandt - Tom & Jerry - "The Karate Guard" - Warner Bros. Animation
Jay Grace - "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features
Christopher Sadler - "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features
Matt Shumway - "The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe" - Rhythm and Hues

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

Carlos Grangel - "Corpse Bride" - Warner Bros. Presents A Tim Burton/Laika Entertainment Production
William Joyce - "Robots" - 20th Century Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios
Craig Kellman - "Madagascar" - DreamWorks Animation
Joe Moshier - "Chicken Little" - Walt Disney Feature Animation
Nick Park - "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features

Character Design in an Animated Television Production

Bryan Arnett - My Life As A Teenage Robot "Escape From Cluster Prime" - Nickelodeon
Ernie Gilbert - The Fairly OddParent "The Good Old Days" - Nickelodeon
Jorge Guiterrez - The Buzz on Maggie "Bella Con Carny" - Walt Disney Television Animation
Luther McLaurin - "Catscratch" - Nickelodeon
Shannon Tindle - Foster`s Home for Imaginary Friends "Go Goo Go" - Cartoon Network Studios

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

Mike Johnson, Tim Burton "Corpse Bride" - Warner Bros. Presents A Tim Burton/Laika Entertainment Production
Hayao Miyazaki "Howl`s Moving Castle" - Walt Disney Studios/Studio Ghibli
Nick Park, Steve Box - "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features

Directing in an Animated Television Production

Gary Conrad - The Fairly OddParents "The Good Old Days" - Nickelodeon
Craig McCracken - Foster`s Home for Imaginary Friends "Duchess of Wails" - Cartoon Network Studios
Dan Povenmire - Family Guy "PTV" - Fox TV Animation
Dan Riba - Justice League Unlimited "Clash" - Warner Bros. Animation
Peter Shin - Family Guy "North by North Quahog" - Fox TV Animation

Music in an Animated Feature Production

Julian Nott - "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"- Aardman Features
Hans Zimmer - "Madagascar" - DreamWorks Animation

Music in an Animated Television Production

Jeff Dana - Zula Patrol "Case of the Missing Rings" - Zula USA LLC
Thomas Chase Jones - The Batman "The Laughing Bat" - Warner Bros. Animation
James L. Venable - Foster`s Home For Imaginary Friends "Duchess of Wails" - Cartoon Network Studios

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

Ian Gooding, Dan Cooper, David Womersley, Mac George - "Chicken Little" - Walt Disney Feature Animation
Dennis A. Greco "Lilo & Stitch 2" - DisneyToon Studios
Yoriko Ito "Madagascar" - DreamWorks Animation
William Joyce & Steve Martino "Robots" - 20th Century Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios
Phil Lewis "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"- Aardman Features

Production Design in an Animated Television Production

Alan Bodner - The Life and Times of Juniper Lee "Enter Sandman" - Cartoon Network Studios
Michael Giaimo "Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi" - Renegade Animation
Alex Kirwan "My Life as a Teenage Robot" - Nickelodeon
Mike Moon, Craig McCracken, Dave Dunnet, Martin Ansolabehere - Foster`s Home for Imaginary Friends "A Lost Claus" - Cartoon Network Studios
Nadia Vurbenova - Kim Possible "So The Drama" - Walt Disney Television Animation

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

Tom McGrath - "Madagascar" - DreamWorks Animation
Chris Otsuki - "Kronk`s New Groove" - DisneyToon Studios
Bob Persichetti - "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features
Catherine Yuh Rader - "Madagascar" - DreamWorks Animation
Michael Salter - "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features

Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production

Troy Adomitis - Kim Possible "So The Drama" - Walt Disney Television Animation
Ben Balistreri - Danny Phantom "Identity Crisis" - Nickelodeon
Dave Bullock - Kim Possible "So The Drama" - Walt Disney Television Animation
Lauren MacMullan - AVATAR:The Last Airbender "The Deserter" - Nickelodeon
Andrew Tan - Miss Spider`s Sunny Patch Friends "A Froggy Day in Sunny Patch" - Nelvana Ltd.

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

Helena Bonham Carter - Voice of Lady Campanula Tottington "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features
Ralph Fiennes - Voice of Victor Quartermaine "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features
Peter Sallis - Voice of Wallace "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features
Nicholas Smith - Voice of Reverend Clement Hedges "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features

Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production

Grey Delisle - Voice of Kitty - Danger Rangers "Fires & Liars" - Educational Adventures
Johnny Hardwick - Voice of Dale Gribble - King of the Hill "Smoking and the Bandit" - 20th Century Fox Television
Tony Jay - Voice of Spiderus - Miss Spider`s Sunny Patch Friends "A Froggy Day in Sunny Patch"- Nelvana Ltd.
Seth MacFarlane - Voice of Stewie - Family Guy "Brian the Bachelor"- Fox TV Animation
Rob Paulsen - Voice of Eubie "The Happy Elf" - Film Roman

Writing in an Animated Feature Production

Steve Box, Nick Park, Mark Burton "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Aardman Features
Tony Leondis, Michael LaBash, Tom Rogers "Kronk`s New Groove" - DisneyToon Studios
Hayao Miyazaki, Donald H. Hewitt, Cindy Davis Hewitt "Howl`s Moving Castle" - Walt Disney Studios/Studio Ghibli

Writing in an Animated Television Production

Aaron Ehasz, John O`Bryan - AVATAR: The Last Airbender "The Fortune Teller" - Nickelodeon
C.H. Greenblatt, Paul Tibbitt, Mike Bell, Tim Hill - SpongeBob "Fear of a Krabby Patty" - Nickelodeon
Christopher Painter - The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius "The Tomorrow Boys" - DNA Productions
Johanna Stein, Jack Ferraiolo - O`Grady III "Old Cold" - Soup 2 Nuts
Larry Swerdlove - Jakers! "Wish Upon A Story Part 1" - Mike Young Productions

JURIED AWARDS

June Foray Award - Significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation.

* Mark Kausler

Winsor McCay Award - Recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation.

* Cornelius Cole
* Tyrus Wong
* Fred Crippen

Ub Iwerks Award

* Corpse Bride (New Stop Motion Technology)

Certificate of Merit

* Larry Loc
* "Dream on Silly Dreamer"  ¶ 6:54 AM

  Today is the last day for ASIFA members to get Annie tickets at reduced prices. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Alex Theatre Box Office at (818) 243-2539 daily between noon and 6 p.m. A per ticket fee applies if purchasing over the phone. Please contact the box office for more details.

Today is also the last day I have to keep my mouth shut about who is up for what award at this year`s Annie Awards.


  ¶ 7:33 AM

 

Most people have seen Chicken Little already but if you have not here is another chance. ASIFA members RSVP number is (818) 295-5210. And it is on the Disney lot. If you haven`t been to the studio it is really something to walk on the same ground as Walt. December 7th. 7:30 PM



Countdown to Nominations continues  ¶ 6:49 AM

  One of the real hard parts about being in the know on some of the up coming Annie nominations (features, TV Production, Gaming, and the juried awards) is the fact that I have to keep the secret when I am hanging out with some of the people involved. I for one, will be very glad when the nominations and juried awards are announced on next Monday. The juried awards are so cool and the other nominations I know about are really hot I would love to tell you all about them. Just 3 more days.

  ¶ 10:59 AM

  Archive: More Ray Patin Studios Artwork

More amazing artwork from the 1950s commercial animation studio, Ray Patin Studios.

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 6:54 PM

  Yesterday was a very busy but strangely fulfilling day. The noon meeting at the Smokehouse for the Afternoon of Remembrance was sad as always when dealing with the passage from life of so many talented people (and far too many of them at too young an age). But there is a lot to celebrate here too. These are people who spend their lives working in a field that they loved and that is always a triumph.

Then I went over to Woodbury University for a 3:00 o`clock meeting with Dori Littell-Herrick, the chair of their animation department, to talk about Stop Motion. Anybody who knows me knows that Stop Motion is my first love. It was so much fun to pull out the armatures and puppets and the props and have students` eyes light up. I have been teaching animation for a long time but it has long been my dream to teach stop motion. (fingers crossed)

Then it was off to the ASIFA Animation Center for an Annies Volunteer meeting. Annette O`Neil ran the meeting and signed up a lot of good people. Ed Gonzalez was in from San Diego to deal with the Archives Film Crew. We had an advanced student come in from the Mission Viejo High School Video Program (the guy who risks his live filming the football games) in to talk about getting on the crew. We already have people from Cal State Fullerton Radio-TV-Film Department signed up and a couple of other video and film programs that are in talks. All and all a good day at the salt mines.  ¶ 11:40 AM