Animation Archives

Posted at 12:55 p.m. - Tuesday, June 9

It was on this day seventy-five years ago that an ill-tempered and cantankerous duck in a sailor suit would debut on the silver screen.  Yeah folks, it's Donald Duck's birthday!

To celebrate the occasion, Disney is offering a special once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a piece of history.  From D23: The Official Community for Disney Fans :

"For the first time ever, Disney is turning to fans to create an official portrait of one of its biggest stars.  Finalists in the Donald Duck 75th Anniversary Portrait Contest will have their work unveiled and displayed at the inaugural D23 Expo, which will be held September 10-13 at the Anaheim Convention Center, adjacent to DisneyLand.

The contest is hosted by D23: The Official Community for Disney Fans, and is open to all D23 Members who are 18 or older. Full-length oil, acrylic or watercolor canvas portraits of Donald Duck, no larger than 24” W x 36” H, are eligible.  Artists must first submit an original sketch, in any medium or size, of the planned artwork.  The submission form, as well as full contest rules and additional details, can be found at the official D23 website, http://www.disney.com/D23.  All finalists selected to have their works displayed will be eligible for two complimentary, four-day admission passes to the D23 Expo.

The creator of the winning portrait will receive an authentic “Duckster” – an award that Walt Disney personally commissioned in 1960 and which has been presented fewer than two dozen times to people who made significant contributions to the Walt Disney Studios.  The last time a “Duckster” was awarded was nearly 20 years ago, and only a few of these rare, bronze statuettes of Donald Duck remain in the Walt Disney Archives. Among the past recipients of the “Duckster” are Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck, and famed Donald illustrator Carl Barks."

Now, I've always been partial to the fowl-mouthed (get it? 'fowl'? LOL!) Donald myself, preferring his hot-tempered antics to the comparatively cool-as-a-cucumber Mickey Mouse.  As a matter of fact, the Noah's Ark sequence of FANTASIA 2000, starring Donald as the legendary ship-builder is my all-time fave.  Although, can someone explain to me why Mickey, Minnie and Goofy ALL WEAR PANTS but DONALD DOESN'T?

Posted at 9:00 p.m. - Tuesday, March 31

Courtesy of Marvel.com:

Pretty funny stuff, even though you do get more biting humor from Robot Chicken.

Jimmy Fallon should be glad he doesn't have a reprogrammed Sentinel as a sidekick!

Posted at 10:30 p.m. - Thursday, March 5

This is...different.

For those who have read the comic, you'll see that there are a bunch of nods and winks to certain elements of the plot.  Once you see the film on Friday Night, watch this clip again on Saturday morning and you'll get the irony.

Comments?

Posted at 11:15 a.m. - Thursday, December 25

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you've been getting all the geeky gifts you asked Santa for. Santa left me a lump of coal and a severe head cold with a sinus headache, so I'm lying in bed, reading me e-mails and seeing what the rest of Geek Nation is up to this holiday. Ok, now my geeky brother sent me a link to this video that he spotted out on the 'internets,' which is if you ask me, some really clever image manipulation and photoshop trickery.  But even more than that, this geek-above-others has the Hollywood-type trailer editing technique down to a science:


Be sure to check out this geek's You Tube page, but not before you comment below!

Posted at 9:15 a.m. - Wednesday, December 24

Every year I make it a point to watch this animated feature.  The cast of Scrubs re-enacts 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' and gives it all the warmth and heartfelt good cheer that only they can give.



To all my readers, I hope that this becomes a holiday tradition for you as well. Merry Christmas everyone!

Posted at 8:15 a.m. - Wednesday, December 24

The animation wing of Marvel Entertainment has been cranking out a bunch of really cool direct-to-DVD features as of late (i.e. IRON MAN, DOCTOR STRANGE & ULTIMATE AVENGERS) and has a few more in waiting for release in January. They've just put some footage from their new 'HULK VERSUS' DVD on Marvel.Com:

The bit where Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, flies back into his hand is just awesome! They've really been able to capture the essence of the character in motion, if you ask me.

But...

Will the movie be as good as the trailer?  I dunno...

You comments and feedback are always welcome!

Posted at 12:25 p.m. - Friday, November 21

I interviewed the Director and Producer of the new Astro Boy CGI feature at the last Comic Con International, and now comes this brand-spankin' new trailer courtesy of MovieFone:

Posted at 4:50 p.m. - Saturday, September 13

[Video Courtesy Jet Studios]

As if we weren't getting enough Mel Brooks, now comes a new Spaceballs animated series to run on G4 the gaming channel.

Now, I'll admit that I was never a fan of the original movie, as it just came off to me as a collection of Mad Magazine jokes done ten years too late.  This new interpretation also seems to be a bit broad in its approach as well but...well...just tell me what you think.

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Monday, September 1

One of the great things about the internet is that it allows for individual creators to create their own work and get it out in front of an audience without having to deal with publishers or television/movie execs.  The drawback is that there are so friggin' many web comics, films and tv shows that it's easy for the really good stuff to get lost in the shuffle.  For instance, take this cartoon called On The Bubble News:

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at aniBoom

This little gem has been on AniBoom for a while and I just now found out about it.  Is there anything else really cool out there that I've been missing?  Please let me know by dropping me a line or let us all know in the comment section.

Posted at 9:00 p.m. - Friday, August 29

I thought I'd celebrate my 101st blog posting by sharing a gift with all my readers.

The above animation was created by user 'etourist' on the Go Animate! web site.  I met the creator of Go Animate!, Alvin Hung, at the San Diego Comic Convention and was able to get an interview (click below):

Check the site out, create your own animations and share them with the rest of the G2M readers!

Posted at 8:00 a.m. - Thursday, August 28

This peculiar letter came via e-mail last night:

For those who aren't familiar, M.A.R.S. is the weapons manufacturing arm of COBRA, the evil arch-nemesis of GI Joe.  The message came as part of Hasbro's pre-launch hype of the new GI Joe line.  Joe fans are eagerly awaiting this new line, along with details on the new live-action film that's due out soon.

Apart from that, I understand that Hasbro has gotten Warren Ellis (Iron Man: Extremis, Transmetropolitan, Black Summer) to write the comic-book tie-in that will be available with the new toys.  Anyone who's read Ellis' stuff should know that the book will prove to be pretty freaky!

If you want to get in on the action, and be able to download a free GI Joe Poster, go to Hasbro.com and sign up for their FREE e-newsletter.  (Or just keep checking back here for new details.  Don't worry, I've got your back.)

Posted at 10:45 p.m. - Tuesday, August 26

Since it's been mentioned in my latest Geek To Me, I thought I'd save folks the trouble of searching through the G2M archives and re-post my interview with Peter Robbins (the original voice of Charlie Brown) from the San Diego Comic Con.

Posted at 2:15 p.m. - Wednesday, August 20

In a previous post I shared the promo for Issue #3 of Moonstone Books' Captain Action series.  Well, the good folks at Comixology dropped me a line to let me know that they have a nifty 'movie trailer' for the book:

Not the sort of thing you'd expect from a 60's character, eh?

Posted at 12:05 p.m. - Wednesday, August 20

They're not your grandpappy's Avengers...heck, they're not even the Young Avengers from the Marvel Comics comic book series...they're the Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, the newest direct-to-DVD feature from Marvel Animation Studios:

Now I really like this kind of stuff because, hopefully, it gets kids interested in reading comics and anything that does that is good.  It also appears that they're incorporating some of the Marvel U's current mythos into the storyline (the Hulk looks like the 'Future Hulk' from Peter David's run on the title) so perhaps it won't stray too far from the continuity fanboys know and love.

But why not create a Young Avengers animated film?  The book was awesome and was even created by a television writer.  Wouldn't that have made it a prime candidate for a film adaptation?

Well, that's my two cents on the matter.  What's yours?

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Wednesday, August 20

Now this is something you don't see every day: The Many Worlds of Jonas Moore, a web comic that involves fans creating content for it, has just inked a deal with MGM to be turned into a TV show...

Posted at 9:00 p.m. - Tuesday, August 19

Remember this guy?

Die hard Star Wars fans know him as Admiral Motti, the Doubting Thomas of the Imperial Starfleet who pissed off Darth Vader in A New Hope and got a can of Force Choke opened on him.  Well, now he's back and giving Star Wars fans a chance to help create a new SW animated feature with actors from the Classic Trilogy...

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Tuesday, August 12

As hard as the folks at Warner Bros. are trying to keep a lid on it, the advance buzz on the new Star Wars Animated film : The Clone Wars isn't all that good.  Harry Knowles at Ain't It Cool News ripped the feature before being told to remove his review from his site with WB brass citing an 'embargo' on reviews until the release date.  That didn't stop some other outlets from posting their reviews, though...

Posted at 8:10 p.m. - Sunday, August 3

After winning the RedEye Superhero Tournament, it's been all about Buffy as of late.  Now comes word that the promo video for the proposed Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Animated Series has hit the internet.

And you know where you can find it, right?

Posted at 8:38 a.m. - Wednesday, July 30

My Comic Con experience was drawing to a close and I had yet to speak to my last interview, Grant Morrison.  Most comic book readers know Grant from his work at Marvel (Marvel Boy) and DC (Final Crisis), but he was in town to plug his involvement in the Virgin Comics on-line feature tentatively titled 'MBX' based on The Mahabhrata, a considerably epic tome of Indian origin...

Posted at 11:58 a.m. - Tuesday, July 29

Following the success of the Gunslinger limited series,  Stephen King - the 'American Master of Horror', has joined up with Marvel Comics yet again for another unique comic-book project...

Posted at 6:15 p.m. - Monday, July 28

One of the most impressive booths at Comic Con this year was the Imagi Studios promotional booth for their upcoming feature, Astro Boy...

Posted at 8:36 a.m. PST - Sunday, July 27

While at Comic Con in San Diego, I had a chance to sit down with Peter Robbins, the original voice actor for Charlie Brown.  He and the entire Peanuts Gang have reunited to promote a new Peanuts Anniversary DVD set.