keyleedaud (REAL ESTATE)

(Mild spoilers below.) I was beginning to worry that Pixar had passed its peak. Cars and Wall-E were both, in my opinion, weaker than their directors' previous films. As so many animation directors seem to do their best work early on and then repeat themselves to lesser effect, I wondered if Pete Docter would fall into the same pattern. That isn't the case. It's nice to see that Brad Bird is not the only director at Pixar who is at the top of his game. Carl Fredricksen and Charles Muntz have both have made commitments to the past. Both are trying to do something they failed to do in their youth. Muntz is trying to prove his discovery of a giant bird and Carl wishes to follow in Muntz's footsteps, exploring a remote area of South America. Carl is the only one of the two to realize that the present is more important than the past and that opening himself up to others is more satisfying than pursuing a solitary goal. Carl is introduced as a child and a lovely seque...

If you have ever worked in production, you'll understand this video. And if you've never worked in production, you may be surprised to learn that this is how business is done. The teacher in me wants to explain things about this video and why something that looks ridiculous is actually just about economic leverage. All of the above examples are from the world of retail. There are several important things to realize about this. First, items are relatively inexpensive. I don't know how much that meal or hair styling cost, but let's say $100 or less. Second, the market of potential customers is large. These two things give the retailer the right to tell a customer to take a hike. There are lots of other customers and the loss of a sale of a $20 CD or a $100 meal is not going to make much of a difference to the bottom line. Let's amp it up a notch and talk about kitchen renovators. A reno is going to cost $10,000 and up. If the reno company is in a fairly large...

In my post about Pixar opening in Vancouver , I spent some time talking about the nature of Canadian business. Today's Globe and Mail has an article about Canada's problems with innovation and productivity. Here is a quote that elaborates on what I'd written earlier, dealing with the small national market and the branch plant mentality that is satisfied to make things that are created elsewhere, as the forthcoming Vancouver Pixar shorts will be. Canadian businesses just don't innovate enough. Too many don't have an internal culture of innovation. The domestic market is small and fragmented; not enough firms think internationally. International, for many, means the U.S., period, a rather dangerous myopia since that country is going to be economically crippled for a long time. The report doesn't say so directly, but foreign ownership is a drag. Yes, a few Canadian branch plants get “world-product” mandates from head offices for certain products, but most don...

The Museum of the Moving Image , as part of its Pinewood Dialogues , has posted an interview with Up 's director Pete Docter. (I earlier pointed to interviews on their site with Chuck Jones and Brad Bird. You can find out about those interviews here .)

For those of you in Toronto, here's a list of the Sheridan student films that will be screened at the Bloor on June 9 at 7 p.m. and again on June 10 at 9:30 p.m. It's open to the public and admission is $5. You can see a trailer I cut together here . The one line descriptions are mine, not the film makers. Higher Education – A mean teacher faces the Last Judgment. A film by Hernando Bahamon, Zélie Bérubé, Christian Camaroschi, Sheng-han Chang, Mélanie Daigle, Amber Holowaychuk, Angela Kim, Alex Kung, Henry Lidstone, Michelle Moger. Smores – A day in the life of a chocolate man in a graham cracker world. A film by Inigo Ahedo. El Cacto – When a desert town runs out of water, who ya gonna call? A film by Garrett Hanna. Hopetown – Hope springs eternal for a stuffed bunny. A film by Will Postma. Lobster Boy – The story of an underwater outcast. A film by Tracy Qiu. Homework Hydra – So much homework, but so many distractions. A film by Ben Hu. Monkey and the Moon – B...

Abe Levitow was one of the main animators in Chuck Jones unit in the 1950's. He later became a co-director with Jones at Warners and a director for Jones at MGM. In addition, he directed Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol for UPA. I can't remember when I got these notes, though I'm guessing it was the late '70's. I also have no idea who Levitow wrote them for. Was it for a project he was directing? Was it for students somewhere? In any case, while the information in the notes has been covered elsewhere, it is presented in a clear, concise manner and you can never be reminded of fundamentals often enough. (At the time I first posted this, the site devoted to Abe Levitow had been hacked. It has now been restored and is very much worth your time. You can find it here .)

Here's a trailer I put together for the Student Animation Showcase, featuring the work of Sheridan College students. It's June 9 at 7 p.m. and again on June 10 at 9:30 at the Bloor Cinema, located at Bloor and Bathurst in Toronto. Admission is $5. (If you're a Sheridan student, all the films in the trailer are in the screening, but there are additional films that are not in the trailer for various reasons. I'll be emailing everybody the list of films to be screened in the next few days.)

An article from the National Post . The student on the right is Tapan Gandhi.

I've been quite surprised by the absolute glee that has resulted from the announcement that Pixar will be opening a studio in Vancouver. It is, of course, a good thing. However, I hope that the people celebrating are not blinded by the Pixar dust in their eyes. It is a good thing, but not a great thing. There are limitations relating to Disney, Pixar, general corporate behaviour and the nature of Canadian industry. The good things are fairly straightforward. It's always good when there's an increase in employment opportunities, especially in the current economy. There will undoubtedly be educational benefits. Pixar will bring their rigs, their pipeline and their software tools and more people will have the opportunity to use them. While they are proprietary, the nature of software is such that once something exists, it is relatively easy to imitate. Just as Disney knowledge spread into the larger animation industry at the time of the 1941 strike, Pixar's approa...

The Vancouver Sun is reporting that Pixar will be opening a studio in Vancouver. The studio will hire 75 to 100 people, most of them Canadians, and will make all of Pixar’s three-dimensional, computer-animated short films, which usually run three to five minutes. All Pixar theatrical features will continue to be made at its main studio in Emeryville, Calif., which employs almost 900. This is not the first time that Disney (which owns Pixar) has set up in Canada. Earlier, Disney opened two studios, one in Vancouver and one in Toronto, to produce direct to DVD sequels. Those studios were both closed during the period when Disney was shedding studios (in Florida, Japan, France and Australia) at a dizzying pace. At present, anything that increases employment opportunities is a good thing. However, past experience shows that satellite studios tend to stay satellites. Rather than regard the satellites as minor league teams, where talent is developed and then moved up to the majors, the ...

Courtesy of student Frank Macchia , who uploaded it, here's a TV news report from CHCH in Hamilton on Sheridan's industry day. Laura Friesen and Frank are featured as students. Other people visible include instructors Scott Caple and Jim Caswell (1:11-1:15), instructor Tony Tarantini, and student Brent Dienst (1:34).

Watch Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Mouse - Tom and Jerry in Animation   |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com This cartoon is available on the DVD Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume 2 . Mark Kausler's animator identifications come from his blog .

For those of you in the Toronto area, Steve Schnier is having a garage sale on May 9 that includes some animation equipment. Details here .