Japan-Only Transformers Movie Trailer

Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 3, 2007 in Animation

This trailer contains additional shots not seen in the American trailer (and it also has Steven Spielberg speaking in Japanese at the start):

New Ninja Turtle Snaps

Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 3, 2007 in Animation, Comic Books

Well one things is for sure, with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Transformers film coming out t’s loking like 2007 is going to feel very much like the 80s! By the way for more Ninja snaps IESB.net has a gallery of over 150 images…

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles

Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 2, 2007 in Animation

80s anime classic Robotech is back! For those who are too young to recall, Robotech came out before Tranformers and featured sophisticated spaceship-shifting techniques. Robotech was created from three anime series from Japan: Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada.

The new Robotech movie will have a limited run in theaters across the country:

– ImaginAsian Theater in New York, NY from January 8th – 14th
– Studio Movie Grill in Dallas (Arlington), TX from January 15th – 17th
– Key Cinemas (Beech Grove) in Indianapolis, IN from January 5th – 10th
– The Hollywood Theater in Portland, OR from January 5th – 7th
– Alamo Drafthouse in San Antonio, TX from January 15th – 17th
– The Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA on January 19th and 20th at midnight
– Studio Movie Grill – Copperfield in Houston, TX on January 18th and 19th at 9pm
– The Crest Theatre in Los Angeles (Westwood), CA on Feb. 3rd from 12:00 Noon

If you can’t catch he movie in theaters don’t panic, the DVD is coming out February 6th. The official websites are here:

Funimationfilms.com and theshadowchronicles.com

Optimus Prime Arrives!

Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 26, 2006 in Animation

This Transformers cover from Empire magazine is making the rounds on the net, click on the image to see it full size!

Dédééééé

Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 26, 2006 in Animation

Here’s a silly animated commercial from Belgium which seems to be selling lotto tickets:

Notice that while the commercial is using computer graphics, it’s still using traditional 2D animation techniques wen you see the boing and the bounce of the pig running off at the end. The charatcers aren’t just stiff plastic puppets, and they’re interacting with each other.

Minuscule: Computer Animation Done Correctly!

Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 21, 2006 in Animation

Well I gone on many a rant on how sad the state of computer animation is these days in Hollywood (with perhaps the exception of Pixar). However recently I came across a television series called Minuscul from France by an animation studio called Futurikon. Here’s a good description of the show from the TV France International website:

“Imagine a blend between a National Geographic documentary and a Tex Avery cartoon. A combination of 3D characters and live footage, with no commentary or dialog. Based on this offbeat starting point, the series will be zooming in to the grassroots level of the counrtyside to give viewers a bird’s eye view of insects’ day-to-day existence, distorted through a burlesque, yet poetic lens.”

Of course you can also take a look for yourself via the magic of YouTube:

In an ideal world someone in Hollywood would cancel Shrek the Third and allow Futurikon to make a feature film out of Minuscule.

Found via Cartoon Brew.

That’s One Mean Ass Looking Robot…

Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 20, 2006 in Animation, Hobbies and Collections

The above images are from a Japanese article on new limited edition Black Getter ‘alloy model’ from Bandai. Black Getter is a robot that appears in the Shin Getter (真ゲッターロボ) robot OAV. Also if you want to see an amazing job that somebody did with a mere plastic Black Getter model, check out this amazing page.

Ren and Stimpy: Lost Scene

Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 19, 2006 in Animation

Had it been produced, the ‘Life Sucks’ episode of Ren and Stimpy might have been the only bit of animation to ever focus on the Children’s Crusade! Below is a storyboard reel (animatic) which depicts Ren realizing it’s his duty to cure Stimpy of his naivety and he takes him on a journey through history to make him wake up and smell the coffee:

Found via the blog of John Kricfalusi (which also has some great additional storyboard art from the episode).

Joseph Barbera Passes Away

Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 18, 2006 in Animation

Sadly animation pioneer Joe Barbera has passed away:

US cartoonist Joseph Barbera dies

“Joseph Barbera, one half of the team behind such cartoon classics as The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo and Huckleberry Hound, has died, aged 95. With William Hanna, Barbera founded Hanna-Barbera in the 1950s, after the pair had earlier worked on the Tom and Jerry cartoons at MGM studios.

Barbera grew up in Brooklyn and started to pursue a career in banking. But his amateur sketches soon became the raw material for cartoons in magazines, which then took him into animation. He met Hanna – who died in 2001 – at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in the late 1930s and collaborated on a cartoon called Puss Gets the Boot, which led to the creation of the cat and mouse characters, Tom and Jerry. Their 17-year partnership on the Tom and Jerry series resulted in seven Academy Awards and 14 nominations in total.”