From Etudes.ru (Google translation):
More than 40 years ago in 1968 ... A team led by Nikolai Nikolaevich Konstantinov creates a mathematical model of the motion of the animal (cat). The BESM-4 machine, executing a written program for solving ordinary (in the mathematical sense of the word) differential equations, draws a cartoon "Kitty" containing even by modern standards an amazing animation of cat movements created by a computer.
(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest
Ishu Patel's 1977 animated film, "The Bead Game," uses thousands of colored beads as pixels to show animals eating each other, giving birth, fighting, and evolving.
From The National Film Board of Canada:
In this fascinating, innovative exercise in animation, thousands of beads are arranged and manipulated, assuming shapes of creatures both mythical and real. They continually devour, merge, and absorb one another in explosions of color. The theme is one of aggression and inevitability, but any conclusion is left to the viewer.
See also: Using colored beads to remind yourself that you will die soon
Under Covers is a delightful NSFW animation by Mighty Oak.
On the night of a lunar eclipse, we uncover the sweet, salacious, and spooky secrets of a small town. From a pigtailed psychopath to naughty nuns and everything in between, this stop motion animated film conjures a comforting thought: that weird is relative.
From the Vimeo blog:
Read the restThe film, which originally debuted as part of Sundance Film Festival’s 2018 Midnight Shorts Program, provides a God’s-eye-view into the bedrooms of seemingly sweet characters hiding a secret or two under their blankets. What may seem innocuous is not always as innocent as it appears, and Olsen shows us that through a powerful combination of stop-motion animation, detailed character design, and a sick sense of humor.
In the 1990s, student filmmaker Christopher Seufert talked his way into Edward Gorey's life and convinced him to record a series of memoirs and tales from his life; the project blossomed into a documentary, only to be derailed when Gorey died. Read the rest
What a cool idea! Here's a music video for a cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" that over 2100 kids contributed to, by coloring with crayons.
An animated music video for Meg Myers’ cover of a Kate Bush song brings kid’s coloring books to life. Director Jo Roy first filmed Myers on a green screen, performing the crawling, climbing, and flying shown in the music video (see behind-the-scenes below). Then, each of the 3,202 frames was printed off as a black and white coloring book page. Elementary school-aged children from ten schools and an art program in the U.S. and Canada colored the pages however they wanted, with a provided crayon color palette.
This is the title sequence for The Roman Holidays, a Hanna-Barbera Productions cartoon that lasted for 13 episodes in 1972. It was quite similar to The Flintstones which itself was inspired by The Honeymooners. From Toonopedia:
The show's title came from the setting (ancient Rome) and the protagonists' family name (Holiday, which was just ever so typical a family name back then). Dad's first name was Gus and Mom's was Laurie. They had a teenage daughter named Groovia, an in-house son-in-law named Happius (usually called Happy) and a younger daughter named Precocia. Their pet cat, Brutus (no relation), was actually a lion. Like modern nuclear family heads, Gus went to work every day, where his boss was Mr. Tycoonus, and came home each night to the Venus de Milo Arms, where his landlord was Mr. Evictus (Dom DeLuise! -ed.).
(via r/ObscureMedia) Read the rest
"Le Clitoris" is filmmaker Lori Malépart-Traversy wonderful animated short all about the clitoris. The gouache-on-paper, 2D digital animation was Malépart-Traversy 2016 graduating student project at the the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. "Le Clitoris" was selected for more than 140 film festivals and won more than a dozen awards. From the "Le Clitoris" film site:
Women are lucky, they get to the only body in the human body dedicated for pleasure: the clitoris! In this humorous and informative animated documentary, find out its unrecognized anatomy and its unknown herstory.
The purpose of this short documentary is to demystify female sexuality by discovering the anatomy and functioning of this organ, its history and its "discovery" by male doctors, its role in the female orgasm and its function as a tool of empowerment for women.
Original music by Eliazer Kramer.
The first episode of the 22nd season of the children's animated show Arthur, titled "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone," premiered last week but Alabama Public Television has refused to air it. Why? Because third grade teacher Mr. Ratburn's special someone is a chocolate maker named Patrick and the two are seen walking down the aisle. In 2005, Arthur spin-off show Postcards from Buster showed a lesbian couple which infuriated then-Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.) From CNN:
Read the restThe storyline about Mr. Ratburn's marriage conveys a positive message, (programming director Mike McKenzie) said. But while many parents will find it appropriate, many others will disagree, he said -- "either because their children are too young, or because of their beliefs."
"Our broadcast would take away the choice of parents who feel it is inappropriate," McKenzie told CNN in a statement.
PBS Kids programs are designed to reflect the diversity of communities across the nation," PBS Kids' Maria Vera Whelan told CNN. "We believe it is important to represent the wide array of adults in the lives of children who look to PBS Kids every day."
From Kevin Parry:
Using my stop-motion animation know-how to explore the patterns inside of various fruits and vegetables! This looks super tedious, but I actually had a lot of fun slicing them frame by frame and seeing the results come to life. I've included a bit of behind-the-scenes footage to show how I created the effect. Hope you enjoy!
Dillon Cassidy and Kelly Kraft redubbed the classic Don Bluth animated feature "The Land Before Time" with "Scottish" voices. The whole movie! Enjoy it while it lasts. [via]
Read the restNarrator - Trumane Alston Bryce - Spencer Hawk Cera - Michelle Davey Old Rooter - Denver Collins Mother - Chris Hanley Ducky - Liz Anderson Petri - Taylor Jones
Produced by Dillon Cassidy Edited by Kelly Kraft
The Intercept has just released "A Message From the Future," a short science fiction movie narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and drawn by Molly Crabapple, describing the coming "Green New Deal Decade," when Americans pulled together and found prosperity, stability, solidarity and full employment through a massive, nationwide effort to refit the country to be resilient to climate shocks and stem the tide of global climate change. Read the rest
The boys, Ed Piskor, Jim Rugg, and Tom Scioli got hold of a couple animation cels from the classic anime and couldn't help but show them off. A fun glimpse into the analogue way of producing animation. Come for the cels, stay for the Katsuhiro Otomo storyboard books.
Also, in case you missed the Cartoonist Kayfabe coverage of the Akira manga:
Subscribe to the Cartoonist Kayfabe YouTube channel for more vids celebrating the medium of comics. Read the rest
Joan C Gratz's animated short "Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase" is a lovely and trippy 2D claymation of iconic artworks transforming one into another. After spending a decade on the piece, Gratz won the 1992 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Gratz called her animation technique "clay painting." From Educational Media Reviews Online:
Read the rest“Clay-painting” is a unique process that blends film and painting, and an innovation that garnered Joan Gratz’s Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase a 1992 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. In this true landmark of animation, numerous famous and iconic paintings from 20th century art are “reproduced as exactly as possible but the transitions between these paintings [are] used to communicate the relationship of artistic movements” as Gratz has stated. “In the clay painting technique, which I began developing in 1966, I work by painting directly before the camera, making changes to a single painting, shooting a frame, repainting and shooting, etc. In the end there is one painting with the process recorded on film, the product is the process.”
Kisaragi double 6 created this fantastic hand-drawn stop-motion animation of the Super Mario Bros (1985) World 1-1 level.
Read the rest動画内では分かりづらいものの、紙ならではのこだわりを持った出演者達です。実際に折ったり燃やしたり、クリボーのやられ方を考えるのは、とっても楽しかったです。 pic.twitter.com/GeawVAkagb
— 如月 二重 6 (@KisaragiHutae6) February 11, 2019
Coming to Finnish and British TV this spring—and hopefully soon to the U.S. too.
MOOMINVALLEY [YouTube] is a brand new adaptation of the much-loved Moomin stories of Tove Jansson, a Finnish-Swedish writer and artist whose books have been translated into over 50 languages. Directed to a family primetime audience, the drama fantasy series is full of life and laughter for lifelong Moomin fans and complete newcomers alike.
The English-language cast is spectacular: Matt Berry, Rosamund Pike, Richard Ayoade, Will Self, Warwick Davis, Kate Winslet, Akiya Kenry, and starring Taron Egerton as Moonintroll. Read the rest
Resident Evil 2 is a just-released remake of the Capcom classic, updated with ultra-realistic performance-captured animation. DPO23 hacked the game's configuration to exaggerate characters' facial movements 500%. It's an unsettling illustration of what lies beneath cutting-edge graphics tech—and far scarier than the zombies. (See DP023's YouTube channel for more)
(UPDATE: The embed is disabled outside of YouTube; you can watch it there.)
It's been a while, Hubert Cumberdale. The year two thousand and thirteen marked our last adventure. Before the war. (Previously)
Animator David Firth:
Read the restSalad Fingers is back for the first time in 5 years in this nightmarish new episode. Salad Fingers decides it’s time for Hubert Cumberdale to become a real boy.
