As I’ve gone MIA the last several months, I thought I’d holler out to blog land as we’re about to head to Siggraph in Los Angeles! Do you want to know what I’ve been busy working on? (Believe me, you definitely do…) Come to the Animation Mentor Birds of a Feather event this Tuesday at Siggraph! You may or may not see something awesome. =)

Tuesday, July 27th @ 2:30 pm in Room 301A. Be there!

I had the great opportunity to see Toy Story 3 a few weeks before it came out over at the studio, and then again on opening night with some of the great folks from AM and Pixar. I’m hoping by now all of you have seen it, but I’ll still keep it mainly spoiler free. =)

Pixar upped their game for this one. I would definitely say it’s one of the most intense film they’ve done so far. It had me almost rolling on the floor laughing at time, on the edge of my seat nervously biting my lip at others, and yes, tearing up at other parts. It’s the real deal. And I dare say it’s up there for best film of the year outside of the animation category.

It was a powerful situation to be in — the built up excitement for this film spans across ages: people my parents’ age who took their kids to see the first two films, young kids today who are excited for a new animated film, and of course, people my age who grew up with Andy and the toys.

When the first Toy Story came out I was 11 years old. So seeing this film tugged at my heartstrings in all sorts of ways, pulling me back to my childhood and the memories I have of those characters.

And the STORY. Oh man, the story is incredible. I love when you get pulled in and you’re not analyzing the animation, you’re not being distracted by side elements, but you’re feeling the emotions of the characters. Pixar is genius at storytelling and there’s no doubt they have a winner with this one.

And this is the kind of stuff that reminds us why we want to be animators — being a part of a team to create something that connects with people. To make people laugh, gasp, cry, and smile. You cannot walk out of this film without feeling good. I’ve been walking around my apartment today singing You’ve Got A Friend In Me.

As a side note, aside from the updates on facebook from fellow animators who love the film, I love seeing updates from non-animation friends and family who are going nuts over Toy Story 3. That’s gold.

I love that they kept the true characters with Bullseye’s crazy floppy run and the contrast of Buzz and Woody’s movement. And the addition of new characters was great — seeing how they developed character specific movements for each. A few new ones to watch out for that I loved:

Ken

Spanish mode Buzz

A certain version of Mr. Potato Head (cleverly drawn in one of the post its by Aaron Hartline…)

They’re amazingly well done and I love how each works well together but has their own completely unique style. They really put the effort into the character of the characters. That’s not often done on such of a large scale, and was great to see.

They stayed true to the original films but pushed the boundaries x1000. Well done Pixar. This is what it’s about.

This last weekend I got the chance to see How to Train Your Dragon… As it hasn’t come out yet, I won’t post much as to avoid any spoilers for all of you, but let me just say this: I have never seen an animated film like this. It exceeded all of my expectations, bringing chills to my arms and tears to my eyes. And more amazing is how much the feelings the film brought have stuck with me into the week. It is an absolutely stunning and beautiful film.

The trailers and the media that have been released don’t even begin to let you know the big picture of what you’re in for. I absolutely love the film poster I have posted above as it shows what to me the movie is more about: the relationships between the characters. The animation is great, the visual fx are beautiful, the story is strong — all elements of this movie combine and build the ever-so-important relationships. It’s quite incredible.

It made me laugh, cry, cheer, and just get chills. The film takes turns I didn’t expect, develops amazingly deep relationships, and is such a visual delight for the entire film. It’s out in theaters this Friday and I’m telling you now: you definitely will not be disappointed. This film is definitely the best that DreamWorks has done so far, and it has the chops to fight for a slot among the best animated films. They nailed it on the head and raised the bar with this one. Bravo guys, bravo.

From their site: In May of 2007, Sony Pictures Imageworks announced the opening of a satellite facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico that could take advantage of tax incentives offered by the state government.

Once in motion, employees of all tenure, and from many parts of the world, began moving to Albuquerque. Most knew absolutely nothing about the area. This is the story of the first forty employees who took the leap, and how they have come to experience the city of Albuquerque, and New Mexico.

This last year was one heck of a year! Starting the year in New York working at Blue Sky Studios, moving to Utah to work at Lumenas Animation Studios, and finding myself at the end of the year prepping for a move to California. The year didn’t go in any way I planned or ever imagined but it was one heck of a ride.

So we’re a month into 2010. I made the drive out to California the first of January, packing away my Raving Rabbids and Magic Bullet. I’m working for a bit out at….drumroll…

Animation Mentor! It’s a truly incredible environment to be in and I consider myself lucky to be here. I’m getting to work with the students, still get to animate, and work on some pretty cool projects. If you’re an AMer, you understand how amazing the school is. If you’re not, check out the video they have talking about the company and the work environment over here.

Cool, eh? Like I said, lucky.

If last year taught me anything it was to expect the unexpected. I’m curious to see where I’m at the end of this year and all of the adventures I’ve had. I’m sure it’s going to be a blast.

So there are stories to be told, but I’ll let those out bit by bit. For now, greetings from sunny California!

The museum is full of stories, movies, quotes, pictures, props, and all sorts of knick knacks collected from Walt’s life. You start out learning a bit of his ancestry, then follow him throughout his life from his school days, to his many attempts in starting business, his successes and failures, and through his last days. The place is huge with eleven separate rooms and it takes several hours to get through if you want the full experience and the chance to read and watch everything that is posted, but it’s well worth it if you take the time.

You’re not allowed to use cameras or cell phones, so i scribbled notes of quotes on the back of my museum guide so that I could post them up here. So without much introduction, I just want to post up a few quotes that made me sit back and think while I was there. It may have been said over 70 years ago, but these still apply. So enjoy and be inspired!

“The point must be made clear to the men that our study of the actual is not so that we may be able to accomplish the actual, but so that we may have a basis upon which to go into the fantastic, the unreal, the imaginative - and yet to let it have a foundation of act, in order that it may more richy posess sincerity and contact with the public.

A good many of men misinterpret the idea of studying the actual motion. They think it is our purpose mereley to duplicate these things. This misconception should be cleared up for all. I definitely feel that we cannot do the fantastic things, based on the real, unless we first know the real.”

- Walt Disney to Don Graham, December 23, 1935

“Walt said, ‘That’s what I want to see in the pictures, I want the character to be somebody. I don’t want them just to be a drawing.”

-Friz Freleng, animator

“Walt encouraged his artists to study human and animal movement - not to duplicate reality, but to use it as a foundation for convincing reality.”

“You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality.” - Walt Disney

The Alice Comedies were a series of shorts created in the 1920s. They featured Alice, a live action girl, and Julius, a cartoon cat. The first short, Alice’s Wonderland, was a silent black and white film that combined live action and animation. That’s right, animation and live action in the 1920s. Alice enters a cartoon world and interacts with the cartoon characters — a pretty amazing feat at the time.

Walt Disney didn’t have a production staff for the first six shorts, so he had animated them all himself, and his brother Roy operated the camera for all the live action shots. The director of the museum made an interesting note that these shorts provide an opportunity to see Walt’s own animated work — a rarity! Of course back then the principles of animation hadn’t quite been established and when you watch the shorts there are definitely things right off that stand out, but keep in mind that this was the 1920s and one of the major stepping stones leading Walt down his career path.

The Alice Comedies are not advertised by Disney, and aren’t even available to the public usually. The director noted that Walt even became embarrassed by the films! But looking back it’s great to see how ahead of its time these films were. They described the process of shooting against a white sheet and cutting sections out of mattes to combine the two — a VERY different way than we do things now!

There’s a lot to learn from these shorts. Whether its to remind us to always push to explore new ways of doing things, or to keep things simple and the story and comedy will come across. It’s an interesting look into the beginning of things for the animation world.

A lot of the Alice Comedies are available on youtube. The first film, Alice’s Wonderland, is up but be forewarned that it’s not the greatest quality. Check out the related videos as well to see more of the comedies!