January 27, 2006

The Tick on DVD

"Spoon!"

That nigh-invulernible superhero in blue spandex is finally coming to DVD. The original cartoon version of The Tick is rumored to be released on DVD in 2006 by Disney.

Can you say, "right on!"?

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September 27, 2005

Stop-Motion Animation in Corpse Bride and Wallace & Gromit

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and the Wallace & Gromit adventure The Curse of the Were-Rabbit have brought stop-motion animation back to the big screen. With the rise of computer animation stop-motion has taken a back seat, but it's not a lost art form.

Stop-motion involves moving photographing still objects and moving them one frame at a time. A six second sequence can take a week to film. But the hands-on art form has its own charm and creates a unique visceral quality to the finished product that you don't get with hand-drawn or computer animation.

"Corpse Bride" was created using slender puppets made of rubber, with metal skeletons so intricate the filmmakers hired jewelers to help craft the tiny gears and joints. Miniature cranks in the puppets' ears control their facial movements, enabling animators to create remarkably lifelike smiles, frowns and other expressions.

The "Wallace & Gromit" characters were sculpted of clay, with metal skeletons beneath. Animators had a variety of mouths they would swap on to the characters to mimic speech, each simulating the shape of the lips for different phonetic sounds.

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September 22, 2005

Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story

While Family Guy has already returned to Fox after being canceled, the show is also entering the direct to DVD market with a completely uncensored movie, Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. IGN interviews Alex Borstein, who voices Stewie's object of hatred, Lois Griffin, about the movie and how it came to be. It seems Fox actually wanted to do the movie first and then consented to bring the series back to prime time.

Borstein explains why Stewie is the center of attention:

Well, I think it was always kind of a given that it was going to be Stewie or Brian. Stewie's kind of our star, I think, so we couldn't not do it without him. I think it makes for the best kind of story – and because it's Stewie, anything's possible. With Lois and some of the other characters, you kind of have to stay true to some modicum of reality. But with Stewie, sky's the limit. He's a baby who can talk, who can walk, who can fly, he can drive – he can do anything. So I think it's the best kind of movie star you could want… He can do his own stunts.

Borstein also comments on how raunchy the Family Guy movie will be without FCC restrictions:

It's pretty filthy! I have to admit, it's filthy. I'm going to probably have to warn my mother before she sees it. I don't know… I feel as long as it's done in the spirit of comedy and entertainment, I'm all for it. I have no point in my system or morals where I say, "This is too far."

Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story comes to DVD on September 27.

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June 27, 2005

The Tick Back on TV

The venerable superhero of the 1990s, The Tick, is back on the air in re-runs. Toon Disney has been airing The Tick every night at 8:00 p.m. ET and ABC's Family Channel has been airing episodes on Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m. ET. Check local schedules since it seems to vary.

Sadly, neither channel is on my weak basic cable, but it's worth a hearty, "Spoon!" to see The Tick back on TV.

Posted by kevin at 2:57 PM | TrackBack

June 6, 2005

Davey & Goliath on DVD

Davey & Goliath is a strange chapter in the history of television. Created in the 1960s by Art and Ruth Clokey, who also created Gumby, and financed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, it was an early attempt at moral and practically Christian television. Yet it happened long before Veggie Tales or The Passion of the Christ.

Davey & Goliath has seen a resurgence of late with last year's Davey and Goliath's Snowboard Christmas, this year's Happy Easter, and those odd Mountain Dew commercials. And don't forget that odd pipe bomb spoof on The Simpsons.

Davey & Goliath Vol. 1 comes to DVD next week (though volumes 1 & 2 are already available, the new volume appears to be the first made specifically for DVD).

Posted by kevin at 10:18 AM | TrackBack

June 3, 2005

The DreamWorks Empire

DreamWorks Animation knows they can't beat Pixar when it comes to the quality of their computer animated flicks. So they'll beat 'em with quantity.

DreamWorks has a dozen films planned for the next five years, including Shrek 3 & 4, a Puss-in-Boots direct to video spin-off, and potential sequals and spin-offs from the just-opened Madagascar. Jeffrey Katzenberg runs the animation show at DreamWorks, and it's practically a circus.

Posted by kevin at 10:21 PM | TrackBack

April 27, 2005

Adult Swim #1 with Young Males

Cartoon Network's late night programming, Adult Swim, is the #1 cable destination for men ages 18-34. With off-beat programming like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken and Sealab 2021, as well as reruns of Family Guy and Futurama, Adult Swim out performs ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live (wait, that's not surprising).

On the Adult Swim site you can catch a clip from Robot Chicken featuring Michael Moore interviewing a washed up Lion-O from Thundercats (remember them? I happen to be wearing my Thundercats shirt today!). Too funny, though definitely adult.

It's probably a good thing my less-than-basic cable doesn't have Cartoon Network. I'd be taking the adult swim every night. But bring on the DVDs!

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