Screen Shots: Dan Meth

Carl Sagan examines the universe of 80's and 90's animated wild life.

Dan Meth is a Syracuse, New York based animator whose web-based work has steadily been growing in popularity in the past few years. Meth's characters are comical and over-the-top send ups of modern culture with some choice references to classic pop culture.

References:

• Dan Meth, Tumblr Site
• Channel Federator, The Meth Minute
• YoutTube, The Retarded Police Man Ep. #9

Screen Shots: Bike Ride @ Sundance 2011

Minnesota animator and teacher Tom Schroeder's Bike Ride makes it to Sundance.

The unique writing and animation talents of Tom Schroeder are unleashed on the Sundance Film Festival as Bike Ride makes it's 2011 debut in the snowy hills of Park City, Utah.

This is Tom's 60 plus film fest screening of Bike Ride which began it's festival circuit ride in 2002 showing to a few local jazz fans and has now been seen by national and international audiences. It's getting to the point where I can't say enough good things about this film.

Shows: A&G Ohio 2011 - March 18-20

Pimpin' ain't easy, player. Especially while 8-bit doppelgangers galore abound in SW Ohio.

Animation and Gaming Ohio hosts the 2011 annual convention set for March 18-20 at the Eastgate Holiday Inn in Cincinnati. Entry fee is TBA. Tables are reasonably priced for artists/vendors.

Events:
WRESTLING HOBOKEN: Cosplay Wrasslin' Act
OPERATION VIRUS: Zombie Apocalypse LARP
VOICE ACTORS Q&A: ??TBA??
PANEL DISCUSSION: Gaming, Animation topics.

Saturday Night Disco, weekend rate at the hotel.

A&G Ohio 2010
March 12th - 14th
Holiday Inn Eastgate
4501 Eastgate Blvd.
Cincinnati, OH. 45245
513-752-4400

Animation: The Rat In The Hat

Image courtesy of Michael Sporn Animation Inc. and Bill Peckmann. Click above for a full-size image.

Fantasia, which began life as an animated nine-minute Mickey Mouse short entitled the Sorcerer's Apprentice (1938), was originally released in New York City on November 13^th 1940 by Walt Disney Productions itself as a roadshow release since Disney's distributor, the flagging RKO Radio Pictures backed out of the film.

Prior to the film's premiere in NYC, the final scene (the Ave Maria sequence) was completed, developed, printed, and rushed via airplane to New York the same day - where it was spliced into the film just four hours before showtime.

The film went on to win two Special Academy Awards in 1941 for production and direction. Improbably enough, a live action version of the story is being released by Disney in 2010 featuring Nick Cage.

References:

• Wikipedia, Fantasia
• IMBD, Fantasia (1940)

Off The Shelf: Ren and Stimpy (1991-96)

Ren and Stimpy, one of the first "creator" driven cartoons since Walt Disney.

The independent animation driven cartoon/animation series was key in television programming in the 1990's - culminating with Matt Groenig's The Simpsons but was actually a re-occurring cycle in the animation industry that hadn't seen this kind of explosive growth in American culture since Walt Disney.

In the 1990's TV networks like UPN, Nickelodeon, and MTV scrambled to find the same success as Fox's Simpsons achieved. John "K" Kricfalusi was the creative force behind this Nickelodeon series - directing the animation and voicing the cantankerous chihuahua Ren. Billy West, one of the most versatile voice actors today, voiced the idiot cat Stimpy and later Fry and the Professor in Matt Groenig's Futurama. John K describes the animated duo of Ren and Stimpy as 1/2 Larry Fine (of the Three Stooges) and 1/2 Petter Lorre.

After the series was cancelled, Kricfalusi, due to an exlusive contract, lost all character rights for Ren and Stimpy to Nickelodeon. Since then John K has developed several other less successful characters for his production company, Spumco, before shutting down original animation production in 2007.

References:

• Wikipedia, The Ren And Stimpy Show
• Angelfire, Ren and Stimpy Audio Dump

Animation: Betty Boop

Off The Shelf: Liquid Television (1991-95)

1990's animation paved the way for a digital revolution in 21st century web-based animation.

The 1990's late night animated show airing on MTV, Liquid Television, has clearly paved the way for a digital revolution in 21st century web-based animation. Shows like Wonder Showzen, Celebrity Death Match, Aeon Flux and The Maxx introduced main stream audiences to underground and film fest shows on a weekly basis for four years.

References:

• Augenblick Studios, Superjail/UCI/Drunky
• The Animation Show's, Official Site
• Bitter Films, Don Hertzfeld
• Bill Plympton, Plymptoons
• IMDB, Liquid Television
• Amazon, Liquid Television
• MTV, New Liquid Television