Thursday, July 31, 2008

e2 Transport

Recently Marked Animation had the pleasure of completing some animation & graphical work for the upcoming season of e2 (pronounced e-squared, not e-two...), a documentary series discussing the future of environmentally conscious transportation. The show is shot beautifully and the production seems to spare no expense. It's a very engaging program, and I found myself really being drawn in to the subject matter that I was working on. Season 3 is set to air on PBS later this fall, but until then, check out Season 1 on hulu.com if you haven't already!

Congratulations, Traditional Animators!

... it looks like there's still jobs available out there for you after all. Check out this teaser trailer for Disney's next movie, The Princess and the Frog.

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/

I haven't really paid Disney that much attention lately, so while that I'm a bit surprised that they're venturing back into the traditional animation, I can understand that they'd like to give it a better sendoff than their previous effort.* Unfortunately I'm a bit skeptical of this trailer and just how beneficial this movie will be to the company. It seems like Disney is in a creative rut, and while other animation companies like Pixar offer audiences a wide array of styles and storytelling, Frog looks like many other Disney works, complete with the princess, the watered-down "humor," and the loveable-yet-subtly-racist supporting cast.
I'm not a Disney-hater by any means. Up until the last thirteen years, their animation reigned supreme and stood ahead of any real competition. The wildebeest scene in The Lion King still holds up today and is as breath-taking to watch as it was in 1994. I watch the original Fantasia on a consistent basis and I think it's one of the most artistically and technically advanced features that they've ever put out. The Emperor's New Groove was one of the biggest surprises I've ever experienced watching a movie and I think it's a fantastic comedy with great writing and chemistry between its characters (Patrick Warburton steals every scene he's in). I just think that the fairy tale formula is a little tired, and the "updated & hip" fairy tale is just grating. I'm hoping for the best, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular.


* If it's any indication of just how successful Home on the Range was, I couldn't even remember the name and only came across it by googling "Disney" and "Farm" (I remembered that there were cows on the poster).

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Marked Animation: Now Available in Blog Form

What up everybody!

In order to better serve you with updates and the latest whatnots concerning the inner-workings of myself & Marked Animation, I have started this blog as a glorified announcement board as a way to keep up with the times! Be sure to check back from time to time so that you may bask in the all-too-professional and all-too-personal information I delve into on these virtual pages.

xoxo

Mark [of Marked Animation]