Songs of the Week

Over the last three days, I've listened to The National's "Sea of Love" at least two dozen times. In fact I'm listening to it right now, on repeat. That and "Demons", also by The National.

I have a tendency to become infatuated with songs. Two weeks ago I listened to "Nomenclature" by Andrew Bird until I was humming it in my sleep. I simply could not get enough of the song. This week, I've moved my affection to The National. I was introduced to the band years ago after watching this rather enjoyable animation using their song "Slow Show". Using YouTube I listened to most of their music then. And then this week, I became obsessed.

I was re-listening to "Sea of Love" and happened to notice that the Dessner brothers (the guitarists) look a bit like a friend of mine. So of course I had to look for more videos. And that reminded me of "Demons". Now I can't stop listening. I bought a bunch of The National's song but these are the one one repeat.

Eventually I'll get tired of them. Or a new song will come along. But until then, repeat is my best friend. And these songs just keep getting better with each listen.

The Only Animation I Don't Like

I'm going to sound like an anti-progress curmudgeon with this statement but I hate animated gifs. Hate them! Nothing will get me to leave a webpage faster than an animated gif. I see that movement and I'm already clicking on another link to get away.

This shouldn't really be a problem for me but I'm seeing them more and more frequently. A drawing blog I follow has had two or three posts including animated gifs recently. A couple bloggers I follow have used them. It's a good think I don't follow any of the cute cat websites anymore because they seem to be the number one producers of them. It hasn't happened yet but I could see myself narrowing down my blog list if I find the author uses them frequently. I hate them that much.

You would think I'd be okay with them (not love but at least be okay) because I'm such an animation fan. Okay I'm really more of an animation junkie. I can't stay away from the stuff. Given my choice of movie it's always animated. But there is something about the repetitive movement that turns me off. The ads that use them will never ever ever receive a single click from me. And the artists who create animated gifs, even if they do amazing work outside of that, will never end up profiled on this blog. I know it sounds grouchy of me. But the next time you see one, just watch it for a couple minutes. Tell me if you feel nauseated. Tell me how fast you click off the site.

Out of a Forest

Out of a Forest

I have no idea if I've shared this animated video before. If I have, I apologize. I just love it too much not to share. This is Out of a Forest, the bachelor film from Tobias Gundorff Boesen. The song is Slow Show by The National, a haunting song that gets in your head and stays there. The animation is so incredible that I go back again and again to watch it. I'm in love with the style. This film made me a fan of The National, made me buy this song, and made me watch this little scene over and over. Tobias just recently created a blog and it looks like he's sharing a bunch of other work. I'm excited to see his other films.

Warning: This video might be a tad too scary/sad for small children or the sensitive. Like me. But I still love it.

TV Series

Netflix is a mixed blessing. I find myself wasting tons of time watching old television shows, movies I never got around to watching, and new series. This week I've picked up two new series to watch and boy are they the opposite ends of the spectrum.

I'm a huge fan of Wallace and Gromit so I've been looking to find other Aardman Films to watch on Netflix. That lead me to a little animated series called Shaun the Sheep. The series is based around Shaun, a sheep character from Wallace and Gromit's "A Close Shave". After the film, the character was quite literally put out to pasture. He lives in an English countryside home surrounded by many other sheep, a nonchalant sheepdog, and a blind and almost incompetent farmer. The sheepdog practically runs the place (with the help of Shaun) and the barnyard gets into plenty of trouble. From alien encounters to sheep ordering (and picking up) take out pizza, each 7 to 8 minute episode is jam packed with laughs and silliness. There is no real dialogue and the characters speak only in mumbles and grunts. But we don't need words to follow along. Sometimes the slapstick says more than witty dialogue ever could. Silly and cute.

The other series I've become fascinated with is the exact opposite of silly and cute. Jeff started watching season one of Dexter and has slowly drawn me in to the creepy series about a serial killer who works for the Miami Police Department. This series is filled with witty dialogue, a great narration, and enough creepiness to keep me on the edge of my seat. Dexter, played brilliantly by Michael C. Hall, is a serial killer who focuses his powers for "good", killing people who literally get away with murder. He kills people who have been brought to trial but get off on some type of technicality. But even with his "altruistic" streak, he's being hunted. By his own coworkers. His coworkers don't know he's a killer, they just know that he's really good at figuring out blood splatter marks. Dexter keeps up a narration through the whole series so we get a chance to hear what he says and what he's actually thinking. That provides a lot of the humor which is dark and dry, my favorite. It's a creepy show and it's not for the squeamish. But if you can stomach the blood, the writing makes it well worth it.

Like I said, these are about as polar opposite as you can get. So when I'm not watching people get sliced and diced by one of the most oddly sympathetic serial killers you'll ever meet, I'm watching a fluffy sheep save the day with the help of his sheep buddies and one poor sheepdog. I might need therapy after these two series.

How to Train Your Dragon

It's rare when Jeff buys a movie just so I can see it. He had gone to the theater on the cruise ship to see How To Train Your Dragon and I hadn't gone. So when it finally came out on DVD, Jeff practically ran to the store and bought it. He made me watch it the first night. Halfway through the movie, I loudly announced

"If anything happens to harm this dragon, you are so in trouble."

It took me less than forty minutes and I was already completely enchanted by the dragon. I'm an animal lover by nature and tend to anthropomorphize anyway but the way the animators imbued him with cat-like sweetness, put me over the edge. I loved Toothless. I worried about Toothless. While I loved Hiccup's character, it was Toothless that stole the show for me. I'm always amazed by what animators can do with just the movement of an ear. With just the movement of Toothless's ears, they could make him angry or curious or happy. Without saying a word the creature spoke volumes. I'm in awe of that.

The whole film was both funny and sweet. I loved Craig Ferguson's character. So much of the dialogue and narration was clever. With lines like "This is Berk. It snows nine months out of the year, and hails the other three. What little food grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here, even more so," you can't help but laugh. The relationship between Hiccup and pretty much everyone was interesting. I loved the banter between him and Astrid. But it was touching too. I'll even admit that when Stoick thanked Toothless for bringing Hiccup down to earth safely, I shed more than a few tears. But it was the animation that made me love the film. The emotion on one dragon's face made it all worth it. Such a great movie. I'm awfully glad that Jeff made me watch it.

My Neighbor Totoro

One of my big requests for my birthday was for Hayao Miyazaki films. It's hard to call myself a true animation fan with the knowledge that there are some Miyazaki films out there that I haven't seen. I've seen a few and I even own Spirited Away but there are plenty of his films that I don't own. So I asked my sister for Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (pronounced Toto-row) and I was thrilled when she bought me both that one and Castle in the Sky.

My Neighbor Totoro is enchanting. It is a small elegant film about two young girls and their father who settling in rural Japan during the 1950s. The girl's mother is in the hospital suffering from tuberculosis. The family move into a wonderful old farmhouse filled with soot sprites, nice neighbors, and a nearby grove of trees. The trees are guarded by Totoro, a cat/bear/owl creature who never speaks but takes the girls on the most amazing journeys. Totoro protects the girls and the living things around him. When Mei, the younger, runs away, it is Totoro who helps to find her with the help of his friend the cat-bus. If that sounds fantastical, it is. The movie is a mix of quiet gentle moments, and almost psychedelic fantasy. The cat-bus in particular is a bit out there. But what I remember about the film isn't really the fantastic elements, but the gentle moments of beauty. Totoro is a wonderful creature, gentle and sweet. He is silly and playful and nurturing.

Life is quiet out in the rural world and the people are polite and thankful. I was touched by the politeness and gentility. People thank the gods for simple things, like when the girls are trapped in a small roadside shrine by a rainstorm. They both turn and bow to the roadside god with the simple plea that they be allowed to stay. It's a touching moment, filled with a humility that we don't see much anymore. I'm not particularly religious but I loved the constant mention of spirits and gods in this film. The family thanks the trees for protecting them. They attempt to appease the soot sprites, in order to get them to leave. The characters seem to respect the things around them.

There was no central plot with this movie. In fact there was very little action. Instead it was a collection of simple scenes but they all added up for me. I felt at peace after watching the film. And more than anything, I felt renewed.

Children's Movie Weekend

I've been trying to write this post since Sunday. Not sure why I'm having problems with it.

I spent the weekend reading and watching movies and doing very little else. It was blissful. I read three books this weekend, including a new Christopher Moore novel. I spent all day yesterday curled up on the couch. I drank numerous pots of coffee and wasted my days with words and moving pictures. It was a great weekend.

My movie taste lately has run to the juvenile. If it's not animated or geared towards the 10 and under set, I'm not interested. So this weekend I plugged in my earphones, curled up with my laptop, and watched three different kids movies. One animated, one children's classic, and one new classic.

The animated film was Flushed Away, a collaboration between Dreamworks and Aardman Studios. I'm a huge fan of Aardman, so I'd been excited to get a chance to watch it. The film follows a snobby spoiled fancy rat (played by Hugh Jackman) who gets flushed down the toilet and ends up in the rat world below. There he must help a ship's captain retrieve a jewel of hers that he helped hand over to the frog overlord of the Sewers. When the jewel proves to be a fake, the two rats set off to return Hugh Jackman's character home and replace it with a real one. All while being pursued by the frog and his henchmen. I've seen plenty of Aardman films and own my fair share. Sadly this one won't be joining my shelves. It was a decent movie with a couple good scenes but nothing that stood out for me. The animation was fun (it always is with Aardman) but it missed the sophistication of Wallace and Gromit or the witty writing of a Chicken Run. Not my favorite.

The second film was one I haven't seen in well over a decade. When I was a kid I loved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the movie based on the Ian Fleming novel about a car with a mind of its own. I love Dick Van Dyke's performance, I loved the crazy inventions, I loved the silly story, and I loved the car. I remember being terrified by the Child Catcher, although I don't remember understanding the Vulgarian society. I didn't understand how much of a tyrant the Baron was. Watching the film again this weekend I notice how many songs the film had. I hadn't remembered all of them. Although the ones I did remember are the ones I'm still humming today. I was just as impressed with how sweet the film was. There was a lot of humor but a lot of tenderness as well. A fun film that I'd somehow managed to ignore for almost 20 years.

But the winner for the weekend was a new film that will quickly become a favorite. I watched Nanny McPhee on Saturday and was instantly charmed by the film. The story focuses on seven incredibly naughty children who finally meet their match when Nanny McPhee shows up to whip them into shape. She's hideous, she's unconventional, and she's magic. She teaches the kids lessons by giving them exactly what they want, only more than they want. Emma Thompson plays Nanny McPhee perfectly. She starts the role hideous and strict, and slowly grows more beautiful and more likable as the children become more well behaved. But the best part for me was watching the children grow. They start out as selfish uncontrollable brats with a distant father; and gradually the family becomes more caring and loving, both the kids and the father. The movie had magic, had humor, and had heart. One of my new favorite kid's movies. Well worth a watch.

Animated Chemistry

As I'm sure I've mentioned before I've become completely addicted to Neatorama. I've added it to my news bookmarks and go there daily for a bit of inspiration, entertainment, or education. It's just like the magazine Mental Floss, which my sister has been working (and succeeding) on getting me to read.

The last couple of days or so, Neatorama has featured animation from some young animators. And after watching today's feature, I simply had to share. The image above is from Oxygen, the story of a young oxygen molecule trying to make friends at his elementary school, with some odd, and very funny results (click the link for the full 2 minute animated film). My favorite part was his interactions with Barium. If my chemistry class had been as funny as this short was I probably would have paid better attention in class. The animation is the work of Christopher Hendryx and was his graduation project for Ringling College of Art and Design. This is a must see for any science fan, or heck, anyone who likes to laugh (and learn). Short, sweet, and very funny.

Animation Evening

It's not often that I have to work a ton of overtime at my job but last night was one of those days. I had an incredibly stressful project that needed to be finished that night for the governor's office so I ended up staying at the office much later than usual. Mentally I was drained by the time I got into the car so I called Jeff and told him I was picking up Taco John's (my nearly obsessive guilty pleasure) and did he want anything. A bagful of cheesy, fried, and greasy food later, I settled into the couch to enjoy one of my other favorite activity, watching animated films.

The last time Jeff and I were in Target I noticed a copy of Wallace and Gromit's The Wrong Trousers for a decent price. I love Wallace and Gromit so I did a little persuading (okay I begged) to be able to buy it. Last night I sat down and popped it into my computer. Jeff was working on his last paper for the semester and I didn't want to bother him. The Wrong Trousers was the second Wallace and Gromit film done and I still think it is their best. If you haven't seen it yet, I would recommend finding a copy. It has the duo playing foil to a very crafty penguin. I won't tell you more because I don't want to spoil it. Thirty minutes of pure enjoyment.

After the film itself was done, I watched the Making Of special with Nick Park and Aardman Studios. I got to watch how Nick moved the characters, what a typical shot was like, and a bit about his history as an animator. It was fun but in the back of my mind all I could think about was the fire that Aardman Studios had in 2005 destroying over 30 years of props. It was really tough to think of all of those sets, all of those clay figures, all that art simply gone.

After Wallace and Gromit, I headed over to one of my favorite places to spend time, Animation Blog. This blog, which posts regularly, provides commentary and links on animated films from all over the internet. It focuses more on short films than on the full length features that hit the theaters. And almost all of the films that it offers are wonderful. Some are sweet and sad, others are comical, and still others simply make you think. Most of the great animation being produced right now is simply beautiful. Often the mix of digital and hand-drawn can have some amazing effects. I watched a couple different films off of Animation Blog but then ended up getting sucked onto the YouTube for Gobelins and that's where I stayed.

Gobelins is an art school in France that seems to have one of the best animation programs in the world. The films that these kids are putting out are well above anything that the major studios can put out. So many of them are thoughtful, funny, and sweet, sometimes all at once. I know that when I start a Gobelins film that I'll see something unique and beautiful. Of all the animation that I've watched, these tend to be the films that draw me. I watched probably 15 to 20 of those films last night. The school has just released their film introductions for the upcoming animation festival, Annecy International Film Festival. With only a minute or two these film intros made me practically beg to see the rest. Beautiful, powerful, and exhilarating. This is animation at its finest.

Image from last year's Annecy offering Mostera Deliciosa. In fact this link will lead you to a youtube video for all four of Gobelins film introductions for 2009. You need to click on it. Seriously.

Up, Up, and....

Well still here. I'm having an odd week. As you all know I haven't done any posting this week. I've been in full recovery mode. The only thoughts that have been running through my head this week have been how to get from Point A to Point B. That means that all the things I want to talk about, all the cool things I've learned this week, all the interesting films I've seen, have been relegated to the back of my mind while I concentrate on learning crutches and finding out how to do things I've taken for granted before. Like eating breakfast, and showering.

But there is only so long I can go without writing, much like reading. And this was the breaking point. So I'm going to start with something that happened what feels like months ago. Last week I watched Pixar's Up and I've been wanting to talk about it. As most of you know I'm a HUGE Pixar fan. Other than Cars, which I thought was lackluster, I have loved everything that Pixar has ever created. Their movies are wonderful, their shorts are funny and poignant, and everything they create has tons of heart.

This movie is no exception. When I say that I cried within the first 20 minutes of this film you will understand exactly how much heart this movie has. I fell instantly in love with the love story between Carl and Ellie. We watch them meet, fall in love, get married, and follow them throughout their lives. This is done with little dialogue but by the end we are already in love with this couple. Those first twenty minutes of the film, may very well be my favorite montage in a film ever. I laughed, I cried, and I sighed with them. And that was just the set up.

The film follows Carl who, after Ellie's death, decides to carry out her last wishes and move to Paradise Falls in South America. He rigs the house with balloons and manages to fly there, with one stowaway, a young boy scout named Russell. Although Carl is not happy to have Russell with him, he realizes that getting him home would be problematic and the two become unlikely partners. When the house lands close to the falls, Carl and Russell decide to walk there to set up. Along the way they meet Doug, a talking dog and Kevin, a gigantic bird that becomes the basis for all the movie's conflicts. They also meet a famous explorer who Carl once idealized. He has been hunting for Kevin for decades and has been driven mad by the search. He and his army of talking dogs then start hunting for Russell and Carl since they know the whereabouts of the bird.

It is an odd plot and in places is far more intense than I would have expected. The flight from the crazy explorer (Charles Munts) and the later fight against him was action packed with tons of impressive animation work. The visuals are beautiful throughout the film. But what really stuck with me was the heart of the story. The love story between Carl and Ellie and later the friendship between Carl and Russell really made this movie for me. We see how Carl changes over the course of the film. This is his story, and never has a children's film about an old man, created such a stirring realistic character. Kids will love the talking dogs and the moments of slapstick once the pair reach the Falls. Adults will love the character of Carl and the film's ideas of relationships, idolization, and life. Me, I just fell in love with the whole thing.

The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9

As you know I'm a huge animation fan. I watch animated films, I have three different animation blogs that I read regularly, and I'd love to learn how to create my own. And when I see things like The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9, I remember why I love this medium.

The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9 is one of the sweetest, funniest, and most exciting bit of animation I've seen in a while. It's short and filled with fun. I saw it months ago on Irene Gallo/Tor's Saturday Morning Cartoons but it is released exclusively by Cartoon Brew TV (a great place to visit for some fun animation).

Terrible Thing is the brainchild of Jake Armstrong who did the film for a thesis project. It follows an astronaut who is attempting to capture the bounty on the creature that lives on the planet Alpha-9. It's a wild romp with a very manly astronaut and a very unusual monster. I won't tell you more than that because I want you to watch it instead. The film has slowly gained notoriety by word of mouth mostly. I watched it and then immediately had to show it to Jeff. Then share with a coworker or two or three. It's a bit twisted at the end but in a good way. It's well worth a viewing.

Pixar's Presto

I just started reading Animation Blog and stumbled upon this Pixar short that I have somehow not seen. Considering how much I love Pixar's work this is shocking to me. I'm not kidding when I say that this is the funniest thing I have seen in a long, long time.

Pixar's Presto.

Seriously, click on it. You will not be disappointed.

Fractured Fairy Tales

I was too young to enjoy Rocky and Bullwinkle on its first go round. Since the show stopped running in 1964 and I was born about a decade later I had to rely on reruns and recorded videos (Beta back then for my family) to see the shows. But my parents had apparently been fans since we had most of the episodes. I loved Peabody and Sherman, Dudley Do-Right, and Boris and Natasha. But my favorite sequence had to be Fractured Fairy Tales.


This past week borrowed a bunch of animated films from my mom and one of those was a collection of the odd fairy tales. I sat down last night to watch them. I had forgotten how silly and funny the series was. I loved the revisionary stories and the modern plots. This is incredibly inventive writing. I had forgotten the changes made to stories like Rumpelstiltskin and The Pied Piper. One version of Cinderella had her wanting desperately to live in the palace but she couldn't because she's a commoner. Her Fairy Godmother turns her into a princess but there is one problem with her romance with the prince. He's tired of living in the palace and needs to marry a commoner to get out. So she's pretending to be a prince and he's hunting for a commoner. Suffice to say that everyone ends happily but not in the standard story way. There were at least two versions of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Rumpelstiltskin. There was constantly a surprise at the end which often was done with a sly wink. Adults who know the stories will love the changes made.



What I think I had overlooked when I was a kid was how primitive the animation was. Some of the characters were little more than line drawings and the backgrounds were not always constant. Perhaps this realization now is because animation has become so incredibly good lately. Although comparing the animation work of Rocky and Bullwinkle to some of the films and shorts that Disney was putting out and we could see that there was a clear gap in skill level. [Edit: I found out while digging around today that some of the animation work for Rocky and Bullwinkle was outsourced to a Mexican animation studio and that the creators often found huge errors in the work].



The thing that impressed me the most though was the voice work. The voices were hilarious. They really brought out the funny moments of the series and sometimes the moment characters started talking I would be laughing. The voices were just so unusual. It was Jeff who sent me to the internet after he couldn't place a voice. There I found out a bit about Daws Butler, who had done a lot of uncredited work for Fractured Fairy Tales. His was the voice we recognized. And after doing a bit of digging, I realized why. Bulter had done the voice for Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss, Captain Crunch, Huckleberry Hound, and Quick Draw McGraw. I had grown up with his voice, although in many different incarnations. His vocal work for Fractured Fairy Tales left me in stitches.


I loved the Rocky and Bullwinkle show and watching the Fairy Tales last night reminded me why. This is not just a cartoon for kids. Although it was on in the evening and had been partially geared towards kids, there were tons of jokes that I know children wouldn't get. It was a series that managed to play up and play down to it's audience. And you never knew what you were going to get. Tons of fun.

Watching Coraline

I read Neil Gaiman’s creepy little story right after it came out. I remember sitting on the stairs after getting dressed that morning trying to finish the book before I had to go to work. I also remember taking it to work with me so that I could read the final conflict between Coraline and the other mother from my desk drawer. I simply had to find out what happened. I loved the story. As I have said repeatedly, here and to anyone else who will listen, Neil Gaiman has to be one of the most imaginative and fantastic writers out there. I’m constantly impressed by his work.

When Coraline came out in the theaters, I didn’t go, mostly because I hate the theaters. I also don’t normally like movies that are based off books I’ve loved. The book is almost always better. But curiosity got the better of me. And on Sunday I bought the movie (collector’s edition and all) sight unseen with the knowledge that even if I didn’t like the treatment I would love the animation. I wasn’t disappointed. The stop motion animation story of Coraline is a visual masterpiece. I’ve always been a huge fan of stop motion and Henry Selick carries it to its most beautiful and believable conclusion. There were times in the film last night where I was so caught up in the incredible colors and settings that I forgot that the film was stop motion. I am constantly in awe of the amount of thought and work that goes into making a film like this. That’s why I had to buy the collector’s edition. I wanted the “making of” features.

The film stays mostly true to the book with a couple notable changes. While I understand the addition of the character of Wybie, I was mostly just annoyed with him. In fact I, like Coraline, preferred the silent version in the other mother’s world. I loved the treatment of Bobinski and the actresses downstairs Misses Forcible and Spink. Coraline was a wonderful character and we really get a chance to see the depth of her emotion. I’m constantly amazed by how they can create such deep emotions with puppets. But I really thought the Other Mother stole the show. They created a character so cloyingly sweet at the beginning that she is almost smothering, and then a character so incredibly evil that I’m sure there were plenty of children who went home and had nightmares. The film seemed an interesting mix of childish and adult and I went away with the feeling that the movie was actually more geared towards adults than children. That is not a criticism. It is rare to find animated films that have an edge and this one delivered. There were wonderful moments of humor but there was also an edge of creepiness throughout the film.

After watching the film I sat down to watch the “making of” features. I am constantly in awe of any type of animation but stop motion in particular. The bonus features were interesting although I’ll be on the lookout for a book that covers it as well. I wanted more of the puppet building and less on the voicing of the characters. But I may be one of the few people who are interested in that kind of thing. Considering I spent the rest of the evening on the couch reading a “making of” book for Toy Story, I’m far more interested than the average joe. (by the way, did anyone else know that Joss Whedon helped write the script for Toy Story?) I sadly can’t watch Coraline in 3-D (I tried) but with only one real working eye, everything just looked green. But even without the 3-D, I was pulled into the film. I was impressed and awed by the movie, but a little disappointed with the bonus features.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Okay by the time I'm actually writing this, it is Sunday morning. I've had family in town all weekend and have been busy with them. I figure I can sacrifice some sleep to write. Oh what am I talking about, I'm never in bed before 2 on weekends. 

As I've mentioned a couple times I'm a huge fan of animation. Originally that was simply Disney films but over the years I have developed a love for all types of animation. Perhaps the same part of my brain that adores children's books, is stimulated by a simple animated film. I had started reading Adam Rex's blogs a year ago or so. And Adam Rex led me to Irene Gallo at Tor. Tor is a wonderful fantasy/Sci-Fi publisher and Irene works with the art side of the business. Let me think, fantasy and artwork. A perfect combination for me. 

And then I found the Saturday Morning Cartoon segment of the blog. I spent a couple days watching each of the animated features. Irene adds a new pair either weekly or every other week. Recent addition Al Dente is classic animation telling the very disturbing and sweet story of a little girl outsmarting a giant. One Rat Short, posted back in October 2008, is one of the saddest, most emotionally complex 10 minutes I've ever seen. I has more personality than some full length features I've seen. How Wings Are Attached to the Backs of Angels is disturbing, dark, and oddly hypnotic. Space Alone is very sad but cute. And Wind Along the Coast or When the Day Breaks just make me happy for reasons I can't describe. Any of the films posted is wonderful in their own way.