Cartoon Acting vs Tracing and MoCap

Thad Komorowski has recently posted some examples of cartoon acting in reaction to statements made by ignorant film critic Mick LaSalle and actor suck-up James Lipton. LaSalle really pissed me off with this particular comment on motion capture:

"Imagine what Disney might have done with this in the creation of the Seven Dwarfs. Imagine all the things that will be done with this in the future. "Monster House" looks like the ground floor of something important."

This is a slap in the face to all the talented artists who pioneered feature animation on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. To add insult to injury Lipton said:

"In theory, if you rotoscope a really good performance by a really good actor, it ought to be much more effective than an animated performance that's been drawn or computer generated to match a voice."

Give me a fucking break! Tracing a live actor is better than having a real animator create their own performance? BULLSHIT.

Clipboard Sketches

Ren and Stimpy: The Lost Episodes DVD

Okay, so it's been out a for over a week and I haven't said a peep about this DVD. I'm not going to get into some long boring review because nothing I write can convey how hilarious and well drawn these episodes are. However, I will go out on a limb and say this is the best cartoon animation made for television to date. Check out some of the great cartooning below, you won't see drawings this good on Family Guy!

Check out this awesome duck! When's the last time you've seen a cartoon character on TV with a unique expression?

Buy It From Amazon Now You Fool!

You've Got Crabs!

Some Old Friends

I've been drawing these characters and writing stories for them since the art school days. Their personalities have done an about face since then, and their design has mutated a lot. At this point I'm finally ready to take a crack at animating them in a scene. There's a couple of ideas I have knocking around which I'll be posting sketches from. Once I have some rough boards I'll record the voices and then dive into the animation. Yikes!

Check It Out: T.A.M.S.Y

Dean's writing always cracks me up and I felt inclined to let all you good people know about his blog The Answer May Surprise You. If you don't laugh out loud, I promise to give you a swift kick to the crotch!

The Amazing Screw-On Head

Head over to Sci-Fi's site and check out the pilot for Mike Mignola's The Amazing Screw-On Head animated series. The only way to describe it is a steam-punk/horror/comedy. It features the voices of Paul Giamatti, David Hyde Pierce and Molly Shannon. After you watch it, take the short survey and let Sci-Fi know how much you love it.

Money Makin'

Sorry for the lack of posts recently! Leah and I have been goin' full steam with our freelance work to try and reach our financial goals so we can move to Los Angeles ASAP. Any free time I have lately has been spent watching the bajeezus out of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3. Here's a page of doodles from one of those short periods of 'rest'.