Click here for more award-worthy shorts to keep an eye out for.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Head Over Heels
One of the excellent Best Animated Shorts nominees for this year's Academy Awards. Tune in this Sunday to see who wins!
Click here for more award-worthy shorts to keep an eye out for.
Click here for more award-worthy shorts to keep an eye out for.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Flea & Fly in "City Trouble"
Definitely got the throwback style down, with some modern wrong-ness thrown in.
Monday, February 18, 2013
The End of the World
In honor of the recent Russian meteor, I'm reaching back to a decade-old web video that I still love. Ladies and gentlemen, the end of the world...
Friday, February 8, 2013
History of Greed
A treatise on the evolution of learning. Or just a light joke to send you into the weekend.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Moon Rock
A stream-of-dream-consciousness trip from George Dunning, following his work on The Beatles' Yellow Submarine.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
How many licks does it take to get to the center?
The world may never know.
This Tootsie Pop commercial was an institution for several generations, but I believe has faded away over the last couple decades.
This Tootsie Pop commercial was an institution for several generations, but I believe has faded away over the last couple decades.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Dick Figures: Kung Fu Winners
This cartoon is nominated for an Annie Award in individual achievement: Directing in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production. In this case, the venue would be web video.
Annie Awards winners will be announced Saturday, February 2. Check here to see who won.
Annie Awards winners will be announced Saturday, February 2. Check here to see who won.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Eyes On the Stars
This Annie Award nominee for Best Animated Short is based on a true story from the life of astronaut Ronald McNair, who died in the Challenger shuttle explosion which happened 27 years ago today. This story from McNair's childhood is told by his brother Carl.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
BONUS! Animated Shorts to keep an eye out for
Many of the Annie Awards nominees that Animation of the Day would like to share are not available online. Here's a rundown of some of the best. Keep them on your radar. If you ever find yourself with an opportunity to see them, we strongly encourage you to take the time to do so.
A lonely young vampire seeks to live a normal life and play with other children. This short has a strong, unique visual style.
A compelling look into the conflicted mind of a creative individual. This short makes smart use of the stop-motion medium to represent the internal fragmentation caused by fear and creative stifling.
A colorful, musical, irreverent, classic-Warner Bros.-esque take on the knight-saves-princess-from-a-dragon fairy tale.
Based on a true event, this beautifully-animated short follows a Japanese-American internee at the Tule Lake segregation camp during World War II as she tries to bring a bit of joy to her family in the midst of grim circumstances. Conceived and directed by a descendent of the movie's subject.
A lonely young vampire seeks to live a normal life and play with other children. This short has a strong, unique visual style.
A compelling look into the conflicted mind of a creative individual. This short makes smart use of the stop-motion medium to represent the internal fragmentation caused by fear and creative stifling.
A colorful, musical, irreverent, classic-Warner Bros.-esque take on the knight-saves-princess-from-a-dragon fairy tale.
Based on a true event, this beautifully-animated short follows a Japanese-American internee at the Tule Lake segregation camp during World War II as she tries to bring a bit of joy to her family in the midst of grim circumstances. Conceived and directed by a descendent of the movie's subject.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Bill Plympton Couch Gag from "Beware My Cheating Bart"
This "Simpsons" couch gag, by animation hero Bill Plympton, is a 2013 Annie Award nominee for Best Animated Short.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Head Over Heels
From now through the night of the ceremony, Animation of the Day will post nothing but Annie Award-nominated shorts. Check back each weekday to see one of this year's nominees.
Kicking things off is this gem of a movie. Unfortunately, the full version is currently unavailable online. But this is such a great one that, in order to spread awareness, just the preview will be posted here. If you ever have the opportunity to watch the full short, take advantage; you'll be happy you did.
Kicking things off is this gem of a movie. Unfortunately, the full version is currently unavailable online. But this is such a great one that, in order to spread awareness, just the preview will be posted here. If you ever have the opportunity to watch the full short, take advantage; you'll be happy you did.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Drinking Out of Cups
Stream-of-consciousness randomness from Dan Deacon, animated by Liam Lynch.
NOTE: If you're sensitive to language, you'll probably want to skip this one.
If you need a bit more of an explanation, click here.
NOTE: If you're sensitive to language, you'll probably want to skip this one.
If you need a bit more of an explanation, click here.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
I Live in the Woods
My self-declared "Tree Week" continues with this crazy little number. This short has its flaws, but they pale in comparison to its anarchic energy and indelible imagery. Absolutely insane and -- WARNING TO SENSITIVE VIEWERS -- gory, this stream-of-consciousness piece is completely unpredictable. Filmmaker Max Winston went on to have a hand in many of the stop-motion shows you've seen in the last few years.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Out of a Forest
I found a bunch of forest-related cartoons, so I'm declaring this TREE WEEK! Kicking things off is a nice little stop-motion animation about rabbits.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Slimtime
Monday, January 7, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
The Man Who Could Sit Anywhere
From the folks at "Cyanide & Happiness." If you're not already reading that comic, you're missing some of the funniest stuff on the web. Check it out!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Christmas Shoes by Patton Oswalt
Christmas has come and gone, but Patton Oswalt has something to say about the song "Christmas Shoes," set to animation by John Kuramoto.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Monday, December 24, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
"Holly Jolly Christmas"
Snowman Week concludes with everybody's favorite frozen narrator, Sam, singing the closing number from Rankin/Bass's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Frosty the Snowman (UPA)
This version of "Frosty the Snowman" was created in 1954 by United Productions of America. Popular mainly throughout the midwest, it's a mainstay of Chicago's WGN-TV.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The Snowman - Walking In The Air
Here's a snippet from Raymond Briggs' "The Snowman," the 1982 adaptation of his 1978 book.
Watch the full-length special by clicking here.
Watch the full-length special by clicking here.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Frosty The Snowman
This week is Snowman Week on Animation of the Day. And to kick it off, one of the most recognized, beloved snowmen off all time, Frosty!
Produced by Rankin/Bass five years after their holiday mega-hit "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman" marks the first time the company used traditional cel animation in a holiday special (rather than stop-motion) in an effort to create a greeting card look. Notice the use of washed out, warm pastels and jagged, overlapping sketch lines in the backgrounds.
Now, everybody sing along...
Produced by Rankin/Bass five years after their holiday mega-hit "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman" marks the first time the company used traditional cel animation in a holiday special (rather than stop-motion) in an effort to create a greeting card look. Notice the use of washed out, warm pastels and jagged, overlapping sketch lines in the backgrounds.
Now, everybody sing along...
Saturday, December 15, 2012
BONUS! It's a SpongeBob SquarePants Stop-Motion
A behind-the-scenes look at the SpongeBob stop-motion special, as told by Primetime Love.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Robot Chicken: Gandalf Game Show
The new addition to Peter Jackson's Middle Earth cycle -- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey -- opens in theaters today. To celebrate, here's a "Robot Chicken" sketch featuring Gandalf (as voiced by Bryan Cranston) facing off with a puppet modeled after me!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The Spirit of Christmas
This is where it all began for Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
As film students in 1992, they created the first "Spirit of Christmas" short using construction paper and an old 8mm camera.
A copy of this short somehow made its way to an executive at Fox, who then commissioned Parker and Stone to make a new "Spirit of Christmas" short which he distributed to some 80 friends as a "video Christmas card" in 1995.
It was so popular amongst its recipients that it became a must-have bootleg throughout the industry. It wasn't long before the TV networks started calling, and in 1997 "South Park" debuted on Comedy Central.
As film students in 1992, they created the first "Spirit of Christmas" short using construction paper and an old 8mm camera.
A copy of this short somehow made its way to an executive at Fox, who then commissioned Parker and Stone to make a new "Spirit of Christmas" short which he distributed to some 80 friends as a "video Christmas card" in 1995.
It was so popular amongst its recipients that it became a must-have bootleg throughout the industry. It wasn't long before the TV networks started calling, and in 1997 "South Park" debuted on Comedy Central.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
"Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" by The California Raisins
Back in 1987, CBS first aired "A Claymation Christmas Celebration," featuring the titular stop-motion methods pioneered by Will Vinton and made popular by the California Raisins ad campaign (among other works). Here are the California Raisins performing the special's climactic piece, "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Christmas Vacation intro
The bright, colorful, squishy, excellently-animated opening credits sequence to the modern classic National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation deserves it's own showcase. So here it is.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
BONUS! Voice actor Rob Paulsen on playing Pinky, Yakko Warner, and two mutant ninja turtles
Voice actor Rob Paulsen on playing Pinky, Yakko Warner, and two mutant ninja turtles
Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.
The actor: Rob Paulsen began his acting career in front of the camera, yet in spite of (or perhaps because of) featured roles in Body Double and Stewardess School, he took advantage of the opportunity to shift gears and pursued a career in voice acting instead. This decision was fortuitous: Paulsen has become one of the most recognizable and popular figures in his field, voicing characters in some of the most famous cartoons of the past few decades, including Animaniacs, Pinky And The Brain, The Tick, and, perhaps most impressively, two different heroes on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: first Raphael, and now, in Nickelodeon’s new incarnation of the series, Donatello. He also frequently discusses voicework with other ...
Read more
Welcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.
The actor: Rob Paulsen began his acting career in front of the camera, yet in spite of (or perhaps because of) featured roles in Body Double and Stewardess School, he took advantage of the opportunity to shift gears and pursued a career in voice acting instead. This decision was fortuitous: Paulsen has become one of the most recognizable and popular figures in his field, voicing characters in some of the most famous cartoons of the past few decades, including Animaniacs, Pinky And The Brain, The Tick, and, perhaps most impressively, two different heroes on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: first Raphael, and now, in Nickelodeon’s new incarnation of the series, Donatello. He also frequently discusses voicework with other ...
Read more
Friday, December 7, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Lavatory - Lovestory
This Russian cartoon by Konstantin Bronzit was nominated for a Best Animated Short Oscar in 2009.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Saturday, December 1, 2012
BONUS! Animatic vs. Animation
Our friends at "Robot Chicken" offer this educational look at the decisions that go into changing a final animated shot from what was planned in the storyboard stage. Enjoy!
A Closer Look at Hemlock Gin & Juice
There are a lot of variables that can necessitate changes between animatic and animation, as you’ll see in this post.
Check out these stills from this week’s “wet t-shirt contest” sketch. Here is the opening shot, first as it appears in the animatic, and then as it appeared on TV:
Besides the angle being a little wider, everything looks pretty similar, right? Check out the next shot.
While the board calls for the camera to pan over to the man shouting, we opted to do a digital punch in. The camera angle didn’t change, we just zoomed in a bit. Why? Because in TV production, time rules all. Our show (and all other shows) are on an extremely tight deadline. A physical camera movie takes a lot of time, but a digital punch-in only takes a few seconds.
The original boards cut to a new wall, but we chose to frame our first shot with the wall already in frame. If had done what the boards asked, we would have had to re-frame our camera and put up a new set! Our final angle is also nice because it doesn’t require the characters to move around as much, which saves time and improves the pacing of the sketch.
We have to make decisions like this for every sketch! Spending less time on some sketches allows us to spend more time on others. In the end, the joke is king. We won’t cut corners if it makes the punchline fall flat. It’s a careful balancing act, but after six seasons we’ve gotten pretty good at it!
Click here to read more from the "Robot Chicken" folks.
A Closer Look at Hemlock Gin & Juice
There are a lot of variables that can necessitate changes between animatic and animation, as you’ll see in this post.
Check out these stills from this week’s “wet t-shirt contest” sketch. Here is the opening shot, first as it appears in the animatic, and then as it appeared on TV:
Animatic
Animation
Animatic
Animation
Animatic
Animation
Animatic
Animation
We have to make decisions like this for every sketch! Spending less time on some sketches allows us to spend more time on others. In the end, the joke is king. We won’t cut corners if it makes the punchline fall flat. It’s a careful balancing act, but after six seasons we’ve gotten pretty good at it!
Click here to read more from the "Robot Chicken" folks.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Every Dog's Guide To Complete Home Safety
I really appreciate the deceptive simplicity of the art in this short, like a Sunday newspaper comic. Also, dogs.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
BONUS! Alicia Keys sings 'Gummi Bears'
Here's a little weekend bonus - Alicia Keys doing a cover of the "Gummi Bears" theme song on Jimmy Fallon.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
South Park - Picking a Turkey
Gobbles!
"Helen Keller the Musical" is one of the best Thanksgiving-themed episodes of television ever produced. In fact, why don't you just set aside 22 minutes and watch the whole thing? This "South Park" episode combines elements of American Thanksgiving, the story of Helen Keller, witty observations about musical theater both professional and amateur (including a perfect parody of Colm Wilkinson), and the always-reliable story of an underdog... and somehow makes it all fit together. You won't regret watching it.
Click here to watch!
"Helen Keller the Musical" is one of the best Thanksgiving-themed episodes of television ever produced. In fact, why don't you just set aside 22 minutes and watch the whole thing? This "South Park" episode combines elements of American Thanksgiving, the story of Helen Keller, witty observations about musical theater both professional and amateur (including a perfect parody of Colm Wilkinson), and the always-reliable story of an underdog... and somehow makes it all fit together. You won't regret watching it.
Click here to watch!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
The Tale of the Three Brothers
The virtuosic animated sequence from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Created by Framestore, directed by Ben Hibon.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Gulp. The world's largest stop-motion animation
About a year after the viral success of their microscopic stop-motion animated short, Nokia went the opposite direction and made the world's largest stop-motion animation.
And here's how they did it:
And here's how they did it:
Monday, November 12, 2012
Dot. The world's smallest stop-motion animation character
This caused a sensation a couple years ago - a stop-motion animation created on an incredibly small scale. Watch to the end to see exactly how small.
To explain a little more, here's a making-of:
To explain a little more, here's a making-of:
Friday, November 9, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
Creature Comforts
Aardman Animations, the studio that would go on to create Wallace and Gromit, won an Oscar with this early concept of interviewing ordinary people, then re-contextualizing sound bites by putting the words into the mouths of various animals. A clever and charming concept, well-executed.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Sufjan Stevens - Mr. FROSTY MAN
Well, Halloween may be over, but the zombie menace has yet to be eradicated in this Sufjan Stevens video.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Skeleton Frolic (1937)
Apparently Ub Iwerks wasn't finished with skeletons after making 1929's "Skeleton Dance" for Disney. So he went to Columbia and made 1937's "Skeleton Frolic."
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)
This is the conclusion to the Disney adaptation of Washington Irving's classic story... the Headless Horseman's attack! The full half hour movie is widely available on various home video formats, often paired with "Mr. Toad." Check it out!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Jason's Deceiving Speed
How Jason stays ahead of his victims, according to "Robot Chicken."
And, an extra little tag...
And, an extra little tag...
Monday, October 15, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
♫The Cat Came Back
I first saw this as a kid, when Nickelodeon decided to play it, out of nowhere. No context, no explanation. Just, "Here's a thing. Watch it." And it was great.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs
This song was a big hit with my friends back when we were in grade school. Now I know a guy who worked on this video.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!
Following up on last Friday's cartoon, many of you will recognize this song from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Here is the original.
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