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2 items from 2011

29 March 2011 7:52 AM, PDT | Den of Geek | See recent Den of Geek news »

Movies such as Ice Age and Madagascar are reliably popular with audiences, but surely, Ryan argues, computer animation is capable of so much more…

Since the earliest days of film, artists have sought to mix live-action footage with animation. Examples include the once cutting-edge stop-motion effects work in the 30s King Kong or the seminal 1914 short, Gertie The Dinosaur, a film that laid the groundwork for movies such as Pete's Dragon and Who Framed Roger Rabbit with its amalgam of hand-drawn characters and human actors. 

In the modern era of computer-generated effects, we've been able to mix real world footage with non-existent characters and environments more seamlessly than was even remotely possible a few decades ago.

1982's Tron was perhaps the first film to place actors in an almost entirely animated environment, which was brought to life using a mixture of computers and traditional animation techniques.

From those groundbreaking films to the present day, »

7 February 2011 4:10 PM, PST | The Film Stage | See recent The Film Stage news »

While not as widely publicized as the Oscars, the self-serving Golden Globes or even the WGA or SAG Awards, the Annies (2011 winners here) are given out each year to honor achievements in animation.

This year, Brad Bird was given the Winsor McCay Award, which recognizes an outstanding or lifetime contribution to the art of animation – and you have admit the man has earned it. The award’s namesake was a pioneer in animation and cartooning, creator of the influential comic strips Little Nemo in Slumberland and Gertie the Dinosaur. Past recipients include such luminaries as Walt Disney, Tex Avery, Max Fleischer and Mel Blanc.

Since Bird has his hands full with the Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, he had to accept the award in a pre-recorded video. Keep watching (around 4 minute 30 seconds mark) after the rather nifty overview of his career for Bird’s acceptance speech, which extols the virtues of live-action filmmaking, »

- Anthony Vieira

2 items from 2011