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I was going to rhetorically ask if Tiana was even a remotely popular name in early 20th century when luckily the internet answered: nope (and do note that Madeline was)

Binker wrote:

Antoine Doinel wrote:controversial

Probably should have named her Jessica and had her working as an administrative assistant. I mean, this is just absurd. Her name's Maddy, which sort of sounds like Mammy? She's a maid? I don't know which groups are voicing these complaints, but for Hollywood it's like why even bother? Why represent anything but the most MOR white culture? You will never get it right and your film's box office will be slashed with the haze of controversy

Well, whether or not the controversy is warranted, Disney aren't doing themselves any favors by setting the film during the Jazz Age in New Orleans.

To be fair Ghibli has had a few stinkers, jut nothing on the level of Cars.

But nothing else is worth comparing at the moment, unless you mean "of all time".
That said Focus looks like it is going to be an interesting player in the animation game at least for this year..

mfunk9786 wrote:Up is the most affecting, emotional animated film I've ever seen.

Not that I doubt your opinion, but isn't this what most people say every time a Pixar movie comes out? People said Incredibles was better than Finding Nemo, and Ratatouille was better than Incredibles, and Wall-E was better than everything before that...and then after a few months, the rankings get all jumbled up again until the next Pixar film comes out.

To be fair Ghibli has had a few stinkers, jut nothing on the level of Cars.

I wouldn't say that. Cars was just "blah", and there were a couple of equally "blah" Ghibli films as well.

mfunk9786 wrote:the best production company in the history of animation

I would say Ghibli and Pixar are the best production companies at creating well executed, family friendly (at least for the most part, when concerning Ghibli) crowd pleasing films. They press the "right" buttons that the mass audiences will respond to while still being conscious of mainstream film critics. But I do feel like TV animation (both U.S. produced and international) has been more willing to push the envelope when it comes to the expectations and genres of what animation can do. Animation's not just all about technical wizardry, big budgets, and family friendly stories.

As for teevee animation I can't think of any good American studios actually.Then again the only ones I can think of are Gainax and Madhouse.

American animation productions aren't known so much by "studios" are they? They kind of ship work out to all over the place.

But with that said, I like Warner Brothers, at least sometimes. I firmly believe the original Batman the Animated Series is a groundbreaking animated show. Justice League did some interesting stuff with the medium too.

Rough Draft, I thought, did some of their best work on Futurama, which I believe is one of the most underappreciated U.S. animated series ever made (it got acclaim, but not enough people watched). It really, truly, created a visually complex (and just plain complex) world and wasn't afraid to experiment with deliberately disjointed narratives either.

Klasky Csupo kind of popularized the "ugly animation" movement. While that might not be everyone's cup of tea, 90% of the U.S. cartoons on TV today bear Klasky Csupo's influence.

In Japan, of course you have Gainax and Madhouse. Sunrise kicks out the occasional gem (although I consider Sunrise to be consistently good, they do not take as many risks ). Production I.G. has been known for some of their politically oriented anime like Ghost in the Shell, Moribito and the currently airing Eden of the East. Gonzo's been inconsistent but they've also cranked out a few pretty unique genre-bending shows.

jojo wrote: But with that said, I like Warner Brothers, at least sometimes. I firmly believe the original Batman the Animated Series is a groundbreaking animated show. Justice League did some interesting stuff with the medium too.

Dini and co actually shipped out to Korea and Japan a lot. On some of the commentaries they list off just a few of the studios they shipped off to.

knives wrote:To be fair Ghibli has had a few stinkers, jut nothing on the level of Cars.

What Ghibli films do you consider to be "stinkers?"

The Cat Returns and Howl's Moving Castle have their fair share of problems and I'm not the biggest fan of Kiki or Porco Rosso either. But like I said, none of them are as bad as Cars, and if I were to be honest not even that is unforgivably bad.

What did you guys think of Partly Cloudy?

I thought it was okay. I was really primed to love it considering that the Pixar shorts seem to only get better and better with each new feature, but I was a little disappointed. It's endearing and clever, but pales in comparison to previous shorts.
The quills sight-gag did make me giggle, though.

Pixar vs. Dreamworks

Disney announces a new, hand drawn feature film for Winnie The Pooh.

knives wrote:The Cat Returns and Howl's Moving Castle have their fair share of problems and I'm not the biggest fan of Kiki or Porco Rosso either. But like I said, none of them are as bad as Cars, and if I were to be honest not even that is unforgivably bad.

Yeah, but none of that makes them "stinkers." Just because a film has problems (and I agree with you about CAT RETURNS and HOWL'S) doesn't make them bad films. Just flawed ones. I look forward to seeing both films again. You may not be a fan of KIKI and PORCO, but KIKI is beloved by millions (including me) and PORCO also has its legions of champions. While I think it's a bit lighter and fluffier than Miyazaki's other films, I still think PORCO is much closer to being a near-masterpiece than HOWL'S. I'd even place it above SPIRITED AWAY, another flawed film that I need to revisit.

I agree, maybe stinker was too hard a word.

Vic Pardo wrote:

knives wrote:The Cat Returns and Howl's Moving Castle have their fair share of problems and I'm not the biggest fan of Kiki or Porco Rosso either. But like I said, none of them are as bad as Cars, and if I were to be honest not even that is unforgivably bad.

Yeah, but none of that makes them "stinkers." Just because a film has problems (and I agree with you about CAT RETURNS and HOWL'S) doesn't make them bad films. Just flawed ones. I look forward to seeing both films again. You may not be a fan of KIKI and PORCO, but KIKI is beloved by millions (including me) and PORCO also has its legions of champions. While I think it's a bit lighter and fluffier than Miyazaki's other films, I still think PORCO is much closer to being a near-masterpiece than HOWL'S. I'd even place it above SPIRITED AWAY, another flawed film that I need to revisit.

The one thing I liked about the Cat Returns (actually, I did like it more than most did) is that it tried to break away from the visual trademark of usual Ghibli stuff. As lovely and cute as Ghibli's designs are, they can get a bit overused at times. Even Takahata, with the exception of My Neighbors the Yamadas (which was based on a newspaper strip anyway) usually adheres to the "house" style.

Managed to get a clean pristine look at the Dali/Disney resurrection of DESTINO. Good god what a sublime experience.

Does anyone who has seen the teaser for Toy Story 3 know if it has a tagline yet? My wife was telling me the other day how her favorite part of TS2 was the tagline "The toys are back in town," and she was tickled by my suggestion for the third: Toys will be toys.

Any Pixar executives reading this, feel free to use it. Just, you know, give me a screen credit (preferably next to John Ratzenberger) or some money or whatever.

HerrSchreck wrote:Managed to get a clean pristine look at the Dali/Disney resurrection of DESTINO. Good god what a sublime experience.

I saw this at the local Dali exhibit. As much as the idea and pictures are beautiful the final animation is shocking with jerky movements and flash animation like dissolves from one point of action to the next with no inbetween work. It really is more of a running mock up of the way it would have been executed than a professional animation.

clydefro at home cinema posted a review of a recent Belgian/French animated film, A Town Called Panic, that looks and sounds quite charming. Anyone seen it?

http://homecinema.thedigitalfix.co.uk/c ... panic.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1433540/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just watched A Town Called Panic on Netflix instant play, and it is charming. It follows the logic of a child playing with his toys, where every small incident becomes a major panic, which snowballs until the characters are so far away from their starting point that it takes a minute to remember how they got there. It's got some great visual jokes, mostly involving the character named Horse; it runs at a fast clip, with high energy throughout (can get a bit tiring, sense it's as substantial as a cupcake). Could be good for kids who can read subtitles (a few swear words in there: "dumb ass" and "bastards") but apparently there's an English dub on the DVD. Nicely realized concept, great art and sets, not much to dislike.

It's based on a TV show of (I think) the same name. The show is made up of vignettes, which really suit the frenetic pace, allowing things to escalate quickly without getting tiresome. Not sure how the movie is structured. I meant to see it a few months ago when it was playing here but I didn't get around to doing it.

The Town Called Panic! TV episodes surfaced on the Aardman's Darkside disc, whilst the characters have also cropped up in the Cravendale ads on British TV (example).

Something about this "Cyclotrope" film reminds me of Norman McLaren in a way that's rare in most recent animation I've seen. It's probably the beautiful simplicity on display and the excitement of basic/abstract motion given "life" and made increasingly elaborate. It's by a young British animator, Tim Wheatley. I hope we'll be seeing more from him.