Disney Family Album - Milt Kahl and Ward Kimball

My Class 4 mentor from Animation Mentor send us every week a collection of links and references and videos about great animators, which is absolutely amazing!

Two of the animators he talked about and sent us some reference to watch were two of the Nine old Men, the great legendary animators that developed many of the Walt Disney animations that we know today!

So I wanted to share what seemed to be a television show about those great animators, called Disney Family Album! The first about the great draftsman and animator, Milt Kahl, and the second one about the toy and train nut, Ward Kimball.


MILT KAHL











WARD KIMBALL












I'll return with more of those awesome legends!

Sharing Animation - Music Video - Look (Mrzyk & Moriceau, 2011)

Continuing with the animated music video sharing, this may look as a controversial one (mostly for the XX chromosome people out there).

The name of this one is Look, and it was directed by the great french artists Petra Mrzyk and Jean-François Moriceau.

Although it may be unnecessary to some people to watch this (mostly when diamonds appear... you'll understand that in a minute!) this animation has a very unique way to show cycles in work and great animation in a very stylish look! And also, to understand this you have to understand the song writer, Sébastien Tellier (this song is from his album Sexuality, coincidently enough), who apparently is considered quite a sexual guy in France. Well, I'm not surprised he has that fame, not after watching this definitely R-rated music video. I didn't know any of that before my little research... I just loved the song. I wonder what that says about me.

Anyway, talking about the Mrzyk & Moriceau duo! You can find a ton of stuff from this two around the internet. But so you know who we're dealing with, HERE is a link with more of their animted work and HERE is a link with some of their illustration work.

This music video is great, and I hope you enjoy it!
Look, by Mrzyt & Moriceau.

Check out the other short movies from the Sharing Collection HERE!!

See you soon with another animated music video. (IF I can find the video, this one is being hard on me!)

No copyright and related rights infringements are intended with these sharings, all these animations are properties from their respective authors or studios always credited in the post.

My Animations - Animation Mentor Class 03: Advanced Body Mechanics

Another term, another progress Reel!! Class 3 in Animation Mentor surely had as much fun as hard work!

My mentor this term was another great animator, this time from Dreamworks, called Drew Adams. In Dreamworks he worked in Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, Rise of the Guardians and The Croods. Prior to that he have done some pretty cool stuff as well, like animate on 9, and in the game Call of Duty: Finest Hour. Also worked in 2D as an "inbetweener" in Atlantis, Treasure Planet and Home on the Range! Such a nice career!

Anyway, in Animation Mentor they started with a new program that is collaborative work among classes. Which means, that me and the rest of my class (being mentored and directed by Drew) we worked out a complete sequence (a very very short short, one and a half minutes). So for this term I have 2 new shots, a quick one, made just to get the engines started, and then we started pitching out ideas for our little story. My story actually won the voting process, although in the end we changed it quite a bit, so I don't even consider it mine, I consider it a story made by all of us.

This shot I made was the last shot of the sequence and it was the biggest shot I've ever made. Well, in Animation Mentor anyway. But unfortunately, due to some personal issues, I didn't manage to finish the polish phase completly, that's why the shot is not rendered and it's not so easy to look at as the other one =)

I'll finish it soon enough, right now I'm concentrating on the 4th term already, and this one surely will be a big challenge, since we're starting with the very important art of ACTING! Now things really start to get interesting, and difficult and subjective and... I'm so excited!

Ow, and another thing, I animated both shots with one of the new characters from animation mentor, my dear Stella! The only problem with this one, are the pony tails. Well, not a problem, more like a time consuming issue. But I loved animating her!

Here we go, I hope you enjoy it!



This time I wish you all a happy summer, and enjoy the sun for me! (I won't be seeing much of it!)

See you in 3 more months!

Getting into the acting mood!

Last week I started my fourth class in Animation Mentor! And now, after many many weeks working in making a character move in a believable way, now we not only have to do that, but make them move with a purpose, with inner feelings! Sounds crazy fun, and crazy hard!

To get into the acting mood here's a video of a very expressive animator! Amazing stuff! Thanks Joana Ullan for the share!

Sharing Animation - Music Video - Apache (Ned Wenlock, 2011)

One more animated music video to share!!

This one is actually really short, but ever since I first watched it, I got kinda hypnotized! It's a simple concept, but I think is simple, fun and entertaining.

The name of the music is Apache by the band Danger Beach, the video was directed by Ned Wenlock and the character animation done by Rodney Selby.

The thing I like the most about this animation is the way that it's all set in a little stage-like environment, where everything is happening is that small place, and the characters are almost holding still! And the background, moving around in a circle, is kinda recycled in the back! The two dimension of the graphics is totally assumed, and the landscapes have this good taste design in it.

The song itself is not very elaborated, even the animation ifself is not very elaborated, but although it's simple, is also very fun to watch!

So enjoy this short sharing =)

Check out the other short movies from the Sharing Collection HERE!!

See you soon with yet another animated music video!

No copyright and related rights infringements are intended with these sharings, all these animations are properties from their respective authors or studios always credited in the post.

Sharing Animation - Music Video - The Music Scene (Anthony Schepperd, 2009)

Continuing the animated music video fever, today I'll share yet another completely mind blowing project!

It's funny because this music video is from the same year as my last sharing, and also I saw them both for the first time in the same day! Obviously my professor has very good taste!

The name of this one is The Music Scene, by a band called Blockhead and made by the genious artist Anthony Francisco Schepperd.

He has a very unique visual approach, and as he says: "Animation gives us the rare opportunity to spill our most coveted attribute, the imagination.", and he does! It's always a beautiful thing when someone uses animation to do something that only this wonderful craft can create, and he definetely takes it far, far away! I simply love the sketch-like drawings that he leave as it is, and of course, the bright colors couldn't suit it better! And it's very clear that he is a great draftsman!

He has made many different projects, but the ones that he stands out the most are the music videos.
HERE you can see his Vimeo page and take a look at his other projects. He's certainly a pro.

Enjoy this trip (it really is!) and admire The Music Scene by Anthony Francisco Schepperd.

Check out the other short movies from the Sharing Collection HERE!!

See you soon with more music and more fluidity in movement!

No copyright and related rights infringements are intended with these sharings, all these animations are properties from their respective authors or studios always credited in the post.

Sharing Animation - Music Video - No Corras Tanto (Cesar Diaz, 2009)

Hey! For the next sharings I thought I could go on a Music vibe! So today I'll be sharing my first animated music video ever! =)

And of course, I couldn't start with just any animated music video, I'll start with one of my big favourites! This is my favourite not because of the music, of course, the only important thing for me in this sharings are the animations!

So I'm sharing with you guys No Corras Tanto by Cesar Diaz.

I think this work is so awesome mostly because of the technique. Sand animation is my least favourite animation technique, and that's precisely because I've never seen before one film that I actually enjoyed visually. But Cesar Diaz came to change my whole oppinion about sand animation, mostly with this music video. So that's why I love this video so much!

HERE is the making off video where you can see a little bit about how it's done.

And now enjoy No Corras Tanto by Cesar Diaz.

Check out the other short movies from the Sharing Collection HERE!!

See you next week with another animated music video!

No copyright and related rights infringements are intended with these sharings, all these animations are properties from their respective authors or studios always credited in the post.

Sharing Animation - Gerald McBoing Boing (UPA - Robert Cannon, 1950)

Today I wanted to share one old classic, an old and very funny classic short animation. I loved this animation since my first glance at it, since its first "words" to me, or should I say, since the first "BOING"!

Yes yes, it was time already to share Gerald McBoing Boing!

I love this animation for many reasons. First of all the story, and old classic too. Firstly it's a Dr Seuss story, and for those who don't know that name, that tells A LOT. Well want to know why? The Lorax, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Horton Hears a Who! and The Cat in the Hat rings a bell? Yup, all Dr Seuss stories, and that's just for the Feature Film cathegory. It's an odd little boy, who doesn't seem to fit anywhere. His way of being is just not understood! Well, of course that singularity of his is exactly what, in the end, will make him famous and rich and loved! An old classic, as I sad.
But I also love this animation because of the design of it, the visual aspect. The backgrounds are so simple and yet so expressive. And the characters itself are bent in ways that are just... perfectly expressive!
And the final reason why I love this animation is his special gift itself! Not only he is doing it with his voice (I love sound effects with voices! I shared one very good animation with real voice sound effects a while ago, HERE is the link for it) but also he is professionaly one thing that I find amazing, sound designer/sound mixer! Very cool stuff! But I won't ramble about it.


This is a very light short animation that I'm sure everyone will enjoy! Produced by UPA, distributed by Columbia Pictures and directed by Robert Cannon, this is a must see for all animation lovers, for sure.

Sit back for this very short 6 minutes and enjoy! Gerald McBoing Boing by Robert Cannon.

Check out the other short movies from the Sharing Collection HERE!!

I'll see you soon with more of this fantastic animated world!

No copyright and related rights infringements are intended with these sharings, all these animations are properties from their respective authors or studios always credited in the post.

Annecy 2013 - I'm GOING

It's more than official! And I am soooooooooooo happy about it!

I'm going to Annecy 2013! Make that 2013 cheers! =)

Sharing Animation - Madame Tutli-Putli ( Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, 2007)

I wanted to get back to my animation sharings, so I decided I would choose one of my favourite animations!

This particular short is an incredible trip to the inside of a very deep character. The whole movie has a mistery to it and many feelings that are very intrinsic. The feelings of the movie are so important that the directors, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski chose a very unique way to portray them on a stop-motion puppet.

The short I'll be sharing today is Madame Tutli-Putli.

The movie makes you feel very uneasy with all those uncomfortably small spaces and the too close up shots of the characters faces. It's never ment for you to feel confortable and the original score by David Bryant and Jean-Frédéric Messier is incredible successful to help the mood be spot on.

Although the animation is great, the sound is great and the visual is great, the one thing that make the short be so incredible are the way the eyes of the characters were done. The special effects man for the movie was Jason Walker and he ultimately made the short work, as the directors visualized.

Here's how it's explained on the official website for the short: "In the end, the solution arose when Jason tested the tracking and re-timing of live action human eyes onto a stop-motion scene. This test led to the creation of a remarkable production process whereby live action human eyes were added to almost 20 minutes of stop-motion animation in a manner that was perfectly seamless and completely unobtrusive. Jason developed a system of separating and analyzing the previously shot stop-motion puppet moves, choreographing, rehearsing and shooting a human actor's corresponding "eye performance" to match each puppet move, at the same time recreating as closely as possible all light and shadow passes original to the stop-motion. Once the human eyes were shot, each eye was individually positioned, scaled, re-timed and digitally composited onto the puppet scenes. As different actors were cast for almost all the characters, the requirement was not only to integrate the human eyes onto each puppet, but on a frame by frame basis, match the subtle movement of the puppets, the camera, and the train – all the while retaining the flow of the acting. "This required every trick in the book and more!" exclaims Mr. Walker. The creation of the film and this extraordinarily painstaking process took 4 years from concept to completion."

It was genius.

HERE you can find the Producer of the short talking about it in a 4 minute video.

And without further adieu, nominated for the Oscar here is Madame Tutli-Putli by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

Check out the other short movies from the Sharing Collection HERE!!

Hope to keep it up sharing with you all this incredible animations!

See you soon with another incredible animation!

No copyright and related rights infringements are intended with these sharings, all these animations are properties from their respective authors or studios always credited in the post.

My Animations - Animation Mentor Class 02: Psychology of Body Mechanics

My animation journey has taken another step! After three more months, I finished my second Class at Animation Mentor with improved skills and hopefully a good progress reel!

My mentor this Class was a fantastic artist originally from Belgium called Marlon Nowe, that today is working as a supervisor animator at Disney Animation Studios! Before that he worked at Blur Studios and at Rhythm and Hues! If you're curious you can find HERE his website and one cool thing about his website is that you can watch some of his early animations while he was a student! That for me is so valuable, it's a way for everyone to see that you have to start somewhere to go to the top! HERE you can watch his reel prior to getting into Disney, and HERE and HERE you can find his film reels for Bolt and Tangled, respectively.

It was a fantastic class and we learned so much that I'm still astonished! My love for animation has never been so big and my will to follow my dream never been so strong! I hope this term goes even better!

So here's my progress at Animation Mentor so far! I can really tell how much I'm improving each shot I animate but I want to get soooooo much further! If you never quit, you can never fail, right? Hope you enjoy this little reel! (Also includes my Class 1 shots)




So if last time I wished you all a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year, now I wish you all a Happy Easter!

See you in 3 more months with another progress reel!

Just a little John Lasseter

You have to bow to a master, you just have to.

My Animations - Animation Mentor Class 01: Basic Foundations

And here I have it! After three months, those amazing 12 weeks, in my first Class in the incredible online animation school, Animation Mentor, I have my first "progress reel"!
What is a progress reel? Is a little movie where I put (from the newer to the older) all the animations I did in this first term.

This term I had as a teacher the one and only amazing animator and teacher Anthony Wong, and boy, am I happy that I chose him! He has worked through out the industry in everything there is to work in animation, games, commercials, TV shows (the Simpsons) and feature films (he worked in Walt Disney studios in films such as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and is now working at Pixar, and has worked on Ratatouille, Cars2 and some more and is now working on Monsters University).
I don't know exactly how are the other mentors at Animation Mentor, but Anthony Wong has certainly put a high standard of quality in the teaching. Never in my life was I part of such a learning environment, it was great, it was perfect. But I'm quite confident about my next mentor as well! He is great and I hand picked him for the next term. His name is Marlon Nowe and he is currently working at Walt Disney Studio (worked in Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph and the short Paperman, as far as I know).


I'll just explain, in order of appearance the animations I have here.

• The first one is the last I did, I actually completed it last week, and the objective of it was to refine and finish a walk with personality with that little character.
• The week before, the next shot that look fairly the same, was just a "blocking" stage, where we create some poses with that 3D character, and come up with a timing and show it to our mentor.
• The two after that, I had to go through a blocking stage again, but now for a normal walk, what they call a vanilla walk, which is the character just walking, with no personality, so the two are blocking stage and refine stage after that.
• The one next was Tailor, this little character that resembles a squirrel. That character is there so we could learn more about animating that tail, overlap actions it is.
• After tailor I have a pendulum like thingy, which was the introduction to overlapping actions, that pendulum like arm, lifeless, as opposite to Tailor's tail.
• The little ball going all around was an obstacle course ball, for us to learn the principle of squash and stretch.
• The two different balls, as you can imagine, are different weights balls, so we can learn more about the difference animating something heavy and something very light.
• And the first one was really a normal ball (football or basketball) jumping, the animation every animator had to do at least once in his life!

The truth is, this last three months went by in a rush! Animation Mentor is truly super intensive! And in this last week of the Basic Foundations Class, this is what I ended up with.





Probably in the future I will update this video, with better renderings of the animations, and better to look at, but for now I'll leave it like this.
I can't wait for the next term to start, but for the next two weeks I'll be able to take a little rest and enjoy family and Christmas!

So I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sharing Animation - Franz Kafka's Country Doctor (Koji Yamamura, 2007)

And here I come again with another animation to share with everyone! This week I chose a somewhat dark environment, but it is a very well done and very well conceptualized animation.

The director nowadays is like a guru of animation and a very well know artist. Besides the godlike animator and director Hayao Miyazaki he was the only Japanese animator to receive a Oscar nomination (this honor with the short called Mt. Head).

But this week's animation short I'm here to share is called Franz Kafka's Country Doctor (Kafka Inaka Isha), by the japanese independente animator, Koji Yamamura.

Apart from the downer mood, it really is a very recomended watching!

HERE you can find Yamamura's website.


Here it is, Kafka's Country Doctor, by Koji Yamamura. (It's divided in three parts because it was in better quality)

Check out the other short movies from the Sharing Collection HERE!!

See you soon with another great sharing (next time more happy themed)

No copyright and related rights infringements are intended with these sharings, all these animations are properties from their respective authors or studios always credited in the post.

Sharing Animation - The Aroma of Tea (Michael Dudok de Wit, 2006)

Today I wanted to share with you all a short animation that has widely influenced me, and I love it so much that I actually used it's unique graphic quality in one of my works.

This very short animation is called The Aroma of Tea by Michael Dudok de Wit. This is the third short animation that I share by this great artist, which can really show my love for his masterpieces.

This one very much simpler than the others, but still you could find a very deep meaning in it. But in the end it's a very "sit back and enjoy" kind of film, so I don't have much to say about it. Well it was painted with tea! =)

First I want to share this interview about the artist:




And here is this wonderful art:

Check out the other short movies from the Sharing Collection HERE!!

See you next week with another inspirational animation!

No copyright and related rights infringements are intended with these sharings, all these animations are properties from their respective authors or studios always credited in the post.