Old Faithful

Hey, everyone! Here's a cartoon I did. Enjoy!

- Bill

Epic Sketchbook: Michael Lispboa..

I've been lucky enough to hang out with fellow New Yorker turned expat Michael Lisboa for the past few months, he's one of those guys you instantly get along with.. he's got tons of life stories, and no doubt, his experience leaks into his artwork.  When a friend offers to show you their sketchbook, it's always a scary moment, honestly, most artists will disappoint.. but then there's people like Michael. Imagine me sitting on the beach chilling out when he goes.. "here man, take a look".. and then this is the stuff I see. Epic. Thanks Michael.  (these were taken with an iphone, many apologies)

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From Up on Poppy Hill

I'm a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki – I especially love “Porco Rosso”. Now that he's semi-retired, his son, Goro Miyazaki, seems to be filling his animation shoes.

Apparently, his earlier film, “Tales From Earthsea”, was not a big success. So, now he has a new feature film that's he's presenting as an Oscar contender. It's called “From Up on Poppy Hill”. I went to see it last week, but was disappointed in the film.

First off, the animation was very pedestrian, like a Saturday afternoon TV special, and the backgrounds looked like painted photographs, with no inspiration or artistic feeling.

But the story was even worse. It's about a teen high-school girl who has a crush on a boy, and they save an old building together. There's no magic or visual fantasy. It could have been shot in live-action, to much better effect.

Apparently, Hayao was responsible for help with the screenplay, and also producing – but I hope that in the future Studio Ghibli can live up to their reputation of making wondrous imaginative animations.

I give “From Up on Poppy Hill” a D+.

Kickstarter

As you all know I'm deep into the production of my new animated feature, Cheatin' (If you didn't know you should).

The good news is the animation is all done-YEAH! But we're still in production- why? Because we're trying a new style of coloring, Watercolor. I've never seen a feature film where the art is watercolored. So my crack staff led by Lindsay Woods and Desiree Stavracos are creating the art that looks beautiful. The only problem is it's very labor intensive. We had to hire a bunch of artists to finish the coloring. So now I'm broke. I'm out of money. The solution is Kickstarter!

My “Flying House” Kickstarter campaign was a big success so I'm going to the well a second time and I hope kickstarter can save my ass. We're offering very cool prizes and you get to be part of my new animated feature.

If you're interested check out my kickstarter campaign at: 

 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/billplympton/bill-plymptons-cheatin-an-animated-feature-film?ref=live

Here's the video: 

Torso

Cheatin' Production Blog- Ep 13 Guest Episode ft. Hisko Hulsing

Cheatin' Production Blog - Episode Thirteen - Guest Episode ft. Hisko Hulsing Pt. 1/3 from Bill Plympton on Vimeo.

In this episode, I sit down with fellow animators Signe Baumane and Hisko Hulsing to discuss their various views on funding, production and distribution. Also, it's the official onscreen debut of my son Lucas!

Hunched

Frankenweenie

Finally, Tim Burton's celebrated short film “Frankenweenie” has been turned into a feature. And I was so looking forward to seeing the longer version.

It's very similar to the original short, naturally, but the ending has been bulked up with the addition of all sorts of characters going crazy because of the hero's classmates tampering with his scientific born-again experiments.

The animation is wonderful – as are the sets and characters (by McKinnon & Saunders). But, for some reason, my brain shut down three quarters of the way through the film. So perhaps the story should have remained a short film.

I give “Frankenweenie” a B - .

Sunglasses

Reading

Love Your Job

New Fran Krause Blog.. Deep Dark Fears..

More blogs need such a simple theme. A new favorite for me, Fran Krause has introduced DEEP DARK FEARS..  I'm anxious to see what is added, it's still young.

Killing Them Softly

As part of the annual rush to qualify for Oscar nominations, the Academy recently presented the film “Killing Them Softly”. I hadn't heard anything about this film, but it starred Brad Pitt, so I was curious.

What a marvelous film, written and directed by Andrew Dominik. It's basically a look at the lives of hoods and hitmen. It could almost be a stage play, it has so much dialogue. But the characters are so fascinating, and their choices are so weird.

The plot is about a high-stakes mob card game that gets robbed by two loser hoods, and then their capture and execution. In addition to Brad Pitt, it also stars James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta.

Probably my favorite sequence was when Brad offed Mr. Liotta in his car. It was all done in super slow-motion, and set to the 1950's love ballad “Love Letters (Straight From Your Heart)” by Kitty Lester. It's one of the most gorgeous scenes I've ever seen in a movie.

The only problem with the films is the ending – it doesn't really resolve, but it makes a political statement. Regardless, I give the film a B+.

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