Animation Nation

Andy Blazdell, Founder and CEO of Celaction Ltd and developer of Celaction2D animation software, has been a long standing member and supporter of AnimationNation for many years.

I'm happy to report the news that Aardman Animation has chosen Celaction2D software for their latest production.

Here's the press release...

...........

Aardman chooses CelAction for Tate Movie Project

London, UK (26 July 2011) – CelAction is pleased to announce the completion of “The Itch Of The Golden Nit” by Aardman Animations and Tate. This half-hour film was created using ideas and drawings from literally thousands of children aged 5-13 years old, and animated by Aardman’s team. Voices were provided by stars such as David Walliams, Rik Mayall, Catherine Tate and Alexei Sayle.

CelAction2D was the animation software selected by Aardman to maintain the hand-drawn quality of the characters, and to enable them to be animated quickly and to a high quality by the production team.

For more news about this project follow the link to AN's General Discussion Forum. You can also visit Celaction's site here.

It started as an annual meeting on April 1, 1999 and has since evolved into a monthly get together on the last Tuesday of the month in Burbank, California.

AnimationNation Night is an opportunity for the community to get together socially and enjoy each other's company in many ways. Each AN Night is different. We normally feature guest speakers, occassionally we'll have screenings as well. Some of our guest in the past include Don Bluth, Disney's Dohn Hahn and Paul Felix, Peter Chung of 'Aeon Flux' fame, many of the industry's top artists and influential personalities.

The next AN Night we'll be doing something different. We'll be hosting an Art Jam. The event is free and everyone is welcome. For more information click here to head to the forum topic. For more info about AN Night in general click here.

Are you in the mood for watching a hand drawn masterpiece of a music video? Then follow this link to the AN Forums and enjoy "Thought of You" by Ryan Woodward. It's a beautiful homage to love and will move your soul, to say nothing of the brilliance of the concept and the animation. The draftsmanship behind this film is remarkable and inspiring. In this age of the dominance of computer generated animation, it's great to watch a film produced by such a skilled human being. Kudos to Mr. Woodward for this amazing work of art. 

For some it sure seems that way. At AnimationNation, we believe that it's important to be aware of subjects that supplement what we experience creatively. For many years we sponsored a popular Side Topics Forum that encouraged the community to engage in discussions that challenged us outside of the animation realm.

Today, with the new system we're using, there's a Current Events Forum that features subjects ranging from the economy, to politics, philosophy,  science, the news of the day, just about anything you can think of. It's a good way to educate oneself as to what's happening in the world in addition to animation.

Follow the link to AN's Current Events Forum to see the wide range of topics that are showcased on a daily basis.

News is coming in from Comic Con of some fresh animation trailers for what we can expect to see later in the year.

Check out what the great Bruce Timm has been up to. First with the new Green Lantern animated series coming to Cartoon Network this September. And a special treat, the collaborative effort with Conan O'Brien continues with The Flaming C.

Frank Miller's latest creation Holy Terror is scheduled for release on the 10 year anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. 

There's also a trailer for the retrun of Beavis and Butthead, as outrageous as ever, even moreso than before when they were happening in the early 1990s.

Eight months ago on November 18, 2010, I started a topic on the Forums to share links to artist sites and blogs, periodically dropping a few more as time went by.

Today I checked in on the topic to add to the list, and realized I had 107 links posted in the thread. 

Looking for some creative inspiration? Follow the link to the Artist Sites and Blogs topic in General Discussion.

If you're looking for a site that caters to the interests of aspiring animation artists, take note of Animation Career Review.

It looks to have started early this year. It's full of articles, interviews and links to schools, software and technology, all kinds of info that's helpful to animation students and working pros. Well organized and professionally maintained.

Follow this link to AN's Education Forum to learn more.

Never say never, but the chances of this happening are slim at best.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's past caught up with him after it was announced that he was going to the central character of a brand animated series to debut next year. Unfortunately, the scandal that erupted involving his personal life in fathering a child by a woman other than his wife during his marriage rocked his world and the prospects for the series.

None the less, there's the trailer that we can always look back upon and wonder, what if...

Follow this link to the AN Forums to see the trailer for 'The Governator' animated series, and also check out the video of Arnold as he promotes the series only a few weeks before it was cancelled.

Long time ANer Rob Lamb posted a great topic in the Forums today, featuring John Celestri's Batman commercials produced in the late 1980s for a Canadian toy retailer.

John also has a history with AnimationNation, being a member of our forums from years ago. Now he has a blog of his own that showcases his remarkable work as an animator spanning a career of more than 35 years in the business.

Head on over to the General Discussion Forum to see several videos of the Batman commercials John created for Zellers, and follow the link that Rob posted to John's blog to read his account of the production.

They used to be the standard by which all animated films were judged.

But lately, Disney films are more like also rans when it comes to feature animation. They still produce great movies, and they certainly have the capacity to do anything they want at any level they want. But it seems to me that just may be the problem. It seems like they don't want to. There doesn't appear to be the burning, overwhelming desire to consistently produce truly great animated entertainment that's beyond what anyone else would do.

Their latest effort, the 'Winnie the Pooh' movie which was released in the US last Friday, had a poor showing of only $8 million, placed sixth overall among the top box office films for the weekend, and was even outdone by Pixar's 'Cars 2' sequel which had been in release four weeks already.

Follow this topic on the AN Forums.