Animation Nation

Celebrating our very first Valentines Day on AN's New Hompage! And I have to say, it's always better when we're together. I don't know who did the animation. The song is by Jack Johnson.

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This is a real life animated proposal from 2005 by Jeffrey Paul  who produced this video as a way of proposing to his girlfriend who is now his wife. He assembled a team of 20 animators to assist him, including co-workers and students from his 3D character animation class at the Art Institute of California-San Francisco. More than four minutes of animation was created in just three months. When it was completed, he brought her to the Parkway Movie Theater in Oakland, where they played the animation on the big screen in front of over 100 of their friends and family. The entire event was filmed for the TLC television show "A Perfect Proposal."

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There's several more videos I've compiled at this dedicated topic on the Forums. Check them out and enjoy a special time as we contemplate the nature of love on this special day. 

On October 10, 2011 on the AN Forums, I featured an a topic about an animated project on the way entitled "Urban Reggie". A Kickstarter campaign was in progress to fun the project. See the topic here. Although the campaign didn't work out, the creative team behind the project kept moving forward and I'm happy to report they've got a trailer for the property ready to go and playing on YouTube!

Congrats to all involved, especially Ivette and Marilu Molina, my students from Cal State Northridge and The Animation Academy, who played a significant part in its production.

Urban Reggie is the high-adrenaline underdog story of a clueless young man from south of the border who comes to America with his even more clueless, oversized younger brother to make it big in Hollywood. Created by veteran artist Erick Tran from "The Simpsons", check out the latest exclusive content for Urban Reggie here along  with the current Forum topic. Enjoy the video...

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Think this movie will be a hit? You can bet on it. Looking forward to the prequel story for the 'Alien' franchise which got its start way back in 1979. Full of what promises to be amazing effects animation and an engrossing story, 'Prometheus' involves a team of explorers who discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race. Thanks to Skynet for bringing this to the Forums. Here's the trailer...

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Active on our old Forums for many years, Nick Cross is an extremely talented animator located in Toronto, Canada. He's currently immersed in an ambitious project entitled "Black Sunrise", a feature animated film he's creating and producing. With ten minutes completed so far, he's edited two trailers for the movie. Skynet brought this topic to the Forums where you can see the original trailer here. Production updates along with interesting content can be found on Nick's blog. Here's the latest trailer for Black Sunrise. Wishing Nick Cross all the best in seeing his emerging masterpiece through to completion.

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Very happy to be sharing this with the Nation and a big YEIA SAS shout out to the community of animation in Ellas.

The Insert Coin Production team from Athens, Greece, has recently finished the pilot episode of their series "The Kiosk". It's a Nominee in the 7th International AnimFest 2012 in Athens taking place March 7. The Kiosk takes a critical look at Greek society and its people at a time when the country is having some very severe problems economically and in other ways.

The Kiosk’s goals are to criticize and entertain by exposing the country’s social, economic and political issues through stories which relate to the film's main and supporting characters of a fictitious town named Ekaleo. The word Ekaleo is derived from Ekali (rich suburb of Athens) and Egaleo (poor suburb of Athens).

They've just started their first funding campaign on Indiegogo so take a look if you would at The Kiosk Campaign page.

Wishing everyone involved with the project good luck and much success. Here's the Forum topic and here's the film...

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A crazy new animated project that's launched on the Web from Sonic Bunny Productions. The series follows five tech-addicted teens as they epically fail their way through a zombie apocalypse. With no survival skills... thank goodness they have Jack. 

ZMED! is on Facebook and Twitter. The Forum topic is here. It's getting very good traffic so far on Youtube with the director's channel here. The language is a bit harsh, so be advised, otherwise, enjoy the first installment of the series...

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A great doumentary produced in 2007 was brought to our attention on the Forums recently as long time ANer Greg Boone started a topic concerning 'The Pixar Story'. I found it on YouTube and spent some quality time viewing the video in its entirety. Accurate, informative, interviews with all the players involved, and above all incredibly inspiring. If you haven't had a chance to see this film about the history of Pixar, make it a point to do so. It will greatly enahnce your appreciation of the studio and everything that's lead up to its success over the years. Here's the Forum topic for reference and the video for your viewing pleasure...

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Beto Prado is the 3D/CG Leader at Lithium Digital Arts in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and is also a member of the AN Forums, who shares this info with us about an animated short film and iPhone / iPad App on the way.

Lovestrike tells the story of Baby Smith, the youngest in a family of bowling pins. He grows up watching his family being hurt by bowling balls. Then one day he learns how maneuver around them and becomes famous. Challenged by Sir Lawrence, five time world champion, it's a memorable night at the bowling arena as the two go head to head. Follow the topic here and watch the video Beto posted below...

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Coca Cola has always been a big supporter of cutting edge animation and imagery through their many commercials over the years. Their latest campaign, showcasing the famous polar bears, was created for yesterday's Super Bowl game. I'm not sure which studio produced these commercials. Traditionally it's been Rhythm & Hues in Culver City, California, but there may be another studio involved in this latest set. In any case, here's an example of one of them. To see the rest of the Polar Bear commercials for this year's Super Bowl, follow this link.

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If you were growing up in the 1960s in the USA, chances are you remember the Uniroyal animated commercials of their Tigerpaw line of tires. I discovered them the other day and was delighted to see them after many years of their existence only as a memory. So I thought I'd share the happiness and feature my choice for the absolute coolest animated commercials of that time and even to this day.

Designed by the great Robert Osborn with music by David Bruce Hughes and animated by Bill Littlejohn. Follow this link to see another Tigerpaw commercial in addition to this one. Enjoy... 

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