Animation Nation

It's never been easier to produce animated music videos than it is today thanks to Aniboom. Independent musicians can now collaborate with thousands of animation professionals from around the world to see their music video become an animated reality at the Aniboom Animation Marketplace.

Aniboom is the world’s first virtual animation studio. They've recently launched the Aniboom Animation Marketplace, an online database to post a project or concept and collaborate with thousands of animation professionals from around the world. You can post your song title and track, description, video concept, character designs or whatever you've got, in the Aniboom Animation Marketplace right now to start receiving offers from qualified animators. Click here to access the Create a Task form. There's more info about this exciting news from Aniboom here.

I've been developing a content oriented topic on the AN Forums for a while now dedicated to animated short films featured through Aniboom on YouTube. Click here to see a variety of excellent animation I've accumulated thanks to Aniboom.

Check out this animated short film. It made the festival circuit last year and won 8 major awards including Best Short Film at the Savannah Film Fest 2010, Palm Springs International Shorts Fest 2010, Sprockets 2010, Seattle International Film Festival 2010 and the Audience Award at the New York International Children's Film Festival 2011. From Arc Productions in Canada, written and directed by Rob Silvestri, there's a Facebook page associated with the film. Forum topic is here.

{vimeo}27256955{/vimeo}

More animation to enjoy is on the way thanks to a film hailing from Spain. "Snowflake the White Gorilla" will be released for the Holiday Season. Directed by Andres G. Schaer, the movie follows the adventures of a white gorilla who is not accepted by the other animals at the Barcelona Zoo because of the color of his fur. He embarks on a journey to find a magic potion that will turn him into an ordinary black gorilla, and meets several friends along the way who help him escape the clutchs of the villain Luc de Sac. The CG animated gorilla is created by Muf Animaton and Filmax. The Forum topic is here and the trailer is below. Although it's in Spanish, you still get a good idea as to what's being communicated for those not familiar with the language.

{youtube}wvggPQOa5pE{/youtube}

A member of AN recently posted links to a couple of excellent animated commercials he worked on as a lead animator. Using a stop motion / cutout technique, Danny Vaia (aka freshpaddy on the Forums) did an outstanding job in this message for the NMA in the UK involving the upcoming Olympic Games in London in 2012. There's a couple of versions of it that you can see on the Forum topic Animated Newspapers. Here's the extended one to enjoy.

{vimeo}32676586{/vimeo}

The Thanksgiving Holiday in the US falls on the last Thursday in November, but lasts all weekend long. Let's continue the celebration with an animated video by JibJab. This was personalized, as is available with JibJab Sendable cartoons. I don't know who stars in it, but I'm thankful they made it available on YouTube for all to enjoy. 

{youtube}TjH4BGNSxJw{/youtube}

It's the Thanksgiving Holiday in the US, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving than by featuring a video from the StoryCorps collection. Since 2003, StoryCorps has archived more than 35,000 interviews from more than 70,000 participants. Each conversation is recorded and preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, and millions listen to their broadcasts on their listen page and on public radio.

Many of the StoryCorps recordings have been animated. This one entitled "Always A Family" is especially moving. Directed by the Rauch Brothers, animated by Tim Rauch and art directed by Bill Wray along with several other exceptionally talented individuals involved in the production, it is indicative of the spirit behind this worthy project. I've accumulated quite a few of the StoryCorps videos here so feel free to check them out. They're very special and I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

There's much in life to be grateful for. Embrace the blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!

{youtube}7k8HHfJe828{/youtube}

Our webmaster Adrian Foster aka Skynet on the Forums first brought this to our attention. We might actually be losing the Internet as we know it If SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is passed. If this new legislation is passed, millions of sites will be automatically shut down and completely censored into oblivion just from the mere claim of piracy or copyright infringement. The supporters of the new anti-piracy legislation assert they are trying to save and create jobs but what will happen is they will be destroying millions of jobs and severely crippling the World Wide Web, leading to complete governmental and corporate control of the Internet and websites. We can stop this insanity by signing these petitions: fightforthefuture.org/pipa/ and americancensorship.org/ and also White House Petition Against E-PARASITE/SOPA.

Please watch this videos to learn more. There's additional info and videos at this link to the Forum topic.

{vimeo}31100268{/vimeo}

Among the animated feature films we can look forward to next year is "Pirates! Band of Misfits" from Aardman Animation, the great studio in the UK renowned for Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, Curse of the Were-Rabbit and many more outstanding endeavors in the art. There's a couple of trailers for Pirates out and about, which have been previously posted on the AN Forums and include additional information about the film. Here are both trailers available for viewing on the homepage. Pirates! Band of Misfits will be released March 30, 2012.

{youtube}j6z7C7Qura8{/youtube}

{youtube}hzIxECXjW1I{/youtube}

In just three short years, evolving from a humble website started by Tina Price, the Creative Talent Network has grown into a hugely successful annual event in Burbank, California. Dedicated to animation artists and the creative element in our community, the CTN Animation eXpo has become the premiere convention in the industry. The photo above shows the line that formed almost an hour before the expo got opened its doors and got under way. It had doubled in size by 12:00 noon, when it got under way. The entrance is way off to the right of this photo. There's a few more pictures I took available to see at this link to the Forum topic, including an enhanced view of the shot above. One thing is certain. The expo has already outgrown this venue at the Marriott in Burbank. Wonder how they'll handle it next year. CTNX is running this weekend, November 18 - 20. If you're in town and you've got a chance to attend, by all means head on over there, meet great artists, make new friends and have some fun.

This went up on YouTube yesterday and already has half a million views. As expected, the highly anticipated "Brave" is looking pretty darn good so far. The forum topic for this trailer can be found here. To see some development artwork for the film follow this link. Brave is scheduled for release June 22, 2012.

{youtube}TEHWDA_6e3M{/youtube}