Animation Magazine Sep/Oct #313 Editorial Issue

next page T H E

TOC

B U S I N E S S ,

T E C H N O L O G Y

&

A R T

O F

A N I M AT I O N

A N D

September | October 2021

V F X

™

Sneak Peek: The Acclaimed Satoshi Kon Documentary

The New My Little Pony Movie Takes Flight

The Addams Family’s Kooky Vacation Sequel Plus: The Ghost and Molly McGee, Cartoonito, Teenage Euthanasia, Q-Squad, and Do, Re & Mi

Fall Event Preview: Pixelatl, Ottawa, Cartoon Forum & MIPJunior $7.95 U.S.

0 8>

74470 82258

w w w . a n i m a t i o n m a g a z i n e . n e t 0

5

next page

TOC

TOC

www.animationmagazine.net 2

TOC

previous page

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Volume 35, Issue 8, Number 313

September|October 2021

Frame-By-Frame

State of the Art

4

Stuff We Love

40

Digital Doubles, Digital Humans & Deep Fakes

6

September|October Animation Planner

41

Bless the Beasts and the Preschoolers

Features 10

Galloping to Greatness Again

Co-directors Robert Cullen and José Luis Ucha discuss the triumphant arrival of My Little Pony: A New Generation.

By Karen Idelson

An Expert’s Field Guide By Colin Urquhart

By Josh Selig

Events 42

Pixelatl 2021: We All Need Each Other!

The Addams Family 2’s co-director Conrad Vernon gives us the scoop on the kooky clan’s summer vacation sequel.

By Michael Mallory

44

Strength in Numbers

16

Anime Auteur in the Spotlight

46

Enjoy Ottawa from Home!

18

The Ties That Bind

48

The Secret Life of a Government Puppet

50

Cooking Up a Tense Scenario

52

The French Connection

54

A Cartoon Forum Sampler

58

Ten Shows to Catch at MIPJunior 2021

14

The Road to Lake Eerie

Cannes Festival favorite Satoshi Kon, The Illusionist offers the perfect introduction to the late visionary’s work.

By Rich Johnson

Filmmaker and educator Christine Panushka discusses the creation of her new self-made feature, Blood of the Family Tree.

By Jennifer Wolfe

Television/Streaming 22

Preschool Paradise

WarnerMedia’s hot new Cartoonito preschool block celebrates individuality, creativity and inclusion.

26

A Spirited Friendship

The veteran team behind Disney Channel’s The Ghost and Molly McGee discuss the making of their lively new show.

ICAA promotes animation collaborations at Pixelatl Festival.

OIAF director Chris Robinson share’s the secrets of the 2021 virtual festival and some tips for making the most of one of our favorite events.

Hugo Covarrubias discusses his award-winning stop-motion short Bestia.

This month’s Cartoon Forum event in Toulouse introduces a rich collection of animated gems from around the world.

Learn more about the new animated shows debuting at the event.

Our picks for what’s hot at the children’s content market.

We catch up with Alyson Levy and Alissa Nutting, the brilliant creators of Adult Swim’s hilarious and subversive show Teenage Euthanasia.

Love Resurrection

VFX

30

License to Thrill

Neill Blomkamp experiments with the possibilities of Volumetric Camera Systems and real-time filmmaking in Demonic.

By Trevor Hogg

32

Songbirds of a Feather

The team behind Amazon and Gaumont’s Do, Re & Mi sing the praises of their new musical preschool show.

By Ramin Zahed

34

An Animated Star Is Born

Kavaleer’s Andrew Kavanaugh tells us about Adam ♥ Adventure, a charming environmentally-minded show centered on a heroic young boy who uses a wheelchair.

36

Sample Some of CAKE’s Delicious Fall Menu!

22

Špela Čadež returns to the festival circuit with the deliciously satisfying Steakhouse.

28

Series creator Gabe Liedman talks about balancing edgy humor and LGBTQ+ issues in the new Netflix show The Q-Force.

By Ramin Zahed

10

This year’s virtual edition features a stellar list of animation creatives and inspiring panels.

62

Possessed by New Technologies

64

Tech Reviews

Black Magic Design’s URSA Minipro; RealityCapture’s 1.2 Tarasque.

By Todd Sheridan Perry

Opportunities 66

Autonomous Animator

The Bright Side of Working from Home

By Martin Grebing

62 Cover: My Little Pony: A New Generation trots on Netflix in September.

MIP Junior Cover: 50/50 Heroes, the new animated series produced and distributed by Cyber Group Studios, is co-developed with pubcaster France Télévisions and Disney Channel Germany & CEE.

We had a chance to catch up with Ed Galton, CEO of the London-based global distributor and producer of kids’ and family series CAKE Entertainment.

Day in the Life

Cartoon Forum Cover: Kavaleer

68

Pixelatl Cover: The 2021 poster for Pixelatl

38

Check out some special photos from Pixar’s Aphton Corbin, the director of the new short Twenty Something.

Superpowered Siblings

Cyber Group Studios brings 50/50 Heroes to MIPJunior and Cartoon Forum.

Day in the Life

Productions brings Adam ❤ Adventure! to the market.

Festival was designed by Jorge Gutiérrez.

september|october 21 1

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

F rom

the

E ditor

Savoring the Last Days of Summer

W

hy did the summer of 2021 feel even stranger than last year’s as we were just beginning to get accustomed to life under the pandemic lockdown? Maybe it was because we all thought that things would be back to normal by now — and yet, here we are, still walking around in a cloud of confusion and disbelief at how this insidious virus continues to wreak havoc on human lives around the world. One thing’s for sure: We need to be so grateful to all the amazing healthcare workers, first responders, scientists and essential workers who are living selflessly to keep us safe and protected each and every day.

The good news is that we can still rely on our animation friends to offer us solid entertainment and beautiful escapism when we need it the most. The month’s cover stars — the sparkly, colorful cast of the new My Little Pony movie — haven’t lost their shimmer since they were first introduced as toys in the early 1980s. Our writer Karen Idelson had a great time chatting with the directors of the new Netflix feature Robert Cullen and José Luis Ucha about their charming project, and we hope you enjoy reading about the making of this late-summer offering.

We also have Michael Mallory’s sneak peek at the new Addams Family animated movie; Richard Johnson’s insightful interview with Pascal-Alex Vincent, the director of the acclaimed new documentary about Satoshi Kon; and Jennifer Wolfe’s lovely piece about experimental artist Christine Panuskha’s new movie Blood of the Family Tree, which will shine at the Ottawa festival this month.

September also marks the beginning of the fall festival and market season. With the exception of Cartoon Forum — which at press time was still going to be held as a live event in Toulouse, France — the month’s big animation events Pixelatl (Mexico) and Ottawa Satoshi Kon, (Canada) will be online. All three events have lots of exciting plans The Illusionist for their attendees, and we’ve tried to highlight some of the must-

ANIMATION MAGAZINE September|October 2021 Vol. 35, Issue 8, No. 313 Info@animationmagazine.net

President and Publisher: Jean Thoren Accounting: Jan Bayouth EDITORIAL

edit@animationmagazine.net

Editor in Chief: Ramin Zahed Multimedia Editor: Mercedes Milligan Webmaster: Steven Dietrich Asst. Webmaster: Ava Derevlany Tech Reviews Editor: Todd Sheridan Perry Contributors: Martin Grebing, Trevor Hogg, Karen Idelson, Rich Johnson, Michael Mallory, Josh Selig, Colin Urquhart, Jennifer Wolfe ADVERTISING SALES sales@animationmagazine.net

Sheri Shelton EVENTS Director: Kim Derevlany kim@animationmagazine.net

CREATIVE

prod@animationmagazine.net

Creative Director/Production Manager: Susanne Rector CIRCULATION

circ@animationmagazine.net

Circulation Director: Jan Bayouth

see highlights in our magazine this month.

There seems to be an unusually large number of new shows premiering in the next few months. The four that we’re spotlighting in this issue — Disney Channel’s The Ghost and Molly McGee, Amazon’s Do, Re & Mi, Netflix’s Q-Force and Adult Swim’s Teenage Euthanasia — are as different from each other as you can imagine. We had the chance to talk to the amazing creators of all these new offerings, and their tales of how they were able to bring their visions to animated life must warm the hearts of anyone out there who is hoping to get their shows made by a big studio one day!

Don’t forget: Summer doesn’t officially end until September 22, so try and enjoy these final, golden days. Take us with you if you’re lucky enough to be on vacation!

TO ADVERTISE: Phone: 818-883-2884 Fax: 818-883-3773 Email: sales@animationmagazine.net Website: www.animationmagazine.net List Rental Quantum List Marketing (480) 860-6036 ANIMATION MAGAZINE (USPS 015-877/ISSN 1041-617X)

Ramin Zahed Editor in Chief ramin@animationmagazine.net

Published monthly except for combined issues of June/July September/October, by Animation Magazine 24943 Kit Carson Road Calabasas, CA 91302

Quote of the Month “What started as a creative catharsis from the pressures of my youth has blossomed into something I could have never imagined. Effie Brown and the team at Gamechanger are the perfect partners to bring this series to TV and movies because, like I do, they understand that every female around the globe is angry and has the right to speak her mind.”

Periodicals postage paid at Woodland Hills Post Office CA, And additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO MAILING ADDRESS: ANIMATION MAGAZINE 26500 W. Agoura Rd. Ste. 102-651 Calabasas, CA 91302

— Angry Little Girls creator Lela Lee, whose popular webcomic is being adapted into a TV series by Gamechanger Films. www.animationmagazine.net 2

TOC

TO SUBSCRIBE:

For the U.S., the rate is $60 for 1 year or $95 for 2 years.

Rates for Canada and Mexico are US$75 for 1 year or US$120 for 2 years delivered by foreign airmail. Foreign rates are US$90 for 1 year or US$145 for 2 years delivered by foreign airmail.

Please allow six to eight weeks for initial delivery.

Also available in a digital version for $36 for 1 year or $60 for 2 years.

Animation Magazine © 2021 Animation Magazine

Prior written approval must be obtained to duplicate any and all contents.

The copyrights and trademarks of images featured herein are the property of their respective owners.

Animation Magazine acknowledges the creators and copyright holders of the materials mentioned herein, and does not seek to infringe on those rights.

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

AN OUT OF THIS WORLD COMEDY ►►► COMING IN 2022 Take a Spaceship to Friendship!

CGI ANIMATION © friendZspace

52 x 11`

KIDS 5 - 9

VISIT US @ MIPCOM BOOTH R7.C15

WHERE THE ENTERTAINMENT IS

distribution@studio100media.com I www.studio100group.com

september|october 21 3

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Frame-By-Frame

Luca Those who haven’t gotten on the Disney+ wagon (or, shall we say, Vespa) can enjoy Pixar’s gorgeous, lighthearted Italian Riviera vacation-on-screen this month — alongside an ocean of bonus features including new featurettes, deleted scenes and reflections from the filmmakers. Directed by Enrico Casarosa (La Luna), Luca takes viewers to the picturesque town of Portorosso, where two young sea monsters take human shape on an epic quest for freedom and friendship. With colorful, cartoony CGI, kid-friendly stakes and a heartwarming message, this summer streamer was a welcome relief to a year and a half of stress and uncertainty for many families. [Disney, $35 4K | $25 BD | $20 DVD]

Stuff We Love Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Sony’s lovable cotton-tailed rogue is back in another raucous live-action/CGI hybrid adventure. Unable to shake his mischievous rep, Peter abandons the makeshift family forged by Bea, Thomas and the rabbits to find his place in the world — dragging his loved ones behind him in a hare-raising bid to get their bouncing bunny boy back. Director Will Gluck again delivers a sound family comedy with just enough charm to remind you this was once, in some other where and when, a Beatrix Potter story. [Sony, $30 4K | $27 BD | $23]

Spirit Untamed: The Movie The next chapter in DreamWorks’ popular franchise tells the story of how free-spirited Lucky Prescott came to the sleepy town of Miradero, discovered the truth about her late mother and befriended her saddle pals Abigail and Pru just in time to rescue a certain wild mustang from a scheming wrangler. Young fans can ride along for the hoof-pounding adventure and then check out fun special features, including Finding Your Spirit, deleted scenes, singalongs and more. [Universal, $25 BD | $20 DVD]

Dreambuilders [Shout! Factory, $23 BD | $20 DVD] Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms [Warner, $40 4K | $30 BD] The Tatami Galaxy - The Complete Series (Sub Only) [FUNimation Classics, $50 BD] The Transformers: The Movie 35th Anniversary (LE) [Shout! Factory, $30 4K | $17 BD]

Castlevania: The Art of the Animated Series Sink your teeth into the gorgeously gruesome world of the Netflix hit with this hardcover collection of Gothic anime adventure, assembled by Frederator Studios. With hundreds of pieces of richly detailed artwork including never-before-seen illustrations of monsters, characters and environments — this is the most intricate look at the show us mere mortals could hope to enjoy. [Dark Horse, $40]

Pre-Order Alert: Funko PREVIEWS Exclusive Mr. Burns POP! This glow-in-the-dark darling commemorates the classic Simpsons episode “The Springfield Files.” Dropping Sept. 29, the 3¾” figure is complemented by a translucent “chase version” for a few lucky ducks. “It’s bringing love, don’t let it get away!” [SRP $15, previewsworld.com]

Talking Threads: Costume Design for Animation, Games and Illustration Understand the “five functions” of costume design and how outfitting your characters correctly communicates not only their individual style, but the structure of their society, the setting and theme of your story, and so much more. (For example: A Sailor Moon t-shirt and mustard-stained yoga pants to describe an animation journalist thriving under WFH protocols.) Each chapter is packed with creative exercises, tutorials, inspiration and insights from five pros (Jessie Kate, Gwyn Conaway, Rebecca BlackGliko, Maria Kercher and Blythe Russo) to spark your inner stylist. [Design Studio Press, $46] — Mercedes Milligan www.animationmagazine.net 4

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Frame-By-Frame

september|october 21 5

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Frame-By-Frame

September Animation Planner

7

Pixelatl’s El Festival presents its five-day event online this year with inspiring talks, workshops, networking opportunities and, of course, fab film screenings. Meanwhile, Fantoche Int’l Animation Film Festival presents its 19th event in Baden, Switzerland, with a spotlight on Hungary. [elfestival. mx | fantoche.ch]

10

Tune into the artist-focused LightBox Expo Online, featuring the Concept Art Awards.

16

There goes the neighborhood! Brad Neely’s The Harper House premieres on Peacock.

GKIDS brings PROMARE back to theaters today and Sept. 19.

17

New Pixar SparkTwenty Shorts roll Something out this month on Disney+: Twenty Something (Sept. 10) and Nona (today).

Also kicking off today is the 10-day Festival Stop Motion Montreal. [lightboxexpo.com | stopmotionmontreal.com]

Image Credit: Abyss: Very Special Case Unit

Image Credit: Christian Alzmann “The Child,” The Mandalorian (Lusasfilm/Disney)

20

Luxuriate in 84 TV project pitches à la française at Cartoon Forum, running four days in Toulouse. [cartoon-media.eu]

22

Lucasfilm teamed with seven Japanese anime studios to deliver the Star Wars: Visions shorts, on Disney+ today.

Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival offers an extended online edition thru Oct. 3, bringing together the art and industry of animation in a vibrant, virtual confab. [animationfestival.ca]

26

FOX Animation Domination returns with The Simpsons S33, Bob’s Burgers S12, The Great North S2 and Family Guy S20 tonight.

Fathom Events presents The Transformers: The Movie 35th Anniversary in select theaters nationwide for two days only.

October Animation Planner

1

MGM’s The Addams Family 2 opens in theaters. If you’d rather stay home, LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales brings kid-friendly scares to Disney+.

3

11

MIPCOM and MIPJunior are running concurrently this year in hybrid live market in Cannes and global digital extension, an all new and accessible way to wheel and deal at the five day content buffet. [mipcom.com]

17 Studio Ghibli Fest kicks off with Spirited Away 20th Anniversary screenings Oct. 3, 4 & 6; Howl’s Moving Castle returns Oct. 24, 25 & 26.

22

Locksmith Animation’s debut feature Ron’s Gone Wrong brings a quirky robot buddy adventure to the big screen.

Animation Is Film Festival brings the year’s best international animated features to L.A.; meanwhile, South Korea’s Bucheon Int’l Animation Festival offers a broad program of shorts, features, classic faves and a spotlight on Russia. [animationisfilm.com |

Director Tom McGrath is keynoting this year’s VIEW Conference, capping a stellar lineup of speakers from the worlds of animation, VFX and technology in Turin, Italy. [viewconference.it]

To get your company’s events and products listed in this monthly calendar, please e-mail edit@animationmagazine.net. www.animationmagazine.net 6

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Frame-By-Frame

september|october 21 7

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

TOC

previous page

Frame-By-Frame

www.animationmagazine.net 8

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Frame-By-Frame

september|october 21 9

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Features

Galloping to Greatness Again Co-directors Robert Cullen and José Luis Ucha discuss the triumphant arrival of My Little Pony: A New Generation.

By Karen Idelson

M

y Little Pony has been such a consistent part of pop culture around the world that it’s hard to believe it was only launched in 1981 as a Hasbro toy. Four different TV series, several generations of characters and two movies later, the colorful equine stars continue to entertain and inspire generations of kids (and many, many adults) around the world with their mantra, “Friendship is magic.”

This month, the new feature My Little Pony: A New Generation will arrive in time to capture a new generation of fans and appeal to longtime aficionados of the franchise as well.

Co-written and co-directed by Robert Cullen (Transformers: Cyberverse, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera) and José Luis Ucha (Bernard, Invizimals), the new adventure finds the realm of Equestria in big trouble as it has lost is magic: Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi are now separated and no longer friends. So, it’s up to Earth Pony Sunny (Vanessa Hudgens) and Unicorn Izzy (Kimiko Glenn) to bring back enchantment to their world!

“We wanted to make the movie accessible to people who probably aren’t familiar with the world of My Little Pony,” says Cullen. “And we’re also paying respects and homage to the older films and TV shows. We want fans to appreciate it and see it and for the comedy to be

effective. There are Easter eggs in the movie as well for fans. But we definitely kept the DNA of ‘Friendship Is Magic.’ It’s still there in the presence of the main ponies in the movie as they go through the story. So, it was kind of a balancing act.”

www.animationmagazine.net 10

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Features Horsing Around: The new movie features a starry cast including Vanessa Hudgens, Kimiko Glenn, James Marsden, Sofia Carson, Liza Koshy, Ken Jeong, Elizabeth Perkins, Jane Krakowski, Phil Lamarr and Michael McKean.

Ucha also felt key qualities of the ponies were important to their film. He notes, “We were always seeking the charm of the characters. So, we wanted to keep that charm in the characters, making them appealing, but at the same time we wanted you to feel something that you can relate to in the story itself. We really pushed hard to make that possible.”

Saddled with Responsibility The co-director points out that the team pushed to make the voices of the actors sound very natural. “We wanted them to sound like natural people and have the expressions of the actors in them,” he adds. “The team worked super hard to make sure the way the ponies moved and the way the ponies grabbed things looked super natural. They also worked hard to make sure, when the ponies express themselves, that everything looks smooth. So, you really feel the story as you watch the movie and see them talking and dancing.”

The filmmakers brought together impressive vocal talents to voice the ponies, unicorns, et al. Vanessa Hudgens, Kimiko Glenn, James Marsden, Sofia Carson, Liza Koshy, Elizabeth Perkins, Jane Krakowski, Phil LaMarr, Michael McKean and Ken Jeong make up an impressive cast that performs a variety of songs ranging from edgy rock tunes to full on Broadway showstoppers in tone and construction.

“We knew that we wanted to have an eclectic

‘We always set out from the start to make this as unpredictable as we can because some people might go into the movie with preconceived ideas.’

— Co-director and co-writer Rob Cullen

range of genres in the songs,” says Cullen. “We wanted to mix things up a bit and set out to make this as unpredictable as we can, because some people might go into the movie with preconceived ideas. No one would expect a punk rock, Nirvana-esque song in this movie. We were so lucky because we have two fantastic songwriters, Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler. We just loved their lyrics, and they came in with brilliant, super catchy, airborne songs.”

Dublin-based Boulder Media was the sole animation studio on this latest exploration of the Pony canon. At the height of production there were about 48 animators located in five different time zones working on the film. The crew represented about 20 different countries and worked remotely due to COVID lockdowns. From start to finish, the movie was in production for about four years, according to Cullen, who is also the founder of the 21-yearold Irish studio. Throughout the years, Boulder Media has worked on shows such as Equestria Girls, The Amazing World of Gumball, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Danger Mouse, Transformers: Cyberverse and DC Super Hero

Girls, among many others.

As the team brought the ponies into a CG world, they quickly realized they would need to make some adjustments, as the ponies from the series had a very specific way of moving, sitting and picking up or holding things with their hooves. Animation supervisor Graham Gallagher looked at the TV series as a starting point for pony design.

“We went through all of the TV shows and everything and realized the challenge was basically turning their TV design into a 3D feature character,” says Gallagher. “We found that the bodies were way too small and they couldn’t sit down, and we wanted to be able to help them sit down and be able to talk and interact like a human. We had to elongate the bodies. And then we went through a lot of facial iterations. Basically, I was trying to see what was happening with the snout. If I pushed it out, it was too long, and if I pushed it in, it was weirdly uncanny. I was trying to get the balance of that while keeping the existing models that we have in everybody’s mind. Because they all have these gigantic eyes, we

september|october 21 11

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Features The New Show Ponies: According to director Rob Cullen, the ponies had to go through some design tweaks to make them look perfect in the CG-animated world of the movie.

also needed to address the eyes. So we had to bring the eyes back and make them smaller.”

Cullen adds: “It’s quite an iconic design.

When they sit down, they sit down more like a cat or a dog. A real horse would never sit like that. So, for Graham, he was trying to get the bottom legs to move around in the right way.

So we were trying to get a hint of what was in the TV show and also trying to make it look cute and appealing. I saw how to continue to solve certain things.”

The director says he knew that they couldn’t copy straight from the 2D series. “The proportions and size of eyes wouldn’t work,” notes Cullen. “The eyes would have been just too big in CG. Getting the range of emotion and expressions that we needed was so important, so we had to make these changes — and the change was great, because it made the ponies look even better than we thought, so it was almost a blessing.”

is also important. It has to look like ponies, but also not like ponies.”

The filmmakers were also quite aware that the movie was on the minds of all the My Little Pony fans, because they’re so vocal in fan groups, on Twitter and just about everywhere else. Cullen was surprised that some of the theories about the story and plot of this movie turned out to be either way off or very close to what they did in this film.

“We’ve known how much kids and parents who grew up with these characters still love

them,” says Ucha. “So we wanted to have that feeling in the movie.”

Cullen agrees. “We’re trying to have fun, so something that’s unexpected for people who know these ponies — but also give something to people who may not have known the characters before this film. I hope the fans will love it and that we’ll come away with new fans, too.” ◆ My Little Pony: A New Generation premieres on Netflix on September 24.

Reining It All In Ucha found the changes helped set the look of the ponies apart from previous films and TV shows. Changing the designs also made complex dance sequences in the film look even better. “The anatomy is so tricky,” says Ucha. “It’s especially tricky for the 3D because certain angels are so important, especially when you’re having them move around and dance. It gets tricky to put them in front of the camera without getting some strange angles. And having them be able to hold things www.animationmagazine.net 12

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Features

september|october 21 13

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Features

The Road to Lake Eerie The Addams Family 2’s co-director Conrad Vernon gives us the scoop on the kooky clan’s summer vacation sequel.

By Michael Mallory

W

e’ve all heard about Okie families of the 1930s traveling across the country in hopes of putting their lives back together. This October, we’ll find out whether everyone is ready for an ooky family to do the same thing.

The creepiest clan (not in politics) is hitting the open highway in The Addams Family 2, a sequel to the 2019 animated hit from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Bron Creative and Cinesite Animation. In its macabrely wacky way, The Addams Family — based on the ghoulish New Yorker panel cartoons of Charles Addams — has remained one of the most durable entertainment franchises of the last 60 years. The popular (and still aired) 1960s TV sitcom adaptation spawned various other TV incarnations (including an encounter with Scooby-Doo!), two live-action films, a Saturday morning cartoon show, a Broadway musical and, finally, an animated feature.

For most of that time the family has stayed cloistered within their nightmarish, Victorian home. But thrusting them into the outside world through The Addams Family 2 was a prospect rife with comedic possibilities, according to Conrad Vernon, who co-directed the film with frequent collaborator Greg Tiernan and “co-cos” Laura Brousseau and Kevin Pavlovic.

A Family that Scares Together “Audiences really like watching the Addamses get into different situations and conversations with what we call normies … normal people,” says Vernon, who co-directed the 2019 Addams Family pic and is best known for co-directing features such as Shrek 2, Monsters vs.

Aliens, Madagascar 3 and Sausage Party. Within the context of the story, the reason for the road trip is one with which most parents can identify.

“It comes from Gomez’s worry that he is losing touch with his kids,” Vernon says. “He feels they’re starting to drift away as they get older.

They don’t hang out in the house anymore and they don’t show up for dinner.”

This is particularly true of Wednesday (voiced once more by Chloë Grace Moretz), who in this iteration is the elder sibling, an early teen, and who is experiencing what many girls of that age go through, albeit through a glass darkly. Pyrotechnically-precocious Pugsley, meanwhile, remains a destructive 10-year-old boy, though on an Addams-sized scale. In Addams Family 2, Javon “Wanna” Walton took over the voicing duties for the character from teen star Finn Wolfhard, whose voice had changed since the first film.

Gomez’s solution for bringing the family closer together is to see the U.S.A. in his “Shiver-let,” a

suitably gruesome family camper. A major complication arises through the appearance of a mad scientist named Cyrus (voiced by Bill Hader), who not only claims to be Wednesday’s real father, but has DNA evidence to prove it! “Once they find out that Wednesday might not be their daughter, Gomez holds on twice as hard, and that only serves to push her away more,” Vernon says.

Over the course of the trip, Gomez (voiced again by Oscar Isaac), Morticia (Charlize Theron), Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll), Lurch (Vernon himself), Wednesday and Pugsley, with scuttling disembodied hand Thing behind the wheel, visit such landmarks as Niagara Falls. (Bette Midler and Snoop Dogg also return as the voices of Grandmama and Cousin It, respectively, but they are not along for the entire ride.) While the characters remain stylized adaptations of Charles Addams’ original designs, the locations bear a photoreal quality … within reason.

“The challenge was to exemplify these different locations as beautiful and spot-on as we could while keeping within the design style of our film,” Vernon states. “We didn’t want people coming in and saying, ‘That’s not the way the place looks!’” He praises the team led by production designer Patricia Atchison, who he states “did a phenomenal job bringing that shot

www.animationmagazine.net 14

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Features Beyond the Pale: The spooky clan moves away from the confines of their Gothic mansion as they hit the road in the animated sequel.

much. They see a little bit of their own family in the Addams Family. They say, ‘There are certain things our family does that are a little weird, too.’”

Speedy Spooks

‘I think it is a step up from the first one: It’s got a really big ending that people are going to love. It’s full of heart, and reintroducing this family to a new audience is my biggest pleasure in making these.’

— Co-director Conrad Vernon

of Niagara Falls to life.”

It is a bit ironic that the underlying message of the sequel is people coming together, since the film was produced with most of the artists and technicians working independently. This was due to the one thing scarier than a troubled teen with a voodoo doll or a butler who looks like Frankenstein’s Monster: COVID-19. “We did this whole film remotely from Day One,” Vernon states. “Greg [Tiernan] was in the south of France while this was happening, and I was here. When the travel ban came in and we couldn’t go anywhere, we needed someone on the ground at the studio.”

Having previously worked with both Kevin Pavlovic, who edited Tiernan and Vernon’s 2016 feature Sausage Party as well as the first Addams Family film, and Laura Brousseau, who was lighting supervisor for both, the directors tapped them to handle whatever had to be done at the Vancouver-based animation house

Cinesite. “They knew the way we direct and the way we worked together, and they did an exceptional job,” Vernon says.

In one sense, though, the pandemic might actually have served to make the film more understandable to audiences. “A lot of people didn’t take a typical family vacation,” the director points out. “They went on road trips so they could stay together insulated among themselves, while still getting out of the house for a while. It’s something people can relate to, being stuck in a vehicle with your family for a long time.”

Making the Addams brood relatable to audiences was, in fact, part of the goal. “As creepy and kooky as they are, we wanted to make sure that people could relate to them,” Vernon says. “Deep down, they are a loving family that has all the flaws, all the arguments and all the love that any other family would have, and I think that’s why people love watching them so

The single biggest challenge of making the movie was not, however, presenting a family of morbid ghouls in the most lovable way possible — or even the pandemic. It was time. When The Addams Family came out in 2019, Vernon claimed it was one of the most rapidly-produced animated features ever made. That proved to be excellent training for The Addams Family 2. “This one was done even faster,” he says. “From script to screen was two years — and believe me, every day we were wondering if we were going to finish it.”

The ability to reuse elements from the first film was an enormous, maybe even lifesaving help, but that did not stop Vernon’s worries that they might not make the release date (originally mid-October, but bumped up a couple weeks, giving even less time). “There were certain things we were not able to do because of the time limit,” he says. “Any time we’d say, ‘Hey, why don’t we try this?’ the answer was never, ‘We can’t do that because we technologically don’t know how.’ It was, ‘We can’t do that because we don’t have the time.’”

Despite every speed bump thrown up in the production team’s way, though, Vernon is happy with the result. “I think it is a step up from the first one,” he says. “It’s got a really big ending that people are going to love. It’s full of heart, and reintroducing this family to a new audience, a new generation, is my biggest pleasure in making these.” ◆ The Addams Family 2 opens in theaters October 1 (snap snap).

september|october 21 15

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Features

Anime Auteur in the Spotlight Cannes Festival favorite Satoshi Kon, The Illusionist offers the perfect introduction to the late visionary’s work.

By Rich Johnson

“Animation doesn’t have to look real, it has to feel real.” — Rodney Rotham

R

otham’s wise words are somewhat of a crystallizing moment in Pascal-Alex Vincent’s latest documentary: Not only does the Oscar-winning director highlight the influence of Satoshi Kon’s Paprika (2006) on the development of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), he also reinforces what an essential cinematic experience animation is.

“Most live-action films are as predictable as driving on the freeway,” Vincent tells Animation Magazine in a recent interview. “Animation breaks down barriers and can take you to whole other dimensions.” There are few examples of the medium that break down so many barriers as Kon’s work; his feature debut, Perfect Blue (1997), arrived during an important avenue in Franco-Japanese relations. Managed by the Japan Foundation in 1997, ‘The Year of Japan in France’ not only saw the inauguration of La maison de la culture du Japon à Paris (the Japanese Culture House of Paris) but also ‘The Year of France in Japan’ 12 months later.

Vincent remembers the period well: “It was a busy time and I was working for a company that distributed Japanese films in France. Between 1997 and 1999, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Hirokazu Kore-eda released films in France, Takeshi Kitano received the Golden Lion in Venice and Naomi Kawase the Caméra d’Or in

Cannes. But, most of all, the Ghibli craze took off in Europe. So, we hadn’t seen such a huge ‘Japanese wave’ since the 1950s. French moviegoers love Japanese cinema, and Japanese cinephiles love French cinema.”

Blue Revelation

A longtime appreciator of the late Satoshi Kon and his work, Vincent first came across the pioneering animator after seeing Perfect Blue for the first time during the festivities. “I never miss a Japanese movie and there’s nothing a French cinephile loves more than discovering a new auteur,” he notes. “I was intrigued to see that it was rated R, which is very rare for anime. And I was totally blown away by the risks this young director was taking.

Shortly afterwards, his manga Tropic of the Sea [1999] was published in France by Casterman, the venerable publisher of Tintin. I remember thinking, ‘Ok, this Satoshi Kon guy is the real deal.’”

In the summer of 2018, Japanese film producer Kenzo Horikoshi visited Vincent in Paris, having been commissioned by Kon’s own producers to find a director to develop an official documentary for the 10th anniversary of his passing. “They wanted a foreign director, but someone who had nothing to do with anime.

When things started to become serious, I real-

ized my film would need to be a ‘Satoshi Kon for beginners’; who is he, and why is his work so important?” This approach is very much down to Vincent’s background teaching Japanese film history (1935-1975) at The Sorbonne Nouvelle (a.k.a. Paris 3), “It’s the professor in me. I wanted my students to love the film and was very concerned that the project should not be for specialists and hardcore fans only.” Vincent was well aware there would be some criticism on the omissions he made.

However, treating the documentary as an introduction will be instrumental in gaining a wider audience and awareness, not only of Kon’s work but also what anime is capable of.

As with most geniuses harnessing a limitless imagination, Kon was a complex and contradictive personality and the world of animation seemed the perfect medium for him to express his demons. “I think this was the only medium that could work for him, because animation allowed him to be master and commander of his own projects,” Vincent explains.

“For creators, the great thing about animation is that you can afford the luxury of no limits.

But he had that freedom due to Masao Maruyama [Madhouse co-founder], who let him do whatever he wanted because he recognized Kon as an auteur.”

Satoshi Kon, The Illusionist showcases in-

www.animationmagazine.net 16

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Features

sightful commentary about Kon by his contemporaries while also delivering some brutally honest reflections from his collaborators.

After managing to break down some walls during early development on the project — inevitable obstacles involving ‘guardians of the temple’ when working on late artists — Vincent learned that 10 years is still a short period of time when it comes to the passing of anyone. “Emotions can still be very raw; some of the people I approached declined to participate from the get-go or were very reluctant. I also learned that Satoshi Kon had not been an easy person to work with. As some mention in the documentary, working relationships often ended in conflict and, therefore, wounds were still bleeding. Satoshi Kon was so demanding with his contributors — crazily intense — and it seems he had a high opinion of his work and,

Perfect Blue

Paprika

Tokyo Godfathers

therefore, of himself. Working for him required a huge personal investment and his crew were affected by that.”

Timeless Visions

Kon’s unique eye came from being a filmmaker at heart who happened to be a dedicated animator. This was also intrinsically linked to his incredible skill as an illustrator. “As Darren Aronofsky points out in the film, Kon conceived everything, from the script to the storyboard. As mentioned already, he was a true auteur, someone with a vision, a signature. The goal of my project was for us to remember that.”

But Vincent’s documentary is much more than a remembrance piece. It is a film that inherently shows Kon’s legacy and how it should continue to open as many eyes as possible to the world of adult animation; to break that age-old assumption that it’s all just ‘kids’ stuff’.

“Things are JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (OVA) changing. There’s Perfect Blue a huge gap beMillennium Actress tween people of Tokyo Godfathers my generation Paranoia Agent and my students.

Paprika No kid under 20 Satoshi Kan Ani*Kuri15: Ohayo (Good Morning) will confuse manga and anime, for

Career at a Glance 1994 1997 2001 2003 2004 2006 2007

Millennium Actress

instance. Animation for adults has its own big names, from Bakshi to Yamamoto, with French director Jérémy Clapin [I Lost My Body, 2019] also on the rise. We’ve come a long way, and Satoshi Kon has undeniably contributed to paving the road.”

Of course, ‘paving the road’ shouldn’t be about making it easy for everyone else who follows; the creative process thrives when challenged and pushes innovation. Kon wasn’t just about advancing techniques but innovative storytelling; his meta explorations of reality and fantasy a staggering achievement that presented a filmmaker years ahead of his time. “The narration of his films was so ambitious; he wasn’t afraid of losing the audience along the way. But it never happened, like a cat always landing on its feet. Today, no producer would have the guts to take him on. He was a visionary, predicting 20 years ago the all-consuming power of the Internet and our alienation from reality into virtual worlds.” ◆ Rich Johnson has written for many publications including Fangoria, Little White Lies, The Digital Fix, Shots, Rue Morgue, Eureka and 101 Films. A lecturer in graphic design and film studies, he presents BFI masterclasses and provides audio commentary and film analysis as a podcaster. www.richpieces.com | @richpieces

september|october 21 17

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Features

The Ties That Bind Filmmaker and educator Christine Panushka discusses the creation of her new self-made feature, Blood of the Family Tree.

By Jennifer Wolfe

A

rtist, filmmaker, animator and educator Christine Panushka has completed her first feature-length film, Blood of the Family Tree — which is also her most personal project to date. The 63-minute film uses rhythm and movement to explore “questions of connections, hidden family history, disease and our ties to the past,” and will have its world premiere in September at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Panushka’s award-winning short films, which include The Sum of Them (1985) and Nighttime Fears and Fantasies: A Bedtime Tale for a Young Girl (1986), investigate what she describes as “internal states of being and the female psyche using stillness and small gestures to describe emotional and spiritual states.”

Visual artist William Kentridge described his own films as “chasing the image,” a creative approach Panushka readily applies to her own work. “I think it’s a perfect phrase to describe a particular sort of art practice,” she says.

A graduate of the CalArts Experimental Animation Program, Panushka became associate director of the program in the 1990s and has served on the faculty of the John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts since 1997. She is

perhaps best known for directing and curating Absolut Panushka, the groundbreaking online experimental animation festival sponsored by Absolut in 1996. Conceptualized by Debra Callabresi, the website was the first of its kind, featuring a history section authored by Dr. William Moritz and artwork and animated shorts by 24 international masters of animation, including Jules Engel, Ruth Hayes, Faith Hubley,

Kihachirō Kawamoto, Amy Kravitz, Lejf Marcussen, Priit Pärn, Maureen Selwood and Steven Subotnick.

Self-Made Visions With Blood of the Family Tree, Panushka joins a rare cohort of experimental animators who have self-made feature-length films. This select group of non-narrative animated features

www.animationmagazine.net 18

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Features includes Harry Smith’s Heaven & Earth Magic (ca. 1957-62), José Antonio Sistiaga’s pioneering 35mm ‘direct cinema’ film era erera baleibu izik subua aruaren… (1970) and Joanna Priestley’s North of Blue (2018).

Lewis Klahr’s experimental feature, Sixty Six (2002-2005), which is comprised of a dozen “episodes” that work together as a whole, particularly served as inspiration for Blood of the Family Tree, Panushka noted during a wide-ranging interview that covered everything from her creative process to her involvement in the Center for Visual Music, a nonprofit film archive dedicated to visual music, experimental animation and abstract media.

During the gestation period for Blood of the Family Tree, which Panushka had initially envisioned as a short film, she began developing imagery for the project, but “it just didn’t work,” she said. “So when I saw Lewis’ film Sixty Six, where he took a bunch of his short films and put them together in a very specific order, it became clear to me and I had the idea that I could do short films that were different but would be looking at different aspects of the content and the theme, and I could also play with abstraction and these different sets of imagery I’d been working with and sound. So there was a lot of space to play with image and sound in this film, and I really enjoyed it.”

Hand-drawn and hand-colored over the course of several years, Blood of the Family Tree uses imagery of blood cells, bones, knots, lace, trees, roots and handwritten text, as well as grandmothers, ancestors and what Panushka calls “keepers” and “watchers” to represent “issues of inheritance, physical and cultural mores and traumas sited within the body.”

Following a diagnosis for a rare blood disorder, Panushka delved into her family history, discovering that the condition had been passed down in her family through generations of women. “The film is a struggle to understand the past and its effect on the present,” she states, pointing to studies that suggest the existence of trauma as a genetically inherited trait.

“Trauma is not only passed down through culture, but also genetically. That’s recent research,” she says. “So I started thinking about that and how culture gets passed down, and how that affects people’s lives, how it affected my own life. We all have all these ancestors and history and all this stuff that’s happened behind us that we don’t necessarily know about that we are living with and reacting to.”

Blood of the Family Tree consists of 14 standalone shorts that cohere around the film’s central themes. Each short film “has some-

Genetic Pain: Hand-drawn and handcolored over several years, Christine Panushka’s new work is an exploration of trauma as a genetically inherited trait.

‘Part of the experimental approach to this piece was to think of it as an artwork made by one person, completing all of the animation myself and with no assistants.’

— Writer-director Christine Panushka

thing unique to itself, but also has echoes of the other films,” says Panushka, who carefully considered how to organize the material in order to sustain a coherent trajectory.

“Each little film has a premise, and then an examination of a particular set of imagery and ideas, and then a small resolution,” she outlines. “Then, at the very end, there’s a large resolution, like a coda.” The film’s ending employs both imagery and gesture and movement to provide an explanation for what has come before.

Blood of the Family Tree showcases a range of musical styles and soundscapes written by Serbian composer and guitarist Miroslav Tadić, a former CalArts classmate and current faculty member. The duo previously collaborated on Panushka’s iconic short film released in 2002, Singing Sticks, a folkloric dance that tells the tale of a centuries-old secret ritual and was entirely created using hand-carved rubber stamps.

“When Christine contacted me to do the music for Blood of the Family Tree, she already had a well-developed idea of the soundtrack,” says Tadić. “There were to be five major musical areas in the film and she supplied me with existing pieces that she felt contained the right mood and rhythm. The pieces were distinctly different in style, orchestration and overall vibe.”

“The music all came afterwards, and that’s Miroslav’s brilliance,” Panushka recalls. “There were just a few tiny, tiny places where we had to slide in maybe 10 frames so the beat

wouldn’t be weird. But he did all the music later. There was a singer and violinist, and Miroslav did all the guitar work.”

Panushka’s primary objective was to create a work of animation that uses complex cinematic structures to tell a personal story, “illustrating the connective tissue that binds humanity to history,” she explains. “Part of the experimental approach to this piece was to think of it as an artwork made by one person, completing all of the animation myself and with no assistants.”

One of the tools that made this solo effort possible was Adobe After Effects, which Panushka credits with enabling her to complete the film in just three years. “I’m a huge fan of After Effects,” she enthuses, noting that she’s still speechless about how much one can get done in an hour. “With 16mm and 35mm film, it would take two or three months to develop any sort of complexity or even simple imagery,” she says.

“Animation is hard and has a hellish aspect when you’re in the middle of production because it can be really tedious,” she adds. “That wasn’t the case with this film. I like sitting down and cutting things out in Photoshop, going in and making sure all the little edges are cleaned up, if that’s what I wanted. Doing all the stuff that I could’ve given to someone else to do was really satisfying.” ◆ Blood of the Family Tree premieres at this year’s Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival in September.

september|october 21 19

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

TOC

previous page

TV/Streaming

www.animationmagazine.net 20

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming

september|october 21 21

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

TV/Streaming

Preschool Paradise WarnerMedia’s hot new Cartoonito preschool block celebrates individuality, creativity and inclusion.

P

arents and caregivers will get some much-needed help from the folks at WarnerMedia’s Kids & Family division as a new preschool block titled Cartoonito launches on HBO Max and Cartoon Network.

The spiffy new block will offer a modern approach to preschool programming with its proprietary educational framework, Humancentric Learning. A growing roster of new and library series will add to a slate that celebrates individuality and originality, while championing creativity, compassion and inclusion.

On HBO Max, Cartoonito programming will be presented as a dedicated page featuring a collection of new preschool shows including Little Ellen and the second season of The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo, along with Esme & Roy, Sesame Street and other favorites. Cartoonito on Cartoon Network will be available Monday-Friday (6 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET/PT) and will include Bing, Mush-Mush & The Mushables and Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go. Preschoolers and families can also tune in Saturday-Sunday (6 a.m. to 8 a.m. ET/PT) for

additional new Cartoonito shows including the Fresh TV’s much-anticipated series Lucas the Spider.

As Amy Friedman, head of kids and family programming at Warner Bros., tells us, “Cartoonito is our biggest commitment to preschool in 100 years and is designed with modern families in mind. We are not the broccoli of television nor are we the preschool fare that makes parents want to pull their hair out. Our Cartoonito promise is to offer families a content slate of high-quality, non-cringe-worthy shows that lean heavily into humor and align with our proprietary Humancentric Learning framework which encourages preschoolers to embrace their own uniqueness and treat others with compassion, respect and fairness.”

A Mix of Classics and Newcomers Friedman points out that block features both the tried-and-true preschool staples like Sesame Street and Thomas & Friends, as well as new voices shaping today’s generation of kids including bestselling children’s book au-

thor Mo Willems. “We have unique originals like Little Ellen and Lucas the Spider, preschool favorites like Bing and Pocoyo and a vast lineup of forthcoming shows that will introduce WarnerMedia’s legendary IP to a new generation of fans,” she adds.

So, how is Cartoonito different from other preschool blocks on other streamers or linear networks? Friedman says the sheer number of hours devoted to the content is quite remarkable: “We have 1,000 hours of programming, 20 shows at launch and 50 new series over the next two years, including our acquisitions. Second is the mix: Beloved favorites, reinventions of our own legendary library and new, inclusive voices and visions. Third is our unified approach: We consciously work as a team across platforms and around the globe. Our three diverse studios are also now unified under the inimitable Sam Register, a master of both invention and reinvention, especially with a playground that includes our legendary DC, Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera libraries.”

When asked about the type of content they

www.animationmagazine.net 22

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming Mush-Mush & The Mushables

Bing

Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go

Lucas the Spider

Amy Friedman

are looking for from producers, Friedman says the team looks for shows that truly stand out.

“We’re drawn to stunningly beautiful characters and worlds, original voices and visions, and humor and meaning that work on two levels — for preschoolers and their parents,” she notes.

“Since content always teaches, the question is simply one of, ‘What are we teaching?’ We want our creators to have a mission in mind. We love both animation and live action, but we lean more heavily toward animation because it travels so well. We are open to all kinds of ideas — no two are exactly the same.”

Friedman is quick to sing the praises of WarnerMedia’s global marketing exec Tricia Melton and the team behind Cartoonito’s stand-out branding package. “Tricia and her merry band of creatives have done a beautiful job inventing a world for preschoolers,” she says. “Cartoonito is ‘hosted’ by Nito himself — a bouncy, curious, wide-eyed block — and his three pals Glob, Wedge and Itty. And if you’ve heard the musical mnemonic, ‘Oh, Oh, Oh, Cartoonito,’ you’ll likely never be able to get it out of your head. As a

Tricia Melton

former brander myself, I love seeing the team who has worked so well on the Cartoon Network brand all these years flex their creative brains for a new preschool audience. They bring the humor, fun and high artistic standards preschoolers need. Nothing is cringy or condescending.”

“Our Cartoonito hosts — Nito, Glob Wedge and Itty — are a group of unique, funny friends that help bring the brand to life,” says Melton. “We loved the idea of personifying shapes with individual personalities and idiosyncrasies … partly because shapes are universal … they literally translate anywhere in the world. When you infuse them with personality — like Glob, our neurodiverse character who doesn’t speak but can transform into any shape and finds silliness in almost every scenario — then you have a character that connects with any kid in the world.”

Melton says from the start she and her team wanted Cartoonito to feel like a younger sibling of the Cartoon Network brand. “Nito is based on the iconic block shapes that have been part of the Cartoon Network logo from the very beginning. Incorporating other shapes as Nito’s

friends felt natural because of the universal appeal of toy building blocks for preschoolers.

Glob, our neurodiverse shapeshifter, is partially inspired by Jake the Dog from Adventure Time and Meatwad from Adult Swim, but also embodies the liveliness and fluidity of animation while combining all our brand colors. The key was to personify each character with a unique personality and distinct attitude. Our inspiration was often drawn from our own children.

One of my daughters is dyslexic and has ADHD, so it was important to me that we have a character that is neurodiverse in the mix.”

Melton and her team work with various animation studios including Giant Ant, Primal Screen and Buck to produce the indents and animated content for the block. They began working on the animation in April and continued work on it all through summer.

Making Preschool Cool “I love that Cartoonito is built on identity and inclusion,” says Melton. “It’s one of the foundations of the brand and it’s so relevant

september|october 21 23

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

TV/Streaming to the world we live in today. I love that this will be a global brand — reaching and connecting kids across the world. I love that this is a brand that has the potential to help kids believe and own their value and their power and to seed that with them as they grow and develop. And I freaking love the mnemonic, ‘Oh! Oh! Oh! Cartoonito,’ as our rallying cry for preschoolers everywhere.”

As she looks back at the months she and her team spent preparing for the launch of Cartoonito, Friedman says dealing with the pandemic was one of their biggest challenges. “To launch something huge and meaningful without sitting around the same table, scribbling on the whiteboard, brainstorming through the blocks, takes incredible focus and caffeine,” she admits. “We certainly laughed a lot, but I can’t help but feel a little sad that we didn’t get to see each other’s shoes!”

Naughty or Nice? WarnerMedia’s new show Little Ellen explores the world through the eyes of a hilarious seven-year-old Ellen DeGeneres.

When we ask her to leave us with a fun twosentence pitch for Cartoonito, Friedman smiles.

“Cartoonito is the preschool brand you wish you had as a kid,” she says. “Come for the art and the endless laughs, stay for the meaning!”

We have a feeling few will be able to resist that wonderful invitation. ◆ Cartoonito premieres on Cartoon Network and HBO Max on Sept. 13.

The Global Picture

V

eteran animation exec Adina Pitt, VP of content acquisitions and co-productions for Cartoon Network and Boomerang, also oversees the global acquisition aspects of Cartoonito.

She was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about the new block: Can you tell us a bit about how you got involved with the Cartoonito brand?

I’m thrilled to be part of the WarnerMedia Kids & Family team. Cartoonito delivers on one of our key content strategy priorities which is to build a modern preschool brand for today’s parents and kids. It’s exciting to find new shows that exemplify Cartoonito’s mission to be a space where young kids are free to be who they are and where compassion and inclusion are championed. I’m really proud of our burgeoning slate.

How is that different from other acquisitions you oversee for Cartoon Network International?

Finding shows for Cartoonito is an expansion on the content search we have previously done, and that is exciting. Historically, we focused on content targeting kids six to 11, and now it’s wonderful to also take pitches for preschool content from all over the world. We work as a global team and it has been terrific to collaborate on ideas and new shows with our sister networks and global partners.

What do you look for in global animated shows?

We look for creator-driven, universal stories that are diverse, authentic and beautiful. We love shows that make us think, make us laugh, make us pause, and ultimately connect us. There are many considerations when acquiring or producing IP. Regardless of the demo we’re targeting, we keep our consumer front and center 100 percent of the time.

What are some of the trends you have seen in animated content this year?

This year, I’ve seen a true mix of content including retelling of classics, stories about the environment, community, adventure, outer space, game-oriented IP, diversity and family.

What do you love about your job?

I love my coworkers and our brands and what we stand for. I love our partners yesterday, today and tomorrow. I love the promise of meeting new talent and working with dear partners. I love building brands and identifying new partnerships. I love being part of a collective brain trust that produces content that makes kids happy. Every day is a new adventure and I’m grateful.

What is the important thing for creators to remember when pitching a show to you?

Remember to relax, I’m on your side and cannot wait to be inspired by your idea(s). ◆ www.animationmagazine.net 24

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming

september|october 21 25

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

TV/Streaming

A Spirited Friendship The veteran team behind Disney Channel’s The Ghost and Molly McGee discuss the making of their lively new show.

I

t’s been almost 30 years since Emmy-winning writing partners Bill Motz and Bob Roth sold their first script to Disney, which was for an episode of the popular show Darkwing Duck.

Now, after working on numerous acclaimed animated shows together including Aladdin, Hercules, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Kim Possible, Phineas and Ferb and Penguins of Madagascar, they are back with a charming new show for Disney+ called The Ghost and Molly McGee. The series centers on Molly, a cheerful young girl (voiced by actress/writer Ashly Burch) who is stuck with a grumpy ghost named Scratch (Dana Synder) after she and her family move to a new home. The duo ends up forming a friendship despite their differences as they navigate life’s little adventures.

During a recent interview, Motz and Roth reveal that their own different personalities inspired the premise of the show. “We came up with this simple story about a young girl and a ghost years ago, but it wasn’t until we started developing the show that we realized they were actually us,” says Roth. “Bill is an extrovert and an optimist, and I’m more of an introvert and a pessimist. Bill is happy-go-lucky, and I’m kind of

grumpy. That’s when we realized: Wait a second, we’re just making a show about us!”

Keeping the Ghost Alive The duo recalls coming up with the pitch for the show 14 years ago, but they had a hard time selling it at the time. “It got killed in 30 seconds,” says Motz. “Then, we pitched it to Nickelodeon, and that was dashed on the rocks, too. But we kept coming back to it. We were finishing our LEGO Star Wars project with Disney when the studio graciously gave us an overall deal. So we played with several different ideas, and Bob said, ‘Hey, I liked that Molly McGee idea,’ so we gave it a shot again! Then, when we got Dana as Scratch and Ashly as Molly, we were cooking with gas.”

Motz says they decided earlier on to base the heritage of Molly on whoever they cast for the part. “So when we picked Ashly, whom we just adored, we built the character’s ethnicity on her,” he notes. "We didn’t want to assume it was OK, so we got together for lunch and asked her how she felt about it, and she was very excited about it.”

Roth adds, “When we interview people, we always ask them to tell us about themselves — not to just tell us about their jobs, but where

they grew up, their siblings, their pets, where they come from, etc. That’s how you get to know about them. So, that’s why Molly got to be half Thai and half white, just like Ashly. Our crew also brings so much of themselves to the show and that makes it all richer and more interesting.”

The diversity of the team making the show was very important to the show-runners. As Roth tells us, “We built our crew around that idea.

We work very closely with them, and they’re all very talented and hardworking. Disney was also very helpful in terms of helping us discover talent that we weren’t aware of before. We had a huge stack of submissions from people who had never been staffed before. They had such fresh perspectives and told us first-hand about Thai culture and traditions. We also bring in consultants in all the different areas that the show’s storyline encompasses, whether it’s LGBTQ issues or climate science, etc.”

Motz and Roth are very pleased about what they call the “magical alchemy” of their show.

“We discovered certain things just through happy kismet,” says Roth. “For example, we learned about the Thai culture’s practices towards the supernatural. They have the tradition of these

www.animationmagazine.net 26

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming

Talented Trio: From left, animation veterans Steve Loter, Bill Motz and Bob Roth worked together to bring the world of The Ghost and Molly McGee to animated life.

‘The amazing thing is that even before the pandemic, we wanted to put something hopeful out there in the world — something that warms the audience’s hearts and gets them to dream again.’

— Exec producer and co-creator Bob Roth

spirit houses, which are little homes that they have to honor the spirit that may have lived there before. That was a perfect idea for our ghost Scratch! So, it was added to the mythology that we were trying to build on the show.”

Also along for the ride was co-exec producer Steve Loter, who was in charge of the show’s beautiful visuals. (The actual animation production is done by the fantastic team at Canada’s Mercury Filmworks, using Toon Boom Harmony.)

Loter, who won two Emmys for his work on The Penguins of Madagascar series, had previously teamed up with Motz and Roth on a number of projects, including Kim Possible, The Penguins of Madagascar and The Legend of Tarzan. “I would take any opportunity to work with them,” he tells us. “I loved the concept of their new show and absolutely wanted to be involved. I love the offbeat humor, but the thing that makes it shine is its relatable, genuine heart.”

Loter adds, “We have this strong desire to include at least one original song in every episode.

The songs that our series songwriter Rob Cantor writes are so great that you want to keep storyboarding to make the visuals as fabulous as the songs are.”

Staying Connected When asked about the challenges of working during the pandemic, Motz and Roth point out that the lockdown began only two weeks before they shipped the first episode of the series to animation. “The entirety of the season was done in lockdown,” says Roth. “The amazing thing is that even before the pandemic, we wanted to put something hopeful out there in the world — something that warms the audience’s hearts and gets them to dream again. We want families to watch this show together and remember that we can make the world a better place if we try and understand each other better.”

Adds Motz, “We like to say the show is about a ghost, and a girl who brings him back to life.

Molly is this bubbling force who is reviving both Scratch and the whole town. She is going to bring him around to her point of view. We feel there’s enough cynicism out there!”

As we approach the end of our time for the interview, Motz and Roth mention that they actually met about 31 years ago at a USC summer film production workshop. “We struck up a friendship that has lasted more than three decades!” says Roth. “We are good collaborators. I think we’re willing to poke at every idea and let the best idea

win. We don’t come in with giant egos.”

Motz says they are not like some other creators out there who come into meetings unwilling to change their ideas or see another way of telling a story. “We second guess each other all the time. If we get notes on something and we’re not sure about it, we don’t debate it in the room. We’ve learned to say, ‘OK, we’ll think about it.’ Then we make ourselves consider it for 24 hours. Sometimes, the notes reveal that there is a problem. Maybe their solution isn’t the most elegant one, but it allows us to re-evaluate the situation. We find that when you dig a little deeper, you find something that is stronger than before. Ultimately, it’s about bringing forward the best story possible, not about being right. A good idea can come from anywhere.”

The animation vets also leave us with a few tips: “If you have an idea, don’t give it up. If the time isn’t right, just keep it in the folder. Let it evolve and grow and be open to the universe’s notes and input,” says Roth.

Motz jumps in to add, “And always behave towards everyone the way you would like to be treated. That sounds like a fundamental idea, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t realize it. There were people who worked for us and now they’re on top of the game in the entertainment business. I am so happy for their success. People remember who was nice to them as they were on their way up.” ◆ The Ghost and Molly McGee premieres on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW on Friday, October 1.

september|october 21 27

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

TV/Streaming

Love Resurrection We catch up with Alyson Levy and Alissa Nutting, the brilliant creators of Adult Swim’s hilarious and subversive show Teenage Euthanasia.

T

he fall of 2021 might be the best time for Teenage Euthanasia, an adult animated show described as a “dystopic coming-of-all-ages comedy about death, family and accidental resurrection!” Co-created by Alissa Nutting, author of the acclaimed book Made for Love, and Alyson Levy, the Emmy-nominated producer of shows such as The Shivering Truth, Wonder Showzen and The Heart, She Holler, the series feels like a warm hug from a long-lost, loving and totally insane relative.

Animated by the talented team at Brooklyn’s own Augenblick Studios, the series follows the misadventures of the Fantasy family and their inland Florida funeral home, Tender Endings. The clan includes Trophy (voiced by Maria Bamford), who’s magically brought back by from the dead by a lightning bolt; her teen daughter Euthanasia, called “Annie” (Jo Firestone); Annie’s Uncle Pete (Tim Robinson) and “old country” grandma Baba (Bebe Neuwirth). We watch in horror and wonder as Trophy gets a second chance at being a better mother as a resurrected zombie!

We were fortunate enough to get a sneak peek as the dynamic duo of Levy and Nutting get ready to introduce their show to the world.

Here’s what they told us: Animag: We know it took a few years to deliver your animated baby. Can you tell us a little bit about how you came to make the series?

Levy: I had been with Adult Swim for years and I had this two-pronged goal to, first, make a show with women, and to make a half-hour animated show, which was something that was never done. Then, I happened to read Alyssa’s short story collection and I was super

excited to find someone with a similar weird sense of humor. I knew we would really connect. So, we decided to work on an idea for a show together. Well, it took years, because we started in 2016!

Nutting: The show went through many iterations. What was really important for us was to have female characters and a main teenage female front and center. We wanted it to be different and weird. I guess you can say a lot of exoskeletons were shed before we settled on this particular brand of weird!

Levy: We were leaning into the mother-daughter theme, as we were both mothers of daughters. I watched Gilmore Girls with my two daughters who are 12 and 15. I was thinking about what my version of the show would be like. So, we wrote a spec script of the pilot and in the summer of 2017 we gave it to Mike Lazzo [former exec VP of Adult Swim] and he loved it.

So they wanted us to make an animation, and that’s when Augenblick Studios came in.

www.animationmagazine.net 28

TOC

Can you describe the show’s visual inspirations? september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming Levy: Neither I nor Alyssa are visual artists or [drawing] types. Very early in the process, I was trying to find the right visual inspiration for the show and I went to this Brooklyn comicbook festival, and there were hundreds of comic-book artists on display. That’s where I saw Abby Jame’s books (Heart Shaped Tears, The Teenage Condition), and I read her stuff and realized she was the perfect person for us. All three of us got together, and she did concept drawings. Her own stuff is a few deAlissa Nutting Alyson Levy grees different from where the show’s look landed, but she became a vital part of the show and became the show’s art direc- Adult Swim used to be known as a late-night destination for young, white male audiences. tor. She’s super funny, as well.

But luckily, that has changed over the past few What were some of the toughest aspects of years. How do you think your show is helping getting the show made over the past four usher in a new era?

Levy: This has been a real passion for me duryears?

Nutting: Of course, the pandemic created the ing my entire time at Adult Swim. As a deeply same challenges for everyone. But this was weird person, I appreciated that there was a one of my first work experiences of making place for me there. I always had male partan animated show — and to this day, because ners, though. But I felt that there was a place I live in Los Angeles, I have never met anyone for weird women like me out in the universe, at Augenblick Studios in person. Luckily, I met too. That’s why it’s super exciting for me that Abby prior to the pandemic. Getting to do a our show is finally going to be out there. completely remote COVID show was some- There are so many stories and jokes that you couldn’t do. Sometimes, when I was on other thing to get used to.

Levy: The challenges for us are never coming shows, they wouldn’t do certain jokes because up with ideas for the show, but neither of us had they figured it was too sexist to do. I wanted made a half-hour animated show before. We were to give everyone the chance to tell their jokes learning throughout the whole process. We are and stories. Hey, women can be as boring and getting better and communicating. We found a mediocre as men. great group of people to produce the show with. Nutting: I had this very false idea that doing Nothing has been an overwhelming challenge. animation was easier than doing live action — and boy, did I get relieved of that notion. I am How did you end up with such a cool voice so grateful that we have put such an incredicast? ble, female-driven team at Augenblick. I am reLevy: It helped that we had the pandemic and ally in awe of the process, of how painstaking people wanted to work! I think it was a com- it is and how much work goes into it. I had no bination of that and the fact that people who idea it took hours of labor to produce a 10-secread it seemed to like it. We didn’t get any nos. ond clip. It’s truly a phenomenal process.

I had my own personal list of people I loved working with, and our casting person did a What do you hope your show brings to the engreat job of getting a lot of fantastic voice ac- tertainment landscape? tors that we had never thought of.

Levy: First of all, I hope people think it’s suNutting: I feel that we had a terrific cast, and per funny. I really hoped to write the funniest our four main actors helped us nail the char- show we could. I also hope that they connect acters. It was a two-way process. Jo Firestone with the characters and laugh with them. was also in the writer’s room, and she has Nutting: I have always looked at humor as been our inspiration for Annie. As we wrote an antidepressant. It’s about taking your own the characters, we could hear Annie’s voice in pains, joking about them and seeing the absurour heads. The same thing happened when dity of it all. My favorite books, art and TV shows Maria, Tim and Bebe got into the studio. We are the ones that make me laugh and feel comtweaked the dialog to showcase everything forted. I feel our show can make people feel that they brought to their characters. less alone as they see what the characters go through and relate to their struggles and dis-

appointments. I think our show is a very good pandemic show. Hopefully, it will make you happy and take you away from reality.

What are some of the animated shows that made a big impact on you?

Levy: I’ve been watching Bob’s Burgers with my kids. I think it’s a perfect animated show. Back when I was a kid, I used to really love watching The Flintstones — in a funny way, it figures in our show. You can see animal-driven vehicles pop up.

That’s because of my Flintstones’ upbringing.

Interestingly enough, I never saw my own experience reflected on TV in any live-action or animated shows. It was revelatory for both me and Alyssa that we rarely saw anything that represented the two of us. That was a driving force for the show.

Nutting: It's a cliché, but The Simpsons was so formative for me. I loved it as a kid and always wondered, why isn’t all of TV animated and why can’t everything be so good? Ren & Stimpy and South Park also expanded my mind about what a show could do. But that template is always from male creators. That’s why creating this show has been such a dream come true and such a victory, because I’m a lifelong fan but I rarely saw my own experiences in those animated shows.

What was the biggest lesson you learned from Teenage Euthanasia experience?

Levy: There were many times when you think, forget it, it’s never going to happen and this project will never get to series. My kids and friends kept asking me, ‘Are you still working on that?’ But I had a good feeling that this time it would happen. If you have that feeling, you have to keep going. Our show was a perfect example. It really took four years.

Hopefully that’s something that I don’t have to learn again!

Nutting: I can really say that working with Allyson was a huge part of why I kept going and why I wanted to continue the process. I was having so much fun, but even though I wanted the show to get picked up, I truly loved the process and enjoyed every minute of working on it. We were in that bubble for so long that it almost seems strange for other people to see it now. Having something that makes you so passionate in your life is the real gift. ◆ Teenage Euthanasia premieres on Adult Swim on Sept. 19 at midnight.

september|october 21 29

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

TV/Streaming

License to Thrill Series creator Gabe Liedman talks about balancing edgy humor and LGBTQ+ issues in the new Netflix show Q-Force.

By Ramin Zahed

C

an a super-queer crime-fighting team save the world from prejudice, discrimination and heteronormative society rules? The creators of the new Netflix adult animated series Q-Force certainly hope so. Exec produced by acclaimed TV comedy veterans Gabe Liedman (PEN15, Broad City, Big Mouth), Sean Hayes (Will and Grace) and Michael Schur (The Good Place, Parks and Recreation), the new show centers on a group of undervalued LGBTQ+ superspies who have to prove themselves to their boss, the super uptight head of the American Intelligence Agency!

“The idea behind our show started with Sean Hayes and his producing partner Todd Milliner, who are exec producing the series,” says Liedman during a recent interview. “They had a tiny seed of an idea, which was: let’s have a show about a gay James Bond, and Sean thought it would be a fun character for him to play. They were fans of my writing and my stand-up comedy, so we had a meeting and talked about what the show would entail. And we came up with this idea for an ensemble comedy about queer secret agents who had to work for an organization who doesn’t respect or want to have them?”

‘Our message of acceptance and LGBTQ+ equality and pride is baked into the concept of the show. But Q-Force is also meant to be super fun and exciting.’

— Exec producer Gabe Liedman

Liedman says he thought a lot about the trials and obstacles a gay secret agent would have to put up with in our world. “Even if you are James Bond and you’re gay, are you going to get the same shots as your straight counterpart?” he asks. “I started to think about this concept for months and came up with this LBGTQ+ team, and they all have their own skills and specialties. They also love each other and want to prove themselves. But, are the people they’re trying to prove themselves to really worth it?”

Next, Liedman, Hayes, Milliner and Schur pitched the show to Universal TV, which liked the idea a lot, and soon after they made the big sale to Netflix. “They wanted a whole series right away, and that’s absolutely the dream.

That’s like hitting a home run, because it rarely happens. I wrote the pilot myself, and then we put together an excellent room of writers

[eight other writers besides Liedman] who are mostly LGTBQ+ and started putting the episodes together in December of 2019.”

“More than half of the writing and all the animation and the acting had to be done in isolation after the pandemic hit,” he adds. “We figured out our technologies and the best way to produce the show. I am based in Los Angeles, and the animation was done by Titmouse (both at the L.A. and Vancouver studios), which is a dream come true. They are so skilled and supportive over there and did such an amazing job with the animation and the way everything looks. The first season of the show (10 halfhours) took about 18 months to finish.”

Liedman praises the wonderful work done

by Titmouse art director Michelle Rhee, who had previously worked on shows such as Ventures Bros., Rick and Morty and Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart. “She has been in the game for a

www.animationmagazine.net 30

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming long time, but this was the first show she art di- inclusive characters and premises, but some straight agent Rick Buck, Patti Harrison as comrected,” says the exec producer. “Her visuals re- were critical of the way the trailer seemed to puter hacker Stat, Laurie Metcalf as the agency ally spoke to me from the minute I saw her first echo certain easy stereotypes about the queer deputy director V, Matt Rogers as drag disguise sketches. I felt like she knew right away what lifestyle. Liedman points out that he and his expert Twink, and Wanda Sykes as the lesbian our show should have looked like — from the team work very hard to make sure the tone of agent with great mechanical skills, Deb. Liedcity, the characters, the lighting, the colors. We the show is just right and the humor comes man himself voices Benji, Agent Maryweather’s were totally sympatico and exactly on the same from a good place. sweet and unsuspecting love interest.

“It’s a tough line to walk,” he says. “Humor is page, and she worked with a wonderful team “We always knew Sean was going to play who helped bring that vithe lead and he was a huge inspiration,” sion to animated life.” says Liedman. “When So, what were some it came to writing the of Liedman’s points of rest of them, it helps a reference for the show’s lot when you have an visuals? He responds, actor in mind, so you “Well, I love the way L.A. can write the characlooks in BoJack Horseman, and I love the sex ter authentically. The appeal of Archer — the casting of Matt Rogers midcentury art and the as Twink was a Cinrealistic, elegant bodderella story. He was actually a writer on ies. I love how much our the staff who writes show captures the way incredible jokes. We L.A. and West Hollywood saw a lot of people especially look. I think for the role of Twink, the appeal of action but we didn’t have movies and action comanyone picked. So we edies often relies on the asked him to read sex appeal of the stars. I the part of Twink for like the way our characthe temp voice tracks, ters have this sex appeal and he did better than about them, regardless anyone else. Nobody of the size and shape of owned the part as their bodies. There’s conmuch as he did. I think fidence and beauty in the Matt is our breakout overall package.” star of the show!”

Liedman says he Looking back at his learned a lot from Big A Gay Old Time: Show runner Gabe Liedman points out that the writers tried to avoid easy jokes that early years as an aniMouth showrunner Anwould hurt the LGBTQ+ community and aimed for stories that had fun with the characters. drew Goldberg during his mation fan, Liedman time on the popular animated show. “He was very subjective, and that’s why it is important says like many people in his generation, The my absolute teacher and mentor,” he mentions. to surround yourself with people who don’t Simpsons was an absolutely formative force on “He sat me down and showed me all the notes think like you and grew up differently and his comedy brain. He says, “I remember going he would make on every cut. I took hours and identify differently from you. You need a team to school and quoting the show and acting it hours of his time, and he has a couple of series to bounce off ideas and jokes with. We were out with my friends. I was obsessed with it, so to do as well as a wife and kids. I am so thank- constantly asking, ‘OK, is this joke funny or does it was amazing to be able to link up with John it hurt?’ I know a lot of people in comedy don’t Rice, who worked on some of the best seasons ful to him for all that he taught me.”

He also mentions that the show’s supervis- care if the jokes hurt, but I really care. A lot of of The Simpsons and King of the Hill, too.”

As we get ready to wrap up our interview, ing director John Rice (The Simpsons, King of the artists say they’re going to make art no matter Hill) who’s extremely well-versed in animation, what people think of them. But — maybe it’s my Liedman says he hopes audiences will have a was a huge asset to the production. “They were stand-up comedy background — I am thinking lot of fun watching Q-Force (tagline: Queer and all very patient with me because for me every about the audience the entire time. I just want Present Danger!) in September. “Our message part of the process was new, as a showrunner. to make people laugh and have fun and offer of acceptance and LGBTQ+ equality and pride I literally couldn’t have done it without them them a few hours of entertainment, rather than is baked into the concept of the show. But the wanting to shock audiences.” show is also meant to be super fun and excitand wouldn’t want to either!”

The show was also able to attract a wonder- ing. It’s my dream to dazzle and delight. I hope Attention-Grabbing Trailer ful voice cast. In addition to Hayes, who plays they’ll laugh and enjoy the action sequences Once the show’s first trailer hit the web this the lead character, Agent Steve Maryweather too. Just have fun with it!” ◆ past summer, audiences reacted quickly. There (a.k.a. Mary), Q-Force features Gary Cole as were those who loved the show’s humor and Agency director Dirk Chunley, David Harbour as Q-Force premieres on Netflix on September 2. september|october 21 31

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

TV/Streaming

Songbirds of a Feather The team behind Amazon and Gaumont’s Do, Re & Mi sing the praises of their new musical preschool show.

By Ramin Zahed

A

mazon Prime Video’s preschool lineup gets a big musical boost as Gaumont Animation’s charming new preschool show Do, Re & Mi hits the right notes on the streamer this month. The show, which follows the adventures of the three titular best bird friends, aims to teach kids about music while entertaining them with their colorful adventures at the same time.

The series, which is the brainchild of Jackie Tohn (American Idol) and Michael Scharf (The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation), along with Ivan Askwith and Kristen Bell, evolved quite organically as the extension of the friendship between Tohn, Scharf and Bell.

Tohn and Bell also voice the characters Re and Mi, respectively, alongside Luke Youngblood (Galavant, Fast & Furious: Spy Racers) as Do. As Tohn tells us, “Mike and I had been friends for a couple years when he asked me to meet him at a coffee shop on Sunset Boulevard in 2014 to talk about a project. We hit the ground running that day, with Mike sketching and drawing nonstop, and me and Dave Schuler

‘We hope that kids will get acquainted with and want to listen to all different genres of music. And mostly that they will then want to make music of their own!’

www.animationmagazine.net 32

TOC

— Co-creator Jackie Tohn

Fine Tuned: The show developed as an extension of the friendship between creators Jackie Tohn, Michael Scharf and Kristen Bell. september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming

Terry Kalagian

Kristen Bell

‘One of my favorite details is how the light hits the edge of our characters such that you can see a “fuzz” from their feathers. That always gives me a warm feeling in my chest.’

— Co-creator Michael Scharf

working on songs. A few months later, I showed the art and music to my best friend, Kristen Bell, to see if her daughter, who was two at the time, responded to any of it. We needed that kid’s feedback to see if we were on the right track!

Kristen loved the idea and got on board.”

Planting the Seeds “The biggest inspiration for the show (for me) was my mother,” says Scharf. “My mother wanted me to be a classical pianist. In Pre-K I was enrolled in Kindermusik, followed by years of classical piano, choirs, acapella groups, trumpet and even theater camps. I was never the most talented musician — always third chair — but I enjoyed it, and the value of those musical experiences was further reinforced by the books we read and the educational experts that we consulted to develop our pitch. The seeds from a childhood of music education set a solid palette for all of our amazing team to paint with.”

Gaumont Animation (Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles) became involved with the project in 2016, and helped develop the show that was picked up by Amazon Prime Video in 2019. “Everything is about the music for this show and I loved that we had lofty goals from the very beginning,” says Terry Kalagian, exec VP, Gaumont U.S. “We wanted to introduce the language of music into each episode, in an

enticing and irresistible way. We also wanted to share many different genres of music with the audience. We wanted the music to appeal to both kids and their parents, and I am joyful and grateful to say that it does this in spades.

I can’t wait for everyone to watch!”

Scharf and Tohn both point out that they were very alarmed arts and music education being cut in schools. “It was happening to our nieces and nephews, and we knew it was happening all over the country,” says Tohn. “So bringing music education into the homes and hands of as many kids as possible was one of the major inspirations for the show. That was our mission then and it still is today. Music was such a massive part of our lives as kids and we wouldn’t be who we are today if we were deprived of it as kids.”

Tohn says one of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of writing the music for Do, Re & Mi was that every episode featured a musical genre, a music lesson and a life lesson. “Dave and I had to incorporate all of that into each song. It wasn’t easy, but it was so satisfying,” she adds.

The design and overall direction of the show was executed by Gaumont Animation’s Paris studio. “The animation (with the exception of layouts, lighting and compositing) however was done mainly with 88 Pictures in India,” notes Scharf. “I’ve been a big fan of 88 Pictures’ work,

and when Gaumont’s Nicolas Atlan [President, U.S.] informed us they would be handling the 3D animation, I was over the Maestro Moon (she’s in our show). I knew the quality was going to be fantastic. 88 Pictures has a team of around 120 people who worked under the supervision of two superstars from Gaumont Animation in Paris.”

The show’s top-notch CG animation was done in Maya, rendered in Arnold and composited in Nuke. “The colors, textures and lighting highlights are phenomenal,” says Scharf. “One of my favorite details is how the light hits the edge of our characters such that you can see a fuzz from their feathers. That always gives me a warm feeling in my chest.”

Scharf also points out that the show’s delightful lightning bug, Presto, was not part of the original concept. “He was actually added later,” he recalls. “Terry Kalagian came up with the idea and we instantly fell in love with him. He’s super cute and funny. Presto does not speak but buzzes! Getting to watch Luke Youngblood perform Presto’s buzzing was a recording session winner resulting in an endless bucket of team laughs and smiles!”

Flight of Fancy Kalagian also shares a great memory. “This story will forever have a place in my heart,” she notes. “Our director, Fabien [Ouvrard], and our line-producer, Mafe [Maria Fernanda Senior], from our French animation studio were in L.A. to attend the first song voice record. By the end of the session, everyone — our partners at Amazon Prime Video, the talent, the producers — everyone was on their feet, dancing in the sound booth. It was the best!"

Tohn and Scharf are both eager for young viewers to discover the world of Do, Re & Mi. “We hope kids will sing and dance to the songs all day long,” says Tohn. “And that our show will either introduce them to or further their love of music. We hope that kids will get acquainted with and want to listen to all different genres of music. And mostly that they will then want to make music of their own!”

“We would abso-HOOT-ly love for kids to be inspired to start going out and exploring music on their own,” Scharf chimes in. “We want our home viewers singing and learning from first watch. There are so many benefits to a child’s development when exposed to music education from a young age … so we want our home viewers to be engaged and inspired so they spread their wings and explore, learn and grow with the best birds on TV.” ◆ Do, Re & Mi premieres on Amazon Prime Video on September 17.

september|october 21 33

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

TV/Streaming

An Animated Star Is Born Kavaleer’s Andrew Kavanaugh tells us about Adam ♥ Adventure, a charming environmentally-minded show centered on a heroic young boy who uses a wheelchair.

A

ndrew Kavanaugh, CEO and founder of acclaimed animation studio Kavaleer Productions, was one of many TV watchers in Ireland who was won over by a charming boy named Adam King on RTÉ’s Late Late Toy Show last year. “We have a Christmas tradition of allowing children to stay up once a year to watch the Late Late Toy Show, usually a primetime chat show that once a year gets turned over to kids,” he recalls. “Like most of the country last year, our family tuned in, and that’s when we were introduced to Adam, an extraordinary six-year old from Cork in Southern Ireland with dreams of becoming a mission controller at NASA. Adam’s appearance was a ray of hope in perhaps the darkest time here, as the country entered a six-month lockdown and COVID cases spiraled.”

Kavanaugh was so inspired by Adam’s story that he began working

on a concept based on the young boy’s world.

He then reached out to the King family with a pitch over the show. “We knew from the start that Adam would be the star, and that a hero with a difference is the best starting point for seeing the world differently,” he explains. “In terms of representation, we knew from some of our prior collaborations (Pablo), how vital it is

for children with additional needs to see themselves on screen — in this case, our protagonist is a wheelchair user. Persons with additional needs represent the largest single minority, and yet are the least represented on screen. The mission for this show is to demonstrate that no matter who you are, and what challenges you face, you can follow your dreams, and heart, wherever they may take you.”

One of the best things about the project is Adam himself. “I’m working with a real-life hero,” says Kavanaugh. “Adam has raised hundreds of thousands of euro in Ireland for his favorite charities through his ‘Virtual Hug’ greeting cards and his story has inspired everyone from Joe Biden to Richard Branson. I love how his journey is evolving as we go along, and it’s an honor to be part of that adventure.”

www.animationmagazine.net 34

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming

Little Trailblazer: The team at Kavaleer wanted to create a show that featured a wheelchair user as its protagonist and offered positive ways to help protect our planet.

‘We want to not only create the first preschool show with a wheelchair user as protagonist, but also to make a show set in space which teaches us something about how we can better look after our own planet.’

— Kavaleer Productions founder & CEO Andrew Kavanaugh

Animating a Real Hero The animation veteran says he’s based several characters on real-life people before, but this is the first time he’s developing a show with a real kid. “Adam is very much our creative consultant (and space expert) on the show,” says Kavanagh.

“He has a wealth of ideas that gives the development a genuine playfulness and authenticity. I’m also getting to do work calls with the most amazing collaborators and consultants — including Dr. Norah Patten, a real-life astronaut. Working on this show has made me feel like a kid again, myself — no mean feat after 20 years of doing this!”

The animation is being produced in Ireland by a top-notch team that has worked on Kavaleer’s other hit shows like Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese and Alva’s World. The plan is to start production mid 2022, with first episodes available for delivery by the third quarter of 2023. “We’ll be seeking co-production partners at Cartoon Forum and MIPCOM this fall,” says Kavanaugh.

“The development has been handled by a small team of roughly 10 creatives, but for production we’ll be scaling up to a 40-plus crew.”

Kavanaugh mentions that it’s always challenging to create a show that’s a trailblazer. “In this

case, we want to not only create the first preschool show with a wheelchair user as protagonist, but also to make a show set in space which teaches us something about how we can better look after our own planet,” he points out. “I think this is the single biggest issue facing kids today: They are expected to come up with ways to sort out the environmental mess previous generations have left them. And who better than a kid with differences to come up with a different way of viewing this problem? Our hook explores a way we can do this through the prism of strange and silly aliens that Adam encounters on his mission.”

“Just because it’s important, doesn’t mean it can’t be fun,” he adds. “The best sci-fi, from Star Trek to Silent Running, snuck in teachable moments like this, and our challenge will be to make this work for a preschool audience.”

Of course, young Adam is one of the show’s biggest selling points. “He’s an extraordinary inspiration to everyone he meets and whose life he touches,” says Kavanaugh. “So far, we in Ireland have been lucky to get to know him over the past year, we really believe the rest of the world will come to embrace him as we have at home. We truly believe the most important ele-

ment in any show is heart, and this show has an abundance of it.”

When asked about the thriving animation industry in Ireland, the studio founder believes there are a lot of more opportunities to get new properties off the ground than ever before in his home country. “The next couple of years feel ripe with opportunity — animation kept afloat when live-action production shut down last year, and remote working has helped studios find ever more efficient working methods,” he notes. “Kavaleer increased capacity by almost 50 percent toward the end of 2020, and our roster, both in terms of development and coproduction, continues to expand. There’s a lot more opportunity for diverse voices now, and our brand of inclusive, representative programming is really coming into its own. I’m very optimistic for the next couple of years.”

In addition to Adam ♥ Adventure, Kavaleer is currently working on: Circle Square (40 x 7’) with Wyndley Animation and The Brothers McLeod, which debuted in July on Channel 5 (U.K.); Alva’s World (52 x 11’), which was pitched at Cartoon Forum in 2016 and launches on RTÉjr and Sky Kids (U.K.) in September, followed by YLE (Finland) later in the year; and the second season of Watch Next Media and Cloudco Entertainment co-pro Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, which airs on CBBC (U.K.), Gulli (France) and RTÉ. ◆ For more info, visit kavaleer.com.

september|october 21 35

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

TV/Streaming

Sample Some of CAKE’s Delicious Fall Menu!

We had a chance to catch up with Ed Galton, CEO of the London-based global distributor and producer of kids' and family series CAKE Entertainment, to get a sneak peek at their fall market content slate. Here’s what he told us: Can you give us a little bit of background about CAKE? Ed Galton: CAKE is a global distributor and producer of kids' and family series. We distribute over 1,600 half-hours of content, working with renowned producers from around the world as well as developing and producing shared and originated projects including Angry Birds: Summer Madness and Mama K’s Team 4 for Netflix.

Which new animated shows are you bringing to the fall markets this year?

The new Total Drama Island series (26 halfhours) from Fresh TV, where contestants compete in a reality series. After 14 years and sev-

en seasons, we return to the original concept of the island. The show has an updated cast of 16 quirky, iconic contestants, which reflect today’s teens. It strongly leans into diversity with a young writing team that represents each of the cultural perspectives with humor, energy and a fresh and funny voice. While the original series was the highest rated show on Cartoon Network, Total Drama continues to perform well for public broadcasters, premium pay channels and digital platforms alike.

School-based comedy Dodo (20 x 11’), a funny, heart-warming portrayal of everyday school life told through the eyes of 11-year-old Joe Connolly, as he navigates the pitfalls of his first year at high school alongside his friends Frisbo, Pete and Lily, who help him triumph

over adversity and survive another school day! While the series targets kids aged eight and up, Wildseed Studios have perfectly depicted the drama and awkward moments of school life with comedy and perception — and for adults, the memories of long-gone school days will come flooding back! It premiered on Sky Kids in the U.K. and is launching in the U.S. later this year.

success in Latin America on Cartoon Network, with its third season nominated for an International Emmy for Best Animated Series.

Preschool show Tish Tash (52 x 5’) follows the adventures of a young bear called Tish, her bear family and her larger-than-life imaginary friend Tash, as they learn about the world around them, embarking on fun adventures while inspiring imaginative play and problem

B.O.T. and the Beasties (50 x 5’) introduces preschoolers to the comic adventures and misad-

ventures of a loveable robot called B.O.T. as he discovers new worlds and an assortment of bizarre beasties that inhabit them. This is the latest series from Ragdoll Productions (Teletubbies, In the Night Garden and Twirlywoos), whose reputation for producing high caliber IPs with global appeal is unprecedented in the preschool space. Dialogue light, its strong visual comedy coupled with wonderful storytelling is ensuring its strong performance on CBeebies.

Jorel’s Brother (104 x 11’) follows the everyday adventures of an awkward and nameless nine-year-old boy, who is overshadowed by his more infamous sibling. Jorel’s brother tries to be as popular as his older brother, Jorel, but while he ultimately lives to fail, he always

finds an absurd solution when dealing with his unusual and eccentric family. Copa Studios’ multi-award-winning Brazilian comedy is now in its fourth season and has enjoyed huge

solving in young children. This show is a collaboration between South Korean animation shop Studio Gale, Singapore-based August Media Holdings, Philippines media group Synergy88 Entertainment and BAFTA- and Emmy Award-winning, U.K.-based Karrot Entertainment, and this has given Tish Tash a truly global approach. The series will be launching on CBeebies in the U.K. this September.

What are the big priorities for your company for the rest of 2021?

On the distribution side, we are actively looking for high-quality content that services all different areas of children’s entertainment from preschool through to six-to-12 and tweens. We recently announced the setting up of CAKE Productions and are focusing on taking our robust development slate of 15 titles and moving it into production. Titles include Bureau of Magic’s Dog Bird & Me and preschool musical series Cub Squad, created by Emily Chapman.

What do you love about working in animation?

Limitless storytelling, imaginative worlds, aweinspiring creativity, tremendous artistry and, of course, our partners, colleagues and friends, who keep our industry exciting,innovative and fun! ◆ For more info, visit cakeentertainment.com.

www.animationmagazine.net 36

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

© 2020 Rovio Entertainment Corporation and Rovio Animation Ltd. © 2019 La Cabane Productions – Thuristar – Cake Entertainment. © Total Daycare Drama Productions Inc. (2017). © Ragdoll Productions Ltd. 2021 All Rights Reserved.

next page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming

50 x 5’

156 x 11’

48 x 11’ & 2 x 22 ’

40 x 1’

PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION DEVELOPMENT FINANCING

september|october 21 37

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

TV/Streaming

Superpowered Siblings Cyber Group Studios’ new show 50/50 Heroes follows the adventures of an unlikely half-brother and sister duo.

O

ne of the hot shows debuting at the Cartoon Forum and some of the other fall markets this month is Cyber Group Studios’ 50/50 Heroes. Based on an original idea by Romain Gadiou (Raymond, The Jungle Bunch) and Chloé Sastre (Heidi, Kid Lucky), co-writers of Cyber Group Studios’ Mirette Investigates and Tom Sawyer animated series, the high-energy 2D HD 52 x 11-minute toon targets young viewers, ages six to 10.

The series follows the adventures of halfbrother and sister Mo (age 11) and Sam (nine) who discover one day that they’ve inherited some powers from their great-greatgreat-grandmother, who had a fling with a superhero many years ago. The twist is that as half-siblings, they must share the powers.

All they have to do to make these superpowers come to life is to be on the same page

‘50/50 Heroes is a standout series that breaks convention, from its unlikely superheroes to their unexpected and usually hilarious adventures.’

— Raphaëlle Mathieu, senior VP of sales, acquisitions & new media, Cyber Group Studios

— which is not as easy as it sounds.

“These two ‘sort of superheroes’ run half as fast and turn half-invisible!” says Raphaëlle Mathieu, senior VP of sales, acquisitions and new media at Cyber Group Studios. “But having superpowers can be cool when you are a kid. They can use it to get ice cream or to go to the movie theater with their friends while they have to be somewhere else with their mom at the same time! The first season of this bold and funny show offers fun, crazy adventures, comedy, friendship and family life all in one package.”

Mathieu adds, “50/50 Heroes is a standout series that breaks convention, from its unlikely superheroes to their unexpected and usually hilarious adventures. This is a completely original show that turns the serious superhero genre on its head, presenting a pair of halfsiblings who must work together to realize their powers and solve totally relatable, everyday challenges that don’t always go as planned, but are always funny and underscore the benefits of cooperation, friendship and importance of family.”

The series is slated for a 2022 release. ◆

www.animationmagazine.net 38

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

TV/Streaming

september|october 21 39

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

State of the Art

Digital Doubles, Digital Humans & Deep Fakes An Expert’s Field Guide

By Colin Urquhart

I

f you’re at all interested in entertainment, technology or media, you will no doubt have come across at least one of the terms listed in the title of this article. Digital doubles, digital humans and deep fakes are all used to describe computer-generated images of people as they appear in various forms of visual media, such as video games, movies, television and social platforms.

On the ‘face’ of it, all three may appear to be describing essentially the same thing – different approaches to achieving the same goal. However, while there are no doubt similarities, there are equally clear differences that make each word necessary when accurately describing distinct end results. In this article, I will go through each and explain where these distinctions lie and why you might opt for one over the other.

Digital humans

Let’s start with digital humans. A digital human is a term used to describe a 3D computer-generated human character, often depicted in a video game or animated film, that usually has no real-life counterpart. For example, the entire character of Marcus Fenix, the lead character from the major Xbox series Gears of War, is designed and created by artists. John DiMaggio is his voice actor and some of his body motion is driven by another actor using motion capture. Neither actor has his exact likeness, but when successfully combined with an artist-generated character rig, Marcus Fenix is born. This makes him a digital human, existing exclusively in a digital universe.

Another example, in this case a tool, is the recently released MetaHuman Creator platform by Epic Games. Users can design a digital human character based on templates and then load the character rig of the digital human into the Unreal Engine to animate. Using facial performance capture technology, a person with no likeness to the digital human could have their facial animation data retargeted onto the MetaHuman to drive the final asset. Like the first example, these characters are not based on any single real-life person.

Digital Doubles

In the entertainment industry, when we use the term digital double, we’re specifically referring to an exact, computer-generated replica of a real-life person. A digital double is a unique type of digital human that shares the visual likeness of a real-life

person and is usually animated using that actor’s direct performance. It works much the same way you might cast an actor for a stage production or film – the actor may be playing a fictional role, but it is nonetheless their likeness and their performance.

There have been many recent examples of this in CG animations and video games. In Netflix and Blur’s animated series Love, Death + Robots, the episode created

by Axis Studios named Helping Hand starred the actress Elly Condron. Despite being an animated short film, Elly’s full facial performance was captured using 4D facial tracking technology to recreate her exact likeness. Similarly, for the video game Quantum Break, actor Shawn Ashmore appears directly in-game as a digital double, with facial performance data captured from the actor himself used to drive the animation and likeness.

In both cases, the end result is a precise replica of both the likeness and acting performance of a real person, distinct from a standalone digital human.

Deep Fakes

If there’s one term out of three that frequently causes the most media interest, it is deep fakes. The term describes a digital 2D image or video of a real person often built without that individual needing to have any direct involvement in the performance itself. Generated using AI technology, data from thousands of images and videos can be analyzed to recreate digital replicas, often imposed and retargeted on the faces of different people.

While the end result could be described as a double, the word ‘fake’ implies that it’s fictional. Unlike the examples given for digital doubles, the actor or celebrity impersonated by the deep fake doesn’t usually drive the performance of the final animation. A recent viral deep fake of Tom Cruise exemplifies this perfectly. Created by VFX artist Chris Ume, a Tom Cruise impersonator called Miles Fisher acts out short TikTok videos with Cruise’s face imposed over the top. This is achieved by retargeting the performance of Fisher

onto the AI generated model of Cruise.

Deep fakes are arguably the most controversial of the three approaches here as they can be put to use for nefarious purposes. As well as being used to mimic celebrities like Cruise, they can equally be employed to spoof world leaders or public figures making inflammatory or controversial statements on a world stage. As such, the big tech giants are investing millions to enable them to identify and remove deep fakes from online if they have reason to do so.

Using Technology effectively

In practice, each of these terms describe a different creative pipeline used to generate a specific end result – but there are lots of technological crossovers. For instance, the process of retargeting the facial performance of an actor onto a digital character is common practice in the creation of both digital humans and deep fakes. Machine learning technology, the driving force behind deep fakes, is also becoming increasingly prominent in the creation of digital doubles. For instance, DI4D’s PURE4D pipeline, designed to create digital doubles, combines high fidelity expression data with facial performance data using machine learning algorithms, improving both the accuracy and scale.

Lastly, there have been recent examples of past figures being resurrected digitally using a combination of technological methods. For the immersive experience The March, Digital Domain produced a stunning digital double of Martin Luther King, Jr. using historical footage of Dr King, combined with scanned facial data and 4D facial performance data captured from a different actor retargeted onto the asset. It’s possible to imagine a future where a similar result could be achieved with next generation deep fake technology.

Rather than a continuum, digital doubles, digital humans and deep fakes occupy different dimensions of a multi-faceted and rapidly expanding digital world. Each plays an increasingly important role in visual media and entertainment, and each will continue to improve in graphical realism and authenticity. Ultimately, deciding on which technology to use hinges on the aims of the project at hand and requires a careful consideration of time, accuracy and creativity. ◆ Colin Urquhart is the co-founder and CEO of DI4D.

www.animationmagazine.net 40

august/september 16

State of the Art

Bless the Beasts and the Preschoolers

By Josh Selig

H

uman beings peak in preschool. The rest is comparatively uninspired.

Preschoolers dance to anything. Preschoolers’ currency of choice is love. Preschoolers lie poorly or not at all. Unless you’re a firefighter, preschoolers believe your job is boring (and it probably is). And preschoolers make all kinds of mind-blowing artwork, easily and unselfconsciously.

Picasso once said, “I spent my whole career learning to paint like a four-year old.” Well, I spent my whole career learning to make shows for a four-year old, admittedly with mixed success.

As I’m now making my first comedy for older kids, I thought this would be a good time to jot down some of the things I’ve learned about making preschool shows. My hope is that this list might be helpful to those of you going down this elusive, bumpy dirt road for the first time: 1. Preschoolers do not need to be taught subjects like kindness. Many executives do.

2. A good preschool show has a wider reach than any one culture, including pop culture. I’ve worked in about 20 countries and I couldn’t help but notice that preschoolers are similar. They are mostly focused on their family, their friends, their pets, their community, food and love. For all these reasons, a good preschool show is universal and will outlast any trend or world leader.

3. There is no need for the word “edutainment.” It’s an unpleasant Frankenstein’s monster of a word, much like “ecofriendly” or “coronavirus.” Preschoolers learn from anything that is well made.

4. Money has nothing to do with quality.

Good shows have been made on shoestring budgets and bad shows have been made on big budgets. A lack of funding should never be used as an excuse for a lack of quality. And just as kids can be spoiled when raised in a home that has an embarrassment of riches, so can a good and honest preschool show be ruined by lots of cash.

5. Preschoolers love animals because they are deeply attuned to them and to God. 6. Preschoolers do not care about celebrities, unless the celebrity is Santa Claus. If

Peaches & Creaminal

Josh Selig (at age 6)

history has taught us anything, it’s that celebrities make for great press releases and mediocre preschool shows. The charms of even the biggest names are happily nontransferable to this audience.

7. If you create preschool shows with an ulterior motive such as selling things to kids or hooking young viewers on your service to establish loyalty, as though preschool were a gateway drug, the kids will sense this and they will reject you. To their credit, preschoolers can usually tell when they are being used as sacrificial pawns in the games that we grown-ups like to play.

8. Preschoolers do not like subplots. Introducing a B story is like asking them to juggle when they are still learning to catch one ball. (They also don’t like reboots as they are still booting.)

9. Due to a combination of hubris and high demand, preschool shows these days are made very quickly and without much formative testing, as if we adults are so clever that we simply know what they will watch. Well, we don’t know, clearly. This is what makes life so interesting.

Everything from a good garden to a good dog requires time and love to become fully itself.

10. If you want to get to know preschoolers, just listen to them. They are very good at telling you exactly what they do and do not like. And they are much better at listening than we are.

It used to be that the few folks who made shows for preschoolers cared first and foremost about young children and their cognitive and emotional development. There weren’t many other reasons to make preschool shows. There was no money in it and it certainly wasn’t cool.

Much has changed since then but, fortunately, there are still some true believers out there for whom making meaningful preschool shows is something closer to a faith than another industry job. These are the good shepherds who truly know and will lay down their lives for their sheep.

I was once one of them.◆ Josh Selig is the Emmy Award-winning creator of many preschool shows including Wonder Pets and Small Potatoes. He and his wife Chen Chen are making a new comedy for kids 6-9, Peaches & Creaminal, the story of an outspoken Asian girl and her big, foul-smelling but lovable bulldog. Selig is the Founder & President of China Bridge Content and is based in New York City.

august/september 16 41

www.animationmagazine.net

previous page

TOC

Events

Pixelatl 2021: We All Need Each Other!

This year’s virtual edition features a stellar list of animation creatives and inspiring panels.

Jose Iñesta

T

his month, Mexico’s famous Pixelatl Festival will be held entirely online for its 10th edition. This popular meet-up of Ibero-American creators, executives and fans of all aspects of animation, gaming and comics is set to take place September 7 to 11. We had a chance to catch up with festival director Jose Iñesta to get the scoop on this year’s five-day animation extravaganza. Here’s what he told us: Can you tell us a bit about this year’s lineup?

Jose Iñesta: This year’s Pixelatl will be online for the second year in a row. We are very excited about this edition because it’s our 10th anniversary and we’ll be celebrating the beautiful community that has made Pixelatl what it is. In addition, we will be celebrating many amazing stories, artists and people that have devoted their lives to the craft of animation.

What are some of the highlights and mustsees?

There are a lot of things that you can’t miss!

First of all, there’s the great Masterclass about Maya and the Three, where Jorge Gutiérrez and Sandra Equihua will be talking about their upcoming Netflix show. Also, another activity that you can’t miss is Sandra’s workshop on character design. Another speaker that you can’t miss is Peter Lord, founder of Aardman Animations studio in Bristol, who will be talking about his life, animation focus and sharing his

experience of working in this industry. We are also pleased to have Chris Prynoski, founder of Titmouse, participating this year. Another important highlight is our production designers panel with Carlos Zaragoza (Sony’s Vivo), Lorelay Bové (Disney’s Encanto) and Harley Jessup (Pixar’s Coco) will talk about creating Latin American stories through art!

Of course, another can’t miss is Byron Howard’s conversation about all the features he’s done, ending with the upcoming Disney’s Encanto. Also, all the panels that talk about animation in the Ibero-American region will be interesting, because each country will showcase their best: Peru, Colombia, Chile, Spain, etc. Bento Box’s panels are also a must see, and having studio founder Joel Kuwahara participating in our market is always a highlight. You also won’t want to miss our Official Selection: We received wonderful shorts from all over the world and the program is rich in the variety of techniques as well as stories.

dance. Normally we have around 3,500 people in Cuernavaca, but last year we hit over 4,700 people in our talks. Our closing ceremony had 2,500 unique views during the event. What we noticed from last year is that we were missing interaction among the participants. So, this year we are correcting that and we are giving all the participants the opportunity to speak (chats), share videos and have valuable meetings with each other. This year, we are also launching a platform called elatlas.mx that will help the recruiting part of the event and also for the B2B networking.

What do you think worked well virtually last year?

The community! Our festival belongs to the local artists and animators and we program what they tell us they need to learn to improve their

How did you prepare for this year’s virtual edition?

We learned a lot from last year, and the reason we decided to do it again online was because last year we had a record atten-

www.animationmagazine.net 42

TOC

Encanto

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events Aphton Corbin

Peter Lord

Joel Kuwahara

formed during the event — and that has always been our goal.

Jorge Gutiérrez and Sandra Equihua

talent, or what we believe would inspire them.

Our most -viewed conference last year had over 4,700 people watching it and we hope we get more people enjoying the content of our 10th edition. We would never be able to reach those numbers of participation if we haven’t had our community involved and participating in most of the activities. They truly made a festival instead of an online event. There were virtual underground parties, groups in several social networks that were watching and commenting on the activities all the time. Technology helped us be connected in these difficult times, but people made the event a transforming experience for all the participants. In the end, bonds, friendships and partnerships were Maya and the Three

What do you think festival attendees are hungry for this year?

Two things: They are hungry to see new content, especially from Latin America and adult animation. In addition to Maya and the Three, there will be four IPs showcasing during Pixelatl: Villanos, Los Sustos Ocultos de Frankelda, Catalina la Catrina and Rey Misterio. For adult animation, we will have several panels that talk about this genre and, also, we will have several adult animation development executives looking at new projects from the Latin American studios, which will represent a great opportunity for the participants.

Can you tell us some of the big names that will be on your panels, etc.?

There are so many important names. We have over a hundred guests from 18 countries participating. To mention a few, Mike Johnson (Corpse Bride director), the directors of Pixar’s SparkShorts Aphton Corbin (Twenty Something) and Louis Gonzales (Nona), Joel Aron (The Bad Batch), Peter Hannan (CatDog). All the workshops will be very valuable as well, especially the ones for stop motion like Mo Marker’s, or Gustavo Cosío’s storyboard workshop. The music composer panel moderated by Rich Dickerson or Nickelodeon activities are also a must see. Illumination will have a story talk that you can’t miss, and all the recruiting activities will also enrich the knowledge of the industry and help aspiring artists to enter into this amazing world of animation.

What is the best way to enjoy your event this year?

Plan ahead! There is so much happening at the same time that you need to plan your event with time. Register early, see the program, look at the activities that you want to see live or the ones that can wait when you have free time (like screenings) and also, take advantage of the networking activities. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet artists or other people with the same interests, take a risk and meet new people. It doesn’t matter where you are from or the experience you have, you will always find a friendly face that will listen and that will welcome you to what Pixelatl is all about: community!

What is your take on the animation scene both locally and globally?

That it’s growing, that it’s amazing, that it’s evolving, and that everybody is willing to help.

I haven’t seen so many animated shows being released in a year. Also, there are many features coming up. But the most important fact is that it’s not a matter of volume, it’s also about content, what the story is about. Animation is challenging itself to create new storytelling, it’s going away from realistic-looking animation to more cartoony style, with new movements, tempo and humor. Also, the characters have amazing personalities on their own and the diversity of stories is really something that keeps me inspired. I love seeing new names, faces, styles and stories, especially from Latin America. I think that animation can become a healing media, because when you see yourself represented through a character, you can feel at ease with yourself. There is somebody similar to you, and it’s OK to accept who you are.

The only way to create a better society is through these stories that touch our heart and help us see ourselves in the other person.

That’s the reason our theme for this year is ‘We need each other’ — because we need to listen to everybody’s stories to find ourselves in them and discover that, in the end, we are more alike than we thought. ◆ For more info, visit pixelatl.com.

september|october 21 43

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Events

Strength in Numbers ICAA promotes animation collaborations at Pixelatl Festival.

A

s it has become an annual tradition, Spain’s Audiovisual Hub will have a strong presence at this month’s edition of the Pixelatl Conference. The country is a strong driving force as a co-producer of children’s and animation content in the Ibero-American region. The Spanish government has devoted an impressive amount of funding and talent to promote the development of animation, based on a comprehensive strategy at the Hub. It should be noted that animation, despite making up only 4% of all Spanish audiovisual companies, is responsible for 20% of employment in the sector, employing about 8,000 professionals. (According to the latest studies by Diboos, Spain’s animation organization, 70 percent of the animation income is generated from abroad.)

Spain is positioning itself as a strategic partner in many Ibero-American co-productions of children’s animated projects. The commitment to creating bridges with Latin America through initiatives such as the Ibermedia talk, the Quirino Awards and the Spain-Latam co-productions is very strong As Beatriz Navas, director of the ICAA (Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts of Spain) points out, “In Spain, we are fully aware of the special needs of our country’s animation sector as well as the Ibero-American region’s particular specificities and the enormous potential it has as an engine of economic, social and cultural development. This can only be done through interaction and debate with all possible components (private, public, technological, training), by stimulating collaborations and investing in new initiatives that arise. In this sense, both administrations and organizations have to function as encouraging and stimulating agents.”

At this year’s Pixelatl program, José Luis Farias, director of the Quirino Awards and member of the IbePetit is produced by Pájaro, Pakapaka, Nonstop, Señal Colombia and WKND and distributed by Dandelooo.

ro-American Animation League, talks with three experts in the sector — Juan Carve, founder of Chucho TV, a Uruguayan production company specializing in 2D animation; Bernardita Ojeda, illustrator and director of the production company Pájaro; and Yago Fandiño, director of children’s content at RTVE— to reflect on some of the topics of interest in the world of children’s animation and its audiences. Below are the some of the key points which will be covered in this informative panel, which is promoted by the ICAA as part of its commitment to children’s animation content:

Things to keep in mind when creating for a specific age range: You have to keep in mind the child’s perspective, and you start designing for a certain age group. But the approach can change during the process, sometimes due to the feedback you receive. In a series aimed at 12-year-olds, an explosion does not imply anything, but for a preschool audience it does. When there is a dichotomy between what you want to tell, how it is told and the aesthetics, a fracture happens. If visually the product is associated with young children but the plot is aimed at older audiences, it will be a failure.

On the other hand, you have to try to propose new ideas with styles and graphics; even if you don’t get a love at first sight, it is more stimulating for the children and they’ll end up receiving the project well. The challenge is creating content that stands out and becomes a new cultural reference. On the other hand, the targets are changing and are increasingly fluid.

It is important not to do “for” but to do “from”, to put oneself in the child’s place, so that the young viewer learns and doesn’t tune out. With children’s content we create memories: We re-

La Orquestita is produced

by Chucho.TV, Apus and Mago Productions.

member what we watched as children because we were immersed in a training process that impacted us a lot. By creating new content for children, we are building their memories and that is wonderful. We must be aware of the responsibility that comes with speaking to children, and accept that challenge with enthusiasm, and be able to leave our comfort zones.

Important children’s animation reference points and events: Pixelatl, La Liga events, Quirino Awards, Weird, Ventana Sur and other global animation markets are very important because you discover a lot of content and you get in touch with great people. There is a lot of creativity and these places allow you to have direct access to those contents and minds. Events like Cartoon Forum, Annecy, the Children’s Media Conference, etc. are also important as are forming alliances and collaborating on shared projects.

For example, Ventana Sur along with the Quirino Awards for Ibero-American Animation (Tenerife) and the Pixelatl Festival (Mexico) came together to form the Ibero-American Animation League. This alliance responds to the objective shared by the three events of promoting the creation and development of audiovisual projects in the region, strengthening the ties of collaboration between Latin American countries. Since its launch in 2018, different initiatives have been carried out: The Liga Award allows an Ibero-American project to participate as a fully paid guest in the three events. For Annecy and the MIFA market, a special program highlighted the Ibero-American participation at the events. ◆ For more info, visit culturaydeporte.gob.es/cultura/ areas/cine/inicio.html

www.animationmagazine.net 44

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events

NEW SPANISH ANIMATION @PIXELATL 2021 3X PROJECTS BY NEW SPANISH ANIMATION EMERGING TALENTS – CANTAR UN BATALLÓN Inés G. Aparicio

– CONFINAMIENTO

Diana Acién Manzorro

– HOMEWORK Naolito

WATCH THE CONFERENCE!

CHALLENGES FOR THE CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF CHILDREN'S CONTENT IN IBERO-AMERICA Moderated by Jose Luis Farias, Member of La Liga de la Animación Iberoamericana

– YAGO FANDIÑO

Director of Children's Content at RTVE (Spain)

WATCH THE CONFERENCE!

– BERNARDITA OJEDA

Founder and Creative Director of Pájaro (Chile)

– JUAN CARVE

Founder and Director of Chucho.tv (Uruguay)

september|october 21 45

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Events

Archipelago

Bob Spit

Elulu

Chicken of the Mound 2021 Poster by Amanda Bonauito & Angela Stempel

Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko

Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics

Mount Fuji Seen From a Moving Train

Wong Ping’s Fables 1

Enjoy Ottawa from Home!

OIAF director Chris Robinson share’s the secrets of the 2021 virtual festival and some tips for making the most of one of our favorite events:

W

e had a chance to chat with Ottawa International Animation Festival director Chris Robinson to get this take on this year’s fantastic virtual edition. Here is what he told us:

How does it feel to have a virtual event for the second year in a row?

Chris Robinson: I didn’t like having to do it last year, but it turned out to be a lot better than I imagined. That said, I was sure that would be

the only time we’d have to do an online OIAF … so when we decided internally last spring that OIAF21 had to be online, I was not pleased. I was probably the only one on staff who was worried we were being too conservative and acting too

www.animationmagazine.net 46

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events quickly, but having had some time to see what’s unfolded, I think it was the best choice for 2021.

There’s so much uncertainty about variants, but more than that the border with the U.S. reChris Robinson mains (at least on land) closed … and a lot of folks still aren’t comfortable with flying just yet. We could access some cinemas, but there would be capacity limits. We don’t own our cinemas, so it really doesn’t make sense to rent a cinema when we can’t fill it or even come close to filling it because of restrictions.

Did you learn any lessons from the 2020 edition that you applied to this year’s festival?

It was a lot more intimate than I imagined it would be. The other thing that stuck with me was to avoid pre-recorded talks as much as possible.

Joel Frenzer and I pre-recorded all the screening intros in advance. I also prerecorded all the ‘Meet the Filmmakers’ interviews a month before the festival. Pre-recorded sessions allowed us to involve almost every OIAF21 Competition filmmaker. During the ‘normal’ festival, it’s only the filmmakers in attendance who participate.

That said, the audience is so much a part of the experience that I felt the usual energy and unexpected humor was missing. We realized it immediately last year and made the decision to do the awards show live online as opposed to the pre-recorded one we started working on. I just wanted to take the risk of being live — and I think it was a good call because the awards ceremony had the usual quirky OIAF energy. So, this year, we’ll do Meet the Filmmakers immediately after each competition screening — that way the audience can be involved and it can have more of an improvised feel that we like.

What are some of the big highlights of the 2021 festival?

Competition aside, I’m really excited about the retrospective screenings. Last year we had planned on a massive tribute to Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and a retrospective of Hong Kong artist Wong Ping. When we switched to online, I shelved both of those. The OIAF and RISD have a long history together and we get so many past and present RISD students come to town, so we felt it would be better to wait and do the program in person. When I realized we’d be online again, we just said screw it and decided to go forward with those programs. I am really excited that we can pay tribute to decades of great work that has come out of RISD. And Wong Ping will be a revelation for many. His work is

perhaps better known in the gallery scene, but I think audiences will love his dark, deadpan style. His work is like stand-up comedy in a way.

Beyond that, there’s a long overdue tribute to U.S. indie collage artist Jodie Mack and Canadian animator Mike Maryniuk (OIAF fans will remember Cattle Call, the film he co-directed with Matthew Rankin). We also have a retrospective of our animated feature Grand Prize winner, Mariusz Wilczyński (Kill It and Leave This Town). He made a pile of great short films that he never submitted to festivals, so we’re digging them out and sharing them.

Do you think artists were more productive during the pandemic?

I think we were down a bit in 2019 and 2020. And I am always okay with that. Some festivals love to beat their chests about setting entry records … but I’m quite okay with not breaking records every bloody year. We have the same limited number of competition spots and I find that the more entries we receive, the more the quality drops. However, 2021 established a new high for the OIAF — and clearly artists took advantage of the pandemic to get work out there. And despite what I said about quality decreasing as quantity rises, I will say that this was a pretty strong year.

What is your secret to sitting through so many submissions?

Well ... I start gently. So, when we put the call out in March, I just take my time, watching a dozen or so shorts a day. I generally have from March to mid-June to get through everything, so I’ve found a way to make it somewhat manageable. Also, the OIAF has categories so that really helps to organize your thoughts/choices as you’re going along. Naturally, no matter what strategy I devise, animators love waiting until the last minute to submit their work … so the end of May (May 31 is the deadline each year) is a bit crazy.

I know you hate this question, but did you notice any trends as you dove into the mountain of submissions?

Can you imagine? There were lots of films about living in a pandemic. I’d say one in 10 films dealt with some aspect of that experience. It’s not surprising and I’m certain it will be interesting to watch these films again in 10 years after we’ve had a few years of some semblance of flawed normalcy. But I’d also argue that some were a tad self-indulgent, shortsighted and veering into a ‘woe’s me’ temperament. Beyond that there was the usual ample supply of cats, eating soup and grandparents talking about their lives!

Here are the thematic standouts: Soup. Pandemic references. Literal vaginas. Metaphorical vaginas. Peeing (animals and humans).

The horror of single-use plastics. Fish people.

Gross mouth sounds. Soft poop. Filters that look like an ’80s TV broadcast!

Tell us a bit about the feature selections — it looks like we have a particularly eclectic collection in 2021, which is a great antidote to the sameness of the studio releases.

Yes, this might be the most eclectic feature selection to date. It was really refreshing to encounter narratives and approaches that were so very far removed from the mainstream. The most ‘normal’ is probably the Studio 4ºC feature, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko. It’s a funny and moving family comedy/drama. Bob Spit is a really wonderful and unique stop-motion fusion of fiction and documentary. Two veteran animators, Pierre Hébert (Mount Fuji Seen From a Moving Train) and Christine Panushka (Blood of the Family Tree) are bringing fascinating experimental-tinged works.

Then there’s the beautiful and poetic take on Quebec history/identity, Archipelago, by Félix Dufour-Laperrière. And by far the most surprising were Elulu and Chicken of the Mound. You really have to see those films. No words I try to hammer out will do those memorable works justice.

Do you have any tips on how to best take advantage of the rich offerings of the festival this year?

Well, it’s a lot easier to navigate the online OIAF! Most participants struggle to catch everything during the in-person festival, but online it’s a lot more relaxed and because we offer almost everything on demand, you get to choose what you want to see. That said, the Short Competitions are all live and I think that’s a lot of fun and a great way to get people feeling part of the festival. Each competition is presented pretty much like the in-person screenings (each film is introduced, filmmakers take a bow...) and I like the chat function that’s offered during the screening.

I was initially worried that that would be a bad idea, but it turned out to be wonderful and really helped people to feel somewhat connected. So, I think attending as many live events is a great way to feel involved — the competition screenings, meet the filmmakers, the OIAF hangouts.

Which short made you laugh the most?

Ged Haney’s music video, Rocket Freudental “Der Stuhlkreis.” It’s the opening film of the competition. It’s just a funny, awkward, deadpan piece that kinda fits the OIAF personality. Night Bus (Wen-Ming Hsieh) and Steakhouse (Špela Čadež) are not comedies, but their darkness made me quietly chuckle.

OIAF takes place online Sept. 22-Oct. 3.

Visit animationfestival.ca for more info. .

september|october 21 47

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Events

The Secret Life of a Government Puppet Hugo Covarrubias discusses his award-winning stop-motion short Bestia.

C

hilean theatrical director and animation helmer Hugo Covarrubias was looking for a way to tell the stories of the background characters in the strife-ridden political history of his country. Along with his creative partners Martín Erazo, Tevo Díaz and Constanza Wette, he developed a series of ideas for a project, which eventually became the powerful short Bestia (Beast), which took home two awards at Annecy in June and is competing at the Ottawa festival in September. The project is loosely inspired by the life of Ingrid Olderock, who was a secret police agent in Chile during the 1970s.

As Covarrubias explains in a recent interview,

the project. The filmmakers had some pauses along the way due to the mass protests in Chile, as well as having to finish some sequences in the middle of the pandemic.

A Doll’s House Covarrubias points out that he followed a unique ‘dollhouse’ aesthetic for this short.

“Our main character’s face looks like it’s made of ceramic or porcelain, which is directly related to imagery of old German or Eastern European dolls. That’s why we decided to work with dolls that had rag bodies and ceramic faces — which offered elements of the macabre and the innocent. We generated that look

‘We decided to visit the internal world and the psychology of a real character, imagining what it would be like to be inside her mind.’

— Director Hugo Covarrubias

“The main inspiration for Bestia has to do with our main character’s mental state. After writing the first version of the script with Martín, I felt that our premise was ‘within each beast lives a victim.’

We decided to visit the internal world and the psychology of a character, imagining what it would be like to see inside her mind. It’s not a biography, but it’s a visit to her hidden life, her relationship with her dog, her fears, delusions and frustrations, which are ultimately an X-ray picture of a country fractured by a violent military dictatorship.”

The stop-motion film took about three and a half years to complete, with approximately 25 people helping out in various aspects of

using polyurethane resin, as the heads are a little lighter and covered with crystal resin for shine.”

The director acknowledges the contributions of art director Constanza Wette, character designer Pablo Castillo, face constructors Andrés Cepeda and Enrique Tapia, costume designer Cecilia Toro and animator Matías Delgado, who also helped with storyboarding and animatics. He adds, “Our most important challenge was dealing with such a delicate and political subject in animation, and generating multiple layers of interpretation.

Ultimately, that contrast greatly helped the

premise of presenting human evil and its contradictions in an aesthetically beautiful way.”

Covarrubias says one of the appealing aspects of working in shorts is the way the format has a way of zeroing in on the most important elements of the story. “You have to reduce all aspects of the story and condense everything into a few minutes, so you need to select the most effective ingredients. This is a risky process, but I think that is what also attracts me, that risk of making mistakes or that the story is not understood in such a short time.

This is where animation fulfills its role of capturing what can sometimes be unimaginable.”

When asked about animation idols, the director mentions Czech puppet animation masters Jiří Trnka and Jan Švankmajer as two main sources of inspiration, “because of the way they conceptualized and materialized human beings and their places in society.”

His introduction to animation happened when he was working on the hybrid stage play Maleza with Muriel Miranda. “I realized that stop-motion animation has a very theatrical texture and we decided to apply it, and it worked very well,” he tells us. “Later, I discovered that it is an almost perfect meeting point for the things that I like — such as cinema, cameras, lights, plastic arts, painting and sculpture.

Animation gives you those tools, but stop-motion in particular is a wonderful mix of film and plasticine, which gives you the possibility of generating unique environments and settings.”

Covarrubias says he hopes Bestia allows audiences to be transported to another world and understand other people’s experiences and stories. “I hope that they are carried away by the sensations and textures that I sought to generate and also connect pieces of history that may be lost or fragmented. Perhaps our short can help people understand humanity from different points of view.” ◆ Bestia is one of several acclaimed shorts competing at this month’s virtual Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival.

www.animationmagazine.net 48

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events

september|october 21 49

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Events

Cooking Up a Tense Scenario Špela Čadež returns to the festival circuit with the deliciously satisfying Steakhouse.

F

ans of artistic, thought-provoking animation will remember Špela Čadež as the brilliant Slovenian director who made a big splash on the festival circuit with her award-winning shorts Boles (2013) and Nighthawk (Nocna Ptica) (2016). This year, she’s back with a stunning new work titled Steakhouse, which is competing at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in September. The visually arresting piece centers on a man’s unbearable hostility towards his wife after she arrives late for her birthday dinner. Čadež says she has always been fascinated by interpersonal relationships. “Psychological violence was one of the topics I had long wanted to explore,” she says via email. “It’s something that seems so distant, and then suddenly you realize you’re drowning in its vortex. One day by chance, I was watching a cooking show on TV, and then the idea came together. In the chef’s raw flipping of meat and drowning it in oil and the sound of loud sizzling meat, I saw much more than just a recipe.”

It took the director and her team about two years to complete the short. “The post-production was a bit more complicated due to the pandemic and took another year,” she recalls. “It wasn’t easy to have a three-country co-production and not be able to travel. In the two years of drawing and animating, we were mainly a team of three women; later we had extra help in animation from France.”

Multiplane Magic

Steakhouse was created using a multiplane camera setup (which was also utilized in Nighthawk), achieving motion in animation with the help of oil-painted cels and paper cut outs. “I love to combine traditional and experimental techniques to solve creative challenges in the film and search for the inherent visual representation of the storyline and its characters,” says Čadež.

She says one of the project’s biggest challenges was finding the right characters to convincingly carry the plot. “In a short film format there is no time for explanations and prequels,” says the director.

The director “It’s not always easy used oilto choose the right painted cels and painted characters and becut-out to lieve in them for create the three years.” stunning short.

One of the achievements of the short is the way it builds such an amazing tension in such a short time. Čadež says playing with time is crucial to the success of a short. “Sometimes

you need to put extra time in so you can put it out somewhere else effectively,” she offers. “I think the use of dialog was also an important part Špela Čadež of this, too. Every wrong word or extra sentence could soften up the whole scene. The tension was not in the right words, but in the anticipation of action and the loud silences.”

The director mentions fellow animation artists such as Michaela Pavlátová, Signe Baumane, Marta Pajek, Joanna Quinn and Igor Kovalyov as some of her lifelong idols. She says she fell in love with animation when she was still a student and visited the Annecy animation festival for the first time. “I don’t really have experience with anything but short-form animation, but I do believe the short format allows me a lot of creative freedom.”

Looking back, she says she was surprised by how many viewers approached her after the screening of her previous short, Nighthawk.

“In a positive way they felt compelled to talk to me about their own experience of alcoholism or being exposed to it as a child or through a loved one,” Čadež notes. “I felt the power of film and being able to open up subjects that are usually considered taboo. So, maybe what I wish for Steakhouse is to spark conversations about a subject that is important, but difficult to talk about.” ◆ Steakhouse is one of the many acclaimed narrative shorts streaming as part of this month’s Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival.

www.animationmagazine.net 50

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events

RECONNECT

AFM 2021 ®

O

N

N OVEMBER

1 - 5

L

|

I

E

A MERICANF ILMM ARKET.COM

september|october 21 51

next page

N

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Events

The French Connection This month’s Cartoon Forum event in Toulouse introduces a rich collection of animated gems from around the world.

E

veryone is being cautiously optimistic about the 2021 edition of the much-anticipated Cartoon Forum event in Toulouse, France. The pitchfest, which is scheduled to take place live in the metropolitan city September 20-23, brings together animation industry pros to learn about 84 new TV series, miniseries and special projects. Overall, 21 European countries are involved in the projects.

Thirty-seven percent of the projects (31) are co-productions between two or more European countries, and only one non-European country, Canada, participates as a co-producer.

Among the interesting stats for ’21: ❖

France leads the selection with 33 projects, followed by Ireland with 11, Germany with eight, Spain with six and Belgium with five.

Portugal, Czech Republic and Denmark participate with four projects each, and Italy and Poland with three, while Finland, Latvia and Ukraine are present with one project each. With nine projects, Central and Eastern European countries keep the animation production momentum going. ❖ Series aimed at children 6-11 years old continue to grow at Cartoon Forum.

With 25 projects, preschool series represent almost a third of the selection, while projects for young adults/adults have increased to 17% vs 14% in the previous year. ❖ 2D remains the most widely-used technique among European producers (56%), although 3D series grew from 20% to 28% in 2020. ❖ Les Armateurs (Abyss Special Case Unit), Autour de Minuit (Freaked Out), Dandelooo (It’s Your Body!), Vivement Lundi! & Superprod (Me and My Compost), Xilam Animation (Piggy Builders), Cyber Group Studios (The McFire Family), Ellipsanime Productions (Under the School), Les films du poisson rouge (Voro), Magical Society (Mister Crocodile) and Studio 100 Animation (Rek & Nola) are among the French production companies presenting their new projects at Cartoon Forum. ❖ Series produced by renowned independent companies from other European countries include Belgium’s Fabrique Fantastique (Gardener Gavin), Germany’s Ulysses Filmproduktion (Butterfly Academy), Italy’s Red

Monk Studio (Nadia), Poland’s Animoon (Icky & Poo), Portugal’s Sardinha em Lata (Pete & Bern’s; The Saskatoons in co-production with Spain’s Pikkukala), Spain’s Peekaboo Animation (My Little Heroes) and Ukraine’s Animagrad (Hrafn Academy). ❖ Five were selected directly through cooperation agreements. The Polish project Robot and the Martians (Badi Badi) entered the line-up after being selected

by CEE Animation Forum, the German series Lambs (Studio Film Bilder) and Bugs and Guns (Wolkenlenker) were selected from Stuttgart’s Animation Production Days. And the Belgian fund Créanimation, with the help of Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and RTBF, brought two more projects to the mix: Muscaria (Galmar

Films) and Bookworms (Mad Cat Studio). ❖ Close to 20 of the selected projects are adaptations of comic books or books, including My Dog, God and the Pokethings (TNZPV Productions), Freaked Out (Autour de Minuit), Living with Dad (Dupuis Edition et Audiovisuel), Blue Wolfie (Label Anim), Suzon (Mondo TV France) and Corgi, A Royal Family (Studio Redfrog) from France; Tales of Terror (Dream Logic) and Freddy Buttons Wacky Mysteries (Treehouse Republic) from Ireland; as well as Hello, Oscar! (Atom Art, Latvia), Welcome to Mamoko (Pigeon, Poland) and Fio Lina and the Maestro (Serienwerk, Germany), among others.

For more info, visit cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-forum.

www.animationmagazine.net 52

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events

september|october 21 53

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Events

A Cartoon Forum Sampler Abyss: Very Special Case Unit. France’s well-known studio

Les Armateurs offers a new 52 x 13’ show that stands out thanks to its great design (Marc Boutavant) and clever premise (Valérie Magis and Charlotte Joulia) and direction (Luc Vinciguerra). The pitch, according to studio co-CEO Marion Delord goes something like this: “An X-Files for children meets Scooby-Doo of the seas! The truth lies below the surface.” Yes, we want to know more!

Bugs ‘n Bandits. This fun 52 x 11’ 2D show from German shop Wolkenlenker follows the adventures of Dave the cricket, Robin the caterpillar and Susan the moth, who live amazing lives in a heap of trash. “We want to bridge a gap between generations by producing hand-drawn 2D animation and genre tropes from the ‘30s to the ‘90s, which will be parodied through a modern lens. The show is a love letter to the classic Italian and American Western movies, crossed with modern cartoon humor and absurdity,” says development director Herbert Gehr.

Blue Wolfie. French studio Label Anim is back at the Forum with this 78 x 7’ preschool show based on the book by Daniel Picouly and Frédéric Pillot. Producer Thibaut Chatel explains, “Our hero, a young, tiny, cute wolf, lives both in the real world and in his imagination. We follow his adventures from the cozy nest of home to the discovery of the outside world. This preschool show goes back and forth between everyday life and a fantasy world.”

www.animationmagazine.net 54

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events

Cap n’ Cat. Ireland’s Cardel studio is presenting this clever new 24 x 11’ 2D show about an eccentric pirate and a determined fisherman who have to learn to work together as they sail through the pirate-infested sea of Redfoam.

Show creator Katarina Lundquist points out, “At its core, our show is a story about growing up and learning about the world around you as well as yourself. It’s about accepting the fact that you sometimes have to leave things in your past to become a better person — even though it’s hard to do so. Another big theme is acceptance and the joy of meeting new people!”

Freddy Buttons Wacky Mysteries. This

charming 26 x 7’ kids’ show from Ireland’s Treehouse Republic centers on a young boy detective who investigates mysteries with the aid of his team of animal friends. Creative director Graham Holbrook tells us, “The show is based on a successful children’s book series by Fiona Dillon of Tumbledown Media. We fell in love with Freddy and his team of investigators and we can’t wait to bring them to the screen!”

Piggy Builders. Popular French studio Xilam Animation is back on the scene again with this 52 x 11’ show about the cute porcine siblings Cesar, Charlie and Cornelia, who are known throughout the entire forest for their amazing DIY and house-building talents. As the show’s producers share with us, “Building and decorating houses is heaps of fun! The creator of the show, Marie Manand, has a love of architecture, DIY and interior design, and she shared her passion for all three with our entire creative team. In preparation, we also watched many house makeover shows, and were inspired by our research into sustainable building processes.”

september|october 21 55

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Events

Tales of Terror. Ireland’s Dream Logic and U.K.’s Lupus Films have joined forces on this interesting project, which is based on Chris Priestley’s best-selling book Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror. The 10 x 11’ 2D-animated project is about an 11-year-old boy named Edgar who loves to visit his enigmatic uncle in his nearby Victorian mansion and listen to his spooky stories.

Welcome to Mamoko. This lovely 26 x 6’ preschool toon from the folks at Polish studio Pigeon follows the misadventures of a group of animal pals, based on the popular books

by Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielińscy. The studio’s CEO and creative producer Mateusz Kowalczyk tells us, “The show has a unique visual style, vivid colors and unique patterns and intriguing voices of each character. It’s a story full of abstract humor and simple but important values: about respecting and paying attention to others, about living in a local community, about treating people with kindness, friendliness, empathy and helpfulness, as well as about the fact that sometimes fun is more important than rules.”

What’s It All About? Portuguese studio Take It Easy’s 52 x 11’ show revolves around a family that travels in their special van, discovering the wonders of the world that surrounds us. The parents and three kids are all in love with science and have the most incredible adventures, from the depths of the ocean to the starry skies. “Science is the main inspiration for our show, at a time when it’s more important than ever,” says producer Maria Manuel. “As the world talks about pandemics, climate change and even ‘fake news,’ we’ll help the younger generations to understand the importance of science and to learn more about it through an entertaining and funny show.” ◆

www.animationmagazine.net 56

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events

Opening Night Party

Melissa Cobb, VP of Kids and Family at Netflix and producer Suzanne Buirgy (Abominable)

will take place outside on the grounds of the historic Beverly Garland Hotel Los Angeles, California | November 7-10, 2021

Register Now For The Early Bird Discount and save $400 www.animationmagazine.net/summit Rob Sorcher, Adina Pitt, and the Cartoon Network team

Networking Lunch

september|october 21 57

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Events

Ten Shows to Catch at MIPJunior 2021 This year’s MIPJunior market has moved into the annual MIPCOM and is scheduled for Oct. 11-14 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. (No separate registration is required.) Here are some of the new, noteworthy animated shows that will be available to buyers at the market:

The Coop Troop

Superworm

Created by: Produced by Magic Light Pictures Based on: Superworm book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated

by Axel Scheffler Distributed by: Magic Light Pictures Format: 1 x 30’ Animation: CG animation provided by Blue Zoo Animation Studios Target Audience: Children and families Synopsis: A hero with a difference and a wonderfully entertaining villain clash in this joyful special. Superworm tells the story of a super-long, super-strong earthworm who always comes to the rescue of bugs and animals in distress.

He can fish Beetle out of a well, and rescue Toad from a busy road. But who will come to Superworm’s rescue, when he’s captured by a wicked Wizard Lizard?

Luckily, all of his insect friends have a cunning plan.

Stand-Out Qualities: This new film from the multi-Oscar-nominated Magic Light Pictures is narrated by the Oscar winner Olivia Colman and features a stellar voice cast including Patricia Allison, Rob Brydon, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Cariad Lloyd and Matt Smith. A comedy drama with wonderfully entertaining characters, stunning visuals and a sweeping score for the whole family to enjoy.

Exec Quote: Martin Pope, co-founder of Magic Light Pictures, says, “This is our ninth animated adaptation of a Donaldson/Scheffler title and we are delighted to be producing it for BBC One this Christmas. It’s a lovely comedy. Superworm is a brilliant central character, who has great friends who will ultimately triumph over the wonderfully entertaining villain.”

Website: www.magiclightpictures.com

Created by: Colin Williams and Alex T. Smith Distributed by: Sixteen South Rights and Tencent in China Format: 52 x 11’ Animation: CGI Target Audience: Boys and girls 6 - 9 Synopsis: The Coop Troop is a gang of five unlikely heroes: hyperactive rabbit Maggie, eccentric inventor Flo the chicken, bon vivant swine Clive, excitable lamb Billy and enigmatic egg, Jo d’Oeuf. Thirsty for adventure and eager to escape their mundane farm life, their mission is to help any animal with a problem – and they’re kept busy by the precious and very pampered pets in the nearby town of Animauville.

Stand-Out Qualities: This super-deluxe, fast, funny, farcical and feathery new comedy series is a co-production between Sixteen South, Mikros Animation, France Télévisions and Tencent Kids and features filmic animation with rib-tickling story lines.

Exec Quote: Collin Williams, showrunner at 16 South, says, “After the doom and gloom of 2020, we wanted to create a ridiculous and silly series that would be funny enough to make kids spit their dinner all over the screen while watching! Imagine The A Team — only with animals, and animated in Pixar quality CGI — that’s what we’re making!”

Delivery Date: 2022 Website: www.sixteensouth.tv

Alma’s Way

Created by: Sonia Manzano Produced by: Fred Rogers Productions, PBS KIDS Distributed by: Sinking Ship Entertainment Format: 40 x 22’, also available as 11’ Type of Animation: 2D Target Audience: Kids 4-6 Synopsis: Six-year-old Alma is a proud Bronx-born, Puerto Rican girl

www.animationmagazine.net 58

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events living her fastpaced city life.

The viewer is Alma’s best friend and confidant. She tells them her secrets, shares her feelings and challenges, and adds colorful commentary to her life’s moments — big and small.

Alma doesn’t know what she doesn’t know, and her confidence can sometimes get her into trouble.

But that’s okay, because Alma is just beginning to put concepts together and think on her own.

Stand-Out Qualities: The show is created by Sonia Manzano, best known as Maria from Sesame Street. It’s produced by Fred Rogers Productions (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) and PBS KIDS, and it’s full of engaging and beautiful music and problem solving plotlines.

Exec Quote: “From the first time we saw the materials for this show, we fell in love with Alma, her sense of confidence and optimism,” says Marilyn Kynaston, Sinking Ship’s head of sales and distribution. “We are looking forward to bringing this beautiful new series about decision-making and problem-solving to our global buyers.”

“Sonia is naturally funny and perceptive, and she has created in Alma a heroine who is similarly able to confront challenges with humor and thoughtful intention,” says Linda Simensky, head of PBS Kids Content.

Delivery Date: January 2022 Website: sinkingship.ca

junior dinosaur crew, thinking big to help others all around Volcano Valley. Each dino has a specialist skill that befits their natural talents and size. Together, they help their evolving community of dino and human friends with all sorts of challenges and problems, using a winning mix of dino-strength, cool tech and teamwork. Only one problem: on the other side of the Volcano lives Lucy Lava – a highly ambitious inventor who thinks everything’s a competition with Eddy.

Stand-Out Qualities: The series champions inclusivity by focusing on stories that spring from the characters’ varied points of view, hobbies and cultural references. The episodes see the characters creatively use eco-friendly technology and engineering to solve problems and spark children’s interest in science through wacky inventions, lost-island adventures and comic entertainment.

Exec Quote: “As the second series to be developed out of our London office by our talented team of experienced creatives, Eddy and the Ecosaurs is a show with diversity and caring for the environment at its heart and makes a fantastic addition to our expanding preschool slate.

We’re confident that the adventures of Eddy and his dinosaur crew, which all take place in a fun and vibrant setting, will resonate with young audiences globally,” says Harry Teper, managing director, Omens Studios.

Website: www.omens-studios.com

Kung Fu Wa!

Eddy and the Ecosaurs

Created by: Omens Studios Distributed by: Omens Studios Format: 52 x 11’ Animation: CG Target Audience: Kids 5-8 Synopsis: Eddy and the Ecosaurs follows novice inventor Eddy and his

Created by: Tencent Video and UYoung Distributed by: Federation Kids & Family (select territories) Format: 52 x 11’ Animation: 2D Target Audience: Kids 6-9 Synopsis: The heart-warming action series follows the adventures of a curious eight-year-old girl named Tee Zee who discovers an odd-looking sock in her mother’s laundry that talks — and was originally a Kung Fu Master charged with guarding an ancient scroll. When the Master came through a vortex into Tee Zee’s time, his powers were weakened, and he was transformed into a sock. However, when Tee Zee puts the sock on her foot she transforms into a kick-butt kung fu super heroine, and together they must complete the Master’s mission and follow the ancient scroll to defeat evil and protect their world.

Stand-Out Qualities: The show combines the pizzazz of girl power, kung fu, Asian aesthetics, comedy, action and more.

Exec Quote: Monica Levy, Federation Kids & Family’s head of sales, notes, “This is a funny fast-paced show packed with action and adventure with an

september|october 21 59

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Events

incredible heroine who is an inspiration to all kids. It is also interspersed with endearing moments especially around the special relationship that forms between Tee Zee and the Kung Fu Master.”

Website: fedent.com/portfolio/kung-fu-wa

Chase and CATCH

Created by: Saturday Animation Studio Distributed by: Digital Dimension Entertainment Group Format: 13 x 22’ Animation: UHD CGI Target Audience: Boys 7+ Synopsis: Wunderkind teen Kenzo Chase joins the futuristic Vivacity police force where he must learn to work as a team with his straightlaced, prototype robot partner CATCH. Together they strive to crack the clues that will dismantle a diabolical outlaw syndicate led by the notoriety-starved Brainwreck and his VANISH crew, and prevent them from bringing chaos to the chrome-filled, slick streets of Vivacity.

Stand-Out Qualities: This is a high-octane action-comedy series produced in ultra-high-definition CGI utilizing Digital Dimension Entertainment Group’s proprietary real-time pipeline based on Epic’s Unreal Engine. By utilizing the Unreal Engine technology, entire story worlds and their characters can be brought to life across multiple dimensions – from content to toys to video games.

Exec Quote: “Our mission at Saturday Animation Studio is to ‘bring back the magic of Saturday mornings,’ and in creating Chase and CATCH, we were Inspired by the classic 1980s cartoons that many of us grew up watching each Saturday! The show is about brotherhood, collaboration, belonging and carving your own path partnered with some tech-enhanced high-octane thrills and next-gen gadgetry. We are thrilled to introduce our new series to buyers at MIPJunior and are confident that Chase and CATCH will resonate with boys around the world,” says Fred Faubert, Digital Dimension Entertainment Group’s CCO and series showrunner.

Website: saturdayanimation.com

Jasmine & Jambo Created by: Teidees, Barcelona Distributed by: Dandelooo Format: 26 x 7’ Animation: 2D Target Audience: Preschool (3-7)

Synopsis: Jasmine and Jambo are two friends who share a passion for music. They love music so much that everything they do is related to it. And they live in the perfect place: Soundland, a surreal land where music reigns.

Stand-Out Qualities: An original concept, fun and a smart way to initiate pre-schoolers to all kinds of music. It has a unique look with its design and loveable characters.

Exec Quote: Emmanuèle Pétry Sirvin, Partner at Dandelooo, tells us, “We fell in love immediately with these two charming and fun characters who are not afraid to test, to fail, to joke around and embark kids in their creative swirl. We had been looking for a ‘music show’ for a while and this one is just perfect!”

Website: www.dandelooo.com

Ranger Rick Adventures

Created by: Bix Pix Entertainment, Red Rock Films, in assoc. with National Wildlife Federation Format: 8 x 22’ Animation: Hybrid (animation on top of live action) Target Audience: Kids 5-8 Synopsis: Brought to life for the first time on TV, the National Wildlife Federation’s beloved ranger raccoon and friends explore the wonders of nature.

Ranger Rick, Boomer the Badger and Scarlett Fox help kids dive into conservation themes that show how interconnected our environment is and how simple actions can lead to big changes. In the first season, the friends embark on an epic 3,000-mile adventure to help the plucky, but laser-focused Tunia the Monarch Butterfly reach her ancestral family tree.

Stand-Out Qualities: Ranger Rick has a 50-year legacy of inspiring kids to

www.animationmagazine.net 60

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Events be wildlife champions. The Ranger Rick magazine has been a Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner for the past 10 years and more than two million children ages 0 to 12 are reached through all Ranger Rick print and digital outlets.

Exec Quote: Executive producer Brenda Wooding tells us, “This series will not only have one of the largest and most trusted conservation organizations backing it [National Wildlife Federation], but will also have the fresh, imaginative storytelling and animation magic of Bix Pix steering it forward for the next era. My hope is that kids connect to the series and realize they too can make a difference.”

Website: rangerrick.org

Rita Peters: 1.19 Meters

GG Odyssey

Produced & Distributed by: TeamTO Based on: Panique Mythologie by Fabien Clavel Format: 26 x 22’ Type of Animation: CG Target Audience: Kids 6-10 Synopsis: Kiran has no idea how he wound up in the world of Greek mythology, but it turns out he is the chosen one for a hero’s quest! With his new friend Leuki, the daughter of Hades — who also happens to be all prepped to be a hero — and with Kiran’s video gaming skills, they have a chance of keeping history on track.

Stand-Out Qualities: TeamTO brings mythological stories to life through a modern lens — giving the classics a long overdue dusting off for kids. GG Odyssey explores the vast and exciting world of mythology through the ubiquitous world of gaming. What’s not to love?

Exec Quote: Creative development producer Mary Bradin tells us, “In this modern adaptation, we encounter all the great mythological figures, including Odysseus, in an action-packed serialized retelling of ancient Greek myths seen through the eyes of a young kid and his badass new best friend Leuke, who happens to be the daughter of Hades. The bridge between time allows us to revisit these classic stories with fresh eyes with updated topics like diversity and inclusion.”

Website: teamto.com

Created by: Adam Redfern and One Animation Distributed by: One Animation Format: 26 x 11’ Animation: CG Target Audience: Kids 6-9 Synopsis: Rita Peters is a small girl with a big justice button. Often overlooked and patronized by people with misguided assumptions based on her size, what she lacks in height, she compensates for with an energy and zest for life, plus an empathy and desire to fix inequality wherever she finds it. When she discovers the characters on her faded old height chart can magically come to life and enter the real world, Rita and her best friends think these larger-than-life visitors can help every situation!

Stand-Out Qualities: The capers of Rita and her two best friends, Suzi and Marv — who are all unique in their own ways but fit together perfectly — will show young audiences there is not a magic remedy to make it through life’s challenges, but that real life offers a chance for good friendships, helping one another, perseverance and making your unique mark on the world. The series is also inspired by Adam Redfern’s own real-life experiences of being the smallest in his school class.

Exec Quote: Michele Schofield, senior VP of content distribution at One Animation, says, “We want this comedy series, which is based around friendships and teamwork, to encourage kids to have self-belief and focus on all the amazing things they can achieve. It’s been great working closely with Adam on developing this series and we’re really looking forward to introducing Rita and her friends to potential partners at MIPCOM 2021.”

Delivery Date: End of 2022 Website: www.oneanimation.com ◆

september|october 21 61

next page

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

VFX VFX

previous page

TOC

Possessed by New Technologies Neill Blomkamp experiments with the possibilities of Volumetric Camera Systems and real-time filmmaking in Demonic.

By Trevor Hogg

A

cclaimed filmmaker Neill Blomkamp (District 9) goes beyond his usual realm of science fiction with the late summer release Demonic. The well-received horror film centers on a young woman (Carly Pope) who enters into the mind of her comatose mother (Nathalie Boltt) and unleashes a malevolent creature.

After making a series of experimental shorts for his production company Oats Studios, Blomkamp decided to tackle the low-budget project after the pandemic shutdown delayed other big-studio productions. Another motivating factor was the desire to utilize an emerging technology.

“On a purely visual effects level, I was obsessed with volumetric capture as an idea for the last three years,” explains Blomkamp. “Oats Studios is well-suited to experiment with vol cap because we don’t have to answer to anyone. Under that framework, I started speaking to Metastage in Los Angeles, which is backed by Microsoft. But when

COVID-19 happened, the cast and I couldn’t cross the border, so I was not able to use them.”

Disguised as Prototype Tech

The director began conversations with Volumetric Camera Systems in Vancouver and went through discussions about the size of the volume and the number of cameras he needed. “I knew that the visual resolution would be glitchy,” he explains. “The best way to use vol cap would be to incorporate it into the story as a prototype technology; therefore,

the audience would accept the way that it looked and it would give me the opportunity to experiment with it like I always wanted to do. Once we decided to do that, then the next thing was to drop volume capture data into Unity. We would be in a real-time environment and could use virtual cameras at any point as well as change the lighting.”

Different camera styles were adopted for the real world and dreamscape scenes. “The fictitious technology is used as a way where a person in a coma or a quadriplegic patient would be able to venture into a virtual world in a Unity-like re-

‘I knew that the visual resolution would be glitchy. The best way to use [volumetric capture] would be to incorporate it into the story as a prototype technology; therefore, the audience would accept the way that it looked. This would give me the opportunity to experiment with it like I always wanted to do.’

www.animationmagazine.net 62

TOC

— Director Neill Blomkamp

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Vision Quest: Demonic director Neil Blomkamp explores new ways to incorporate volumetric capture footage in his new horror movie.

al-time environment and get out of their body,” explains Blomkamp. “We have traditional photography when the main character goes to this hospital and interacts with her mom, who is in this virtual space. The virtual space can be as wildly different from the live-action photography as we want.”

“I wanted the on-set photography of Demonic to have no handheld quality whatsoever,” he continues.

“It would have a sense of control that would lead to slow tension and dread. To counterbalance, I wanted to use handheld photography in the virtual space.”

The team used a Sony Exmor IMX377 camera to record video sequences in 4K, and a modular camera system which allowed the crew to shrink or expand the camera array depending on what was needed for a particular shot. “At maximum, we had 239 of these 4K cameras, and at minimum we had 179 cameras in the smaller rig configuration,” Blomkamp elaborates. “The cameras were recording in 4K, and we used a machine learning neural network in order to enhance the details of our captured images through a process called ‘super-resolution imaging’ (SR). So, although the original videos were recorded in 4K, our upsampled image ended up at 6K, giving us a bit more detail and latitude to work with in post-production.”

One advantage was that real time offers no restrictions in lighting. “You can grab the sun and move it,” says the director. “All of the shadows change and the light bounces differently. That messes with your head if you come from scanline rendering like I do. The other benefit is the way you

could watch it in VR. We can actually give people executable files that they double click on and enter the world of Demonic simulations.” Jakub Lesniak served as main lighting lead for the production.

The film features three virtual simulations and each one takes place in a real location: Carly Pope’s character’s childhood home, a 100-year-old sanitorium in British Columbia (where the scary third act finale takes place) and a synthetic house that is the result of her mother’s memories. “All three of those locations were scanned,” says Blomkamp. “We did wave points where a drone flies in a grid and shoots billions of aerial shots. My brother Mike Blomkamp and VFX supervisor Chris Harvey both had Canon EOS 5D Mark III cameras and took billions of photos of the locations.”

All the information was then given to UPP in the Czech Republic, the company that took care of the visual effects for the movie. “They extrapolated those three locations from these banks of photos,” says the director. “The texture detail was embedded into the RGB data from the photos. We had to screw-up the geometry to make it match with the level of vol cap.” What was supposed to be two months of work for UPP became five months, with most of the time spent on R&D. According to UPP owner Viktor Muller, the VFX studio delivered about 260 shots for the film. “There are traditional visual effects like set extensions, driving plates and monitor displays,” he notes. “We also did the demon at the end, but the most demanding parts of the

september|october 21

next page

63

VFX VFX

movie were the virtual reality simulations.”

An array of 260 cameras captured footage at 24fps for the project. “What is great about volumetric capture is it gives you amazingly realistic movements even in the tiny details,” notes Muller. “You feel like you’re in front of a real-life person.”

Making things quite challenging was the lack of artificial intelligence that could handle the vol cap data. “It was done model by model, which was difficult for us because you don’t have a graphics card that has such a big memory to handle all of these models,” says Muller. “Unity provided us with a solution in the form of a volumetric point cloud player.

Point clouds require much less memory. We were able to load those 10 to 15 seconds of vol cap footage into the graphics card of the computer and play it in real time. Because we used the point clouds instead of the polygons, we had to reduce the quality of the final resolution.”

While the virtual camera can be moved around anywhere, certain restrictions applied. “Once you do the volumetric capturing you can’t modify the asset. You’re getting what you’re getting,” explains Muller. “Rendering required several different passes in Unity. One render was for the environment and all of the rooms. The other was done for vol cap and shadows. It was tricky.”

Of course, a good possession movie always needs a terrifying monster. “The creature was designed by this amazing concept artist named Eve Ventrue,” remarks Blomkamp. “I instantly loved it. We got Werner Pretorius’ company Amazing Ape to build a physical on-set monster that was occupied by a tall suit performer, like the Predator. The creature existed in the real world and could shoot with our live-action cameras, which we did. But the part that people in visual effects will think is hilarious is I took a physical 1980s-style Nightmare on Elm Street suit and put it in vol cap. It’s this incredibly weird, totally reversed situation of a physical prosthetic suit becoming a CG asset! It’s in a darkly lit CG hallway with blinking lights and existing in 21st century real-time game technology, which is so cool.”

Overall, shooting and processing the vol cap was the most difficult aspect of making Demonic.

“That’s because it’s new technology,” says the director. “In the first simulation I bring the audience down to the level of Carly experiencing her childhood home. Because it’s a hospital providing this virtual escapism to their coma patients, it means that the doctors have a God’s eye view of what is essentially a Unity game level. We could delete layers of the house in order to see her. It has this insane video game look that I haven’t seen before in cinema. That’s probably what I’m most proud of, because it’s unusual!” ◆ Demonic was released by IFC Midnight both theatrically and on video on demand in August.

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

VFX VFX

previous page

TOC

Tech Reviews D

Blackmagic Design’s URSA Mini Pro

igital cameras continue to improve in terms of light response as well as their frame resolution. (Of course, there is still a debate going on about how much we’re really gaining as we get higher and higher resolutions.) The latest from Blackmagic Design is the URSA Mini Pro, which has a small, but dense, body size and a

massive 12K resolution, with 14-stops of exposure fit into an 80 megapixel, 35mm-sized film back. You have a choice of shooting from 24 frames per second up to 240 (at 4K and a 16mm crop on the sensor). The lens mount comes in EF or PL flavors, so you have flexibility in the choice of cinema lenses. You can also get a V-mount bracket for your standard battery packs.

Along with high frame rates and deep color comes a lot of data. To accommodate this massive dataflow, there are dual card ports — either CFast or UHS-II SD cards that can act in tandem to write in Blackmagic RAW up to 900MB/s for the CFast or 500MB/s on the SDs. However, when you need even more storage, there is a USB-C expansion port that can feed an external flash storage mounted to the back of the camera as an accessory.

Something I found interesting with the Blackmagic proprietary sensor is that you can shoot at different resolutions, using the entire sensor. Why is this important? On other cameras, shooting at lower resolutions means cropping on the sensor — because you don’t need as many pixels. This is all well and good, except that doing that changes the perceived field of view (FOV) of the camera. So a 21mm lens could become a 28mm or a 32mm, depending on how much smaller the resolution is.

You are essentially zooming into the picture, and you aren’t utilizing the full capacity of the glass.

For VFX people, suddenly someone saying they were using a 21mm lens doesn’t exactly mean that, and we have to do some conversions before we can track the shot to make our CG fit. With the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K, you can shoot 12K, 8K or 4K without altering the physics of the lens — a 21mm lens will always be a 21mm lens.

Now, while we are on lenses and the aforementioned debate on high resolutions, shooting at 12K does have benefits for VFX beyond pulling a nice clean matte on greenscreens. This has to do with tracking CG into extremely close up shots.

The problem is that when you are very close, you don’t have anything to track to. With 12K (and mastering at 4K or less), you can shoot much wider, with the intention of cropping in for the close up — without losing resolution. This could provide much more information that would be outside of the final shot but utilized by the tracking artist. This also means a potentially impossible shot could actually be achievable.

The Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K is definitely a capable camera for cinematographers, but for shooting VFX elements and plates, the resolution, frame rates and flexibility stemming from those, it is invaluable.

Website: blackmagicdesign.com/products/ black-magicursaminip Price: $9,995 (12K)

RealityCapture 1.2 Tarasque

P

hotogrammetry, the science of obtaining info about physical objects and environments by recording, measuring and interpreting photographic images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant imagery, has become an important part of the visual effects industry. Sometimes we don’t have time or money for fancy LiDAR scanners on our productions, and photogrammetry has filled that market for us. RealityCapture has gained a foothold in that space. In fact, this technology has been around for some years, but as I go from show to show and studio to studio, it has become apparent that it is now the software of choice. Most recently, when Epic Games acquired RealityCapture, it incorporated it into the ecosystem of game development, visual effects and virtual production. This means more resources for the developers at Capturing Reality to make great software even better.

The RealityCapture 1.2 Tarasque version was just released last month with a number of features and highlights — some of them may seem a little outside the field of 3D for VFX and gaming, but you would be surprised at how some of the least sexy tools are the most useful. We are talking about things like being able to calculate volumes and areas over arbitrary shapes, viewing height profiles, calculating and exporting contour lines and cross sections and enabling slope shading on terrains.

These might sound rather blah, but when you are building terrains, which is a huge part of Unreal

by Todd Sheridan Perry

game development and virtual production, these tools begin to be surprisingly important. The applications are even more important for other industries like civil engineering and land development.

Under the hood, things have been optimized for faster calculations — more specifically for depth maps, and on the dashboard the UI has been updated. The ribbon motif has been something I’ve been getting used to, but in my opinion, RealityCapture has the most straightforward approach.

The latest version has an updated UI that doesn’t break the previous one, and hones in on functionality by changing the ribbon based on the context of your active window — 2D, 3D, Help, etc. It’s a step-by-step walkthrough of the calculation process, but it’s not a black box — you can dive deep in each step to refine and troubleshoot. Also, some new troubleshooting tools are detecting misaligned cameras, visually seeing camera position uncertainties, controlling LODs. Then there is the licensing approach (which may or may not change under Epic). Currently, you can download RealityCapture and use it for free. All you have to do is log in to your Epic Games account (also free), and you can bring in data (photos, point clouds, map data, etc.) and process the model. It’s only once you have a model that you like that you pay for the export, and this is based on the number of input sources you are using (PPI: Pay Per Input). So, depending on how many images you have, or how dense a

point cloud is, you may be looking at $10 to $20 per model. But, if you are processing tons of models every day, you still have the option for a perpetual license, which runs $3,750.

I have to say I love the software, and I enjoy the versatility of the licensing that should work for both small and large studios alike.

Website: capturingreality.com Price: $3,750 (Unlimited License) ◆ Todd Sheridan Perry is an award-winning VFX supervisor and digital artist whose credits include Black Panther, Avengers: Age of Ultron and The Christmas Chronicles. You can reach him at todd@teaspoonvfx.com.

www.animationmagazine.net 64

TOC

september|october 21

previous page

next page

september|october 21

next page

TOC

65

VFX VFX

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

previous page

TOC

Opportunities

Autonomous Animator

By Martin Grebing

The Bright Side of Working from Home

D

ue to the pandemic, many people have been translocated from their cozy cubicle at the office to a work-fromhome scenario. In some cases, even permanently. While this may be exciting for some, it may be equally as harrowing for others.

For those that are resistant to acclimating your once serene domicile into a highly effective production studio, truth be told, there are some pretty cool things about working from home.

Less overhead expenses being hemorrhaged by your company equates to less money wasted and more money kept to produce the same or greater amount of work. The positive benefit of this could manifest in many different ways, but one possibility could be increasing your chances of raises or bonuses.

More Friendly to the Environment

In addition to reducing strain on the transportation infrastructure and reducing polluting emissions from trains, planes and automobiles, people that work remotely tend to use much less paper.

Being able to submit all of your work electronically saves an untold number of trees and reduces the amount of precious resources used to harvest, process, ship, and recycle paper.

Never Commute Again

Many people travel 30 minutes, an hour, even two hours one-way to get to their office.

Much of this time is often spent stuck in traffic, on a subway car sharing a strap with Mr. Sneezy, scurrying for a seat on a bus or arranging other transportation.

Working from home means no longer wasting time travelling and more time sleeping, relaxing and being productive.

Additionally, this puts less strain on the transportation infrastructure, saves you gas or fare money, and keeps you healthier as your stress will be reduced and your daily exposure to bacteria and viruses from hundreds if not thousands of fellow travelers will be eliminated.

Increased Productivity

In addition to the indirect boost in productivity due to healthier team members, working from home has been proven to be more productive overall.

With less people around chattering, less peripheral activity and distractions from a busy office and not needing to deal with Milton Waddams’ blaring radio in the cubicle next door, your home office can be a much calmer, far more Zen working environment which allows you to be more focused — which in turn makes the time spent working more effective.

Schedule Flexibility

Working from home affords the possibility of a more flexible schedule as production managers in this type of arrangement tend to be more interested in results, rather than considering punching in and punching out exactly at the right moment the most important thing in the whole world, ever.

What this means is if you need to blow off some steam, clear your head, run a quick errand

Dress for Comfort

Guillermo Martinez, head of story on The Mitchells vs. the Machines, shares his working-from-home adventures in a fun YouTube video.

or maybe take an early lunch, you’ll have a much greater chance of implementing the aforementioned flexibilities if you work from home — even with the blessings of your supervisor.

Breathe Easy

When working from home, while you will more than likely be required to be logged in for the full duration of the work day to a remote server that periodically checks your activity, there will be no supervisor breathing down your neck in a literal sense.

As long as you log in when required, deliver your work on time and to spec, the roving Eye of Sauron will oft pass you by.

Boost to the Bottom Line

Do you avoid suits like the plague? Do you feel uncomfortable in “casual professional” attire and wish you could just wear something comfortable? If you work from home you just may be in luck — each and every day could be Hawaiian Shirt Day if you so desire.

While you may need to temporarily spiffyup for a Zoom call now and then, working at home means you get to wear anything you like, corporate dress codes be damned.

Rock Out with Your Mouse Out

Do you ever wish you could blare your favorite tunes as loud as you like from your cubicle but are expressly forbidden to do so according to rules of conduct at the office?

Working from home means there is no limit to the type of music nor the volume by which said music can be blared (as long as it doesn’t violate local noise ordinances or annoy your next door neighbor).

If you’re not quite yet onboard with the concept of working from home, I suggest you give it a try. You just might like it and even achieve a new level of productivity and happiness. ◆

With less people in the office, there is less wear and tear on office equipment, furniture, carpet, water, paper products — the list goes on and on.

www.animationmagazine.net 66

TOC

Martin Grebing is the president of Funnybone Animation Studios. He can be reached via funnyboneanimation.com. september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

Opportunities

september|october 21 67

next page

www.animationmagazine.ne

TOC

previous page

TOC

A D ay I n T he L ife Our September subject is the amazing Aphton Corbin, who directed the new Pixar SparkShort Twenty Something, which premieres on Disney+ this month. Corbin, who was also a story artist on Pixar’s Toy Story 4 and Soul, is developing a feature project at the studio as well.

2

1 I start my day with some yoga and meditation. It’s the best way to get focused and centered before heading to work.

It’s time to head to the office. Lunch packed!

3 Oh hello, Pixar!

Most days now, I work on campus — though many Pixar employees are still working from home.

4

5

Time to check the calendar for the day’s schedule. OK, actually, it’s time to draw the day’s calendar!

Here’s a shot from my directorial debut, the Pixar SparkShort Twenty Something.

8 Despite working from the Pixar campus, I still gotta Zoom!

9

6 Lunchtime, oooooh yeah! And some tea to recharge.

7 Fueled up by my meal, I stay in Pixar’s Brooklyn building’s atrium and jot down ideas for my next project.

www.animationmagazine.net 68

TOC

The day is wrapped and I walk down Pixar’s sidewalk, past the Steve Jobs Building and out to the parking lot — homeward bound.

september|october 21

previous page

next page

TOC

A D ay I n T he L ife

8 to 10

March 2022

illustration © leo timmers, 2021

Bordeaux Nouvelle-Aquitaine

CO-PRO & PITCHING EVENT FOR ANIMATED FEATURES september|october 21 3

next page

WWW.CARTOON-MEDIA.EU

www.animationmagazine.net

TOC

TOC

previous page

A D ay I n T he L ife

www.animationmagazine.net 4

TOC

september|october 21

previous page