Check your brain at the door...

So, Mike Judge is making a movie called Idiocracy about a future world suffering from the conciquences of the "dumbing down" of the viewing public. I'm sure the history books for that future world will have chapters titled "JackAss-It's Affect on the Bush Administration", "JackAss #2-Ha, ha falling down is funny" and "JackAss III-trees are made of wood"...but you know what?...I don't care. I love watching these guys torture and abuse themselves for my enjoyment. Honestly it keeps me from doing it. I grew up in the 80's on the cusp of the takeover of the video game, pre-internet, pre-myspace, pre-most of the crap that keeps kids in front of monitors. So, we would sit around outside and come up with the most outlandish thing we could think of to keep us entertained...fear of injury was the last thing on our mind. Such great games that we "invented" were "DodgeDarts" (think dodgeball but with darts...duh), "Hold the firecracker too long" (that one was more a discovery then an intentional creation), "GI Joe's burn good" (no explination needed.) and "Who can swallow their tongue and not die?" (this is something I'd rather not get into and still follows me to this day.) The stunts on JackAss weren't invented with the show...Johnny Knoxville is 35...this is the crap we all did when we were kids. I know this is going to make me sound like a callous, well, uh...jackass but I laugh at this stuff, the crotch hits on "AFV" are garaunteed to garner a chuckle or two. When warning my daughters of the dangers of climbing on top of the stack of boxes or walking on a precarious ledge I tell them "If you fall I'll help you but I will laugh at you first." So it's understandable that I would enjoy this bit of lowbrow effort in cinema. And on top of that, I will refuse to be feel guilty about it. I will laugh, I will hopefully laugh so hard that Mr Pibb and Popcorn fly from my nose...heck I may even trip Andrew on the steps of the theater on the way out just to prolong the joy. I can't help it...I like shiney things and things that fall down or blow up or a 35 year old dumbass that would take a bat to the groin for a paycheck and "fame". As I sit there basking in the warm glow of the silver screen, popcorn and Mr Pibb running down the front of my t-shirt, I will think to myself "there but for the grace of God go I." Stay in school don't do drugs.

Congratulations!!!!

First off, I wanted to thank Sarah for being so incredibly interesting to bring so many to my site to read her interview. Now on to the news of the day!...This is the last week of the first graduating class from Animation Mentor and the end of my first year as a mentor. It's been a blast so far and I'm looking forward to my second year.
The student showcase reel is a great collection of animation from some of the shining stars of the program. I mentored 5th and 6th quarter helping students get there short films together. The crew I got to work with was a blast. Great energy and enthusiasm and a s**tload of talent I'm sure I will be working with some of these folks in the future. Anyway, take a look at the reel and be in awe of the talent of some of the next stars of the animation world. And to the graduates...congratulations, you all kicked ass.

Introducing: Sarah Mensinga!!!!

It's taken me long enough but finally we have the glory that is "Sarah Mensinga"!!!!...I had the good fortune of meeting Sarah when she started at DNA on the Jimmy Neutron TV series. With 200% of the recommended daily allowance of talent, Sarah is just good at everything she puts her mind to. She likes comic books, video games, animation, cool movies and is a kick ass artist (and yes guys, she's taken)...anyway, she was gracious enough to humor me and answer my list of questions. So without further babbling on my part I give you Sarah Mensinga...



*Ok Sarah, Is it true you were actually created in a top secret lab to have abilities far beyond those of mortal men...er, women...uh, folks?

Yes, but unfortunately they only gave me extreme tooth brushing and pogo ball skills.

*Ok, for those folks that don't know how to connect the dots between graduating from Sheridan College and the wonder that is the "Sarah Mensinga Sketch Blog" give the readers a quick rundown of your animation/art career.

I graduated from Sheridan's Classical Animation Program in 2000. Two rather depressing years of working occasionally on 2D projects followed, during that time I attempted to teach myself how to animate on the computer, lived briefly in Halifax and tried my hand at improv acting. After sending out a third round of animation reels and not having the money to return to school to properly learn how to animate on the computer, I decided to give up on a career in animation. Just as I was starting to attempt to write some children's books in 2002, I got a job offer from DNA. So I found myself in Texas animating on The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron. It was half awesome job and half computer animation boot camp; not only did we have to animate anything and everything... we had to do it extremely fast. I worked late nights and nearly every weekend, but I had fun. Eventually I left Jimmy to be a character designer on another DNA project "The Ant Bully" and then eventually returned to work alongside my animation buddies on the film until the big DNA layoff. Fortunately for me I had already been planning to take a studio break. While working on The Ant Bully, I met my future husband Stephen. We were married just as my job ended and he encouraged me to pursue my dream of writing stories and drawing. So I'm taking a year off and have begun serious work on a graphic novel. I do miss animating, but being able to focus on drawing again and to finally have time to tell my own stories is a huge awesome dream come true.

*A lot of the older traditional animators have been very vocal about their dislike of computer animation. Being somewhat fresher on the animation scene but still having done both, what's your take on the two mediums?

I fought tooth and nail against computer animation initially and I remember calling it a trend when first seeing the Toy Story trailer, but the truth is I love animating on the computer. While I was in school animating traditionally was great, yet when I did it professionally it was frustrating and strange not to do all the breakdowns and in-betweens myself. My drawings got handed to someone else and then to someone else. At the end of the day, it never really felt like my work. However with computer animation, all the tiny nuances of acting are up to me. I'm also free to change and adjust movements endlessly, so it's much easier to focus on the acting. On the down side though... I imagine that if I'd been animating traditionally all these years I'd probably be a super kick ass drafts-person. I mean, I know I can draw, but I certainly have a long way to go and a lot of weaknesses to work on. It's kind of horrible to think that for half my career I haven't been drawing full time.... and that's the reason I got into animation in the first place. Hopefully I can remedy that now.

*I heard a rumor that you're wanted in Mexico for bank robbing under the name "La Bandita Juanita"...any truth to this...and if so, is there a reward?

Nope, I've been forming a crime syndicate that takes candy from babies. Lower risk and tastier profit....

*Female animators are sorta rare. What do you think is the biggest reason for the lack of women in the field?

Because the boys all want to date you. Ha ha.... no no kidding. I really don't know. It's not like pencils are heavy to lift. I have a shaky theory that some girls would rather not learn perspective, but yeah, a shaky theory. I do think the male/female ratio in the arts industry is happily changing, more and more I see great female artists and animators out there.

*There's a saying that I've heard thrown around this industry quite a bit..."Jack of all trades, master of none"...you kinda blow that myth out of the water. With all the things that you do (animation, art, writing....I really hate you sometimes...more art) Which one skill would you keep if God were having a bad day and told you you could only keep one?

Writing. I know it's an odd answer, because no one's ever paid me to do it and quite possibly I suck at it. Nothing makes me happier though than creating stories and characters. I don't think of drawing when I'm stuck waiting in a line somewhere, I think of stories.

*What would you do for a Klondike Bar?

Fight a bear... a bear with laser guns for eyes.

*I know a lot of folks on Ant Bully walked away with a wide range of feelings both towards the production and the film itself. You had the opportunity two work both in concept/character design as well as animation. How did you feel coming off production and is it any different now that you've had some time to separate yourself from the work?

Hmmm... initially I was delighted to have the opportunity to work on a feature film again, but as things progressed I missed the creative freedom, clever wit and fast pace of Jimmy Neutron. Now that time has passed I don't think I feel all that differently, although I definitely miss hanging out with all my DNA friends.

*If you were a wrestler and you had to pick a partner other than your husband, who would it be and why?

To fight at my side? Supergirl. Then I wouldn't have to do anything during fights except cheer her on. It would be awesome!

*...would you wear masks?

Of course. And they would sparkle. (Mine a little bit more than hers.)

*Cut to the chase...when's the graphic novel coming out?

At least the first part will be out by next summer..... hopefully I'll have even more done. I had hoped to complete the whole thing, but right now I'm desperately trying to finish up a story for a comic anthology. So work on the graphic novel's on hold till that's done.

*Is the "Dindle" story ever going to make it into print form? I would really love to add it to my daughter's bedtime story collection.

Maybe :) I'd have to redraw it though, the dindle's character design alone changes a bunch of times throughout the story. Stephen thinks I should at least do a little version for the comic-con next summer regardless. We'll see.... there will definitely be more blog stories though. I have a couple already planned. The next is going to be a fairytale.

*Now that you've had a taste of so many parts of production on top of your own work, where do you see yourself going after you've completed your book?

Hopefully the graphic novel will be well received and I'll be able to write/draw more. I have about four or five other stories in various genres that I would love to develop into graphic novels.

*Why does Andrew smell like old people and whiskey?

It's a long story. It's my understanding it has something to do with Santa Claus and rogue lumberjacks.

*If you had 7 apples and Alex took 2 of them...how many times would you hit Alex with a hammer for taking them?

Nope, just with a steak. I think that would be more upsetting to Alex. (Sorry Alex, but apparently you took my apples.)

*Who/what was your biggest influence starting out as a traditional artist then moving into animation?

My family and friends were very supportive, but one specific thing? I guess I always wanted to be an artist/animator as a kid but it seemed like an unrealistic goal. Even though I loved to draw, took drawing classes through childhood and went to an arts focused high school, I thought I'd probably try to become a dentist or speech therapist. Not until I took a tour of Sheridan College's animation program at 15 (ha ha, mostly just to miss a day of classes), did I realize it was not only possible for me to become an animator, but a person could even make money at it. So I'd say taking that tour was the big pivotal moment... and good thing too because I'd pass out if I had to drill a cavity :)

...many thanks to Sarah. I hope you all enjoyed it. Make sure and drop by Sarah's site or pop over to her sketch blog. I've already got a couple more victims...I mean folks lined up for the next couple of "Introducing" posts so keep an eye out.

Cheers

Coming up...

Ok, believe it or not I finally have everything pretty much ready to post for my "Introducing" spot. For those who don't remember (since it's been so long since I said I would have this up)..the wonderful artist in question is Sarah Mensinga. Take a look at her site (especially her sketch blog). The post should be up by tomorrow.

The Grabbag is open....

So I've had the little grabbag link on my toolbar for, well since the sight went up. It's gone to a blackhole of "coming soon". Rejoice brothers and sisters because hell has froze over and there is now a live "grabbag" section. "What will grabbag be?" you might ask. Grabbag is going to be all the crap I think strays a little to far off what I would normally put on the news page. It will have no rhyme or reason...it will be the "chock full-o-nuts" section. I make no claims of good taste when it comes to the grabbag...that's kinda the pont. I hope you enjoy.

A Look Inside Valve...

This informative little vid comes from GameVideos.com . The video shows a bit of Valve's studio, in game and trailer animation from HL2 Ep2, Portal and TF2. Also, there's some great interview stuff from people involved in all three projects. These are the kick ass people I get to work with/see on a daily basis. Enjoy!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider....

Saw this over on "You Tube"...and found info on the production house over at Cartoon Brew...

Turns out that MINUSCULE is a TV pilot co-created by Hélène Giraud (production design) and Thomas Szabo (direction). The show has been picked up and they’re currently creating 78 dialogue-less 6-minute shorts chronicling the adventures of the entire insect kingdom. The production company is France’s Futurikon and the series is slated to air in the US on Disney Channel.

This is F...U...N!!! This is "Microcosmos" done by Chuck Jones....enjoy!

Team Fortress 2 in da' house!!!

So this is the trailer for TF2 that was debuted at Leipzig. For those unfamiliar (such as myself until I came to Valve) Leipzig is a German version of E3. I really love the style and the characters have been a blast to work with. It's funny, some of the violence was toned down for the German censors...seems the German's love their sex and hate their violence. I love the fact that part of job is to playtest this game. I'm not a huge gamer, like Burke, but I love playing this damn game. I will finally break down and get an Xbox 360 just to play Team Fortress2, Dead Rising, Portal and HL2 Ep2...yeah, I know...I'm Burking out. Pray for me.

The Missing Links...

I finally updated my links page. Please take a few minutes to look through them...there's some really talented folks in there. Almost all are former DNA friends and co-workers. They're all over the place now filling other people's lives with happy thoughts and chocolate unicorns of love. I love chocolate unicorns...until you bite their heads off. Then they stop moving and aren't really that much fun anymore.

Even more wholesome goodness!!!

You guessed...it's the return of...

"Nanna & Lil' Puss Puss!!!!"

...working on this project was probably some of the funnest time I've ever spent animating. Keith Alcorn (the "A" in DNA) came up with this lovely duo many moons ago. I actually say an early short on MTV almost 15 years ago and nearly messed my undies laughing so hard. Little did I know I would get to spend seven years there.

This short is probably some of the most offensive CG ever put to pixel. It's rude, crude, violent...socially unexeptable in almost every way. This crowning achievment took the fine animation efforts of such greats as Andrew Burke, Sarah Mensinga, Tom Grevera...oh yeah, I did a few shots myself.

Warning!!! Nanna & Lil' Puss Puss is intended for MATURE viewers. If you watch it and are offended in any way...tough! I told you, you have no one to blame but yourself...and maybe Jesus.

Ok, enough with the chit chat...watch the video!!!

Ok, My two cents...

First off, sorry for the delay in getting stuff posted. With the move, the new job and half a million other things...honestly, the websites been kinda low on the priority list. Now, onto other things...

Over the course of the last couple of weeks lots of people have posted their feedback on why AntBully has burst into a fiery ball and taken a nose dive at the box office. Most of it I pretty much agree with. Mr Lango has a great post on his site. Keith has always been one to say exactly how he feels about something. Sometimes I think he's being a little to cynical about the industry, but this time he's pretty much on the nose. If you haven't read it I would advise taking a little trip over, as with most of Keith's stuff...you'll learn somethin'.

I've had some time to think about this. I've intentionally held off on saying a lot about the subject. Mostly to keep myself from having a kneejerk reaction and maybe saying something that might hurt a feeling or two but also to seperate myself a bit from the end product and try to get a clearer idea of what really bothered me as a whole with the experience and why I think it didn't do as well as some people thought it should have, including myself.

First off I want to say that AntBully didn't "fail" for lack of effort of those involved. Every department busted their ass to put something great on the screen. Even when we were feeling beat down and knew the layoffs were coming when the movie was done...people still came in and put their backs into it and were true proffesionals...yeah, we bitched about it but we're human.

Unfortunately the problems started early on when the project moved from Universal to Warners. I'm not saying that Universal is this god send for animated projects but, come on, Warner's?!?!?!?! I can almost understand why "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" was a mess story wise. So many people want to make sure that these icons of animation (Bugs, Daffy...) are handled with kid gloves...gotta sell those lunch boxes...so everything is watered down till it's as bland and unoffensive as possible and you end up with..."Looney Tunes, Back in Action"...I can almost understand the short sighted executive MBA thinking behind that. Agree with it?...no, understand how it came about?...yeah. But, and everyone knows what I'm going to say, what the hell was up with "The Iron Giant"?!?!?!?! Arguably one of the best animated films ever...EVER! I can't even begin to understand the (insert expletive here) inaction on Warner's part for dropping the ball on that one. And with AntBully we all saw it coming like the light at the end of the tunnel that you know is really a train. I'm not saying that Warner Brothers intentionally dropped the ball. They are in this business to make money after all. It was more like they left the ball laying there, thinking maybe somebody else would take it and do something with the damn thing. Yeah, there were commercials but if you're going to go to all the trouble of having some of the "biggest stars" in the industry do your little movie then you should at least plaster their faces all over the place. I thought that was the point of all this "star power"...like Peter Parker said, "With great power comes the great responsibilty of using them to promote your damn film."...ok, maybe he didn't use those exact words. They didn't even have Bruce Campbell doing the damn talk show route...good lord. And what the hell were they thinking with that release date? "Hey, every other CG film is going to be released this summer, we better get ours in there too and get some of that money before it's all gone."...huh? I'm actually gonna come back to this thought in a second.

Now, on to other things. In an earlier post I asked if other folks in the industry have seen a project that they've worked on go from something promising with heart to a pile of the "same old, same old ". I didn't get too much feedback but by asking the question you can tell I had an opinion. In my heart, I don't think AntBully is a bad film. It's a fun, good looking roller coaster ride but, ultimately, not anything unique. This is hard to talk about because it really had the potential to be something really, really...cool. Being fortunate to start early in production I saw so many iterations of the story as the film developed. From character designs (Sarah Mensinga, you rock the block) to voice talent (Tress MacNeille is still the best Mommo) to back stories that gave purpose and meaning to characters...all for the sake of pacing. What good is snappy pacing if you've cut out the heart of the film? And that's where Lango hit's it on the nose. It got "committeed" till it was, what it was...candy. And as much as I hate to say it, it's not even the kind of candy you want to go back for a couple times.

And this is where I go back to the whole "release date" thing. Why? Why do you have to put it in the middle of all that? If you're not going to use any of that star power to promote your film how do you expect it to stand out of the crowd and give parents a reason to go see it? At least you could concider the idea of waiting till the crowd is a little less full. I know this may sound a little "too simple" but I honestly think if they had pulled an Ice Age and released in a less "typical" time of the year they could have easily increased their box office. Look at the numbers..except for Pixar who owns the holiday season, most of the CG films that have done any business have been early summer (usually mid to late May.) And that time frame has just gotten more and more congested. The ones who have dared to release outside that window fall into two catagories...smart and crap. Blue Sky has been incredibly smart in release dates. So far all of their films have released in March and , so far, all have done pretty damn good (even Robots.) Not because they're great films, animation wise they're freaking brilliant...but story wise, well...uh, yeah. But because they were, for the most part, entertaining and they picked a time with little to no competition they set themselves up very nicely. A couple other films have tried this ("The Wild", "Doogal") but the difference is those movies had no clear direction...even less that set them apart and made them unique...put simply, they sucked. See, I'm not saying AntBully is a great film...but it is a good film, a really good film. And if some thought had been put into actual competition and not trying to get in with the rest of the crowd I believe it would have had a better chance...I hope it would have anyway.

And finally...DAMNIT!!! Some of the best damn people in the world to work with blown to the four corners. I know that doesn't have anything to do with the post but, hell...that part really sucks the most. DNA had a vibe that most of us doubt we'll find again at a studio. I really want to see DNA rise from rubble of all of this and go on to do great things.

Well, at least I've got my Burke and friends in Portland and Vancouver. All I can say is I hope that the DVD for AntBully has some of the heart put back into it so that folks can get a glimpse of what could have been.

...oh, and if you worked on one of the two films that I said sucked..yeah, not a lot I can say about that. It's not a reflection of the folks on the floor who actually made the film. In this industry you will more than likely find yourself working on a project that, well, just isn't that good. Your efforts will be affected, your moral will sink and your love for what you do will be tested. On top of that not everyone will like your film...at least they didn't say your film was a communist manifesto, man that's a kick in the crotch.

Cheers

(If you read this post over the weekend you will notice some editing on my part. I was told I was being a little harsh...by Burke of all people. If Burke says you're being too harsh then somethings up.)

The Dead Have Risen...

Sweet Mother of all that's holy!!!...Mike Gasaway has a blog! For those of you that don't have the good fortune of knowing the "Gasman", he was one of the two directors on the Jimmy Neutron t.v. series. Mike is a great guy, an awesome director and has some of the worst taste in music...but he loves good horror films and makes some damn fine beer. If you get a chance, pop on over to walkingdead.com and look around. There's not too much there right now but knowing Gas it will be crammed chock full of wholesome goodness soon...Oh, I couldn't find a pic of Gas, so instead I found the gayest picture of Kip Winger on the internet...same difference.

Annihilation!!!!

Isn't this how most Hollywood movies are done anyway?

Our next contestant is....

Sarah Mensinga!!!! Yup, Sarah has generously agreed to be my next victim for "Introducing". I'll be sebding her my lsit of stupid questions and hope to have the post up before too long. If you're not familiar with Sarah's work...well, shame on you....and once you feel appropriately ashamed then go here.

Oooof, that smarts....

Ant Bully got it in the the crotch this weekend. With an $8.1 million , 5th place opening weekend Ant Bully isn't looking to set any records. We really weren't expeting to though, we just wanted to make an enjoyable film. I think we did that just fine.

There are so many things you could point to...CGI glut, "been there done that" ant movie, poor marketing on Warners part...my favorite, "Overt Communist Overtones".... It really doesn't matter...even if hind site is 20/20 whatever mistakes were made will be repeated by somebody, we all know that.

My biggest concerns are for the industry and for DNA. Everytime a CG film doesn't bring in major bank, studios immediately start shredding documents and cutting jobs. And as for DNA...I love those guys. I owe them so much and I want to continue to see "Paul the Monkey" pop up at them end of something I'm watching.

And remember...give some love and send a comment if you were one of the six or seven people that saw the movie this weekend. I'll be posting some of my shots...ones that were in the movie and some that were cut due to rewrites...in the next week or so.

Cheers,
Matthew

Team Fortress 2...

This is what I'll get to be working on at Valve...Hellz Yeah!!! I love the style and I've already seen some of the gameplay and it's going to be awesome. I'm not a Burke about gaming but Valve definetly knows how to make the games that draw me in so I'm super excited about working on this title.

Today's the big day...

Yup, "The AntBully" opens today. All in all everything has added up to make this a prety interesting event for me...the change in employment, the change in location. Rotten Tomatoes has us slowly climbing. We started with a 39%, now we're up to a 53% (as of this posting).

The reviews have ranged from very good to calling it a communist manifesto...how'd they know? Seriously though...they tell you to be an individual but chastize you for standing out. They tell you to try your best but that everyone is special...make up your mind. In sports, is it a win for the individual player or the team they play on?...let em tell a story about being a part of something bigger then yourself. Good lord, with so many kids being locked up in their rooms with the internet and instant messenger and online games and cell phones and my space...jeez, you'd think people would appreciate some kind of message that talks about being a part of some kind of social network....wow, didn't mean to go off on that rant.

Anyway, I'll be seeing the movie twice tomorrow. The first time with my family, it will be my youngest daughters first movie. She was born at the begining of production...I'm still ticked at Warners for not putting production babies in the credits. The second with some of the kick ass students of Animation Mentor. I expect to get two totally different reactions. I've seen the movie already but am still a little too close to have a relatively unbiased opinion.

I hope the film does well. It's always good for the industry when one of the films makes money, helps the job security anyway. But also, I want to see the people who were at DNA get recognized for their hard work. A good crew put this thing together.

Ok, here's the deal...I leave the comments option about as open as you can get so please feel free to give me some feedback on the film. I know at least a couple people besides my mo look at this thing, it would be grea to hear what you think of how we spent the last 2+ years. Hope it entertains you.

Cheers,
Matthew

2,200 miles later...

And we're here. Wow, what a week this has been. I mean, I just got my internet working about five minutes ago...and what do I do?....post. It was a trip in more ways than one. I'll post more tomorrow but but I am soooo glad to be here. I'm hoping Seattle is as cool as I think/hope it will be. So here's to the next chapter.

Cheers,
Matthew

Well I guess this is it...

Yup...after 13 1/2 years in Texas, 7 of which were at DNA, we're loading up the wagon and headin' west...well, northwest. Tomorrow starts the week of fun and excitement driving to Seattle and the one thing I can say about our time in Dallas is we'll miss the people. Dallas is flat, brown, hot, humid and generally unattractive to look at...and did I mention it's hot, but the friends and family here have always made it a pretty damn good place to be.

...so, to all you folks who made this flat little speck of dirt a beautiful place to live, we'll miss you...and I will be ticked if you don't come visit (you all know who you are!)

Now it's on to another adventure, to another wonderful company with incredibly talented and cool folks...a new piece of the country so beautiful you can't help but fall in love with it and hopefully people at least half as great as the ones we're leaving here. I'll try to post some pics along the way, unless we run into some "The Hills Have Eyes" radioactive, inbred, cannnibalistic, hillbillies...well then it might take a little longer.

I should haves me some internet action by this time next week so we can get this new ball rollin'. Gotta lot of stuff to do and I've made some promises I've gotta make good on...my, my, my...time flies. If you read my site, all three of you (hi mom), you know I've got some things coming up with articles and interviews-n-stuff but if there's anything industry related (or not) you would like to chat about or just see me ramble aimlessly on about feel free to e-mail me.

Cheers,
Matthew

Moving Sucks....

Ok, moving doesn't suck...I am super freaking excited about this whole thing. But packing on the other hand sucks the big one. Wow, you never realize how much useless crap you have till you have to haul it 2,200 miles.

Needless to say my posts will be a little sporadic till then. Things coming up after the move though:

An interview with the talented Sarah Mensinga...
The reposting of the Nanna and Lil Puss puss short...
A nice long discussion on The Ant Bully...

...as well as some other things that are in the works. I'll als0 try to post some images of the trip as we go...two girls, two dogs and a cat, dear lord help me.

Cheers,
Matthew