It’s been a long wait since Dimples first posted on the new 2D animated series from Nickelodeon, The Mighty B, but it is finally time for the premier episode this Saturday, April 26, at 10:30 AM. This looks like a great series with a great lead character in Bessie Higgenbottom, great voice actors and excellent animation. Take a look at some clips from The Mighty B. First is a rough animation of a scene and the second is a promo for the series.

Joanna Quinn is one of our all time favorite animators and we’ve profiled her Dreams and Desires short film previously. It keeps on winning award after award for Quinn and Beryl Productions International. She shared the award with another Dimples’ favorite, T.O.M., from Tom Brown and Daniel Gray. Tom and Daniel have been kind enough to post on Dimples from time to time. From IC Network:

Dreams and Desires – Family Ties (Beryl, Y Briodas a’r Fideo), a co-production between S4C and Quinn’s company, Beryl Productions International, jointly won the Public Choice 2008 prize at the British Animation Awards.

Quinn shared the award with fellow Welsh entry, t.o.m., a short film by Tom Brown and Daniel Gray, produced at the International Film School of Wales, Newport.

Here’s a YouTube clip of Dreams and Desires:

And, here is her fantastic demo reel:

Finally, a very short clip from T.O.M.:

Bugville, also known as “Hoppity Goes to Town”, is a great classic cartoon from Fleischer Studios and it is now available on DVD. It has all of the imagination, color and fluidity of classic 2D animation that we love at Dimples. We’ve moved it to the top of our Netflix queue but it is also available at a great price from Amazon through the link in this post. On Netflix, Bugville is listed in the New Release section under Classics. Hopefully, more of the late Fleischer brother’s animation will be released on DVD.

As long as it’s the time of year when the Oscars are awarded, Dimples thought it would be a good idea to look back on all of the winners for best animated short film. We’ve provided a list here. To start things off, here’s the very first cartoon honored by the Academy in this category. It’s Walt Disney’s Silly Symphony — Flowers and trees.

Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman won the Oscar for best animated short, Peter and the Wolf, as Dimples predicted they would. Congratulations!

It was a great movie and we loved the goose. However, did anyone really watch anything last night except Marion Cotillard? La Vie en Rose was a badly made movie. The way the timeline was used to tell the story was very confusing and yet, no one can deny that Cotillard was absolutely brilliant.

CBS Sunday Morning did a great segment on the nominees for Best Animated Short today. The video for that segment isn’t available yet on their web page yet but it should be by the end of the day. It’s wonderful that CBS took the time to profile these fine examples of animation art on their Oscar show. They gave these animators more time than some of the high profile nominees in the major categories. Also, some of the scenes they showed are not available in on-line trailers.

It’s that time of year again. It’s time to review the films nominated for best animated short. First, a few small digressions. Dimples has been quite slack about posting and maintaining this site during the past six months. Please bear with us. We have a backlog of links to add and we will be posting more regularly. A spate of medical problems are behind the laxity but all seems to be well now. Also, we want to comment on the nominees this year for feature length animated film. Ratatouille will win and it is the best film by far but, being 2-D fans, Dimples wants to know why the Simpson’s Movie was not nominated. What’s with that?

Now, on to the nominees for best animated short film for 2007.

I Met the Walrus - Josh Raskin

I Met the Walrus is a Python-esque animated short by Josh Raskin with impressive pen and ink drawings by James Braithwaite. It’s an animation of an interview with John Lennon conducted by Jerry Levitan. It has an interesting style and the interview is historically interesting but it is not interesting animation.

Madame Tutli-Putli - Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
It’s not 2D and it’s more than 3D. It’s very good. The biography of the creators says this is their first professional animated film. That’s hard to believe.

Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski have recently completed their first professional film, Madame Tutli-Putli, produced by the National Film Board of Canada. In addition to their role as filmmakers, Chris and Maciek wear many hats—as animators, sculptors, collage artists, screenplay writers, and art directors. In 1997 they founded Clyde Henry Productions, a Montreal-based film and production company specializing in multimedia, stop-motion animation and visual effects. They have received acclaim for their award-winning illustrations, music videos and broadcast design, and provoked a cult following for The Untold Tales of Yuri Gagarin, a serial comic strip published in Vice magazine.

Is it just me or does it look like these guys haven’t slept in years?

Même les Pigeons vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven) - Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse

This is a beautiful film with beautiful storytelling. If you’ve visited Dimples before you know that we value storytelling above all else and this movie delivers. Unlike the previous entry, this effort was supported by a big crew of professional animators. Dimples loves this film on many levels. WE LOVED the french automobiles. Those creatures have more character than most animated characters from the big studios.

My Love (Moya Lyubov) - Alexander Petrov

Finally, something approaching 2D animation. Alexander Petrov is an animation god. He’s someone that should receive more press. He brings great art to his storytelling employing an animation technique known as “painted on glass”. You may have guessed that this is the film that Dimples enjoyed the most. It’s beautiful in every way. The art has a quality that is beyond even the ambition of the other nominated films. The only negative for us was the soundtrack. It was not as artfully done as the animation.

Peter and the Wolf - Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Finally, this seems to be the favorite to take home the Oscar. This is a slick professionally made film based upon a classic story told with artful tenderness. The makers of the film have come up with a few twists on the old tale making it fresh. It’s interesting to contrast the soundtrack on this film with the previous nominee. The soundtrack is appropriate and supports the animation and story in an unobtrusive manner. That’s not easy when dealing with a musical masterpiece.

Overall, Dimples was disappointed that there were no films nominated this year that felt like Badgered did a few years back. It was fresh and funny. Madame Tutli-Putli comes the closest to that fresh feeling but it’s not quite there. Watch the clips and pick your favorite. Enjoy.

Warner Brothers promises a new web portal for their classic Looney Tunes animation as well as other properties. From The Hollywood Reporter:

Warner Bros. Entertainment will launch T-Works next spring, an interactive home for its iconic characters from Warner Bros. Animation, “Looney Tunes,” Hanna-Barbara and DC Comics along with newer animation.

T-Works will present old “Looney Tunes” cartoons, featuring characters like Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, alongside Hanna-Barbara offerings like “Scooby-Doo” and “The Flintstones,” as well as more contemporary animation like “Batman Beyond.”

This sounds like a Dimples dream come true.

Technorati Tags: 2D animation, animation, warner brothers, t-works, looney tunes

All folks in one of the most wonderful spots on this planet, Australia, listen up. You’re in for a treat next week as the Australian International Animation Festival comes to Southern Cross University, Lismore, September 14-15. From the Northern Rivers Echo News:

The films have been sourced from American, European and Asian festivals and with 17 sessions over two days, including a special schools program next Friday, September 14, there’s sure to be something for everyone.

Meanwhile, a master class on Saturday, September 15, will see one of Australia’s most accomplished animators/directors, Tim Adlide, give the low down on how to bring your animation to life – whether you’re working with flash cartoons, motion graphics, stop motion or 3-D CGI.

Dimples wants to call attention to Tim Adlide’s forum which will be fantastic. He’s fantastic and he’s a hero to more than one of the Dimple’s team. He creates wonderful characters. Tim is giving a “master class” in creating flow effects in Flash at 3:10 pm on September 15. Don’t miss it. From the AIAF website:

Tim who will demonstrate the creation of “flow” effects for simulating wind, water and/or cloth waves using Flash. This is an advanced class for the adult audience already familiar with Flash.

Dimples sure wishes they could hop on a magic bus and be there, but, alas, we can’t. We’d love to hear from anyone who is able to attend this event.

Technorati Tags: Animation, 2D Animation, Flash Animation, AIAF, Australian International Animation Festival, Tim Adlide

Check out this clip of Don Hertzfeldt in Portland.