“Class” (Entre les Murs) Wins the Palme d’Or Prize at Cannes in Unanimous Vote

May 25, 2008 · Filed Under Animation Award Winners, Animation Contests, Animation News, Film, Film Festivals · Comments Off on “Class” (Entre les Murs) Wins the Palme d’Or Prize at Cannes in Unanimous Vote 

“Waltz with Bashir” did not win the top prize at Cannes. In fact, it was totally stiffed by Sean Penn’s jury. From Time:

Another surprising omission was the Israeli animated documentary Waltz With Bashir, which had critics cheering from Day Two, when it was unveiled, up to the announcement of the awards. At the post-Palmares press conference, Penn acknowledged that he wasn’t pushing for Bashir, since there were so many other films that “called out and provoked us in a new way.” He added, “I think it will find its audience without us,” suggesting that the Jury wanted to give affirmative-action pushes to luminous films in need of the worldwide attention a Palme d’Or can bring.

I translate this as animation isn’t serious film. Frankly, Dimples thinks this stinks.

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Dreams and Desires and T.O.M. Share the Public Choice 2008 Prize at the British Animation Awards

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:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUu3rkjkUWQ[/youtube]

And, here is her fantastic demo reel:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcFlFaoLuUY[/youtube]

Finally, a very short clip from T.O.M.:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08I5YrqD5EU[/youtube]

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The Oscar Nominees for Best Animated Short Film are…

February 18, 2008 · Filed Under Animation Award Winners, Animation Coming Attractions, Animation Contests, Film, Oscar Winners · Comments Off on The Oscar Nominees for Best Animated Short Film are… 

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 WalrusI 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-PutliChris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
Madame Tutli-:utliIt’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?

M̻me les Pigeons vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven) РSamuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse

Even Pigeons Go to HeavenThis 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

My LoveFinally, 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

Peter and the WolfFinally, 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.

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Animated Short Oscar Poll Results and Predictions

February 25, 2007 · Filed Under Animation Award Winners, Animation Contests · Comments Off on Animated Short Oscar Poll Results and Predictions 

Oscar StatueThe Dimples Animated Short Oscar Poll is closed. Fifty votes were cast and the winner was “Lifted.” Dimples personal favorite among this years nominated shorts is “The Danish Poet.” But, which film will win? Our best guess at Darling Dimples is that “The Little Match Girl” will take home the statue tonight. Thanks to everyone who participated.

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Animboom Announces Six Winners of Their First Annual Animation Contest

February 10, 2007 · Filed Under Animation Award Winners, Animation Contests, Animation News · Comments Off on Animboom Announces Six Winners of Their First Annual Animation Contest 

Aniboom is a relatively new animation site that Dimples thinks hits the bullseye dead on. Youtube is fine for uploading your latest puppy and kitty videos but young animators looking for feedback on their animated shorts needed a place like Aniboom to show off their stuff. On Feb. 1, Aniboom announced their six prize winners.

  • Grand Prize WinnerBendito Machine – Dimples loves this animation. We’re not sure what the message is but we’re known for our general denseness. The animators were extremely clever with their technique in this piece as well as extremely artful in their presentation. This short deserved the big prize.
  • Funny Category WinnerHumans! – This is a cute animation that is expertly done in a public service STD announcement fashion.
  • Drama Category WinnerBeton – Dimples greatly enjoyed the style of this short animation. Like the grand prize winner, these folks were clever in delivering an enjoyable short film despite the simple animation. In other words, no lip synch required. This work is also timely and thoughtful as was Humans!.
  • Music Video Category Winner Mr. Fortune – You have to admire the quality of this one. The timing is perfect. It’s not a style that pleases us but you have to give high marks for technical merit.
  • Crappy Category WinnerBack in Bush – Well, what can we say, this is crappy animation but it makes fun of Bush and Cheney so it’s not all bad.
  • Experimental Category WinnerChaos Theory – This is the winner that we liked least. It’s pretty and it will give your sub-woofer a workout but there’s no story and there’s no character and, as far as Dimples is concerned, that’s just boring.

While Animboom was giving out $50,000 to these winners, they were collecting a much bigger prize for themselves. From Newteevee.com:

Israeli startup Aniboom has raised $4.5 million for its emerging online animation community, which it hopes to turn into a distributed animation studio.

[tags]2D animation, aniboom, animation contest, animation winners[/tags]

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The “Mighty B” on Nickelodeon

Bessie Higgenbottom star of the Mighty BNickelodeon has released its official 2007/08 list of shows. A new 2D animated cartoon offering will be the “Mighty B” created (concept-wise) and voiced by Amy Poehler from Saturday Night Live. From Starpulse:

“Mighty B,” picked up for 20 episodes, stars Amy Poehler as the voice of Bessie Higgenbottom, the world’s most ambitious and lovably unhinged 10-year-old “Honeybee” scout. As a member of the Honeybees, Bessie wears her uniform every single day, leads her troop with a zeal General Patton would have admired and has earned more Bee Badges than any Honeybee in history. But a bunch of badges still elude her, and Bessie’s not stopping until she has every last one.

The cartoonists collaborating on the concept for “Mighty B” are Cynthia True and Erik Wiese. From Zap2it:

Poehler co-created the cartoon with “The Fairly OddParents” staff writer Cynthia True and the Emmy- and Annie-nominated storyboard artist and writer Erik Wiese.

[tags]2D animation, nickelodeon, mighty b, Amy Poehler, Cynthia True, Erik Wiese[/tags]

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