It's VERY Hard...

My head is FULL of useless trivia and knowledge about things in which most people have no interest. This, coupled with my self-diagnosed attention-deficit disorder, sometimes cause me to come across as bizarre or overbearing. I at least get to entertain myself, though.
 This brings me to this post. I finally had a chance to stop and watch "FURY" (the WWII movie featuring Brad Pitt leading a tank crew) last night. Interesting flick, but-- of course-- I was distracted by a recurring feature of one of the main stars, Logan Lerman (of Percy Jackson movies fame).

You can't tell me that you don't see it.

He Had A Cow, Man...! R.I.P. Sam Simon

Sam Simon, who helped Matt Groening create TV's long-running FOX animated comedy "The SIMPSONS", died last week of cancer at the age of 59.
 Read the article from ANIMATION Magazine HERE .

Random Character Designs

 I recently had the fortune to travel out West to sunny Southern California on a fact-finding expedition... A 'fishing trip', if you will, for some possible work opportunities. I was able to see some friends, surprise a few folks, get some meetings and make some connections with studios and publishers. I will have more info and some photos up a little later, along with some juicy tidbits and details about goings-on.

 In the meantime, here are some random character design drawings demonstrating skills and abilities....

Random 'Businessman' character by Brent Amacker

"Honestly Indecisive Abe" seems none-too-sure, by Brent Amacker

Progression drawing of Casey: pencils, inks, colors. Brent Amacker

Nifty Vintage Disney Animation Tips

Found a cool animation blog titled "Blue Monkeys From Mars".
A recent post featured an old Disney Animation Tips booklet, probably from the 1950's.
Check it out here: Vintage Disney Animation Tips

"ART Story" Animated Feature Gets Kickstart

Nice read over on The WRAP about the quest by veteran Disney animators Chuck Williams and Aaron Blaise for funding to create a fresh, imaginative movie combining Animation with both Classic and Modern Art. The pics and snippets look beautiful and very interesting!
The pair have put their project up over on KICKSTARTER, a funds-seeking website.
Read the story HERE.

"PEANUTS" CG Animated Film In the Works

From Animation Magazine.
Read the entire article HERE .

...And ALSo Goodbye to DISNEY Employees...!

The Walt Disney Company announced the layoffs of around 150 employees yesterday, with "fortunately" only a small number coming from the Animation division.

Read the full article HERE .

No "2D" for Disney.... for Now

Walt Disney Feature Animation Studios says they have NO plans in the near future for any traditional hand-drawn 'cel' animation.
Dadgum.

"PAPERMAN" Wins Academy Award for "Best Animated Short"

The DISNEY animated short film "Paperman", which I posted & recommended earlier, won an OSCAR for "Best Animated Short Film".

Character Model Sheet from Disney's "PAPERMAN"

Disney-PIXAR's "BRAVE" won for "Best Animated Feature Film".

Read the entire article HERE.

"Underdog" Co-Creator BIGGERS Dies

William Watts Biggers, the co-creator of the popular animated series Underdog died at 85 of undisclosed causes last Sunday. Biggers, who was also a novelist, was part of the influential team that created the popular toon while working for New York City advertising firm Dancer Fitzgerald Sample. The team came up with the toon while on an assignment for General Mills to come up with vehicles to promote breakfast cereals.

Read the entire story HERE .

"Paperman" Nifty Disney Animated Short

Disney's excellent "Paperman" short debuted along with Wreck-It Ralph. Nicely rendered, with a sweet and romantic subject.
Highly recommended:

Seth McFarlane's "FLINTSTONES" Delayed

Well, it seems as if the creator of "FAMILY GUY" and "American Dad" is a little too busy to devote his full attention to the announced "FLINTSTONES" project.

Read the full article HERE .

GLEN KEANE Leaves DISNEY

Longtime DISNEY Animator GLEN KEANE (Son of BIL KEANE- creator of 'Family Circus') announced while I was in Burbank that he is leaving The DISNEY Studios 'to pursue other interests'...!

Read the entire article HERE
...And his entire letter HERE

Country Legend GEORGE JONES to Record 'SQUIDBILLIES' Theme Song

Wow.
George Jones.
Squidbillies.
Read the article HERE

Disney Legend, Bill Justice, Dies at 97

Bill Justice, one of the legends of Walt Disney animation and imagineering who contributed to 57 short films and 19 features, died in Santa Monica of natural causes. He was 97.

Read the entire article HERE.

Justice worked for Disney for years, and drew everything from character designs to storyboards and even to designing character costumes for the Parks, an example pictured below:

"TOY STORY 3" Wins GOLDEN GLOBE

Disney-Pixar's "Toy Story 3" won the Golden Globe Award for "Best Animated Feature Film".

NEW "Peanuts" Animation Coming

From Animation Magazine:



Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the rest of the Peanuts gang are coming back to animation in Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, an original DVD feature set to be released March 29.

Read entire post HERE.

Animator of 'Mulan' Villain and Other Disney & DreamWorks Characters Dies

Priscillano Romanillos dies at 47; animator of 'Mulan' villain and other Disney and DreamWorks characters.

Read the entire article by clicking the title of this post.

Ilene Woods, Voice of Disney’s Cinderella, Dies

Animation Magazine reports of the passing of the woman who provided the voice of the title character in Walt Disney's Cinderella.

Read the entire article HERE.

Drarring and MORE Drarring...!

Working on a 'pitch' proposal storyboard.

Drawing Mardi Gras floats.

Repeatedly getting this little dog off of my lap and out of the way.

Drinking coffee. Jamaican 'Blue Mountain' coffee. The BEST kind...!

8^)