Monday, October 10, 2011
Warner Bros. Animated Coming Attractions
In addition to voicing the Loony Tunes characters for animated cartoons, Mel Blanc also voiced them on records for children. Warner Bros. has now created new cgi animation to go with one of those records.
I previously mentioned Sam Register's address to Mipcom Jr, a TV market in Europe. Above is the video of that address and at 27:03, you can see a clip of the Daffy Duck animation done to the Mel Blanc record. You can also see a clip of Thundercats at 19:33 and the cgi Green Lantern at 23:39.
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4 comments:
Geez, I must've played out an animated version of Daffy Duck's Rhapsody in my head a million times since I first heard the song when I was a kid. They didn't even capture a tenth of the energy I, and likely hundreds of other fans, envisioned could be put on screen.
Not to make this a hand-drawn vs. cgi debate, but Blanc's vocals scream this piece to be animated either in the highly distorted Clampett or stylized Tashlin veins, not literally taxidermized.
To be fair, I think this CG animation seems quite fluid and true to the Chuck Jones style of Daffy and Elmer. I suspect it benefited from a lot of tweaking with DRAWINGS, just like Glen Keane was able to get with the Rapunzel animation, relative to the puppet-like movement typical of most CG films. All things considered, I don't think it could be done any better in that medium of CG animation, so kudos to the team that created it.
However, I ultimately have to agree with Thad on this - it is such a frenetic bit of business and dialogue that CG just can't do it justice. Only drawn animation seems to be able to handle this type of manic, Clampett style characterization, as only the animated drawing has the ability to make such a bold graphic statement that communicates clearly. As I was watching this clip, all of the fully rendered form of CG just looks "muddy" on screen, lacking the definition of strong drawing.
Alfred Pennyworth...with guns...
Why would Batman's most trusted confidant have guns when he knows his parents were murdered by someone who used a gun?
I guess adding "edge" to a character means not thinking through the character development. IMOP.
Welp, never a better time to be partial to action cartoons! I have to admit, a lot of that DC Universe stuff cuts really well and catches the scale of Green Lantern. Beats the crap out of the Filmation productions that I grew up with.
The acting isn't effective at all, but that's never been the hallmark of action cartoons since they first appeared, Fleischer's Superman being the exception. (Those cartoons still grab my 5 year old's attention, too. He thinks they're pretty awesome.)
A lot of the newer superhero cartoons leave both him, and me, cold. Too talky for him, too soap-opera for me. But the action sections of these cartoons are really well-done for the budget.
As for the WB shorts, it's inevitable they'd do these in CGI, although it's frustrating to see CGI creep SLOWLY up to standards of sixty year old material.
But let's face it, there's not very many animators in 2D these days who could keep up to that level, so to expect CGI animators with 2D training (there must be more than a few on this crew) - to expect them to just 'get it' and get as good as Clampett or Tahslin out of the gate is asking a lot. They've done, what, maybe 6 films together tops?
With any luck, this crew might stick around long enough to grow into its own Terrabite Terrace and make interesting stuff. Someday.
But for now, they're working with what they have - an exec who wants a retread, hopefully in preparation to unveil original stuff when the economy bolsters a little and his bosses feel they can take a chance.
These 'dry runs' of trying to imitate past masters is good practice. If they can survive, this crew will have to chops to innovate if they're called upon to do so.
Best of luck to them!
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