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Previous News
MARCH
2004
03-29-04
* Some GUMBY News ....
Gumby takes on Allen Iverson of the
NBA! A spot done
for the U SA basketball team, Philadelphia
76'ers. According to this article, Gumby folks gave the 76er's a
promotional discount rate! I APPLAUD Premavision for using creative lobbying and marketing
....that is the smart way to promote Stop Motion!
It is not just the money but for the love
of the Stop Motion art & craft. Other news
..... Robina Marchesi is currently in
post production on an exciting new documentary titled Gumby
Dharma: The Life of Art Clokey. Premavision also
in pre-production on Gumby's next feature film.
As they state, "We are on the cusp of getting a
major distributor. It is going to be the best Gumby ever,
and its production quality will be Chicken Run
quality".
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03-26-04
* What a coincidence! After
I posted my previous news item (see below), someone
emailed me this brief sound byte from the Hollywood
Reporter....
Stop Mo Series Lampooning The Real
World
Seth Green will be producer (I don't
know who he is). It will be on the Cartoon
Network's late night line-up called Adult
Swim. This is Frikken great news!!
The series will be in the writing stages as of now, so
obviously no word as to who, what, where, when
....regarding the actual production of the show.
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03-24-04
* Hey .... looking for a
possible outlet for Stop Motion? Check this
article out....
Cartoons for adults quickly finding
audience
Stop motion still visually powerful and
when done well, cleverly & creatively .... still
pops out and can grab audience's attention.
Unfortunately, IMO, the Stop Motion production costs, at
least in the USA could be way overpriced
and producers/suits not willing to do Stop Motion and
just go for 2D or CGI. Example .... Stop
Motion TV series, The PJ's, done by Will Vinton
Studio's ..... cost about $1.5 million per
episode!  Most will say PJ's did not get
ratings which is true but my gut feeling says,
the excessive cost per show might have
been a contributing factor to its demise. There was also
the interesting more edgy Stop Motion series, Gary & Mike, also done by
Vinton Studios. I kind of liked it! Again,
probably expensive to produce via the Americanized
production method. Another factor .... in the mainstream
broadcast TV market where they cater to the lowest
common denominator of viewers, these prime-time
more mature Stop Motion shows not as successful.
Niche targeted marketing-distribution via Cable-Satellite
seems more ideal for Stop Motion products. I
think, if one is going to do Stop Motion and trying to sell
it ..... it has got to be reasonably
priced ..... reduce overhead expenses ....
especially, too many producers-suits
& middle people in a production, that jacks up the
cost.
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03.20.04
Special
Weekend Edition
* Over at the Stop Motion message board there
is a post about Evil Dead-TomSullivan. I have mentioned
Tom & Evil Dead in the past here. I know Tom very
well as he use to live in San Francisco, years ago. At
the SMA message boards there are a few
links of photos showing some of his the old props &
puppets used on Evil Dead 2. The photo
of the Deadite puppet shows virtually all the
foam disintergrated. To my surprise, I found
some photos from way back when I visited Tom in
Michigan, during the post production of Evil
Dead 2. At his house, here are a couple of photos Deadite 1, shows Tom doing seamwork &
fill in of the puppet and Deadite 2, him continuing patching the
puppet. Then after it was all done, we went to Detroit
for some bluescreen shots Deadite 3 Yes, that is me ....a very bad
pic.....with hair, chubby, mustach-less and when my eyes
where good (no eyeglasses). The Deadite puppet was cast
foam latex .... the body and arms done as one, in an
Ultra-cal mold ..... the wing appendage done in another
mold .... and finally the head in its own mold. The wing
membrane was slush cast pure latex in a flat mold .....
all then assembled together afterwards with lots of
seaming, fill-in and patch work. Tom's website
* Regarding the ever
secret nature of Stop Motion ..... such as a black-out on
The Corpse Bride and then you got The Aquatic Life .....both having
Stop Motion in them with the latter, mostly live action
with Stop Mo inserts .....well I finally found some
Frikken pictures .... unfortunately absolutely nothing
showing any of the puppets but of the Actors/Cast
who will be in the film .....click here and here
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03.10.04
* The very heart
& soul and the uniqueness of The Nightmare
Before Christmas was because it was Stop Motion.
It would have not been the same if it were a 2D flat
animation or a synthetic CGI version. Well, when it comes
to desperation for greedy cash & profits,
nothing is sacriligous. Here are apparently
sreenshots of a Video Game based on NMBC theme ....
all artificially pixel-generated with the sterile &
sanitized look to it. I suppose Disney, gave permission
to allow this. I need not say more.
* Outside USA and
particulary in the Euro countries, as I have often said,
Stop Motion apparently much more appreciated.
Here is an example .... you heard nothing about
in the mainstream biz but I am exposing to you! What
use to be part of Russia, in the country
of Latvia, specifically the city of Rigo,
there is an unknown (to us) Stop Motion specialty
production house called, Animation Brigade Studio. In
partnership with a Danish company, both are producing a
full length Stop Motion puppet film, The Three Muskateers. At the same time,
a behind the scenes documentary is being made, The Creation of the World. Mainstream Hollywood
film biz does not give a rat's pink butt about Stop
Motion, but hopefully it will have a
chance to survive in other countries.
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03.05.04
* The MTV Original
Movie, Monster Island premieres Sunday, March 7
at 7:00pm, Eastern Time, USA. Check your local
TV schedule, as times may vary. It looks like a homage to
B movies and will have Stop Motion
special effects in it. Before the start of the production
(months ago) I did talk to Rob Ronning who was responsible for the Stop M otion puppet
fabrication. Rob did the work at Bowes
Productions in Canada and here are some photos
of the giant Stop Motion Insects. I was informed of a very rushed
schedule to do the special effects. Seems like this is
the usual case and somehow Stop Motion never gets a
decent chance or time for quality work. I do not know the
details about the movie plot.The cast seems to be mostly
MTV'ish looking teenagers. The big names in it are babe
model, MTV host, so-called actress, Carmen
Electric, and also the veteran actor, Adam
West as Dr. Harryhuasen. You can also see a
trailer clip of it but they only provide the Real Media
player which is not as common as Quicktime or Windows
Media.
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03.01.04
* Well, as everyone knows, Lord
of the Rings: Return of the King dominated the Academy
Awards, winning 11 Oscars in 11 Categories. No awards for
Acting in LOTR but I suppose, it would too much to ask,
and at least with the Awards sweep, maybe some kind of
positive statement by the sometimes political or favortism nature of the Academy ....
recognizing a non-Hollywood film. I just
wondered if the "suits" would have paid
attention if LOTR were not such a monetary blockbuster. The
original Star Wars was a big "cash cow" at the
boxoffice and an example where the Academy shunned
"genre" type films. The Academy
perhaps slowly changing or being more open. Only person I
recognized among the LOTR winners and could really relate
to was, Randall William Cook who oversaw the LOTR animation and
won his Oscar this time again ..... a Stop Motion
Soul Brother who I hope will never forget his roots and
history of our animation art/craft.
* Another
winner that is veeeery Stop Motion related was .....from
down under in the Land of Oz (Australia)....Adam
Elliot's, Harvie Krumpet won an Oscar for the best animated short, beating out Disney and other big
boys. Pixar, won Oscar for Finding Nemo as best
animation. The other animation contender was Triplets de Belleville which was a brave and
cutting edge entry but did not have a chance
because, IMO, the general audiences (especially in USA)
have been conditioned by years & years of Disney
influence & domination in the USA, that
"animation" is primarily for
"Children". Triplets was more
for adult entertainment. Hopefully, more offbeat or
unique animation will enter the mainstream movie biz ....
exposing the homogenized tastes of American audiences
to different styles of entertainment. To
all you "suits", that are only counting the
profits, expand your vision and take chances. Give us
something different from the typical Hollywood pablum.
Every movie does not "have" to make $100
million in two frikken days. Of course,
this is wishful thinking of me .... the "suits"
do not give a RAT'S ASS about anything meaningful or of
artistic merit (which sometimes sneaks through,
accidentally ) .... it's ONLY about the CASH, baby.
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