RESCUERS: Medusa's Shipboard Suite

Wuuuaaaallllll-eeeeeee

Poster Art by Eric Tan

Not sure if you heard but a new Pixar film about robot love came out this weekend. I wont give anything away but I must say that I loved this movie very much. Maybe it was a sensitive day, but I must admit that I got a little choked up at parts. Dont judge me blogspot, Cheryl teared up 3 different times! Ha! But really, part of it was getting caught up in Wall-E's story, and the other was taking in how much unique, beautiful, sincere, honest work this animation medium is capable of.
Andrew Stanton makes you really care for this character, and after watching the movie I felt like we became really good friends and I, I miss him! Thats right world! I genuinely miss, and am concerned about the well being of a trash- cubing, pibsqueak robot. If there would be anything I would want audiences to take away from my work, it would be to for them to really care about my characters. Its the reason why Kiwi! is one of my favorite short films of all time, student or pro.

Wall-E and Finding Nemo are the Pixar films that tug right at the heart strings to me. Remember that lump you got in throat when Marlin found that he had one egg left? Daaamn, thats some pretty powerful stuff man.

You've probably read most of the pre-release interviews Stanton has been doing, but I came across a particulary good one with Andrew here. Interesting stuff like the "power of using your personal experiences to fuel certain moments in movies" , and the perceived political & ecological messages in the film.

LADY AND THE TRAMP

I always enjoy hearing from readers. It is a special kick to get emails from around the world.

Today I received two cheery emails from a gentleman named Pete Turner, from Sutton Coldfield, England.

He sent THIRTY gorgeous backgrounds from LADY AND THE TRAMP, and generously gave permission to share them with you.

Enjoy these, readers! I know Pete spent a great deal of time and creative energy digitally recreating these.

Thank you, Pete! All I can say is WOW! Here is the first installment:

more SOLID SERENADE

D & D rules

A "quick n dirty" for one of my co-worker's next Dungeons N Dragons character. His name is Ghor, and he is a Warlock Dragonborn. He was made fun of as a little one for being short, but had his growth spurt just around the beginning of adulthood. 30 and bitter, he finds beauty in sociopathic things.

I'll let you know how he does in the upcoming 4th edition campaign!

Game design students rule.

Best shirt ever.
AND his critique on this drawing.

Matt Rules

Hey Mom! The new "Where the Hell is Matt 2008" video is up.

I dunno what it is, but I can't help but get a little choked up watching these videos. He even goes to the Philippines.
Oh man why didn't I hear he was coming to Gasworks in Seattle!

SOLID SERENADE (1946)

Two terrific background paintings from the Tom and Jerry film "SOLID SERENADE" (MGM, 1946).

These are digitally re-created pan B/Gs, before and after some cool jazz music by Tom. The string bass wreaks major havok.


I used the view with the mail slot open so we could see the entire painting of the back yard. The mail slot door is of course a cel overlay.

LILO'S ROOM

Here's another installment of wonderful background art from LILO AND STITCH. These feature Lilo's bedroom.

First up, her bed and nightstand. Gotta love that hula dancer lamp!

Here's another bedside view:

This digitally re-created pan B/G took a long time to piece together, but it was worth the time. Lilo is a quirky character, and her room is a perfect match. It's filled with so many wonderful eclectic details: glow-in-the-dark moon and star stickers, a sea shell, a windowside lei, miniature trucks, a toy sailboat, a yo-yo, even a hockey stick...

Here's a close-up of the right side of the pan....

Here's a complete view of the easel...

Finally, a lovely rendering of the view from the foot of the bed looking toward the door. Notice the woodgrain in the bedposts, the casual draping of bedspread fabric across the bed's frontpost, and the way light illuminates the edges of the woodwork...

LILO AND STITCH: Home

DESTINATION MEATBALL (Universal, 1952)

This Woody Woodpecker cartoon produced by Walter Lantz just screams 1950s, and induces some irresistible nostalgia for baby boomers. I remember watching Woody on TV, even at the local "Starlite" drive-in movie theatre. Furthermore, the cartoon exactly captures the look of the era's supermarkets. Just like the "Piggly Wiggly" back home!

The style of the title card alludes to the to the Sci-Fi films of the era, but that's misleading. Woody is simply hungry, and Buzz Buzzard (supermarket owner) has his hands full dealing with Woody's appetite for mischief.

No mere backgrounds for this cartoon - the painted "sets" (!) are attributed to artist Fred Brunish.

The opening pan background is digitally re-created here.

This very clever B/G of Woody;'s wristwatch reveals the day not in hours but by a timetable of meals! 9 am is a stack of pancakes swimming in butter. Noon is a salad with olives and toast (more butter). 3 pm is tea time (how utterly civilized). 6 pm is dinner: a huge slab of steak, with french fries, peas, two dinner rolls (even more butter) and a big piece of pie for dessert. Now THAT'S nostalgic!

Next, a vast array of artery-clogging red meat in the butcher section:

An undressed chicken:

The sleek lines of the checkout counter, complete with turnstile and scale...

This loooong pan B/G looks exactly as I remember my childhood grocery stores, except for the trap door in the middle of the aisle...

Next, the bakery, complete with wedding cake cel overlay.

And the bakery B/G without without the wedding cake cel overlay. Note the paper doily!!!

And finally, the meat locker...


This artwork doesn't take itself too seriously, but is still stylish in a lean way. Great fun!