Hasta La Motion!

Imagine Dragons

Singing triumvirate Mandy Moore, Taraji P. Henson, and Sarah Silverman kick-started the world premiere of the much-awaited Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet held at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles.

Grammy Award winning band Imagine Dragons also performed live at the premiere. The American rock band appear in the arcade-based video.

According to lead singer Dan Reynolds, the film’s emotional themes are reflected in the song, Zero. “They are compelling because they are real to each of us, personally,” said Reynolds. “That journey of feeling like nothing and trying to realise and recognise your worth as a human is an important part of life. And given the distorted version of reality kids face online and the expectations that come with it, this struggle is real for so many people right now.”

Ralph Breaks the Internet continues the gigantic yet soft-hearted Ralph’s saga from the events of its 2012 prequel, but this time, he embarks on an adventure of a lifetime through the Internet along with his close ally Vanellope in his noble quest to fix his broken controller.

A Walt Disney Pictures production, the gates to the expansive world of the internet opens on 23 November 2018.

(From left) Directors Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and producer Clark Spencer

The post Imagine dragons, Mandy Moore, Taraji Henson and more kick-off ‘Ralph Breaks The Internet’ premiere in LA appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Marc Forster’s Christopher Robin is easily one of the most delightful films of 2018, and also contains some of the finest fully-CG animated characters you’ll see this year. That work was led by Framestore, which had, of course, sharpened its expertise in integrating CG animated ‘stuffed toy’ characters with live action in the Paddington movies.

Christopher Robin’s production VFX supervisor was Chris Lawrence, and its production animation director was Michael Eames (both hail from Framestore). In addition to Framestore’s 727 shots for the film, Method Studios also came on board to deliver several scenes.

To find out more about how Christopher Robin’s characters came to life, vfxblog sat down with Framestore animation supervisor Arslan Elver in London. Elver shared details on early animation tests, the on-set stuffies used during filming, and some of the specific details infused into characters such as Pooh, Piglet and Tigger.

1. Framestore started animation tests before seeing any concept art

Arslan Elver: We started with Pooh, but at that point we hadn’t seen the designs, the concept art, or anything else yet. The very first test we did was a yellow Pooh Bear in the form of a more classic Disney style. I did the very first tests with our animation director Michael Eames also getting involved. I did animated tests of him trying to climb stairs, but he fails and tumbles down, and he looks at his tummy and then looks around at an empty honey pot.

2. The director didn’t want elbows or knees

One thing immediately our director, Marc Forster, reacted to was that the character had elbows and knees, and he didn’t want them. I didn’t understand at first but then he showed us some concept art which he was very happy with from Michael Kutsche. It was a teddy bear, it was Pooh Bear walking by holding the hand of Christopher Robin, and looking around, but you could tell there was nothing bending or anthropomorphic about it. We went back to the drawing board, and we did new tests to reflect that.

3. Some inspiration for the animation came from a philosophy book

Marc Forster talked to us about a book called The Tao of Pooh. It’s about Taoism philosophy using the Winnie-the-Pooh characters. In the book, it talks about an uncarved block as an idea. The book says Pooh is an uncarved block. He’s not carved as a shape or sculpture. He’s empty. He’s a clean sheet. He doesn’t have any prejudice. He doesn’t have any expectations. He’s just who he is. So we started to dig into those ideas and think about the teddy bear aspect of it.

4. Stuffed toys changed the way the characters would be animated

What happened is, on the set, they made these characters as stuffed toys. They had fully furred ones and then just grey ones with no fur. The stuffies were moved around by actors on set, and then the camera person shot the scene again via muscle memory for a clean plate. The stuffed toys were so interesting to see, and they fell in love with them –  Disney and the filmmakers, so they asked us to match our assets to that. The stuffies were so cute, you could put them on a chair and just by rotating the head a little bit you could immediately get some emotion out of it. So that was the kind of behaviour we were trying to find. We’d think, during animation, ‘What kind of head tilt will give that same feeling?’

5. Some interesting animation moments came from those on-set stuffies

With Piglet, say, I immediately picked up on the ears from the stuffies. The fabric around the ears is looser, it has these very nice ear movements on the head turns. And then with Tigger, who is so long, I was holding the stuffie from his head, and because he’s heavy, the rest of his body was hanging down with these very floppy arms. Mike Eames saw it and said, ‘That’s interesting. I wanna play with that idea a little bit.’

6. Framestore’s animators played with the stuffed toys, too

When we got all these toys into Framestore, I called all the animators in and I said to them, ‘Just play with them,’ and we were recording. It’s some of the most stupid video footage ever. If you see these, I mean, just like these 35 year old men playing with plush toys, it’s ridiculous.

7. Pooh doesn’t really blink

Because of this Zen thing about Pooh, the director didn’t want him to blink. Even the eyebrow movements, he wanted to be very minimal. The mouth movements as well. He didn’t want it to be very complex. It was quite tricky because to be able to sell his talking, there’s a bit of jaw movement for sure, but if it’s just that it looks very weird. If you start to put in a lot of movement, it looks very stretchy very quickly, so we had to think, how we can keep it alive? How could we move the corners of the mouth and make some shapes that at least suggest that sound is generated but have enough fall-off on the corners of the mouth so it doesn’t feel like it’s stretching? It’s a very difficult thing to do without stretching.

8. Tigger’s tail: should he jump on it a lot, or not?

I looked at Milt Kahl’s beautiful animation for Tigger when I was doing animation tests, and actually I did something based on that where he was running on four legs and I was thinking, ‘No, Marc’s not gonna go for this.’ But he responded really well. He liked that. He liked the energy of Tigger, but when I made the test with him on his tail, jumping on his tail, and then hopping down and clapping, Marc said, ‘Yeah, it’s very nice, but maybe we’ll only make him do it once or twice in the film.’ But it grew on him. During the production, I find myself getting notes like, ‘Let’s put him on the tail again.’

9. Eeyore went from sad to…still pretty sad

Eeyore was interesting because the very first test he was walking and just sitting on his bum and depressed. We started to do that but people didn’t really respond very well because he was a bit dead, so the note we got back was that we needed to keep him alive but still make him feel very sad. So we kept that same posture of him, but we raised the head up and rotated it up more. I think Marc wanted to see his mouth more because he had such a long muzzle. The other thing was his eyes – because of the fur, the toy is so sweet and cute but as soon as you do a little bit of this pose, the fur covers it so much and the render, it looks like a thin black line almost, so there was a bit of back and forth with that.

10. Getting honey and food onto Pooh was tough

They didn’t do anything on the set but, later on, they did carry out some shoots for the honey, for how it looks on the face with the fur. So if Pooh chucks his face into the pot, we had to work out, what kind of lining of honey comes out and how much is it on it? They used more of the grey stuffies without any fur for all the dirty stuff. There was one beautiful scene where there’s this big cake and they all jump on it, but they didn’t shoot anything for it. What we did was get one of our animators to put his head into it and chomp on it and see how much remained on his face and how the cake breaks up, to help the effects guys. So we sacrificed one of our animators to do that for the effects guys, but at least they got to eat cake.

Christoper Robin is now available on Digital, DVD and Blu-ray.

Xilam Animation has tapped Licensing Works! as the licensing agent for its iconic animated property, Oggy and the Cockroaches, in North America. Licensing Works! is now assembling a cross-category merchandise programme for the brand.

This appointment follows enhanced U.S. broadcast exposure for Oggy and the Cockroaches as Sinclair Broadcast Group’s national multi-platform programming block KidsClick launched nearly 100 episodes in June.

Netflix has also expanded its commitment by ordering and airing the fifth season, Oggy through the Ages after successfully offering Oggy episodes to Netflix fans since 2015. The series is also available on Amazon Prime Video, as well as French-Canadian public broadcaster SRC’s SVOD platforms in Canada.

Xilam is currently commemorating the 20^th anniversary of Oggy and the Cockroaches and the celebrations has kicked off in France this month. The line-up of activity includes the opening of a permanent Oggy and the Cockroaches escape room, museum partnerships, a branded truck tour and social media activity.

Xilam Animation Global Licensing SVP Marie-Laure commented, “As a leading market in licensed merchandise retail sales, North America represents a significant growth opportunity for Oggy and the Cockroaches. The response to the new content since its launch on KidsClick has been fantastic and we’re confident that with its enthusiasm, creativity and expertise, Licensing Works! is the perfect partner to maximize the potential of Oggy in such a huge market and build upon the success of our global licensing programme.”

The property continues to gather a strong community on YouTube with a total of 1.5 billion global views on the official Oggy channel and is also celebrating digital success through an array of branded apps and mobile games.

“The iconic Oggy and the Cockroaches brand, with its 20-year track record of incredibly entertaining content, is an exciting addition to our merchandise licensing and promotional portfolio. Oggy is supported with strong digital and broadcast partners, new episodes in production, and a very active social media presence, making this non-dialogue comedic series very appealing to cross-generational audiences of kids, young adults and their parents,” added Licensing Works! owner Leslie Levine.

Over the last two decades, Xilam has established a broadcast presence for Oggy in over 190 territories, with exposure buoyed by international SVOD deals with Netflix and Amazon. The show’s seventh season (78 x 7’) is now rolling out around the world and to meet consumer demand, Xilam has assembled a robust international licensing programme for Oggy.

In France, Lansay is on board as master toy partner and Hachette as master publishing licensee, while in Italy, Giocchi Preziosi/Grani has developed collectible figurines for the market with many other partners across multiple markets, laying a strong foundation for Licensing Works! to mirror in North America.

The post Xilam Animation appoints Licensing Works! as North American agent for ‘Oggy and the Cockroaches’  appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Here are some of our picks from the old ‘Batman: Animated Series’ that was recently released in high definition.

Over the sound of lightning as the moonlight graced the silhouette of caped crusader, perched on the top of a building that no mortal has escaped the allurement of, the background goosebumps-inducing trumpets blared on to reveal the Batman, chills ran down the spines of millennials as they felt hooked on to the rest of the episode. One can not deny that Batman might arguably be the best in the anthology of superheroes written in history. And by extension, while we squabble over faults in the movie depictions and cock a snook at how actors haven’t done justice to the character, Batman: The Animation Series stands as the ultimate encapsulation of the essence of Batman both in spirit and volume.

If you’ve caught yourself ruefully wondering where those days are gone when the clock would strike two in the afternoon and the Batman theme score would play in tandem with your racing heartbeats as the caped crusader took us down the vicarious rabbithole of adventure, there is good news for you. The greatest cartoon series ever made has been collated in its entirety and finally released in high definition. The show, intended to be something that kids would love yet grand and complex enough to captivate the adults, had just as much darkness as in the comics. And, that’s exactly how it has always meant to be.

Since this week marks the arrival of the show on blue-ray, we thought of enlisting our favourite episode picks from the series:
Joker’s Favor

Story: Paul Dini

Director: Boyd Kirkland

Joker being Batman’s archenemy and possibly the most menacing villain with mayhem being his only raison d’etre, this episode tops our list as its full of gory tricks and sadism. As much tension as there is in the Joker cutting through the Witness Protection Program and the sinister threat that goes along with it, the best part of this entire episode is when Charlie finds out that all the Joker wants from him is to hold a door open for Harley. It plays right into the caprice that makes the Joker such a threatening villain, and acts as a false resolution that makes the next twist – that he’s leaving Charlie to be blown up along with Commissioner Gordon — hit even harder. It’s a murder set up as a joke with the punchline being the grittiest and that sums up his character perfectly.

Joker’s Favor offers adventure wrapped in comedy and suspense which conveys two critical ideas. First, that while Batman himself is the indefatigable crime-fighter, the people around him are not. They’re vulnerable, and the things that he deals with on a daily basis are dangerous. It changes the stakes – Batman doesn’t “lose” by coming to harm himself, he loses by by failing to stop others from coming to harm. That’s where the tension is in this episode.

Harlequinade

Story: Paul Dini

Director: Kevin Altieri

To say that Harley Quinn was the breakout character of Batman: The Animated Series would be an understatement. She’s at the center of some of the show’s best episodes, from the slapstick, relatively uplifting comedy of Harley’s Holiday to the miserable tragedy of Mad Love. But of all the Harley-centric episodes, Harlequinade does it the best.

Just from that, you’ve got the buddy-cop comedy that comes from contrasting Harley’s zany demeanor with Batman’s grim, eye-rolling exasperation with her – Conroy’s wry frustrated sighs and furious orders to behave are the perfect foil for Arleee Sorkin’s delivery – but as the episode goes on, it gets deeper. It has those same notes as Harley’s Holiday, where you want her to win and get away from the Joker, but with that same note of heartbreak because you know she can’t that shows up again in Mad Love, but combined into something better.

The Demon’s Quest

Story: Dennis O’Neil

Director: Kevin Altieri

Between exotic locations, clever detective work thrilling action, danger, doomed romance and plot twists, this episode offers everything that it takes to carve out a place in our hearts. A villain that, more than any other opponent that Batman faces over the course of the series, is shown to be his equal on every level, from wealth to skill to sheer smarts. It’s an episode that shows what Batman is up against, and builds on the notion that is not only devoted to fighting against crime and evil, but fighting for justice and life. And when he kisses Talia at the end, then leaves her alone to return to Gotham City, we see how devoted he is to his mission, above his own interests and happiness.

We never need to be told that Batman is dedicated, or that Ra’s is ruthless, or that there’s a connection between Batman and Talia — we learn it all through the grand action of the story.

It’s everything that’s great about the entire series boiled down to one single adventure, and that’s what makes it perfect.

Almost Got ‘Im

Story: Paul Dini

Director: Eric Radomski

Almost Got’im is an expertly crafted on just about every level, right down to the way it was animated. Right from the opening sequence, in which the villains are introduced solely by close shots of their hands as they play poker, and it’s a testament to how detailed and intricate the designs were that you can identify them by such a small piece. And then there’s the big reveal at the end, where Batman’s shadow emerges from Killer Croc’s body as a light swings back and forth over him. There’s a similar reveal at the end of a previous episode, The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy, and it’s done well there, but this sequence – credited in the DVD commentary to animator Glen Murakami – impresses in terms of sheer style. It’s just this perfect example of the visual language of comics translating to animation in one gorgeously memorable scene.
Heart of Ice

Story: Paul Dini

Director: Bruce Timm

This award-winning episode was the first written by Paul Dini and directed by Bruce Timm, the driving force of the DC Animated Universe that would follow for the next decade or so. Though there were some stellar episodes before it, it was Heart of Ice that showed how deep The Animated Series could connect with viewers. If there’s one redeeming attribute of Batman: The Animated Series, it’s the vulnerability with a human touch that it gave to its characters. It’s not just that they were well-rounded, it’s that they felt like real people that viewers could relate to. Characters like Ra’s al-Ghul and Poison Ivy weren’t just plain bad guys, they were people with legitimate complaints taken to an extreme — much like Batman himself, but with a skewed morality while his was built on saving lives. And in Heart of Ice, took that concept and applied it to Mr. Freeze with an award-winning streak. The fact that he leaves one of his own henchmen to his fate after his legs are frozen solid is the perfect way to characterise Mr. Freeze as a ruthless, apathetic monster, and in a lesser show, that would’ve been where it stopped. But as Heart of Ice continues, it becomes clear that Freeze is anything but — he attempts to deny himself his emotions because he can’t take the pain of them. Even the way he phrases it himself is, if you’ll pardon the expression, chilling:

“You beg? In my nightmares, I see my Nora behind the glass, begging to me with frozen eyes.”

This isn’t a man who doesn’t feel. It’s a man who feels too much, and that’s the most humanising element of all.

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Diwali is that time of the year when friends and family unite, where the lights and fireworks decorate the sky and one thing which each one of us anticipates from our dear ones is the gifts.

To be very honest gift exchange is one of the prior reasons behind our year-long wait for Diwali which cannot be ignored. And when it comes to gift gamers, it becomes very difficult to figure out what to gift? To simplify your dilemma in finding out gifts we have rounded up five cool gifts to gift the gamers this Diwali.

> PS4 Games
It might seem like yesterday but it’s been a while that PS4 has launched in India. Currently, there are a lot of PS4 games available from Rs 500 onwards. The most popular PS4 games presently available in the market, which gamers will love to receive as Diwali gifts are Red Dead Redemption  2 (launched a few weeks back), Marvel’s Spider-Man, Fifa 19, God of War and more.

Excluding Red Dead Redemption 2 which costs around Rs 4000 at Amazon, other popular games will cost between Rs 2500 to Rs 3000. Considering the festive season, PS4 is also giving 27 per cent discount on the VR game Tekken 7 and the offer is valid till 8 November.

> Arcade Cabinet
If you really want to become famous as ‘best buddy’ among your relatives and friends who are gamers then gift them an arcade cabinet. This might look vintage but it has been in the fantasy of every gamer available in the world to own one. The full sized arcade cabinet features retro games like Street Fighter, Rampage, Centipede, Asteroids, Galaga and many more. Usually, full-size cabinets are about four feet tall and it will definitely allow one to add some food and drinks to survive those long hours of game playing sessions. Not only that one can buy as small as bar top or table top arcade cabinet which will do the same magic to the gamers.

> VR Headset
Virtual reality headset is one such gadget which every gamer have either experienced at least once or it is still slightly out of reach, as some headsets require an expensive gaming computer or an Android smartphone to run excluding Oculus Go which has built-in display and motion tracking feature. There are a lot of VR gadgets available at the market from Vive to Oculus which completely changes the gaming experience into a whole new level. So a VR headset will be convenient for those gamers who want to lift their gaming skills and experience the next level.

> Control Charger
As long sessions of gameplay drain the controller battery fast; gifting a control charger to a gamer is always a wise option. A control charger becomes a convenient accessory since it is an affordable, quick and easy way to recharge PS4 controllers. YEAM PS4 is one such control charger which fully recharges two controllers in just two hours. As Amazon is running a discount on PS4 accessories and games, you might get the controller as cheap as Rs 3000.

>Gaming Headsets

If your gamer friend or relative is more interested in the sounds coming out of gaming headset rather than glowing LEDs, macro keys and other unreasonable extras, then wireless headset will be perfect for them. Sound plays a crucial role in gaming, it transports that gamer to the gaming world completely. Think of which we will recommend headsets like V-MODA Crossfade Wireless, Astro A50 Steel series Siberia 840 as a gift for gamers this Diwali.

There are lot of other options to gift your loved ones who are gaming freaks, from comfortable bean bags to wireless controller and it is endless. This is our pick in considering the Indian gamers so now choice is yours. Pick that one gift for Diwali which will make your gamer ones happy and delighted when they receive it. Wish you all a very Happy Diwali!!

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