Though he is not directly in the animation industry he has touched a lot of animators at the school which he fought so hard to start. The founder of School of Visual Arts, Silas H. Rhodes, died at 91 last Wednesday.

Here is a really good obituary about his life which includes everything from working on the early Tarzan comic strip to his run in with Senator McCarthy when he was going around claiming people were Communists. Very interesting life.

NY Times Obituary

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by Rob Kohr

It’s a rare thing these days to find traditional animation in American theaters. Unlike their Japanese counterparts, theaters in the US are fraught with 3d eye candy pumped out by studios that will as soon as capture the movements of an actor and then throw them up on the screen and call that animation instead of ACTUALLY doing animation. True, there was a day when Ralph Bakshi was using live action video to make “American Pop”, but that was different, the hand of the animator still came through.

“Paprika” is the latest jaunt in animation from Satoshi Kon. Kon is well known for his psychological thrillers such as “Perfect Blue” and the television show “Paranoia Agent” as well as more subdued films such as “Millenium Actress” and “Tokyo Godfathers”. Not since “Perfect Blue” has Kon played with the ideas of psychological trauma and distress. In fact “Paprika” takes it to a new level.

29 year old Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychotherapist whose work on a powerful new psychotherapy devise known as the “DC-MINI” allows her to enter into people’s dreams, as her alter ego named Paprika, and synchronize with their unconscious to help uncover the source of their anxiety or neurosis. It is believed that someone is manipulating the machines has a more evil purpose. The DC MINI is being used to destroy people’s minds and merge reality and fantasy.

Art Director, Nobutaka Ike, who has worked with Kon on all his past films brought forth really solid character designs that contrasted the world of reality and the dream world. For instance Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a very solidly realistic character, while her dream self Paprika is very solidly anime looking.

(Read the article)

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by Jake Friedman

Witty animation with mature themes have inspired most of us [watch “Stoned Wheat” on Youtube.com] but much credit should probably be given to JJ Sedelmaier. Very few studios have a track record like JJ Sedelmaier Productions; upon entry of the studio, which currently houses six hired full-time staff, nearly a hundred awards grace the shelves. This is the studio that introduced us to SNL’s “TV Funhouse” the first season of “Beavis and Butthead,” the intro to “Strangers with Candy,” countless memorable animated commercials, and most recently the Tek Jansen sequences on “The Colbert Report.”

In an age of CG departments in 2D studios, or in which all the drawing done is on digital Wacom tablets and Cintiq screens, Sedelmaier’s studio, co-run by JJ and wife Patrice, stands out in the sea of time. It’s a studio that encourages a creative vibe with hands-on art, using [ooh!] light discs and [ah!] pencils. I was recently graced with freelance animation work at the White Plains studio, where one of my first tasks there was cleanup and inking with pens on paper!

There’s no question of Sedelmaier’s strength in the New York animation community, but I wanted to uncover the secrets of the masked man, Sedelmaier himself.

JF: What’s your sense of quality work that you strive for?

JJS: It’s based on really thinking about why something is designed the way it is and trying to keep it as valid as I can. You can have something that feels conventional, but there should be something about it that sparkles. Sometimes it’s a glorious, luscious style. Other times the style is very rudimentary, even crude, but there’s still something charming or smart about it. (Read the article)

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by Rob Kohr

Interference Inc. authored a guerrilla marketing campaign in 10 cities, that involved neon signs of a Mooninite from Cartoon Network’s show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force. At this point Boston police have arrested 2 employees of Interference Inc. Boston believed that these signs might have been some sort of bomb threat and even managed to detonate one with explosives to make sure that this was nothing more than a prank or as Boston’s Mayor Menino is calling it a hoax device.

(Read the article)

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by Rob Kohr
Going into the theater I really didn’t know much about this movie other than it was written by and directed by two Americans, Anthony Weintraub and Michael Arias respectively. I also knew that it was animated by the studio that made the really wonderful film “Mind Games” which I also saw last year at the same venue, the MOMA. What I didn’t expect was a film that was over all disappointing and dull to the point that people were walking out early. (Read the article)

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by Rob Kohr

Personally I didn’t want to use this story to bring up this issue, though I knew it would be inevitable after I heard about the murders committed earlier this week at Virgina Tech. As is the custom in the United States, when ever a tragic event involving a “youth” and guns happens, the pundits come out screaming that video games are at fault. Without fail, after the Columbine shootings back in 1999, everyone was quick to blame games and recording artists such as Marylin Manson. I am finding it hard to not push my political views on this and am instead looking at it form the standpoint of someone working in the Media / Gaming Industry. Those in that industry have to be aware of the the people they vote for and how they will effect their livelihood. (Read the article)

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TO OPEN IN LOS ANGELES ON APRIL 13, 2007

Writer/Director Bill Plympton will attend the opening night of the exclusive run at the Laemmle Sunset which will also include his Oscar®-nominated short “Guard Dog.” (Read the article)

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by Rob Kohr

This clip has been going around the gaming blogs as of late. The game, Little Big Planet developed by Media Molecule, is the newest of the next GEN game console games. This one will be out for the Playstation 3 soon. What I found the most interesting, which I hope you will see as well, is the very unique treatment of the game. It looks more like a stop-motion film than a video game. The game play resembles that of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo Game Cube. (Read the article)

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