Remember those two NFB animated shorts we blogged about? They’ve each been nominated for an Oscar!

Montreal-based filmmaker, Patrick Doyon, was delighted when he heard the news that his debut film, Dimanche/Sunday, was nominated (actually, he kept screaming out excitement). The film is a whimsical animated fable that follows a bored young boy attempting to escape a dreary Sunday (this instantly made me think of Murakami’s most recent main character in 1Q84, who loathes Sundays – but don’t we all just a little bit?)

Emily Carr alumni, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby also had a reason to celebrate, also having earned a nomination – for their Prairie-set short, Wild Life. Though this isn’t Forbis and Tilby’s first run at the Oscars, it definitely deserves a big congratulations!

It’s a good day to be in the Canadian film industry!

Vegas wows once again  – but this time with an interactive experience paying homage to Chuck Jones, a renown artist and animation pioneer.

The Chuck Jones Experience opened its doors Thursday morning at Circus Circus in Las Vegas. Visitors of the 10,000 square-food destination will get a chance to learn more about the animator and his characters by, watching a short film in a 1930s-style theatre, discovering a wide collection of his work in the Animation Alley, as well as have an opportunity to play with sound effects, do voice-overs, and learn to ink and paint real animation cels in the Acme Workshop.

For $20, you get to spend the entire day exploring the fascinating worlds that Chuck Jones created in the span of his 60-year career. I know what I’ll be doing next time I’m on the strip!

Tidbit: Jones is known for his famed Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts, Tom [...]]]>

Vegas wows once again  – but this time with an interactive experience paying homage to Chuck Jones, a renown artist and animation pioneer.

The Chuck Jones Experience opened its doors Thursday morning at Circus Circus in Las Vegas. Visitors of the 10,000 square-food destination will get a chance to learn more about the animator and his characters by, watching a short film in a 1930s-style theatre, discovering a wide collection of his work in the Animation Alley, as well as have an opportunity to play with sound effects, do voice-overs, and learn to ink and paint real animation cels in the Acme Workshop.

For $20, you get to spend the entire day exploring the fascinating worlds that Chuck Jones created in the span of his 60-year career. I know what I’ll be doing next time I’m on the strip!

Tidbit: Jones is known for his famed Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts, Tom and Jerry (yes!), the TV version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and a feature length film, The Phantom Tollbooth, among other classics.

For 90 minutes, be enthralled by the the best short films of the last two years. The selection is comprised of eight very different films, each one produced or co-produced by the NFB.

Tidbit: Our very own Vive la Rose was featured in last year’s Animation Express.

The NFB has been collaborating with Pattison Onestop and Art4Commuters on a project that’s been turning heads (1.3 million to be exact) on subway platforms in Toronto all month. This is one of two installations that are part of NFB’s multi-year HIGHRISE project, a documentary experiment developed by Sharon Switzer, which is now being adapted into public art.

The web documentary that inspired all of this, aptly named “One Millionth Tower”, can be viewed in 59 stations across the subway network in a series of 30-second animated videos – but only until the end of February.

And if you’re not in Toronto, watch the full documentary, and discover how cinema, architecture, and the magic of HTML5 are re-imagining the urban landscape: Using the power of animation, One Millionth Tower transforms a deteriorated highrise neighbourhood into [...]]]>

The NFB's One Millionth Tower project gives life to ideas that could inspire positive change in urban communities.

The NFB has been collaborating with Pattison Onestop and Art4Commuters on a project that’s been turning heads (1.3 million to be exact) on subway platforms in Toronto all month. This is one of two installations that are part of NFB’s multi-year HIGHRISE project, a documentary experiment developed by Sharon Switzer, which is now being adapted into public art.

The web documentary that inspired all of this, aptly named “One Millionth Tower”, can be viewed in 59 stations across the subway network in a series of 30-second animated videos – but only until the end of February.

And if you’re not in Toronto, watch the full documentary, and discover how cinema, architecture, and the magic of HTML5 are re-imagining the urban landscape: Using the power of animation, One Millionth Tower transforms a deteriorated highrise neighbourhood into a vibrant community using the ideas of its local residents.

We had a jolly good time celebrating with our friends on December 14th. Thank you to Bruce and Tina for throwing a hell of a party – wine was flowing, meat platters were emptied, and happy times were truly had. Thank you also to Cliff, our resident sushi chef, for rolling up a great breakfast the following Friday morning (a great precursor to our white elephant gift exchange), and thank you to our whole team for making 2011 so memorable. Here’s to [...]]]> What a great end to the year! 2011 was filled with successes to celebrate, so a few festivities took place at the end of December here at our new office. Congrats to the team on the many projects we’ve completed this year, to the many partnerships and friendships we’ve built and nurtured in the community, and to all the fun we’ve had together in and out of the studio.

We had a jolly good time celebrating with our friends on December 14th. Thank you to Bruce and Tina for throwing a hell of a party – wine was flowing, meat platters were emptied, and happy times were truly had. Thank you also to Cliff, our resident sushi chef, for rolling up a great breakfast the following Friday morning (a great precursor to our white elephant gift exchange), and thank you to our whole team for making 2011 so memorable. Here’s to this year- and all the years to come!

Happy Holidays from the crew at Global Mechanic – we wish you a very happy and healthy New Year.

Though I prefer to rent movies (ah, the freedoms of one’s own living room!), I headed to the movie theatre earlier this week to catch The Artist.

This 21st century silent movie by French director Michel Hazanavicius has gotten everyone talking ever since it hit the Cannes Film Festival – and especially now that the movie, its director, and its two lead actors are up for Golden Globe awards.

I urge everyone to go see it, if anything, just to experience a very special atmosphere that we often don’t get at the movies anymore: a kind of mesmerizing stillness and quiet that lasts for 100 minutes, interrupted only by intermittent chuckles, (and not by the noise of rustling candy wrappers and soda slurps).

Tidbit: The comical and very classy Jean Dujardin is [...]]]>

The handsome George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) kind of looks like a cross between Gene Kelly and Gomez Adams, don't ya think?

Though I prefer to rent movies (ah, the freedoms of one’s own living room!), I headed to the movie theatre earlier this week to catch The Artist.

This 21st century silent movie by French director Michel Hazanavicius has gotten everyone talking ever since it hit the Cannes Film Festival – and especially now that the movie, its director, and its two lead actors are up for Golden Globe awards.

I urge everyone to go see it, if anything, just to experience a very special atmosphere that we often don’t get at the movies anymore: a kind of mesmerizing stillness and quiet that lasts for 100 minutes, interrupted only by intermittent chuckles, (and not by the noise of rustling candy wrappers and soda slurps).

Tidbit: The comical and very classy Jean Dujardin is up for Best Actor for his role as George Valentin in The Artist, which has been nominated for Best Picture (Comedy or Musical)

Dubbed as “animation’s highest honor”, the 39th Annual Annie Awards will be recognizing this year’s best this February.

The International Film Society just released their nominations list for 28 different categories, which includes the two NFB films we mentioned last week (yay!) – though they’re competing against each other for Best Animated Short (dub dum dum…)

Stay tuned on February 4th when the prizes get handed out.

Tidbit: DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 2 is leading the pack in the Best Animated Feature category with 12 nominations (all the more reason to finally go see it.)

Recently, we had a nostalgic encounter with some art from Christmases past.

Perusing through Profiles In History’s most recent auction catalog, we saw the likes of original works like Richard Scarry’s Rudolph and Gustav Tengrenn’s The Night Before Christmas, both starting at a minimum bid of $4000.

Particularly eye-catching production cels: Heckle and Jeckle, Max Fleischer’s Gulliver’s Travels, and Tezuka’s Astro Boy.  Wow.

The Icons of Animation session will be happening on December 17th, in Beverly Hills.(Not in California? You still have twelve days to bid online.)

And of course, if you can’t cough up the moolah, you should check out the entire catalog anyway.

"Sunday/Dimanche"

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shortlisted ten animated shorts, three to five of which will be chosen as nominations for next year’s Academy Awards.

Congratulations to our friends at the National Film Board of Canada who produced not one, but two, of the ten shorts selected.

On to the next round of voting… Good luck!

Tidbit: Check out Global Mechanic and the NFB collaboration, “Vive la Rose”.