animation
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Hulu is resurrecting 'Animaniacs' and streaming previous seasons
If you felt your inner child screaming with joy, there's a reason: Hulu is resurrecting one of your favorite Saturday morning cartoons: Animaniacs. Steven Speilberg is returning to executive produce two brand-new seasons of the classic show, which will debut on the streaming service in 2020.
Studio Ghibli reopens for Hayao Miyazaki's new film
Just a few years ago, Studio Ghibli's future was in the air after co-founder and legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki (supposedly) retired. The place is about to be jumping again, however, as the studio announced that it has re-opened to start production on a recently-announced new film by the not-so-retired Miyazaki. He was on hand for a small ceremony on July 3rd, where he "brought together his main collaborators already engaged on his new feature film to talk to them about the project," the company said in a news release (translated).
Researchers develop method for real-time speech animation
Researchers at the University of East Anglia, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon University and Disney have created a way to animate speech in real-time. With their method, rather than having skilled animators manually match an animated character's mouth to recorded speech, new dialogue can be incorporated automatically in much less time with a lot less effort.
See how Tesla’s Model 3 has changed since its debut
EV fans and some 400,000 buyers are excited about Tesla Model 3 production and upcoming first deliveries, largely because it's one of the first affordable, long-range electric cars. There's also the Tesla mystique -- with the comely Model S and X EVs, Musk & Co. showed they have serious design chops. However, some folks were underwhelmed with the Model 3 design, particularly the stubby front end.
A video game trailer is eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award
Despite being one of the biggest entertainment mediums on the planet, it's rare to see video games getting the mainstream recognition that they deserve. Now, it looks like that's beginning to change, as, for the first time in history, a video game trailer is eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award. The promotional video in question is for this year's intriguing philosophical world simulator, Everything.
Recommended Reading: 'Wonder Woman' is a timely superhero movie
Wonder Woman, Heroine of the Post-Truth Age Megan Garber, The Atlantic Wonder Woman may be set in the time of World War I, but the movie's themes are particularly relevant right now. The Atlantic analyzes how a female superhero rescues a solider on the run before taking on a much bigger foe -- and what all of that means for in the present day. That Lasso of Truth sure would come in handy for us in 2017.
The eerie stop-motion game that's 'better than sex with Jesus'
When I first talked with Anders Gustafsson and Erik Zaring in 2012, they promised their creepy, psychedelic, stop-motion game, The Dream Machine, was going to be "better than sex with Jesus." They had a lot of work ahead of them -- they were building the game by hand, with physical materials, and the stop-motion process was inherently time-consuming. Plus, they had to wrangle episodic installments of an intimate yet sprawling story inspired by LSD trips and theories of alternate realities. Five years later, as the sixth and final installment of The Dream Machine finally lands on Steam, I ask Gustafsson and Zaring if they think their game delivers on its sacrilegious promise.
'Arden's Wake' paves the way for never-ending VR stories
Making movies in virtual reality is easy. Making good animated movies in virtual reality is hard. There's no "mise en scène" to play with, and even the basic 180-degree rule is washed away with a head turn. The limitations of a cinema screen make storytelling easier, linear, comfortable. Penrose Studios doesn't care much for comfort, it seems. The same studio that gave us the haunting Allumette and infantile captivation of The Rose and I is back at the Tribeca Film Festival this year with its third VR story -- Arden's Wake -- and it promises to be bigger, more detailed and more technically improbable than anything we've seen from the studio so far.
Gorillaz are getting a TV show, apparently
Prepare your brain's weirdest synapses for an animated TV show starring the members of Gorillaz, the lauded cartoon hip hop group led by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Tank Girl co-creator Jamie Hewlett. Hewlett revealed the TV series in an interview with Q Magazine, as spotted by Pitchfork. The announcement is light on details, but the show will apparently span 10 episodes and Hewlett is in charge of all things animation.
FX reel shows how 'Ghost in the Shell' developed its visual style
By most accounts, the movie adaptation of Ghost in the Shell didn't live up to the visionary manga and anime it's based on, but it did create some stunning visuals. The film's holo-saturated neon cityscape was designed in major part by digital creative Ash Thorp, who recently put together a highlight reel of concepts and animations created for the film.
'Toki' uses 3D printing and projection to represent time
Akinori Goto is a stop-motion animator who has translated his art to work with modern materials and techniques. Goto creates smooth movement by passing simple light through highly complex wire mesh sculptures. He's one of several artists picked to exhibit their work at SXSW this year, and his installation, Toki, is one of the most impressive on display.
Capy is making a game for Cartoon Network's new show
If the words "multimedia tie-in" bring back memories of bad video game adaptations and lame comic books pushed by marketing groups to promote feature films, then clearly the 80s and 90s have scarred you too. Cartoon Network's upcoming animated series OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is getting its own game, which would seem gimmicky if not for the the studio they brought on to make the show's companion: Capybara Games, creators of the acclaimed Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery and Super Time Force. The game, an "action brawler with RPG elements," will come out this fall.
First Unity-built cartoon proves the engine isn't just for games
As the NBA's eSports league proves, video games are quickly becoming mainstream. Games are having a moment, and so are the tools used to make them. Case in point, the Unity game engine recently reached a big milestone. French animated show Mr. Carton just became the first cartoon TV series made with Unity.
'Castlevania' is getting a Netflix animated series
Vampire-themed shows are a dime a dozen, but you might have a better-than-usual reason to care about this one. Producer Adi Shankar (of Dredd and The Grey fame) has revealed that he's working on a Castlevania animated series for Netflix, with a first season due in 2017 and a second due the following year. Not only that, but you may be familiar with some of the contributors. Warren Ellis (from the Red graphic novel and numerous comic book imprints) is writing, while Adventure Time's Kevin Kolde is also involved.
Giphy's GIF service has over 100 million users every day
It won't shock you to hear that GIF hosts like Giphy and Gfycat are thriving in an era where there's a new meme every minute. But just how well are they doing? Supremely well, according to Giphy. It just posted its first "State of the GIF" report, revealing that it has over 100 million active daily users. Yes, that's daily and not monthly. That amounts to over 1 billion GIFs served per day, and more than 2 million hours of viewing time. So what's the trick to getting that many viewers?
Spotify launches a cartoon to teach you about music
Spotify is more than a music streaming app. Podcasts, video distribution -- the company has tried everything to broaden its appeal and stop subscribers from defecting to Apple Music, Tidal and Google Play Music. Its latest effort is "Deconstructing," a new animated series by short-form video specialist ATTN:. The first episode, which premieres today, explains the history of EDM with some colorful characters and a documentary-style voiceover. It's a short, but informative overview of the genre, designed for mobile users who want a quick break from their favorite playlists.
ICYMI: One Pen to rule all and video you can manipulate
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab formulated a way to interact with existing videos, so they can prod and move objects within the frame. The Cronzy Pen samples colors from anything, anywhere, and mixes its own ink the match any shade. It's on IndieGoGo now so good luck scoring your crowdfunded thing. If you want to check out video of Jupiter's moon Io, the Washington Post explained it all well; and the charming paper craft animations from yelldesign are here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Hulu may lose most of its anime catalog come June (update)
Hulu might be best known for its catalog of network TV shows, but for fans of Japanese animation it's been a great resource for anime titles both new and old. That looks like it's changing on June 1st, with a significant bulk of Hulu's anime catalog disappearing as the service streamlines to include only the most popular titles.
'Battleborn' turned gaming cinematics into high art
The best part of Battleborn is its prologue cinematic. That's not to say the game itself isn't any good -- in fact, it's a wonderful single- and multiplayer experience for the fantastical first-person-shooter crowd. However, the opening video is divine. It's evocative, rich and effortlessly cool, built on a base of smooth hip-hop and anime-inspired, neon-coated illustrations. When I think of Battleborn, my mind is immediately saturated in the cinematic's soulful rhythm. This is a new brand of video game artistry. As a game, Battleborn doesn't feature cartoon characters; it's a fully realized 3D experience from Gearbox, the creators of Borderlands. In the same vein as Borderlands, Battleborn is highly stylized, but it looks nothing like the opening cinematic. That was on purpose.
Animation software used by Studio Ghibli will soon be free
You may not have heard of Toonz animation software, but you've no doubt seen work it was used in: Studio Ghibli films like Spirited Away and Tale of the Princess Kaguya (above), or the animated series Futurama. Now, the Toonz Ghibli Edition used by legendary Japanese filmmakers like Hayao Miyazaki is going open-source, making it free to use by studios and novice animators alike. The deal came after Japanese publisher Dwango acquired the software from Italian developer Digital Video. It's now focusing on customization and training, but will still sell a premium version to companies "at a very competitive price."
