Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 1, 2009 in Animation
I so want it to be good: Wes Andrson is brilliant and stop motion animation is an amazing medium. But alas the more I see of Fantastic Mr. Fox the less I like it — and the rave review my Rolling Stone convinces me that print is dead too when it comes to film reviews. The first thing you notice with this trailer is that the voice actors are indeed famous movie starts, but that doesn’t mean that they can voice act. And next there is the quality of the animation; if you want to see A+ stop motion animation look at Wallace and Gromit and then tell me what you think of this Mr. Rolling Stone film critic…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 15, 2009 in Animation, Tech
The stop motion animated spots above and below are for Google Japan and I’m just blown away by the quality of craftsmanship and creativity shown here. The spots are explaining how Google street maps will help ensure privacy by blurring out people’s faces and the like. In my humble opinion Google should tap the creative team behind these ads to enliven their branding in the United States which is a tad too dull for such an innovative company. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 5, 2009 in Animation
Shown above is the beautiful Soviet propaganda film Mister Twister from the height of the Cold War in 1963. I really love how they’ve done so much here with such a little budget and no technology by modern standards. And of course my favorite shot is the opening scenes showing a decadent New York City which is cluttered with vintage ads. What’s also interesting to me about this cartoon is you can really see how Jim Crow really hurt the image of America abroad during that era: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 3, 2009 in Animation
I loved The Royal Tenenbaums and I can see some of Wes Anderson’s touches on this film, but there’s a major problem looking at this trailer. What Anderson is great at is getting emotion out of actors on a screen, so a small nuance can communicate volumes of emotion and storytelling. But every frame of an animated film demands painful planning to achieve that spontaneous feeling. And what I’m seeing in the trailer above is a very stiff looking film which is bad news for an animated film. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 13, 2009 in Animation, Cinema
We like to think of sci fi films as something new, but the fact of the matter is that the genre is now over a century old. On this day in 1909 the French film Le Voyage sur Jupiter opened in the United States. Directed by Spanish filmmaker Segundo de Chomón in 1907 the movie is quite similar to Le voyage dans la lune from 1902 by Georges Méliès. Although to his credit Chomón was very good at special effects and shows off a few new tricks here. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 27, 2009 in Animation, Cinema
On this date in 1949 — yes that’s exactly sixty years ago — the film Mighty Joe Young was released in the United States. I grew up with this film because it was always paired up as the double feature with King Kong during holidays on ancient broadcast television (this wasn’t the major networks by the way, something you’d see on an independent channel like WOR-TV here in NYC). King Kong was of course an iconic film made in 1933 and even watching in the 21st Century it still is a powerful film — but sadly like a lesser little brother Mighty Joe Young never quite measured up in my book. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 19, 2009 in Animation
Clockwork is a short animated film that stars a cute robot girl named Hina. Being a caffeine addict the idea of robot making a morning brew caught my attention right away, but I have to say that the design of the robot is great and the animator did a great job of picking a refreshing soundtrack for this sweet little short. Here are some wonderful photos of Hina: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 14, 2009 in Animation, Design
Saint Paul Police Detectives and Their Work was a public service color stop motion cartoon produced in 1940. The quality of the animation is itself quite crude and done on tabletop, although the design of each scene which represents a criminal activity is fascinating as each screen is well designed and uses everyday objects. The added touch of the art deco lettering gives you a Dick Tracy feeling offset by an almost surreal sounding soundtrack: Read more…
The stop motion animated spots above and below are for Google Japan and I’m just blown away by the quality of craftsmanship and creativity shown here. The spots are explaining how Google street maps will 
On this date in 1949 — yes that’s exactly sixty years ago — the film 