How to use this Page

The "Dam Keeper" universe keeps growing.

The post Fox Animation and Tonko House Developing ‘The Dam Keeper’ Feature Film appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

The world of the Oscar-nominated "Dam Keeper" short is turning into a traditionally-animated series for Hulu in Japan.

The post EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Dam Keeper’ To Become An Animated Series for Hulu in Japan appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

We look at the top contenders in this year's Oscar race for best animated short.

The post 2017 Animated Short Oscar Contenders: A Record Number of Films Are Competing appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

We explore the new film from "Dam Keeper" directors Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi,

The post ‘Moom’ Trailer Exclusive: ‘The Dam Keeper’ Filmmakers Discuss Japanese Influences On Their Latest Film appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo's new short is based on a Japanese children's book.

The post ‘Dam Keeper’ Makers Return With New Film ‘Moom’ (Trailer) appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

The Oscar-nominated short is also getting a graphic novel series.

Former Pixar art director Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi talk about the challenges of directing their first independent film "The Dam Keeper."

Laika's "The Boxtrolls" topped the noms with a total of thirteen; the awards will be handed out January 31, 2015, in Los Angeles, California.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this afternoon the list of 10 animated shorts which will advance in the voting process for this year's Academy Awards.

Cartoon Brew looks at some of the likely contenders in the Oscar race for this year's best animated short film.

Eliza Ivanova found employment as an animator at Pixar after graduating from the animation program at CalArts. Her 2011 graduation film was called The Real McCoy:

Eliza decisively models forms while simultaneously incorporating imaginative marks that add style and movement to her drawings.

One of the side-projects that Eliza is working on is the independent short film, The Dam Keeper, directed by Pixar art directors Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo.

See more of Eliza’s work on her website.

Pixar artists Dice Tsutsumi (art director, Toy Story 3) and Robert Kondo (sets art director, Ratatouille) have announced that they are producing an independent short film. To help raise funds for the production, they are auctioning some of their exploratory sketches on eBay.

The auction serves as a valuable reminder that crowdfunding is not the only way to raise money for a film project. By auctioning their drawings on eBay instead of offering them as rewards on Kickstarter, Tsutsumi and Kondo are avoiding the often stressful task of organizing a major crowdfunding campaign as well as circumventing Kickstarter’s hefty fees, thus ending up with more time and money to devote to their film.

The two artists could yet end up running a crowdfunding campaign. “We may do Kickstarter too if we get man power to set it up in the future,” Tsutsumi wrote on Facebook. “It takes a lot of work to set up [a] successful Kickstarter.” Of course, there’s nothing wrong if they choose to do that. It’s refreshing, however, to see some out-of-the-box thinking that doesn’t treat crowdfunding as the holy grail, but rather as a component of a diversified fundraising effort.

My favorite publisher Chronicle Books just put out their Fall/Winter 2012 catalog and they’re releasing more animation and cartoon-related books this holiday season than ever before. Below are the six titles (including one by myself) that will be of interest to Cartoon Brew readers, followed by the catalog pages with images and descriptions of each book.

The Art and Making of ParaNorman by Jed Alger
August 2012, Pre-order for $21.74.

Sketchtravel by Gérald Guerlais and Dice Tsutsumi
September 2012, Pre-order for $23.52.

The Art of Wreck-It Ralph by Maggie Malone and Jennifer Lee Monn
November 2012, Pre-order for $21.74.

Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal by Karen Falk
November 2012, Pre-order for $16.27.

Speaking of color scripts, I have to point out an interesting and visually striking film experiment by Dice Tsutsumi, whose Toy Story 3 color scripts are featured in the new Pixar book.

Dice’s passion project for the past few years has been Sketchtravel, an idea that he hatched with illustrator Gérald Guerlais, and which features the participation of some of the world’s most well known illustrators, comic artists and animators. (We’ve written about it before on Cartoon Brew.) The project has finally come to a conclusion: an auction of the original sketchbook artwork was held last week and raised over $100,000 for charity. A printed version of the book is now available in France, too.

To support the Sketchtravel project, Dice made the following animated short using his color scripting technique:

In an email, he explained the challenge of making an animated film as someone who comes from a painting background:

“Since I’m not an animator, my focus is to carry a story through all the visual staging elements — color, lighting, and composition. I painted every single frame of the film by myself with a little help from friends and a small amount of After Effects movements. It took me six months to complete it while I was preparing for the auction event.”

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | One comment | Post tags: Color script, Dice Tsutsumi, Sketchtravel