Huffington Posts' "Jessie" Theory

An article in the Huffington Post puts forward an interesting theory:  Woody's female counterpart Jessie originally belonged to…….belonged to……..

Andy's mother!

Here's the article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-negroni/toy-story-andy-mom_b_4855919.html  

You tell me, are they right?
-Steve

Disney closes Pixar Canada

In a blow to Canadian animation, Disney has decided to close their Pixar Studios in Canada. According to Variety,  Disney spokesperson Barb Matheson said “A decision was made to refocus operations and resources under the one roof...not great news, obviously.”  It is, of course,  a tragedy for everyone working at Disney in Vancouver. But to the grizzled animation veterans at FLIP, this all feels eerily familar.

Dan Scanlon's Indie Film "Tracy"

Before Dan Scanlon directed Monsters University, he did a mockumentary called Tracy.  He talked to FLIP about it back in 2008, when it was still a work-in-progress.  He described it as, "a fictional documentary about Tracy Knapp the host of a 1970's children show called The Imagination Train Station. The film is about his life, his resentful son, his alcoholic ex-wife, and his mysterious death in 1995.  It's a comedy."

Dan has posted the entire film on Vimeo.  

Tracy from Dan Scanlon on Vimeo.

Dan talked to FLIP about the film:

"The idea for the film came in 2003. Fellow story artist Brian Fee and I were trying to think of a short film idea to work on in our (then) endless spare time. We started talking about all the creepy 1970's children's shows we loved as kids, and how a lot of the hosts looked like porn stars. We thought it would be great if Brian played one of those host, with a porn afro and matching bushy mustache.  I've been making short 8mm films and videos since I was a kid, begging my friends and parents to dress up as robots and clowns for my movies. It was kind of cute then, it's not as cute when I'm asking them to do the same at 31".

2D O.D.'d

I put forth the theory that 2D animation died of an overdose.

In the 1990's, 2D feature animation exploded, then imploded.  Where a couple of studios used to release a feature every four years, the triple whammy success of An American Tale, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and The Little Mermaid set the stage for what is now commonly referred to as The Animation Renaissance.

Dozens of new features were given the green light as every studio in town joined the dance. DreamWorks started in 1994 with Jeffrey Katzenburg taking the knife Eisner stuck in his back and shoving it right down Big Mike's throat - to the benefit of the artists. Their salaries doubled, tripled, even quadrupled as the two studios competed for talent.  In betweeners were getting paid upwards of $2700 a week.  Top artists 15 to 20K.

Tom Sito's History of Computer Animation

Ivan Sutherland demonstrates Sketchpad, 1963.

Being of a generation for which computers represented the future, it is a bit unsettling that a book on the history of computer animation could be written. Like I need another reminder of my aging. Tom Sito has done it, with Moving Innovation, A History of Computer Animation, to be released next month. FLIP asked Tom a few questions, via computer......

FLIP: What the hell does Tom Sito know about Computer Animation?

TS: Hah! You’re right. My name is not the first to come to mind when you think CG. When I was completing Drawing the Line, I included a chapter on the Digital Revolution. I needed to explain about CG’s origins to show how it affected the animation community and how it changed the traditional animation production pipeline, which had been sacred since J.R. Bray in 1913. The chapter grew so large that my editor cut it by two-thirds, and told me “ You have another book here.”

Pixar's 22 Rules of Story Telling

These rules were originally tweeted by Pixar Story Artist Emma Coats.

Brenda the Brave

Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman at the British Academy Awards

Last week, BRAVE won the British Academy Award, or BAFTA, for best animated feature, just weeks after winning a Golden Globe in the same category.   But unlike the Golden Globes, the film's author, Brenda Chapman, not only attended but was given a chance to speak.  Much was made about her absence at the Globes, but this time around the tension and bad blood were kept out of view of the press for the sake of show biz.  After all, reading about John Lasseter jerking around a great director (and nice person) is like hearing Santa Claus fired Rudolph over a flight path dispute.  

Brenda's still "a little gun shy" about talking about the surrounding turmoil of making BRAVE, but she was very kind to answer some questions for FLIP.  

Pixar, Brave, Mark Andrews and The Importance of Wearing a Kilt

Last night I went to a screening in Soho of Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman's charming celtic romp - Brave - which features a red-haired heroine in a Scottish setting (Readers of Flip will already know something of the origins of Merida's fiery hair).

The Irish Roots of Merida's Hair

Brave was great.  I got totally sucked into it.   But whenever Merida and her crazy, tangly locks bounced through a scene, I couldn't help but think of my old pal, Miriam McDonnell.  Miriam was a clean up artist at Disney on every feature from Beauty and the Beast to Home on the Range.  She's originally from Ireland, and along with the accent, she carries a mop of curly black hair not unlike the heroine of Brave.

Director Brenda Chapman and a lot of the Pixar gang know the hilariously garrulous Miriam quite well.  So facetiously, I asked, "Is your hair getting residuals from Disney?"

"Funny you should say that."  she said, "Charlotte (her daughter) and I went up to Pixar to see Brenda, Doug Frankel, and Tony Fucile, and they took photos of our hair.  Brenda had always been talking about her Celtic girl she was going to write about and make a film of one day."

I haven't seen Miriam's daughter in ten years, and was amazed by the photo she sent.....

Merida and Charlotte

When I reminded Miriam that her hair is now the property of Disney, she replied, "So is my spinal fusion, but they don't want to pay for that either."  

-Steve

Addendum:

So as there is no confusion, Miriam would like to emphasize: "It was just some photos of hair. Charlotte was not the Character."

(Editor's note: To find out more about Brave, learn about why director Mark Andrews likes to wear a kilt, and read our exclusive interview with writer-director Brenda Chapman.)