Lollipop Animation

Let's try a little experiment

2008-04-16T15:24:00.003Z

So I heard of this experiment about getting a million blogs to appear in this list. So this is our post to say we're IN. In fact we're in the top 500, which is pretty good if you ask me. D'ya think we'll make the million? Who knows? But if you're a blogger then jojn up too and spread the good word.

alt="Get listed at www.millionbloglist.com" width="173" height="35" />

Flipping the bird

2007-08-08T14:11:00.000Z

Ok so this isn't actually animated, but it's so freakin' sweet I just had to upload it. The editing it awesome so that'll have to do for a reason. Idle hands are the devil's tools. Hope you enjoy.

Kiss my...

2007-08-03T09:48:00.000Z

Here's a great little short from one of my all time favourite animators Bill Plymton. (Remember those old nik naks adverts? So good). Anyway, hope you like. This one is educational so listen up, take notes, they'll be questions at the end.

Who you calling Idiot?

2007-06-02T15:20:00.000Z

Here's a great little short from our friends at Enjoy Studios

There's much more to come from Giant Herb and Jasper the Cat (I used to have a cat called Jasper. Now HE was an idiot), so stay tuned. We'll be bringing you the next installment as and when.

Mario gets the canvas treatment

2007-05-23T12:49:00.000Z

Being Video game junkies here at Lollipop, not to mention Super Mario obsessives, when we saw this we absolutely HAD to have it. My lounge wall is getting the Mario treatment next month.

Todays Favourite Blog

2007-03-27T14:03:00.000Z

From time to time we come across another blog that we like the look of and think that you will too.

Here's one from the creator of Bob the Builder and our personal favourite Frankenstein's Cat.

http://badablingthing.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Mad Monkey Mayhem

2007-01-25T16:53:00.000Z

One of our regular visitors has just sent us this little link (Thank you Tobias). Well worth a look, enjoy!

http://www.goblins-medias.com/annecy2006/burning_safari_LAN.mov

The REAL use for Post it notes

2007-01-06T16:02:00.000Z

post-it
Uploaded by sabo-tage

Nintendo Wii eat your heart out

2007-01-06T14:20:00.000Z

This one's a little different to our usual video, but no less impressive. You've now seen what the Nintendo Wii is capeable of. Well what's next for gamers? The answer is right here.

Motion capture
Uploaded by Youpinadi

Giggedy Goo - Family Guy Back in Production

2007-01-06T14:04:00.000Z

After being locked out for a couple months, the writers of Fox’s hit animated series Family Guy are back at work, according to Daily Variety. The trade reports that scribes started penning season six episodes on Wednesday as 20th Century Fox and series creator Seth McFarlane begin to make headway in their drawn-out contract negotiations.

MacFarlane, whose current contract expires soon, is expected to make out nicely in his new overall deal with Fox. The network has been extemely pleased with the TV ratings and DVD success of Family Guy and McFarlane’s other irreverent toon series, American Dad. He and Ricky Blitt also have a live-action comedy titled The Winner set up with the company.

The production stall may delay the premiere of the 2007-08 season of Family Guy, but there is speculation that Fox may pump more money into the show to maker sure episodes are ready for fans next fall.

Check out Lollipop Animation's current selection of Family Guy Art Here

Joe Barbera Passes away

2006-12-19T08:34:00.000Z

It is with great sadness that we let you know that legendary animation director, Joe Barbera, passed away on Monday, December 18th. Mr. Barbera was an icon in the world of animation and he will be greatly missed by his friends, colleagues and the fans of animation. The characters and the amazing body of work will live on forever.

We at Lollipop Animation will dearly miss him.

Drawing Pad with a difference

2006-12-04T15:41:00.000Z

I can't take the credit for finding this one. But it's just amazing and so we think you'll love it too.

Let me know what you think.

Kiwi's big adventure

2006-11-14T08:35:00.000Z

Enjoy this little CGI gem. Lots of fun.

Cartoon Network Enrolls in Class of 3000

2006-11-04T14:15:00.000Z

Joe Strike chats with Tom Lynch about collaborating with André “3000” Benjamin on Cartoon Network’s new animated series, Class of 3000.

When the number one name in “tween” TV joins forces with a multitalented musician/performer in a field neither one has experience in, it’s hard to predict the results — or fathom the reason for the effort in the first place. Is it an ego trip for all involved, a serious commitment to a new medium, or a use-my-name-and-collect-the-check exercise in dilettantism?
All indications are that Class of 3000, the new animated series premiering Nov. 3, 2006, on Cartoon Network is the real deal: two creative kingpins — TV producer Tom Lynch and musician André “3000” Benjamin — collaborating on a genre-stretching project that’s taking them and the medium they’ve chosen in new directions.

With a 20-year record as the king of ‘tween programming, Lynch was looking for a new world or two to conquer. Beginning with Kids Incorporated in 1984, Lynch is responsible for some of the most successful live-action shows aimed at the 9-12 age group, including Nickelodeon’s The Secret World of Alex Mack. It was on a trip to Atlanta to pitch some projects at Turner when Lynch sat down with an old friend — Adult Swim’s Mike Lazzo.

As Lynch recounts the conversation, “Mike asked me what I wanted to do next. I told him I really wanted to do an animated show, and I want to have some music in it. He said, ‘great, you have a pilot with us — do what you want to do.’

“We started talking about artists we liked — he was talking about animators, I was talking about musicians. It was the kind of conversation you have with people you’ve known a long time about what’s moving you artistically.”

Music-wise, the two men discovered they shared an enthusiasm for the hip-hop duo Outkast, and the half of it known as André “3000” Benjamin in particular. After various people called other peoples’ people, Benjamin met with Lynch and Lazzo for a three-way, three-hour get together. As a Grammy-winning musician (Speakerboxxx/The Love Below), film actor (Idlewild), painter and clothing designer, Benjamin obviously had an excess of "free time" on his hands. The meeting ended with Benjamin signing on to the project with the suggestion that the show be set in Atlanta, his (and Cartoon Network’s) hometown.

It was the beginning of a two-and a-half-year development process, the first year of which consisted of Lynch and Benjamin brainstorming ideas and considering different visual styles. The project quickly outgrew its original Adult Swim conception. “I always wanted to do a show about a kids’ point of view of the denizens of the night around them,” Lynch recalls. “Street people always had a great fascination for me. It was originally rougher and harder, but as we talked it evolved into more of a regular type of show.” It was Michael Ouweleen [Cartoon Network’s svp/creative director] who said, ‘Guys, we’re going to get a much bigger audience if you do this in primetime.’ André said ‘Okay, but it has to be the most edgy show in primetime.’”

While several earlier Lynch shows (including Alex Mack, Galidor and The Journey of Alan Strange) featured CGI effects, Class of 3000 would be his first animated 2D effort. “I really had a lot to learn,” Lynch admits. “Cartoon Network gave me Joe Horne who had an incredible résumé, including Teamo Supremo and The Boondocks, and going back to Pee-Wee’s Playhouse — a really great, eclectic collection of shows. I told him ‘you’re going to have to teach André and me. This is a new area for us.’
Horne became the project’s production supervisor and director. Nonetheless, Lynch confesses to “making every mistake anybody could make, and adding some new ones” on his road to creating a 2D series. “I think my worst one was when the cut came back [from overseas animation]. I looked at it and said, ‘Okay, I have some rewrites.’ They said, ‘Uhhh, you get some retakes… ’ I had thought retakes meant whole scenes, but it was only moments or close-ups. That was an education right there, because in live-action I rewrite all the way through post-production, I change everything all the time.”

While not an animation “playa,” Benjamin had some definite ideas about the look he wanted. “We didn’t know a lot about animation, but not knowing gave us a kind of innocence. We were familiar with the shows that were on Cartoon Network already, and they had a certain style of their own — really boxy and squarey, like Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi. We wanted a different kind of flow; we wanted our show to look different. I think that gave us the original spark of “let’s have a flowy kind of look.”

Creating that “flowy” look fell to character designer David Colman and art director Valerio Ventura. Eighteen different designers tried their hand at the show’s characters before Colman (who worked on and ) came along. Lynch admits that “André and I are very focused on what we want, but we didn’t have their language. They had to interpret what we were asking for. André wanted it to be cool and original looking; my notes were that it had to have a lyricism, a movement and body style almost like musical notes.”

Colman’s characters hit the bull’s eye. There isn’t a straight line among the curvy, willowy cast of characters, all of whom look like they could indeed flow rather than walk across the frame. Filling those frames are the show’s jazzy spotted backgrounds, the work of Valerio Ventura, the show’s supervising art director. Ventura’s credits include visual development on Disney features dating back to The Rescuers Down Under, but for Class of 3000, he put the (not-quite) finished art on a table, and according to Lynch literally threw paint across them Jackson Pollock-style. “It’s a contemporary design that gives the frames a depth and dimension. We loved it.”

While Colman finalized the look of the characters, Benjamin’s childhood experiences and friendships helped develop their personalities, not unlike the way Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor’s younger days inspired their Fat Albert and Pryor’s Place Saturday morning shows. “I was telling Tommy about how I grew up,” Benjamin relates, “and he’s like, ‘oh, that’s it! There’s a character right there’.” Those characters include among others, soft-spoken, rich kid Eddie, boy genius Philly Phil, tough but kind-hearted Tamika and André’s youthful stand-in Li’l D. According to Lynch, “André told me how he took a bus two to three miles to school because his mother wanted him to go to a school with music in another section of town. I said that’s great, that’s our lead character.” “My mom was smart enough to send me to school in Buckhead,” explains Benjamin, “I guess you would call it the place to be in Atlanta. I’m in school with the mayor’s kids, my friends were East Indian, people from France. I was getting all kinds of influences and I thought it would be cool to have these different types of characters, different nationalities coming together as music. Everybody loves music, you know.”

Class of 3000 is the story of disaffected superstar Sunny Bridges (voiced by Benjamin himself) who abandons his career to teach a class of musical prodigies. “These are regular kids that are gifted, but they’re still regular kids,” he continues. “It’s kind of a coming of age story, and on this series we’re coming of age through music. I think this show presents a really whimsical, fun side of life that we haven’t seen since Peanuts.”

3000’s characters are voiced by cartoon vets (SpongeBob SquarePants), Phil LaMarr (Samurai Jack), Jennifer Hale (PowerPuff Girls), Crystal Scales (Jimmy Neutron), Janice Kawaye (Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi) and Jeff Glen Bennett (Johnny Bravo). The key role of Li’l D went to Small Fire, an Atlanta comedienne from Benjamin’s old neighborhood. “She was the local tomboy — she would beat us in basketball,” Benjamin says. He had been thinking of her for the role from the start, and finding her was relatively simple: “My mom went to her mom’s house to ask where she was.”
Lynch brought veteran animation scripter Patric Verrone (Futurama, The Simpsons, The Critic) aboard as the series’ story editor. However, his and Benjamin’s greatest coup may have been lining up an all-star roster of “guest art directors” from both within and without the animation world. Each episode features a music video sequence with its own unique look, set to an original André 3000 tune. Talent on the order of Ren & Stimpy’s , comics artist and illustrator Bill Sienkiewicz, cartoonist Kyle Baker and Aeon Flux creator Peter Chung will be overseeing segments that Benjamin compares to “mini-Fantasias” within each episode.

According to Lynch, the artists all were given free reign; staying “on model” was strictly optional. “We don’t want that. We’re encouraging them to bring own game to it that will still work in the body of our storytelling. We told John K, take our characters and make them yours, which is exactly what he did. Peter Chung did a sci-fi version — it became a Mission: Impossible number. We’re doing a half hour show, not 11 minute cartoons; character and story are very important and André writes his songs to make sure they’re still continuing with the story.

“We have a couple of guys coming in from painting, famous artists. I can’t tell you who because we’re waiting to see if their work translates into animation. It will be interesting, and we’re always trying to push it further. We may trip a little bit but I think overall we’re going to come up with something esthetically pleasing and artistic, and set a new tone for it all.”

Beyond the music videos, Atlanta native and B-52s band member Pat Irwin oversees the show’s score with Benjamin. “André wanted an Atlanta/southern vibe to the music,” says Lynch, “and Pat helps bring that. André supervises all the music, he does a song every week and did the theme song.

“A lot of these projects where a celebrity of his stature is involved, people think he’s just putting his name on, but he’s involved with every story idea with me, every design idea, every music video idea. He does his own voice too. It wasn’t a vanity project for him — he’s showing up for it, not just slacking off.”

In fact, André “3000” Benjamin’s personal stake in Class of 3000 is unmistakable. “It’s kind of like a rebel thing,” he says. “I guess it’s the Ted Turner spirit in me. They told Ted he could never do it in the South, and look at what he’s done.

“I always like to prove people wrong, man. We’ve seen New York streets, we’ve seen L.A. streets, but there’s never been a show from here. This whole Cartoon Network opportunity came to me — I wasn’t sitting at home saying, ‘I want to do an animated show’ — it organically came together.”

Benjamin goes on to reveal another aspect to his hopes for the series: “There’s a kind of ‘save the music’ spirit in the show. Right now they’re taking music programs out of schools, and I think music’s a key part of life. As a kid, you have so many influences. A kid can look at Li’l D drumming and say, ‘Mom, I want a drum set,’ or look at Madison and say, ‘Man, she’s cool. I want to play her violin. Hey mom, get me a violin!’ I think kids are going to be impressed that normal kids they’d want to hang out with are playing the harp, the violin, a big trumpet or something like that. I think that’s going to be inspiring to them.

“So it’s not all gags and funny, even though that’s a huge part of what we do. But I think people will be able to feel the realness in it, too. One of my main goals in the show is to have kids grow up and when they’re 25, 30 years old. think back, “Man, do you remember when Class of 3000 was on? Do you remember this song?”

Sorce: AWN.com - Joe Strike is a regular contributor to AWN. His animation articles also appear in the NY Daily News and the New York Press.

Learn How to Pitch with Rita Street!

2006-10-30T14:01:00.000Z

If you have a great idea for an animated TV series and happen to be in Los Angeles on December 4, you’re in luck. Animation industry expert Rita Street (CEO of Radar Cartoons, producer of upcoming Nelvana series Ruby Gloom) will host a seminar on how to sell an animated TV show in West Hollywood.

Sponsored by Media Bistro, this highly informative seminar costs $65 per person and covers all the ins and outs of pitching a toon to TV execs. Street will cover how to create strong character profiles and present a winning sales bible that helps a buyer visualize your unique concepts. She’s also offers tips and tricks on getting your toon ideas to the right people and offer samples from successful bibles. Other topics include an overview of co-production deals, the advantages of selling a show to indie production companies, and how to package your toon if it’s based on a game, toy or even a popular t-shirt brand.

If you happen to have a cool concept for a TV toon, you’d be wise to sign up for this informative and very useful seminar (and we’re not just saying that because we think Rita is awesome!). To find out more about this event, visit www.mediabistro.com.

Source: www.animationmagazine.com

Shakespeare seals his own fate

2006-10-30T13:56:00.000Z

Today sees the limited theatrical debut of Phil Nibbelink’s independently produced 2D-animated feature, Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss. More than five years in the making, the pic was animated entirely by Nibbelink, a former Disney Animator, who used Flash to facilitate his hand-drawn, 2D style.

In Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss, Shakespeare’s classic of star-crossed lovers from warring families is retold with seals. When Juliet's father gives her hand in marriage to the monstrous elephant seal Prince, Juliet must fake her death in order to be reunited with Romeo. The plan goes afoul, however, and our heroes embark on a desperate race against time with some help from friends Friar Lawrence and a kissing fish named Kissy.

While at Disney, Nibbelink animated on The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron, Basil the Great Mouse Detective and Oliver and Company, and was a directing animator in London on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He later teamed with Steven Spielberg to form Amblimation in London, where he directed An American Tail: Fievel Goes West and We’re Back. In 1998, he started Phil Nibbelink Prods. with his wife, Margit Friesacher, as producer. After making direct to video films such as Puss in Boots and Leif Ericson: The Boy Who Discovered America, the duo dove into making a 77-minute 35mm animated family film with Nibbelink handling all the animation and lending his voice to the production.

Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss premiered on Oct. 27, in a handful of theaters in Los Angeles and Northern California. To see a list of theaters, view the trailer and learn more about the movie, go to www.romeoandjulietfilm.com. As yet we have no news on a UK release.

Source: www.AnimationMagazine.net

Masterplan Video at last

2006-10-28T11:17:00.000Z

Many peoples favourite Oasis song, Masterplan was only ever a B-Side, but at last there's a video to go with it. And it's a goodie too. L S Lowry fans are sure to enjoy.

History of Anime

2006-10-13T17:14:00.000Z

We call this a the History of Anime, but if only all History Lessons were so enjoyable. Crank up your volume, sit back and enjoy some clips from the most famous and most influential anime of all time. Can-you-name-them-ALL?!

History of Anime
Uploaded by cozzypaper

Don't play with them Jason...

2006-10-13T16:46:00.000Z

We've had a load of requests recently for some Gatchaman clips or Battle of the Planets as it is better known. And never one to disappoint we managed to find this little clip to keep you lot from pounding down our doors. Great music and many peoples first glimpse of what we now know as anime.

gatchaman phoenix attaque
Uploaded by shariban

How about this for a find, the opening titles as they SHOULD be heard!

kagaku ninjatai gatchaman op
Uploaded by shariban

Fighting Spirit

2006-10-13T16:39:00.000Z

Here's a little clip from the sports Anime Fighting Spirit (or Hajime no Ippo to give it its proper name). If you like this then check out our GALLERY for some original hand painted production cels from this smash hit anime show.

Technique 10-Contre-Uppercut
Uploaded by the_boss_7777

Clay-mazing movies

2006-10-13T16:34:00.000Z

Here's a couple of VERY short Claymation Shorts, but interesting none the less and shows great promise. We'll keep an eye on this chap, and as more becomes available, we'll post it up!

Reves de boue_4
Uploaded by zonetv

Reves de boue_3
Uploaded by zonetv

The Wall

2006-10-13T16:11:00.000Z

Here's a great little film from Japan. It's not animation in the true sense, but I think it's well worth a look. Evolving art in the best sense.

One week of art
Uploaded by gabma

I will not do that thing with my tongue

2006-10-04T12:37:00.000Z

The Simpsons is still one of our absolute favourites, here at Lollipop Animation. In fact we love it so much we even obsess about the opening credits.

Here are just a few of our all time favourite "Blackboard Openings":

Tell us if we've missed any classics!

I will not waste chalk
I will not instigate revolution
I did not see Elvis
I will not do that thing with my tongue
I will not call my teacher "Hot Cakes"
I will not aim for the head
I saw nothing unusual in the teacher's lounge
My name is not Dr. Death
I will not teach others to fly
I will not bring sheep to class
A burp is not an answer
Mud is not one of the 4 food groups
I will not sell miracle cures
I do not have diplomatic immunity
All work and no play makes Bart a dull boy
There are plenty of businesses like show business
Five days is not too long to wait for a gun
I will not hang donuts on my person
I will stop talking about the twelve inch pianist
I did not invent Irish dancing
There was no Roman god named "Fartacus"
I will not scream for ice cream
I have neither been there nor done that
Substitute teachers are not scabs
I cannot hire a substitute student
I was not the sixth Beatle
I will not "let the dogs out"
The hamster did not have "a full life"
Nobody reads these anymore
A burp in a jar is not a science project
I am not Charlie Brown on acid
SpongeBob is not a contraceptive
I will not leak the plot of the movie

Blast from the past

2006-10-04T08:03:00.000Z

Watching Interstella 5555 the other day, I remembered how much I loved Daft Punk's animated approach to music videos. Here is IMHO, the best song and best 'video' from that album. Enjoy!

Daft Punk - One More Time
Uploaded by bazboss

Today's Smilers

2006-09-22T15:57:00.000Z

As the title suggests, here are a few shorts that made one or more of the Lollipop team 'smile today'. Feel free to share them with your friends.

Grenouille
Uploaded by missmu

MINIBN: fish
Uploaded by yotraxx

Pepeland Changements Changes
Uploaded by astre

Happy Three Friends - Pas de chance !
Uploaded by sosotony