December 16, 2013 : The Making Of A Pixar Short Blog
Saschka Unself directed The Blue Umbrella, the Pixar short released with Monsters University. The short hasn’t really lit up the awards scene, but Unself has given animation fans a present with a cool Making Of Blog for the short. Each day in December through Christmas Eve, the director unveils a new behind-the-scenes look into the making of the short.
The site gives unique insight into Pixar’s process for creating the short, and I am sure in many ways it mirrors what is done for features (just on a much smaller scale). You can easily find the film online; and while I didn’t think it was their best work, it was original and had its moments. I would recommend watching it out before you delve into the entries – it allows you to get a better appreciation for the development of the short as it progressed through the process. It is definitely an interesting read.
posted by Pi Visuals at 3:51 pm
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December 3, 2013 : Watanabe’s Latest – And It’s On Adult Swim!
Space Dandy, the latest series by Shinichiro Watanabe, is set to premiere this January. The really cool news is that the English version will debut at the same time as the Japanese version, and it will be on Adult Swim. Toonami has made the following trailer for the series:
It definitely looks Watanabe’s work – who created among other things, the awesome Cowboy Bebop (still my favorite anime). This is  also the first time that the English version will premiere simultaneously with the Japanese version. It looks like Adult Swim is really stepping up their game when it comes to anime. If this pays off, there’s a good chance this will happen more frequently…. it’s a win-win.
posted by Pi Visuals at 4:10 pm
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November 27, 2013 : Awesome Time Waster – Funny Mama
I stumbled on Funny Mama, and it’s a great way to kill some time. Its comical pics/ gifs cover a wide variety of topics, including a lot of anime related material. For example:
I’ve always been a fan of these sites. It’s something you can check out periodically or sporadically to get a quick laugh. The fact that it has a good amount of anime related material makes it that much better. Plus, it reminds me there is so much anime I don’t know anything about.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:39 pm
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November 12, 2013 : Internet Explorer’s Anime Mascot
Internet Explorer has a new, cool-looking mascot – along with a two-minute advertisement. The design was actually created independently by a Singapore Studio, Collateral Damage Studios. Apparently, it was done as a joke (or to blow off some steam). Microsoft saw it, and liked it so much that they decided to adopt her as the mascot for IE11. They then worked with CACANi Animation to create the video below.
While it’s a little too much Sailor Moon for my liking, it still is a pretty sweet video… even if I have long since abandoned the web browser. Behind-the-scene bits can also be seen on CACANi’s Facebook page.
I am still a little unclear as to what the robots represent, but I am pretty sure not too much thought is supposed to go into watching the ad. I just hope Michael Bay doesn’t decide to turn this into a movie – perhaps an uphill battle against nemeses Chrome and Mozilla… with a guest appearance by Bing, the little search engine that couldn’t but thinks it can?
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:56 pm
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October 28, 2013 : Halloween: Indiana Jones Style
Halloween this year brought about its usual festiveness, albeit out East this time around. However, I was able to get in on a four-person theme – the most I’ve been a part of (three being my previous high). I dressed up as Indiana Jones, and the movie in question should be pretty obvious based on the pic below.
For the record, Temple Of Doom is my least favorite of the three (as far as I’m concerned, that’s how many they’ve made). After all, I’m pretty sure the whole Nazi costume would have been highly frowned upon. Plus, I was finally able to convince the Mrs to dress up as Short Round – something I have been trying to do for years. Below is a shot we staged to duplicate a scene from the movie.
Prior to heading out that night, we even freeze-framed the movie to determine which cards were in Indy’s hands for the scene. I wanted to capture catching Short Round cheating so I added the ace of diamonds coming out of the sleeve to the shot. The lesson to learn from this image? Asians can’t be trusted.
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:25 pm
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October 10, 2013 : Say Goodbye To Tron: Uprising
It seems like a yearly tradition, but yet another show I watch has been cancelled. This time around, the victim is Tron: Uprising – joining the ranks of such fallen comrades as The Green Lantern: The Animated Series, ThunderCats, and Sym-Bionic Titan.
Technically, Tron wasn’t cancelled… it just wasn’t renewed; and that’s too bad because visually, it was spectacular. Plus, it had a fast-paced storyline that sadly will never get resolved – a fate shared with the many other forgotten shows I used to enjoy.
On the plus side, at least Wilfred will be given a chance to wrap things up in its fourth and final season. Here’s hoping they can execute.
posted by Pi Visuals at 1:31 pm
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September 25, 2013 : Closing The Book On Bleach
Good news! Bleach has finally come to a satisfactory point to stop watching! And it only took over 300 episodes, 7 years, and countless filler sagas. I could (and should) have stopped watching a long time ago, however it became an example of wanting to see things through. By the end of the second season, a story line was set up – sadly they just finished resolving it. While a lot longer than anticipated, it was satisfying to see how everything wrapped.
In many ways, Bleach (the series) is very tragic. It started out so promising – having a cool story and moving at a quick pace. Unfortunately, the anime eventually caught up with the manga, and that lead to mindless side story arcs and incredibly slow paced episodes to allow the manga time to generate new material. This killed the show’s momentum, and I am sure it turned many people off of it. Part of me wonders what might have been had it not slowed to a snail’s pace.
Still, I am glad I kept with it. Of course, I am also happy to be done with it. I believe there are two more seasons, with another 60 episodes; but much like the Buu saga and DragonBall GT, I will pretend they don’t exist.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:23 am
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September 10, 2013 : Hayao Miyazaki Calls It Quits
After an insanely long and successful career, legendary anime director and manga artist, Hayao Miyazaki has decided to retire. He is calling it a career at the ripe age of 72, and he is definitely going out on top.
Miyazaki is probably best known in the United States for his Studio Ghibli films (a studio he co-founded). I haven’t watched all of them, but I certainly enjoyed the ones I’ve seen. Something tells me despite the retirement, Miyazaki will still have his hand in many animation related pies.
posted by Pi Visuals at 10:18 pm
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August 27, 2013 : The Simpsons Doubling Up On The Crossovers
A mere eighteen years removed from the mildly controversial Critic Crossover episode (I enjoyed it), The Simpsons have decided to do it again – except with Matt Groening on board. This time, The Simpsons will appear on an episode of Family Guy.
I haven’t watched Family Guy since 2006 or The Simpsons since 2003… so I’m pretty sure I won’t tune in to see it. Either way, it’s pretty safe to say the rivalry these two shows once had it no more. Yet again, that probably fizzled when Seth MacFarlane provided a voice on a newer Futurama episode.
Speaking of Futurama, it has also been announced that they will crossover onto a Simpsons episode sometime in 2014. Sadly, Futurama’s post renewal decline has lead me to stop watching that show a few seasons back, so I am pretty sure I won’t be viewing this one either. Now, if only these episodes were made 10-12 years ago. Oh well.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:22 am
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August 1, 2013 : Wander Over Yonder
Craig McCracken, creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, is coming out with a new series. Oddly enough, this one will be on Disney (not sure what Cartoon Network did to lose him). It is set to premiere August 16th, and below is the title sequence.
Visually, I am definitely a fan of it. However, the music is a little jarring… at first, but after listening to it a few times, it’s growing on me.
There is something to be said for a solid title sequence to an animated series, and for me I get particularly drawn to enjoyable theme songs. It’s safe to say that I have watched a lot more episodes of Phineas and Ferb due to the theme song – yet again, I was a fan of Bowling For Soup even before the show came out. Of course, a great intro can’t do miracles (case in point, King of the Hill) – a show still needs to be good for me to watch.
With McCracken’s track record and the overall quality of the title sequence, not to mention the decent voice cast, I plan on giving the show a watch or two.
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:09 pm
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