The connection between music and animation is an incredibly close one. In 1940, Walt Disney pioneered with his first animated full-length feature, a musical telling of Snow White and even before, cartoons were common in movie theaters, rounding out the double bills along with newsreels and comedy shorts. For decades, audiences watched shorts this way and several studios duked it out for cartoon supremacy, from Disney (Silly Symphonies) to Warner Bros. (Looney Tunes) to MGM (Tom and Jerry). For the generations raised on the radio broadcasts of Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra, classical music was a common and valued source of entertainment and so it was a natural choice for animators as inspiration for some of their greatest cartoons. With the rise of television, however, shorts became less and less popular and prevalent in movie theaters and it seemed they may become like so many great classic films- underseen and...
- 3/9/2013
- by Kate Kulzick
- SoundOnSight
Robert here, continuing my series on important contemporary directors. Last year when this series had a different name, I featured Oscar winners Brad Bird (dubbed Mr. Complexity) and Andrew Stanton (dubbed Mr. Simplicity). Well in honor of his Oscar win this past week, we add director Pete Docter to the list. I give you: Mr. Madcap!
Maestro: Pete Docter
Known For: Zany, heartfelt, and high-concept Pixar films.
Influences: Bugs Bunny
Masterpieces: Up
Disasters: None
Better than you remember: Only two films, both as good as you remember.
Box Office: Up with 292 million.
Favorite Actor: You guessed it, John Ratzenberger.
Thanks to the past three films, Pixar is riding an unbelievable high. With two of the three directors covered (and Oscared) we can turn our sights to Pete Docter and ask, not just what makes him a great director but what specifically makes him different from his peers Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton.
Maestro: Pete Docter
Known For: Zany, heartfelt, and high-concept Pixar films.
Influences: Bugs Bunny
Masterpieces: Up
Disasters: None
Better than you remember: Only two films, both as good as you remember.
Box Office: Up with 292 million.
Favorite Actor: You guessed it, John Ratzenberger.
Thanks to the past three films, Pixar is riding an unbelievable high. With two of the three directors covered (and Oscared) we can turn our sights to Pete Docter and ask, not just what makes him a great director but what specifically makes him different from his peers Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton.
- 3/12/2010
- by Robert
- FilmExperience
Famous Monsters is immensely pleased to launch The Magic Lantern’s “Modern Mages” interview series with a conversation with Phil Tippett.
Phil Tippett, a full-in man
We met at Tippett Studios’ Main Building in a active, funky mixed-use neighborhood in Berkeley, where PR rep Lori Petrini gave me a quick but thorough tour of the various departments. What struck me while studying the many sculptures, puppets, models and sketches adorning the lobby, and later when screening the house demo reel, was the quiet ubiquity of Tippett Studio’s work.
Most of us will remember Phil’s tour-de-force from days gone by, the tauntauns and the Hoth ice battle from 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back”. A strong heritage of character animation has led the firm to deliver monsters, talking animals and zoomorphic machines in quantity to the major studios, and yet I was surprised at how rarely I connected the studio to its memorably impressive work.
Phil Tippett, a full-in man
We met at Tippett Studios’ Main Building in a active, funky mixed-use neighborhood in Berkeley, where PR rep Lori Petrini gave me a quick but thorough tour of the various departments. What struck me while studying the many sculptures, puppets, models and sketches adorning the lobby, and later when screening the house demo reel, was the quiet ubiquity of Tippett Studio’s work.
Most of us will remember Phil’s tour-de-force from days gone by, the tauntauns and the Hoth ice battle from 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back”. A strong heritage of character animation has led the firm to deliver monsters, talking animals and zoomorphic machines in quantity to the major studios, and yet I was surprised at how rarely I connected the studio to its memorably impressive work.
- 11/27/2009
- by Steve Weintz
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Disney has preemptively picked up the high-concept pitch Happy Little Family from Patrick Doody and Chris Valenziano. Miles Millar and Alfred Gough are producing.
The story centers on a family that is turned into a popular set of dolls which must then work together to survive the dangers they encounter in their newfound state and find a way to reverse a wish gone awry.
Tanya Yuson and Matt Okumura of Millar/Gough Ink brought the project to Todd Murata, who is overseeing for Disney.
Doody and Valenziano are writer-producers for televised award shows, and have worked on the American Cinematheque tribute for Julia Roberts, the 13th annual Critics Choice Awards and VH1's Big in '05 and Big in '06 awards. They dipped their pens into dramatic fare with Sci Fi Channel's horror film Bugs and also wrote the video game Silent Hill: Homecoming for Konami.
Doody and Valenziano are repped by Jonathan Hung.
The story centers on a family that is turned into a popular set of dolls which must then work together to survive the dangers they encounter in their newfound state and find a way to reverse a wish gone awry.
Tanya Yuson and Matt Okumura of Millar/Gough Ink brought the project to Todd Murata, who is overseeing for Disney.
Doody and Valenziano are writer-producers for televised award shows, and have worked on the American Cinematheque tribute for Julia Roberts, the 13th annual Critics Choice Awards and VH1's Big in '05 and Big in '06 awards. They dipped their pens into dramatic fare with Sci Fi Channel's horror film Bugs and also wrote the video game Silent Hill: Homecoming for Konami.
Doody and Valenziano are repped by Jonathan Hung.
- 6/23/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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