Animation | Anime

10 Animated Short Films Advance in 2015 Oscar Race | TRAILERS

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 animated short films will advance in the voting process for the 88th Academy Awards®. Sixty pictures had originally qualified in the category. The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies: “Bear Story (Historia De Un Oso),” Gabriel Osorio, director, and Pato Escala, producer (Punkrobot Animation Studio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sUYg7WZSqc “Carface (Autos Portraits),” Claude Cloutier, director (National Film Board of Canada)(pictured in main image above) “If I Was God…,” Cordell Barker, director (National Film Board of Canada) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAEQIK4pDvw “Love in the Time of March Madness,” Melissa Johnson and Robertino Zambrano, directors (High Hip Productions and KAPWA Studioworks) https://vimeo.com/89993508 “My Home,” Phuong Mai Nguyen, director (Papy3D Productions) https://vimeo.com/110398088 “An Object at Rest,” Seth Boyden, director (California Institute of the Arts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmfk1Sz0gS4 “Prologue,” Richard Williams, director, and Imogen Sutton, producer (Animation Masterclass) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G78qA9oreNE “Sanjay’s Super Team,” Sanjay Patel, director, and Nicole Grindle, producer (Pixar Animation Studios) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bJKwsTKFrY “We Can’t Live without Cosmos,” Konstantin Bronzit, director (Melnitsa Animation Studio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KQKYzgusFI “World of Tomorrow,” Don Hertzfeldt, director (Bitter Films) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdV1uFwtCpo Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting. Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December. The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The 88th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
Read more
Watch the Full COSMIC SCRAT-TASTROPHE Short Featuring ICE AGE’s Scrat | VIDEO

COSMIC SCRAT-TASTROPHE short featuring ICE AGE’s Scrat screened in 2D and 3D exclusively with The Peanuts Movie in theaters on November 6, and now Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox have released the full version online. Scrat journeys where no ICE AGE character has gone before in COSMIC SCRAT-TASTROPHE. The consequences of Scrat’s antics are always momentous, and this time he’s creating his own version of the Big Bang. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgSNlmkJCpg Scrat’s epic pursuit of the elusive acorn catapults him into the universe where he accidentally sets off a series of cosmic events that transform and threaten the Ice Age World. To save themselves, Sid, Manny, Diego, and the rest of the herd must leave their home and embark on a quest full of comedy and adventure, traveling to exotic new lands and encountering a host of colorful new characters. ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE, opening in theaters everywhere July 22, 2016, stars returning cast members Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Simon Pegg, Keke Palmer, Wanda Sykes, and Jennifer Lopez. Joining the herd are Stephanie Beatriz, Adam DeVine, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Max Greenfield, Jessie J, Nick Offerman, Melissa Rauch, Michael Strahan and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Read more
Complete List + TRAILERS of 16 Animated Feature Films Submitted For 88th Academy Awards

Sixteen features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 88th Academy Awards®. The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are: “Anomalisa” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrrU3is7qvU “The Boy and the Beast” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uifJLWoWv8c “Boy and the World” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th0NihA2q-Q “The Good Dinosaur” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-RgquKVTPE “Home” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g50GhaH0U3Y “Hotel Transylvania 2” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3nqmGgnJe8 “Inside Out” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAgJcEmMTek “Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9dY5zkwK5M “The Laws of the Universe – Part 0” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxWTp7O0VkM “Minions” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfql_DoHRKc “Moomins on the Riviera” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ie8lqrOe_4 “The Peanuts Movie” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XmV3zGifOE “Regular Show: The Movie” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf6vwAOUDek “Shaun the Sheep Movie” (pictured above) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQvwiOWpj7o “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGjbpO1toTc “When Marnie Was There” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjmrxqcQdYg Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process. At least eight eligible animated features must be theatrically released in Los Angeles County within the calendar year for this category to be activated. In any year in which 16 or more animated feature films are eligible, a maximum of five motion pictures may be nominated. Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories. The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The 88th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
Read more
Animated Film ANOMALISA by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson Added to Chicago International Film Festival

The animated film Anomalisa directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson has been added to the lineup for the 51st Chicago International Film Festival. The film will screen on Wednesday, October 21, 2015. A beautifully tender and absurdly humorous dreamscape, from the brilliant minds of Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York) and Duke Johnson (“Community” episode, Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas), this stop-motion animation wonder features the vocal cast of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan and David Thewlis and a stirring strings-based score by Carter Burwell. The darkly comedic and surreal stop-motion journey of a man’s long night of the soul, Anomalisa confirms Charlie Kaufman’s place amongst the most important of American filmmakers, and announces Duke Johnson as a major creative force. Michael Stone, husband, father and respected author of “How May I Help You Help Them?,” is a man crippled by the mundanity of his life. On a business trip to Cincinnati, where he’s scheduled to speak at a convention of customer service professionals, he checks into the Fregoli Hotel. There, he is amazed to discover a possible escape from his desperation in the form of an unassuming Akron baked goods sales rep, Lisa, who may or may not be the love of his life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYbKJfls6WM
Read more
Studio Ghibli to Receive 2015 Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award

The 20th Busan International Film Festival selected Studio Ghibli as the recipient of the 2015 Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award. The Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award is presented to an Asian filmmaker or a group that has significantly contributed to the development of the Asian film industry and Asian culture. Studio Ghibli, celebrating its 30th anniversary, was founded in 1985 by animated film directors Takahata Isao and Miyazaki Hayao who are well known for significant achievements in animated film history. Miyazaki Hayao consolidated the status of Japanese animated films, especially with Spirited Away (2001) which won with the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival and the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2003 Oscars. He was awarded the Golden Lion for Career Achievement at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival. Takahata Isao also led in the golden age of Japanese animated films by directing Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Only Yesterday (1991), Pom Poko (1994), and the Oscar-nominated feature The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013). Studio Ghibli has produced numerous masterpieces with an extended production period, providing a stable production system as well as training successors for the development of animations. The studio has also left a significant mark through activities concerning environmental protection, peace, and the future of children. In celebration of Studio Ghibli as the Asian Filmmaker of the Year, the Busan International Film Festival will screen Miyazaki Hayao’s My Neighbor Totoro (1988) in the Open Cinema section and Takahata Isao’s Only Yesterday (1991) in the Wide Angle – Animation Showcase section. A chairman and a producer of Studio Ghibli Suzuki Toshio will attend the award ceremony for The Asian Filmmaker of the Year. The Busan Cinema Center will also screen another 18 masterpieces of Studio Ghibli under the ‘Spotlight on STUDIO GHIBLI’ from September 21 (Mon) to September 27 (Sun). For more information, please visit the Busan Cinema Center website. Studio Ghibli Inc. / Animation Film Studio/ Japan Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by animated film directors Takahata Isao and Miyazaki Hayao, and has produced twenty-one feature-length films. Most Studio Ghibli films ranked number one at the box office in Japan in the year in which they were released. Spirited Away, directed by Miyazaki Hayao and released in 2001, is the all-time highest grossing film in Japan, earning 30.4 billion yen at the box office. The Studio’s Spirited Away (2001) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) are among Japan’s top 5 grossing films. Studio Ghibli films have garnered numerous awards and critical acclaim from film critics and animation specialists around the world. Spirited Away was awarded the Golden Bear as the Best Feature Film at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival and won the 2002 Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2003 Oscars. In October 2001, Studio Ghibli, in conjunction with The Tokuma Memorial Cultural Foundation for Animation, founded the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, designed by Miyazaki Hayao. Studio Ghibli released two films in 2013, The Wind Rises, written and directed by Miyazaki Hayao, and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, directed by Takahata Isao, that earned consecutive nominations for the 2013 and 2014 Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature Film. The latest film, When Marnie Was There, opened in Japan on July 19, 2014. Studio Ghibli Filmography Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) Castle in the Sky (1986) My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) Only Yesterday (1991) Porco Rosso (1992) Pom Poko (1994) Whisper of the Heart (1995) Princess Mononoke (1997) My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) Spirited Away (2001) The Cat Returns (2002) Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) Tales from Earthsea (2006) Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008) Arrietty (2010) From Up on Poppy Hill (2011) The Wind Rises (2013) The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) When Marnie Was There (2014) * Past Recipients of the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award 12th (2014): Ann Hui (Director, Hong Kong) 11th (2013): Rithy Panh (Director, Cambodia) 10th (2012): Wakamatsu Koji (Director, Producer / Japan) 9th (2011): Tsui Hark (Director, Producer / Hong Kong) 8th (2010): Tsai Ming-Liang (Director / Taiwan) 7th (2009): Yash Chopra (Director, Producer / India) 6th (2008): Gulnara Sarsenova (Festival Director of International Eurasia Film Festival / Kazakhstan) 5th (2007): The late Edward Yang (Director / Taiwan) 4th (2006): Andy Lau (Producer, Actor / Hong Kong) 3rd (2005): NHK (Broadcasting Station / Japan) 2nd (2004): Hou Hsiao Hsien (Director / Taiwan) 1st (2003): Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Director, Producer / Iran) via release
Read more
See 10 Images from Animated Feature Film ROCKS IN MY POCKETS

Check out 10 images from ROCKS IN MY POCKETS, the debut animated feature by Signe Baumane. In the animated gem ROCKS IN MY POCKETS Latvian-born artist and filmmaker Signe Baumane tells five fantastical tales based on the courageous women in her family and their battles with madness.

Read more
Animated Feature Film ROCKS IN MY POCKETS Sets Release Date (Release Date UPDATE)

Zeitgeist Films will release ROCKS IN MY POCKETS, the debut animated feature by Signe Baumane. ROCKS IN MY POCKETS had its World Premiere at the 2014 Karlovy Vary Film Festival where it was the first animated feature ever to take part in the Karlovy Vary International Competition. The film will open at the IFC Center in New York on September 3rd, NOT 5th, and at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on September 12. A national release will follow.

In the animated gem ROCKS IN MY POCKETS Latvian-born artist and filmmaker Signe Baumane tells five fantastical tales based on the courageous women in her family and their battles with madness. With boundless imagination and a twisted sense of humor, she has created daring stories of art, romance, marriage, nature, business, and Eastern European upheaval—all in the fight for her own sanity.

Employing a unique, beautifully textured combination of papier-mâché stop-motion and classic hand-drawn animation (with inspiration from Jan Svankmajer and Bill Plympton), Baumane has produced a poignant and often hilarious tale of mystery, mental health, redemption and survival.

http://youtu.be/gJcVnFripdc

Director’s statement:

The idea for ROCKS IN MY POCKETS came from my stream of consciousness. Like most people I think about a wide variety of things, some fantastical, some mundane, but my mind keeps coming back to thoughts of “ending it all” and the ways I could go about doing it. Why? Why do I think this way? And why I am still alive despite such thoughts? I find the fragility of our minds fascinating. Life is strange, unpredictable, sometimes absurd and I try to see the humor in it all.

While I was studying at Moscow State University, I got pregnant and married the father of my future child, a Russian artist. After my son was born, I started having dark obsessive thoughts. I sought council with a local psychiatrist to whom I confessed that, at 18, I had tried to commit suicide by taking an excessive amount of Dimedrol. I was immediately sent to a Soviet mental hospital and locked away for four months. The official diagnosis was schizophrenia, but this was downgraded to the “lesser” one of manic-depression after my parents bribed medical officials.

Despite the diagnosis, I returned to the university, graduated successfully, and started my career as an animator. It turned out that I was not the only one in my extended family having dark, obsessive thoughts. In fact, I had plenty of company. Unfortunately, not all of the sufferers were able to fend their demons off.

ROCKS IN MY POCKETS is dedicated to my family members who did not survive, and to my surviving family, who still live in the aftermath. The film is dedicated to the hope that we sustain in our darkest moments.
Read more
Terry Gilliam presents “Idiots and Angels” by Oscar nominated Director Bill Plympton

Kicking off its multi-city tour at the IFC Center in NYC on October, 6th, Screenings of “Idiots and Angels” (run time 78 mins.) will be presented along with Plympton’s new, multi-award winning animated short film: “The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger”, which won the grand prize for animation at the Florida Film Festival.

Read more
Animated film – MY DOG TULIP – opens in NYC on Sept 1; in LA on Oct. 22

New Yorker Films’ first theatrical acquisition (since reopening in March 2010) – MY DOG TULIP, will open in Los Angeles on October 22 at the Nuart (the film will open in NYC on September 1 at Film Forum). MY DOG TULIP is an animated feature film based on the acclaimed best-selling memoir by author J.R. Ackerley, featuring the voices of CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, the late LYNN REDGRAVE, and ISABELLA ROSSELLINI. A national release will follow.

Read more