Channel Frederator Blog

Ever since the release of “Toy Story” back in 1995, movie audiences seem to have been in love with all things Pixar. This goes for many animation fans as well, sometimes to the point of fanaticism. Is this a healthy thing? In this post, I’ll be asking some questions that challenge that fanaticism, and I hope that Pixar fans will try to provide some answers in the comments section.

When Dreamworks released “Shark Tale”, many people implied that Dreamworks was trying to follow in the footsteps of Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”. They are both films that are primarily based underwater. The similarities end there for me. When Pixar released “WALL-E” this year, no one seemed to remember either Blue Sky’s “Robots” from 2005, nor the design of Johnny 5 from “Short Circuit” (another robot who becomes self aware and gains a personality). Granted, the Pixar films were stronger films in both cases, but the similarities are there [Read more…]

Via SXNEWS
American Gender Theorist Judith “Jack” Halberstam going to Sydney, August 1st, to deliver a lecture, titled “Queer Animation” at the Powerhouse Museum.
From the site:

“Halberstam will discuss the themes of social transgression and queer identity that permeate recent Computer Generated Image (CGI) animation in films such as Finding Nemo.

“I will link new technology to queerness and to radical ways of reimagining the world,” Halberstam told SX. Halberstam will also show clips from selected Pixar classics.”

Sounds pretty intriguing. If you’d like to read more, please go to the SXNEWS site.
-Jeaux Janovsky

The Pixar Touch by David A. Price is an exhaustive look into the rise of the famously innovative and super successful animation studio. This podcast interview with the author, from The Sound of Young America, will give you a taste for what’s inside the covers.

One fascinating aspect of Pixar history is the company’s roots at The New York Institute of Technology in the 70’s and 80’s. Alexandre Schure, a forward-thinking and mysterious millionaire—and founder of the school—bankrolled a Computer Graphics Lab and hired computer programmer Edmund Catmull to run it. Shure was interested in using computers to help finish up his animated feature adaptation of Tubby the Tuba. [Read more…]

Disney/Pixar’s “Wall·E” had a huge weekend, with over 62 million dollars in it’s first weekend. It has been a great year so far for animated films. Have you seen “Wall·E” yet? What did you think?

-Floyd Bishop

George Carlin, stand up comic best known for his routine “The Seven Words” has passed away. He was 71. You may remember George Carlin as the voice of Fillmore, the hippie VW bus from the Pixar film “Cars”.

[Read more…]

If you have been watching the basketball match up between Boston and LA, then you’ve probably seen this spot for “WALL·E”. The more I see of this character, the more interested I am in the film. WALL·E doesn’t seem to have a whole lot to work with in terms of physical poseability, but the range of expression that the Pixar animators are able to get out of the character is great.

Be sure to check out “WALL·E” when it hits theaters on June 27th.

-Floyd Bishop