Channel Frederator Blog

Kanye West got my attention this week because his latest video is animated and greatly influenced by Ralph Bakshi. Also, The Jetsons make a cameo appearance.

This statement is from Kanye’s blog:

“This video was rotoscoped. We recorded real people and then had 65 animators in Hong Kong hand draw over every cell. Inspired by the movie American Pop. Hype [Williams] showed me the movie and I was sold.”

The question on every animation fan’s mind is, of course, did he also show him the controversial Coonskin? And what does Bakshi think about this tribute? Did they throw any bling his way?

(For more on Bakshi, check out the comprehensive book Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi by Jon M. Gibson and Meathaus publisher Chris McDonnell.)

—Anne D. Bernstein

Floyd Bishop posted the other day about Dustin McLean’s recent parody of one of the most famous animated video of all time: A-Ha’s “Take On Me”. Who can forget its sketchy rotoscope stylings and corny comic book love story?

(You can go to Dustfilms to find out more about the parody creator, btw.)

This made me curious about the folks who worked on the animated portion of the original video. I found some additional info:

The animation was done by married couple Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger. Patterson studied experimental animation with Jules Engel at Cal Arts and worked for many years at Rhythm and Hues. You can see his award-winning student film Commuter (1981) here–this is where he developed the techniques he put to good use in “Take On Me” (1985).

Patterson and Reckinger were also responsible for the animated portion of Paula Abdul’s “Opposites Attract” video, which was inspired by the Gene Kelly/Jerry the Mouse [Read more…]