Blue Sky animators Scott Lemmer, Lluis Llobera, Joe Antonuccio, A.J Conrad, and Jeff Gabor participate in URC, a mockumentary by Lance Fite and Nate Wall. Effects animation by Matt Doble.

Source: 3 Grenouilles

Hilarius:

Source: 3 Grenouilles

Last night I had my very first Cirque du Soleil experience. It was very cool, and I couldn’t help but think about it from an animation perspective. It was really neat to see some modern day mime theater entertainment for one thing, but it was also a great chance to see the upper limits of human body mechanics being pushed to the extreme. It’s quite incredible what these contortionists and acrobats can do with their bodies. I recommend the show to everyone that gets a chance. It’s a great mix of comedy, music, and acrobatic entertainment.

The coolest part of the show:

These girls are insanely flexible:

Here’s a few pages from Albert Hurter’s Sketchbook. Published in 1948 by Simon and Schuster, this book has become quite rare, and usually commands a hefty price. It’s currently on eBay, though it only has a day left, and it’s cheaper than I’ve ever seen it before. I’ll leave the searching up to you.

Expendable income is hard to come by these days. But if you have an extra $130, you might want to spend it on one of these beauties. Now obviously you’ll be buying it for study purposes only. I’d recommend the limited edition red head, as it’ll surely become a valuable collector’s item some day with only fifty being produced. Click here to find out where to buy.

Teddy Newton will be in Vancouver in a few weeks talking about the making of Day & Night. It’s part of Spark Animation Festival which I posted about a few days ago. Here’s some stuff I found on YouTube on the film:

Speaking of Animation has released their latest interview with Jason Ryan. It’s fantastic, and a great source of inspiration for young animators. Make sure you stop by and check it out.

The latest from Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream). I don’t usually post live action movie trailers, but I’m really digging Aronofsky’s depressing biopics lately. I also love Natalie Portman. Official blurb:

“BLACK SWAN takes a thrilling and at times terrifying journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect.”

Marvel Comic artist J Scott Campbell‘s take on the Disney princesses:

Siggraph just announced a lot of the schedule for Spark 2010, and it’s looking just as impressive as last year. I’ll be attending several of the events on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. For more info and to buy tickets, go to Siggraph.ca. Here’s this years line-up so far.

DAY 1 WEDNESDAY – SEPTEMBER 08, 2010

6:00 pm Industry Mixer
7:00 pm FILM ”Walt & El Grupo (2008)” Introduction by Ted Thomas
9:30 pm FILM ”Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009)” Introduction by Keith Blackmore (My first animation history teacher)

DAY 2 THURSDAY – SEPTEMBER 09, 2010

6:00 pm Chapter AGM
6:30 pm Industry Mixer
7:30 pm FILM ”UK Animation: The Cutting Edge (2010)” Introduction by David Fine
9:30 pm FILM ”Chicken Run (2000)” Introduction by Teresa Drilling

DAY 3 FRIDAY – SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

6:00 pm Doors Open
6:30 pm “The Visual Style of How To Train Your Dragon” with Kathy Altieri, Simon Otto & Craig Ring
9:45 pm FILM ”How to Train Your Dragon (2010)”

DAY 4 SATURDAY – SEPTEMBER 11, 2010

8:30 am Doors Open
9:00 am “The Making of Toy Story 3″
10:45 am “The Making of Day & Night” with Teddy Newton
12:30 pm “Animation in Vancouver”
2:15 pm “The Making of Tangled”
4:00 pm “The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox”
5:45 pm “Speaker from Blue Sky Studios”

Day 5 – TBA