Posts with tag cgi
Posted May 5th 2007 12:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: TV on DVD, Video, Animation, Commercials, Web, Adult Swim, Children
Here's some animation news from the past week:
We've been telling you about the Robot Chicken Star Wars special for some time now. If you're a fan, you've probably already seen the trailer, but if not, here it is.
Also, I found another Drinky Crow clip. It's at the end of this post. Based on the snippets I've seen of this series so far, I think they've really captured the weird, violent humor of Tony Millionaire's strip.
Continue reading Animation news: Robot Chicken, Drinky Crow and Underdog - VIDEO
Posted Mar 9th 2007 9:02AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Cable, Animation, Children
Pirates, it seems, are still cool. At least, nautical-themed cartoons still seem to be all the rage. There's SpongeBob SquarePants, of course, and the upcoming The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack on Cartoon Network, which actually looks like it could be pretty good.
For the longest time ninjas were the cool thing, then it was pirates, and now I wonder who will be the next group to tickle our collective brain. I'm guessing either leprechauns or vikings, but I digress. Let's get back to pirates:
Those Scurvy Rascals is a British series consisting of 26 three and a half minute episodes that focus on a trio of pirates who steal pants rather than silver and gold. The show's Web site has some clips, which are just variations of the opening theme, but the goofy premise and the pirate theme should attract a young audience. Look for the shorts on Nicktoons this spring. Arrr.
Posted Mar 6th 2007 7:31AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, PBS, Children
You gotta love classic Sesame Street. Remember the Twiddlebugs, that family of insects who lived in Ernie's window box? Sesame Workshop, which recently announced a new animated program featuring Bert and Ernie, have also announced a series of three-minute CGI shorts featuring the cuddly bugs. Muppet News Flash reports the shorts will pop up some time in 2008, but where exactly is still unknown.
The Twiddlebugs, named Tina, Thomas, Teddy and Tessie, first appeared on Sesame Street in 1972. The squeaky-voiced bugs used random objects to build and furnish their milk carton home, such as buttons and thimbles. Below is a clip from Sesame Street featuring a CGI version of the Twiddlebugs, which will give you some idea what the new series will look like. I've also posted a classic Twiddlebugs clip, because, frankly, I prefer the puppet version. I'm not against CGI, but I'll take the original Muppets over those sterile and inflated-looking computer versions any day.
Continue reading The Twiddlebugs get animated for new Sesame Street shorts - VIDEO
Posted Feb 14th 2007 2:04PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Industry, Animation
Ubisoft, the French video game maker behind such titles as Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six has plans to spend $400 million to extend its production facilities and begin making CGI movies. The company also hopes this will lead to the development of CGI television series in the future.
Continue reading Gamemaker wants to extend to movies and television
Posted Feb 4th 2007 9:25PM by Brett Love
Filed under: Sports, CBS, Commercials, Super Bowl
In the tradition of the frogs, and the lizards, we have the crabs. We didn't get the usual punchline that we expect from these ads, but it was still good. There is some really nice CGI going on there with the crabs stealing the cooler of Bud and then worshiping it. The mimicking of the motions the cooler makes as it settles was cute.
Budweiser is just solid. They aren't all home runs, but they are always enjoyable. I'd be up for seeing them develop a couple of the crabs into characters for a future series of spots. There's got to be a sand in the crack joke just waiting to be unleashed, right?
Posted Feb 3rd 2007 4:06PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, Children
Mark Evanier has a post about a brand new Garfield cartoon for television that he's writing, or rather, that he'll be writing sometime soon. Evanier was also a writer on the popular Garfield and Friends series that ran on CBS from 1988 to 1995. Paws, Inc. is producing and distributing the new series worldwide along with Dargaud Marina S.A. in Paris, France.
The new Garfield series will be computer animated, though Evanier does say it will not be the same CGI Garfield from the movies. Evanier is also voice directing for the series and says that Bill Murray will not be playing the hefty, lasagna-loving feline. There's also no word just yet on where the new series will air.
Continue reading Garfield is returning to TV
Posted Jan 24th 2007 12:01PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Cable, Animation
Nicktoons recently acquired Planet Sketch, an animated children's series from Decode and Aardman Animation that has already proved wildly popular outside the United States. The computer-animated series includes a cast of odd characters, including a "tough" group called "The Rappers" who secretly love playing playground games; two farting horses known as the "Parping Ponies;" and the Gnaughty Gnomes, little creatures who like to gross people out. I did a quick search on YouTube but could only find what appeared to be a clip of the German version of the series, a clip that was actually just someone taping an actual television set. Nevertheless, given Aardman's success in the past with such productions as Wallace and Gromit and Flushed Away, this could be a very cool addition to the Nicktoons line-up. The series will debut sometime this spring.
UPDATE: Clips can be found here. Many thanks to e-nick.
Posted Oct 16th 2006 8:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, Commercials, Web

I found this little gem via
Cartoon Brew and our own
Chris Thilk, editor of TV Squad's sister site
Ad Jab. It's a commercial for chocolate milk featuring 3D CGI versions of Tom and Jerry. Apparently the chocolate milk gives Jerry the power he needs to outwit Tom and crash through walls. This is absolutely true, and any children reading this should drink a glass of chocolate milk and immediately run into a stationary object as fast as they can. The commercial is foreign, and I'm told it's in Hebrew, but I wouldn't know. I don't really care all that much, either, I just think it's fun to look at. You can watch it
here.
Posted Sep 29th 2006 3:05PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Animation, Commercials, Comedy Central, Futurama

Big huzzahs to reader John Geezer, who sent us a link to
this fantastic promo for the
upcoming new season of
Futurama. The promo was created by Speed Bump Studios in an effort to get a job doing these for Comedy Central. It features a CGI version of Bender walking into a random house, drinking the owners' wine, and stealing their candlesticks. "Hello, peasants!" he yells as he walks in. Really great stuff.
Speed Bump also provides a clip showing the computer rough-draft of the CGI Bender, and an opportunity to download the Bender model (for fun only, of course). Good stuff, and a fun way to close out the week.
Posted Apr 19th 2006 5:05PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Cable, Animation, Children

Here's a question for anyone who's reading this who has little kids: do kids
today even know who Mickey Mouse is? I know Disney still maintains a talon-like hold on the subconscious of
preschoolers everywhere, but I don't know if ol' Mickey gets much attention these days. Well, he may be getting more
attention when
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse premieres in May as part of the Disney Channel's "Playhouse
Disney" block. The new computer-animated program will feature Mickey and his close pals Goofy, Donald Duck,
Pluto, Minnie Mouse, and Daisy Duck as they take part in weird and fun adventures and teach basic fundamentals of
learning. The theme song is written and performed by They Might Be Giants. The show debuts in primetime at 7:30 p.m. on
May 5, and then rerun the next morning in its regular Saturday 9:00 a.m. timeslot.
Posted Apr 19th 2006 1:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Industry, Animation
Last month Richard got us all up
to speed on the live-action Star Wars series, which is currently set to debut in 2008. Apparently the
people behind the new series have been working like crazy, so we'll see if the wait is worth it, though I can't think
"Star Wars" and "television" without thinking of those horrible made-for-TV Ewok movies.
Anyway, while we have to wait a couple years for this series, we may be seeing the new animated series as soon as
next year. Lucasfilm's animation studio in Singapore is currently working on the CGI series, which will focus on the
Clone War era that falls between episodes two (Attack of the Clones) and three (Revenge of the
Sith). The Clone Wars, while a vital part of the movies, was delved into much deeper in the books and comics based
on the series. Despite this, insiders claim there will be some surprises for even the most diehard fans of Star
Wars and its expanded universe.