Meet the Scout

April 20, 2008
Meet the Scout

This continuation of the "Meet The" series is meant to promote a video game called Team Fortress 2, produced by Valve.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (0)


Guinea Pigs and a Winnebago

April 16, 2008
Guinea Pigs and a Winnebago

These are the two best of a new animated series being released on YouTube. Extremely entertaining, new episodes are due out each Thursday.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (2)


Pirates!

April 3, 2008
Pirates!

This is an impressive short animation from the makers of the previously featured Burning Safari animation.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (2)


Pearce Sisters

April 2, 2008
Pearce Sisters

This Aardman Films animation was nominated for an Academy Award. I remember seeing a preview for it before the Oscars and being impressed.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (1)


Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge

April 1, 2008
Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge

Is it possible to not be a fan of Star Wars? While the newer prequels lack some of the shiny luster of the originals...

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Animation Contests - $13,000 Up For Grabs

March 21, 2008
Animation Contests - $13,000 Up For Grabs

Two animation contests have been brought to my attention this week, with prizes too substantial to not share.

Click to read more | Comments (1)


Final Cadbury Demise

March 20, 2008
Final Cadbury Demise

To follow up on the previous Cadbury suicides, this new mass suicide animation was released. I imagine a slew of interns carefully setting up the eggs on mousetraps for the grand finale.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (5)


The Cat Came Back

March 6, 2008
The Cat Came Back

After a successful first cartoon featuring a cat as an alarm clock, the fine folks at Tandem Films (specifically, Simon Tofield) have brought the cat back for another morning adventure.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (3)


Tales of Mere Existence

March 3, 2008
Tales of Mere Existence

The power of this simple animation from Lev Yilmaz (ingredientx.com) really comes from his voice.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (1)


Free Cartoon Animation Software

February 28, 2008
Free Cartoon Animation Software

There are many cartoon animation programs available that offer free trial downloads. Here are three cartoon animation programs that are free to use.

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Stop Motion Cadbury Suicides

February 27, 2008
Stop Motion Cadbury Suicides

In what is apparently a rather twisted nod towards the Bunny Suicide books, the Cadbury creme eggs off themselves creatively.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (13)


Learn Self Defense

February 25, 2008
Learn Self Defense

I've praised Chris Harding's work in the past, both for his animation and new web comic We The Robots. I wasn't expecting to find Learn Self Defense online but there it was on MySpace.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (1)


Calico Monkey Version 3

February 24, 2008
Calico Monkey Version 3

Welcome to the latest edition of Calico Monkey. We're getting back to our animated roots. Won't you join us?

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Batman: Gotham Knight - Filling in the Gaps with Animation

February 18, 2008
Batman: Gotham Knight - Filling in the Gaps with Animation

There seems to be a pleasant trend with several movie companies using animation to fill in the gaps in their storylines. Next up is this impressive preview of an new Batman adventure.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (2)


Animation Tips You can Learn From South Park

February 13, 2008
Animation Tips You can Learn From South Park

While the animation and character design of South Park is certainly simplistic, there are several useful tips you can use to make your own cartoons even better.

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What Happened to the Toon Boom Tutorials?

February 5, 2008
What Happened to the Toon Boom Tutorials?

A new Toon Boom Tutorials site is live and I hope you'll help me spreading the word.

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Geri's Game

January 23, 2008
Geri

Reminisce with me as we recall the magic that is Geri's Game, a short created by Pixar in 1998, when the internet was just a young pup.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (0)


Looks Like You've got a Case of the Humans

January 20, 2008
Looks Like You

A short animation outlining in graphic detail the effects that humans have on the world. Created by Three Legged Legs.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (1)


The Animation Show Introduction

January 18, 2008
The Animation Show Introduction

Welcome to the Show, by Don Hertzfeldt, is the work of a crazed man that uses simple shapes to make me question my own sanity.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (0)


Toon Boom Computer Arts Article

January 17, 2008
Toon Boom Computer Arts Article

An article I wrote about Toon Boom appears today in the February issue of Computer Arts Magazine (issue 145).

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She She She She's a Bombshell

January 16, 2008
She She She She

During a long ride home from a concert, a young man fails to realize that too much talking can be annoying.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (0)


What to Expect in 2008

January 15, 2008
What to Expect in 2008

A review of 2007 and a look forward to 2008. Some big changes are brewing and you're invited for the ride.

Click to read more | Comments (6)


Link Karma for December

December 19, 2007
Link Karma for December

Many new creative sites worth following have appeared on the horizon the past few months. Let's take a look at three of them. Set your bookmarking fingers to stun...

Click to read more | Comments (5)


Monkey Music Video Contest

December 11, 2007
Monkey Music Video Contest

Having "monkey" in my domain name is finally paying off. Sarathan Records is sponsoring a music video contest for the song "Monkey" by the group Two Loons for Tea. The prize is $2,500!

Click to read more | Comments (4)


Grant Orchard - Park Football

November 23, 2007
Grant Orchard - Park Football

This is a simple but impressive animation that shows what can be done with the most basic of tools.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (0)


Adam Phillips' New Brackenwood Cartoon

November 9, 2007
Adam Phillips

Adam Phillips has released the newest episode of his Brackenwood series, and has been in a couple of featured artist interviews this week. He's also a new member of the Toon Boom community, and we need to welcome him warmly.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (2)


Cat Alarm

October 26, 2007
Cat Alarm

This recent cat cartoon is making the rounds on YouTube this week, and is an excellent candidate to make your Friday just that much better. Enjoy.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (4)


Deadline, 3D Animation from Aardman

October 19, 2007
Deadline, 3D Animation from Aardman

Aardman Animation's first attempt at digital animation is short and something special. I approve of their attempts to branch out.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (2)


Pitch Your Idea to Aniboom.com

October 16, 2007
Pitch Your Idea to Aniboom.com

Aniboom.com is asking for pitches for original cartoon content, perfect for Toon Boom users. The potential $20,000 prize is nothing to sneeze at either.

Click to read more | Comments (0)


Burning Safari

October 12, 2007
Burning Safari

It's Friday, so it's time for another internet showcase. Here's a short animated cartoon from a French company called Gobelins. It's oozing with style and humor, and is to be appreciated, preferably with cheese. Cheese makes everything awesome.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (4)


28 Ways to Make Money Creating Cartoons

October 9, 2007
28 Ways to Make Money Creating Cartoons

Creativity is all fine and good, but can you pay the bills with your cartoons? Here's a list of 28 ways to make money creating animation.

Click to read more | Comments (12)


Team Fortress Character Introductions

October 5, 2007
Team Fortress Character Introductions

In an effort to build some buzz for an upcoming video game Valve Software created three animations introducing several of the characters. Their high production value makes these a must see.

Click to read more | Comments (0)


Free Animation Desks

September 25, 2007
Free Animation Desks

Free animation desks are being offered on Craigslist.org . Get 'em while you can.

Click to read more | Comments (2)


World of Warcraft Cartoons

August 31, 2007
World of Warcraft Cartoons

Simple yet hilarious cartoons can be created with Flash, especially when the sound quality is high. Take a look at these two great Flash animation examples from Sean McBride.

Click to read more | Comments (8)


Friends of Calico Monkey

July 13, 2007
Friends of Calico Monkey

There are several visitors to Calico Monkey that need to be given more credit than a simple link on the Friends page. They keep me going when I hit a rough spot...

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User Story on ToonBoom.Com

July 8, 2007
User Story on ToonBoom.Com

Toon Boom sent me a questionnaire a while back, and once I filled it out they created a User Story about me.

Click to read more | Comments (2)


23 Ways to Show Off Your Cartoon

May 21, 2007

You've spent hour upon hour perfecting your animation. Now what? It's time to release it to the masses. Let's talk about the best options for distributing your cartoon.

Click to read more | Comments (10)


Adventure Time

April 14, 2007

This is the most batshit crazy awesome animation ever.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (2)


Ratatouille Featurette

April 13, 2007

I came across this interesting featurette on YouTube that shows a bit of the upcoming Pixar film Ratatouille.

Click to read more | Comments (2)


Episode 10 Status Update

April 7, 2007

I've been working very hard on episode 10, but I'm afraid it will still take me several more days to properly complete.

Click to read more | Comments (2)


Animatic Tutorial

April 6, 2007

This development entry will show the process of creating a scene, and its evolution from sketch into full blown animation.

Click to read more | Comments (4)


Erin Esurance Commercials

April 2, 2007
Erin Esurance Commercials

Esurance has been making a splash in the animation world lately with their "Erin Esurance" line of commercials.

Click to read more | Comments (3)


Glen Keane Draws the Beast

March 7, 2007

Glen Keane, the master animator from "back in the day", drew this sketch of the Beast during a recent lecture at CalArts.

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (1)


Hum - Stars

February 23, 2007
Hum - Stars

This song is called "Stars" and is by a group called Hum. It came out when I was in college, around 1995. I remember sitting at my Amiga computer...

Click to watch the animation and read more | Comments (5)