Groening Series

Breaking news from a fine entertainment journal:

Netflix is teaming with the co-creator of one of the most iconic broadcast animated comedy series. I’ve learned that the Internet network is in talks with The Simpsons co-creator/executive Matt Groening for a new animated series. Details about the project, which Groening will create and write, are being kept under wraps. ...

It's always a good thing when more animation is poured into the industry pot. More employment means more opportunity for veteran and entry level artists alike.

No word on where the new series will be produced. Groening has partnered with Rough Draft Studios (located in Glendale) in the past, but no word where this project might land. I guess we'll see.

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Swoon ...

Moon ... June ... Egads!

It’s a bad day for Wall Street generally, but it’s especially dreary for Disney: Its shares are down 5.2% in afternoon trading — for a 10.3% drop so far this month — after Barclays’ Kannan Venkateshwar downgraded the stock to “underweight.”

This is the latest in a series of wary reports as analysts look past the success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens to potential problems — including likely continued subscriber losses at ESPN, the company’s biggest profit driver. It had 92 million subscribers at the end of the 2015 fiscal year, a drop of 3 million from 2014 and down 6 million from 2013. ...

For months and months of 2015, stock analysts were giddy with Diz Co.'s prospects. Star Wars would go throw the roof (it did). Everything else at the company was firing on eight cylinders (turns out such was not the case). And there just was not a gray cloud in sight.

Until there was.

Now ESPN steadily leaks viewers, and since ESPN is a huge part of Disney's portfolio, things don't look sunny. This is another lesson about gloating over specific eggs in your basket, because over time eggs have a way of going bad.

It's another lesson to me (like I needed one after 2008?) not to invest in single stocks. And I don't.

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Bill Nighy Speaks

... on the art of voice acting:

How does using your voice for animated characters deepen your understanding of acting?

Well, it accustomed me to the discipline of focusing entirely on my voice. And knowing that’s all you have. When I come to do voices for animation, I do feel kind of prepared in a way that I wouldn’t without that experience. It’s very enjoyable, and then I get to go away for a few years while the work is done. Animation artists are heroic. It’s an enormous investment in terms of time before they see the thing let lose in the world.

Did you record with the other actors in Norm of the North?

No, there were multiple sessions but for this particular film I did my scenes alone. I heard the other voices and I had the pictures to act along with. But I did it in isolation. ...

What a talented voice actor brings to the animation process s often immense. The good ones give animators and story artists something palpable to work with. And they bring lots of solid ideas that add to the whole, along with their vocal chops.

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Voice Director For Cartoons

A journal of entertainment informs us:

When Disney Television Animation execs decided to create a series spinoff from the classic film “The Lion King,” they turned to veteran voice director Kelly Ward to ensure the vocal performances in “The Lion Guard” would roar to life. ...

Ward explains just how collaborative animated projects are, with each piece of the project informing the others. “There are many types of directing in animation. The first director is very legitimately the writer because a lot of what they write becomes translated into visuals by the storyboard artist, who becomes the second director because he’s directing the visuals and distilling the visuals into actual pictures,” he says.

“And then my job is to come in and help match and get the essence of the story in the vocal performances, which then inform the storyboard artists as well. It’s kind of a lovely ballet of interwoven parts where a knowledge of writing and a knowledge of storyboarding and drawing, a knowledge of editing all really help me do my job and convey to an actor exactly how to nuance their performance. ...

Mr. Ward knows whereof he speaks, as he began as an actor before migrating to Hanna-Barbera where he both wrote cartoon series and produced them. A couple of years back, he sat down to talk to us about where his career started, and where it had gone.



The fact that veterans who know how cartoons are put together continue to work in the industry is a very good thing.

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The Nominees

A variety of features were anointed by the Academy.

For Best Animated Feature, the envelope, please. >

Anomalisa
Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran

Boy and the World
Alê Abreu

Inside Out
Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera

Shaun the Sheep Movie
Mark Burton and Richard Starzak

When Marnie Was There
Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura ...

And the winner (because it's a foregone conclusion, yes?) is Inside Out.

It's pretty to think it could be some other motion picture, but let's get real, shall we?

Add On: As to who will win the Little Gold Man in the short subject category? ...

Animated Short Film

Bear Story
Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala

Prologue
Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton

Sanjay’s Super Team
Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle

We Can’t Live without Cosmos
Konstantin Bronzit

World of Tomorrow
Don Hertzfeldt

I really don't have the vaguest of clues.

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New Low?

An entertainment journal tells us:

... “The Good Dinosaur” is the Pixar’s 16th release and could be the studio’s lowest-grossing ever. It has taken in $118 million since opening domestically on Nov. 25, and with $149 million from overseas its worldwide haul is $266 million.

That’s not terrible, but it doesn’t offset the movie’s $200 million budget or measure up to Pixar’s unparalleled box office track record. The previous low-earner was the $362 million global haul of the original “Toy Story” in 1995, so it’s in some pretty good company. ...

“It’s not like they didn’t see this coming,” said Exhibitor Relation media analyst Jeff Bock, referring to the director switch and a storyline shift. “It didn’t seem to have the creativity or gravitas of previous Pixar releases. But in the long run they may learn something from this experience, and they’re going to be fine.” ...

Well, yeah. "Good company." Except Toy Story cost in the neighborhood of $30 million (1994 dollars) twenty years ago and made twelve times its cost. So not really an apt comparison to the current production.

Pixar has been hitting three-baggers and home runs for twenty years. Toy Story (all installments), Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Up, the list is long. But every not streak eventually cools off. DreamWorks Animation had sixteen hits in a row, then the hits stopped.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, turns out blockbusters all of the time. At some point, an idea that sounded good during the pitch doesn't pan out, and the motion picture that results is ... how to say it? ... an under-performer.

Which is, it seems, the label TGD is earning now.

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IATSE Endorsement

Here at the Winter IATSE Executive Board Meeting, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees has announced it's back a Presidential candidate.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) announced its endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president of the United States.

Based on her long record of fighting for workers’ rights and working families, the IATSE General Executive Board voted unanimously to endorse the former U.S. Secretary of State on Monday, January 11th.

“Hillary Clinton is the only candidate that reached out to discuss issues affecting members of the IATSE,” said IATSE International President Matthew Loeb. “She spent her valuable time discussing our unique issues and challenges with me, demonstrating not just her support of workers in general, but also that she is concerned with the well-being of members of the IATSE.”

Representing more than 125,000 workers in entertainment throughout the U.S. and Canada, the IATSE looks forward to working with Clinton on digital piracy, workers’ rights, misclassification of workers, and other issues affecting behind-the-scenes entertainment workers.

In July 2015, IATSE International President Loeb released a statement in support of Clinton calling out companies that misclassified workers as independent contractors, an issue that directly affects workers represented by the IATSE. ...

An exec board attendee told me that the reaction on social media to the IA's announcement has been varied. Soe folks like it, some are just okay with it, and some "What about Bernie!?".

It's going to be a long, political season. We'll see how this works out.


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Afternoon of Remembrance

President Emeritus Sito informs us:

"On Saturday Feb 20th at noon, the animation community in LA will come together at the Animation Guild in Burbank (1105 N. Hollywood Way) for the annual Afternoon of Remembrance.

It's a non-denominational service where we remember, laugh, cry, and share stories, as we say one more goodbye to all our friends who left us in 2015." ...

The list of the departed is long. Sadly, it usually is.

In Memoriam 2015

Jane Aaron, illustrator, Sesame Street designer
Joyce Alexander, ink & paint artist
Abiud Alvarez, ink & paint artist
Jim Brummett, animator
Gene Coe, Animation educator, USC
Donna Cooney, ink & paint artist
John Culhane, animation historian, author.
Eileen Dunn, assistant animator
Hani El Masri, Disney concept designer
John Fredericksen, animator
Lois Freeman, ink & paint artist
Stan Freberg, legendary voice actor
Antonio Gaio, the father of Portuguese animation
Ira Blaine Gibson, Disney animator (and WED sculptor)
Jonathan Goley, background artist
Frank Gonzales, animator, inspiration for Speedy Gonzales
Lee Guttman, ink & paint supervisor, Kurtz & Friends
Jeff Hale, animator, director
Rene Joidoin, NFB filmmaker
Gordon Kent, producer, writer
Zoe Leader, Disney Production
Kelvin Lee, animator
Scott Mankey, CG Lighter
Richard Manginsay, director, layout
Takashi Masunaga, designer, director
Jim MacCaulay, animation educator, Sheridan College
Jo Anne Merrill, ink & paint supervisor
Rolando Oliva, background artist
Monty Oum, anime artist
Gary Owens, legendary voice actor, announcer, radio host
Al Pabian, animator
Ray Parker, animation writer
Rocco Pirrone, layout artist
Zora Polensek, ink & paint artist
Phil Robinson, co-founder Wild Brain Studio
Louise Sandoval, Filmation animator
Sam Simon, Producer of the Simpsons
Danilo Taverna, storyboard an6t5d layout
Eve Valsatik, ink & paint artist
Cliff Voorhees, layout artist
Bob Walker, layout, animation director
Nancy Wimble, cel service

If you'd like to participate in the remembering, contact TAG, or Tom Sito, or Bronwen Barry.

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DreamWorks Ascending

It seems that the green eyeshade types on Wall Street think the Netflix deal and the company's oncoming animated feature is going to lift DWA up.

FBR & Co. analyst Barton Crockett on Tuesday upgraded his rating on the stock of DreamWorks Animation, citing near-term upside from the upcoming release of Kung Fu Panda 3 and recent deals with Netflix.

He upgraded the stock to "outperform" with a $29 price target and placed it on FBR's list of top stock picks. "Near-term there are potential catalysts that are likely to move the shares up," wrote Crockett. "In particular, we see potential for large checks from Netflix for movie catalog rights and expanded TV production and positive tracking for Kung Fu Panda 3, due out Jan. 29."

Crockett cited Box Office Analyst as saying tracking for Kung Fu Panda 3 is stronger than it was for Inside Out at the same point before its opening, predicting a total domestic run in the $185 million-$200 million range. Panda 3 "has no meaningful new animated movies to compete with in February and a prime spot in Chinese theaters heading into Chinese New Year, helped by a co-production relationship with affiliates of the Chinese government." ...

DreamWorks appears to have a winner with Panda #3. It also has an extended deal with Netflix, built-in profits, and a rapidly growing library of exploitable properties.

Little wonder that Barton Crockett predicts that, at least over the next year or three, DreamWorks Animation has a rosy future.

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The Animation Guild Golden Award Interview #5 -- Chuck Couch and Bob Bentley

Each week, Harvey Deneroff runs brief video interviews from January 1984, when the Guild hosted its first Golden Awards banquet. And each week, we link to the interviews. This time around, we feature talks with Bob Bentley and Chuck Couch.


Harvey Deneroff chats with Robert Bentley.

Robert Bentley was born in 1907 and passed away in 2000. He had a long, productive career and many of his credits can be found here. ...

Both of these interviews are very short, but they provide a small window through which the early creators of animated features and cartoon shorts can be seen, if only fleetingly.


Harvey D. talks to Chuck Couch

Chuck Couch passed away in 1987 at 78. He was born in 1909; his many credits can be found here.

For more information on both these veterans, click on the link above the fold. Harvey provides a wealth of links and information.

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The Next Big Animated Opening

Two weeks hence (and change) the next high profile animated feature rolls out. This one:



Expectations for the third installment of Po's adventures are high. And recent predictions of global grosses trend toward the rosy.

Kung Fu Panda 3 Box Office Predictions

Opening Domestic Weekend: 75 million
Total Domestic Gross: $235 million
Worldwide Grosses: $710 million

From where IMDB draws its information, I have no idea. But the figures above are in line with the first two installments, which made $631,744,560 (#1) and $665,692,281 (#2). So $710 million in worldwide grosses? That would be right in line with the box office growth of the first two.

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The IATSE Executive Board

Every six months, the IATSE (out Mother International) holds an executive board meeting of IA staff and IA Vice Presidents ... of which there are several.

We are across the continent in Hollywood, Florida, the city of blue oceans, sandy beaches and tropical thunderstorms. Tomorrow we start Day Two of a week of reports, presentations and updates of what is happening in stagecraft, live-action motion pictures, and also too visual effects and animation. ...

Today there were reports from the IA's West Coast office in Los Angeles, reports of organizing drives in various parts of the United States, and how the election of the new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Canada has remade Canada into a less hostile country for labor.

The IATSE has grown by several thousand members over the past three years ... in contrast to other American labor unions. It's intent on organizing visual effects, which is why President Matt Loeb announced the IA's new representative Steve Kaplan at this morning's session. (You might recognize the name "Steve Kaplan", since Steve worked for the Animation Guild for five years before taking a new position with the International.)

The current state of the IATSE is strong. In the next few days there will be reports on the state of various pension and health plans, as well as news about victories and defeats across the country. When something of moment crops up, I'll report it here.

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Winner of the GLOBE

To very few people's surprise, Inside Out won the Golden Globe for "Best Animated Feature". ...

Its competitors were

Anomalisa, writer Charlie Kaufmann’s stop-motion feature. Mr. Kauffman also co-directed.

The Good Dinosaur, Pixar's other 2015 release.

The Peanuts Movie, with Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Charles Schulz comic strip family from Blue Sky Studios.

Shaun the Sheep Movie, the Aardman stop-motion feature from the United Kingdom.

What amuses me is how important the Globes seem to be as an awards ceremony in the 21st century. Because it's a trifle in the great sweep of shiny trophies. Concocted by foreign press stringers and voted on by foreign press stringers.

Once upon a long ago, the whole damn ceremony was hijacked by Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Junior and Dean Martin, who walked in and took over the proceedings. That was no big deal back in the 1950s. Now it's all glitz and glamour and broadcast coast-to-coast by a major network.

Times have changed. But maybe not necessarily for the better.

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Worldwide Grosses

Space opera domination continues.

Foreign Weekend Box Office -- (Global Totals)

Star Wars 7 -- $104,300,000 -- ($1,733,411,043)

The Good Dinosaur -- $12,000,000 -- ($266,034,385)

Alvin and the Chipmunks -- 45,800,000 -- ($111,808,339)

The Peanuts Movie -- $8,600,000 -- ($221,351,812)

And as a journal of entertainment informs us:

... Entering its final market on Saturday, Disney/Lucasfilm’s supernova Star Wars: The Force Awakens shot off with a $52.6M two-day China opening. ... In Korea The Good Dinosaur opened at No. 1. In its 7th session, the international result was $12M, bringing the offshore total to $148.7M and the global cume to $266M. ...

The Peanutes Movie sold another $8.6M worth of tickest this weekend, from 6,732 screens in 59 markets. The international cume is approaching the century mark with $92.2M through Sunday. ... Alvin and the Chipmunks [collected] $5.8M from 4,020 screens in 24 markets, Alvin and the gang now have grossed $36.2M. ...

Lastly, Hotel Transylvania 2 finishes it worldwide run at $465,574,344.

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Jungle Book Too

There are people who don't like the old Disney classics getting tampered with. But I say, why the hell not? Walt's gone to his reward. And he tampered with Rudyard Kipling's book, didn't he?



John Favreau, the director of new incarnation of TJB, has his own take on creating the newer movie:

... "We never want to make the animals express emotions in ways that their species doesn't. How do you make it real? You hold a mirror up to nature. We have the breathing, the fur, the way the muscles move over the skin. The real challenge is to take all of this technical stuff and make it into an emotional experience. ...

"I tend to like puzzles and get obsessive about details. So in that sense, directing this way suits me. We made the animated version of the movie, the live action version, the motion-capture version. This kind of movie is like a marathon, not a sprint. ...

"We've got to make people go to the movies. We've got to make a case for it by showing them something they can't get at home."

I think the trailer is pretty compelling. Makes me want to see what they've done with the entire project.

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On Investing

Various stock market has been choppy of late, which is usually when Animation Guild artists and others commence getting nervous. (Oh Gawd! I gotta put everything in the stable value fund! Quick!)

But people who feel they need to do that, should pause, reflect and perhaps rethink their position ...

A few truths about bear markets in stocks:

1. They happen. Sometimes stocks go down. That’s why they’re called risk assets. Half of all years since 1950 have seen a double-digit correction in stocks. Get used to it.

2. They’re a natural outcome of a complex system run by emotions and divergent opinions. Humans tend to take things too far, so losses are inevitable.

3. Everyone says they’re healthy until they actually happen. Then they’re scary and investors who were looking for a better entry point begin to panic.

4. The majority of the people who have been scaring investors by predicting a bear market every single month for the past seven years will be the last ones to put their money to work when one actually hits.

5. It’s an arbitrary number. I have no idea why everyone decided that a 20% loss constitutes a bear market. The media will pay a lot of attention to this definition while it doesn’t matter at all to investors. The 1990s saw zero 20% corrections but two 19% drawdowns. Stocks also lost 19% in 2011. Does that extra 1% really matter?

6. Buy and hold feels great during a long bull market. It only works as a strategy if you continue to buy and hold when stocks fall. Both are much easier to do when stocks rise.

7. Your favorite pundit isn’t going to be able to help you make it through the next one. Perspective and context can help, but there’s nothing that can prepare an investor for the gut-punch you feel when seeing a chunk of your portfolio fall in value.

8. History is a broad outline of what can happen in the markets, not what will happen. Every cycle is different.

9. They’re very difficult to predict. All of the valuations, fundamentals, technicals and sentiment data in the world won’t help you predict when or why investors decide it’s time to panic.

10. These are the times that successful investors separate themselves from the pack. ...

I've made lots of mistakes while saving for my oncoming years of geezerhood.

I've bought at the top. I've sold at the bottom. I've panicked when I should have been steady and arrogant when I should have been scared spitless.

What I've learned from all my boneheaded mistakes is that the best strategy is to set up a stock and bond allocation you can live with (and that suits your age), and then pretend it isn't there.

Because if you fixate on every downdraft in the markets, on every wiggle and gyration of stocks, you'll nurture high anxiety deep in your brain. And end up doing exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time.

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Weekend Box Office in the USA

A bearded Leo C. versus a bearded Hark H. So who will win?

DOMESTIC WEEKEND GROSSES

1.) The Revenant (FOX), 3,375 theaters (+3,371) / $14.4M Fri. (+9374%) / 3-day cume: $38.3M (+8468%)/ Total cume: $39.9M / Wk 3

2.) Star Wars: The Force Awakens (DIS), 4,134 theaters (0) / $10.75M Fri. (-69%) / 3-day cume: $37M ( -59%) / Total cume: $807.4M/ Wk 4

3). Daddy’s Home (PAR), 3,483 theaters (+141) / $4.2M Fri. (-63%)/ 3-day cume: $14.1M (-52%)/ Total cume: $115.4M / Wk 3

4). The Forest (FOC), 2,451 theaters / $4.99M Fri. / 3-day cume: $12.2M/ Wk 1

5.) Sisters (UNI), 2,864 theaters (-114) / $2.2Fri. (-52%) / 3-day cume: $7M(-45%) / Total cume: $73.7M / Wk 4

6.) The Hateful Eight (TWC), 2,938 theaters (+464) / $1.9M Fri. (-71%) / 3-day cume: $6.2M (-61%)/ Total cume: $41.3M / Wk 3

7). The Big Short (PAR), 2,529 theaters (+941) / $1.8M Fri.(-47%) / 3-day cume: $6.1M (-32%) / Total cume: $42.67M / Wk 5

8). Joy (FOX), 2,513 theaters (-411) / $1.4M Fri.(-65%) / 3-day cume: $4.6M (-55%) / Total cume: $46.6M / Wk 3

9). Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Road Chip (FOX), 2,972 theaters (-502) / $1M Fri. (-73%)/ 3-day cume: $4.5M (-63%) / Total cume: $75M / Wk 4

10). Concussion (SONY), 2,056 theaters (-785)/ $974K Fri. (-68%) / 3-day cume: $3M (-62%) / Total cume: $31.5M / Wk 3 ...

The Good Dinosaur is now far out of the Top Ten, but remain in 1100+ theaters and north of $116 million. This is weak for a Pixar feature but still in all, the pic will nudge up against $120 million before the game is over and that's far from awful.

The Peanuts Movie, now in a mere 286 theaters, will have to rev its engines to reach $130 million. By the time all domestic runs are complete, it might just do that, but it's gonna be lose.


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Frank Armitage, RIP

Sorry to hear about this:

... Frank Armitage , renowned Disney layout and background artist on such classic Disney films as "Sleeping Beauty," "Mary Poppins," and "The Jungle Book," and a longtime Disney Imagineer who contributed murals and designs to a wide range of theme parks all over the world, passed away on Monday (1/4/16) at his home in Paso Robles, California, from age-related causes.

He was 91 years old. In addition to his accomplishments with Disney, he served as a production illustrator on the 1966 Academy Award® -winning Fox film, "Fantastic Voyage," and was an expert medical illustrator. ...

And so another Disney veteran departs.

I have vivid memories of Mr. Armitage. He came up to numerous parties thrown by my parents in La Crescenta. I was nine and ten years old, and there would be the entire Disney background department eating, drinking and making merry in our living room. Frank had a great beard then. He was a handsome guy with a good-looking wife, but what sticks with me fifty-five years later is his distinct Australian accent. His was the first one I ever heard.

Julie Svendsen, daughter of Julius and an indispensable assistant to Walt Peregoy in the last years of Walt's life, told me a couple of months ago that Frank was battling the vagaries of old age. Sorry to see that he's now gone.

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Tech Awards!

Ten technical innovations were recognized today by the Motion Picture Academy, two of them to ...

Richard Chuang and Rahul Thakkar for the groundbreaking design, and to Andrew Pilgrim, Stewart Birnam and Mark Kirk for the review workflows and advanced playback features, of the DreamWorks Animation Media Review System. Over its nearly two decades of development, this pioneering system enabled desktop and digital theater review. It continues to provide artist-driven, integrated, consistent and highly scalable studio-wide playback and interactive reviews. ...

Brian McLean and Martin Meunier for pioneering the use of rapid prototyping for character animation in stop-motion film production. LAIKA’s inventive use of rapid prototyping has enabled artistic leaps in character expressiveness, facial animation, motion blur and effects animation. ...

Technical advances get recognized by the Academy on a regular basis, which is good. Without tech development, there's no sound, no wide screen, no color, no 3-D, no digital effects, and on and on.

The bad part is, the technical awards ceremony is always boiled down to quick video-taped snippets that get shunted to the edges of the prime time awards telecast when actors, directors, and screenwriters are getting their due.

But the tech achievements are important, even if they get short shrift. Hell, without technical research and development, there would never have been movies in the first place.

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RIP Pat Harrington, Jr.

The man who brought prominence to apartment handymen has departed.

... Pat Harrington Jr. has passed away at the age of 86. The comedian and voice-over actor was best known as the handyman Schneider on the classic 70s sitcom One Day at a Time.

He died Wednesday night, two months after his daughter announced that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and that his health was deteriorating. Trese Harrington wrote in a statement:

Dear Friends, it is with the most unimaginable pain and sadness, that I tell you my father, Pat Harrington, Jr. passed away at 11:09 PM this evening. We were all with him today and tonight: crying, laughing and loving him. This is the single most heart wrenching and physically painful thing, I've ever had to endure. My heart is broken to pieces and I will cry and cry until I just won't. Love to you all! And as we head into this year, never be afraid to tell the people you love, that you love them." ...

Mr. Harrington had a long and busy career. Beyond the many character parts, he worked as a voice actor on numerous cartoons, including A Garfield Christmas Special, I Yabba Dabba Doo!, Yo Yogi!, Duckman, The Pink Panther, and numerous others.

The washington Posts' long, informative obituary on Mr. Harrington can be found here.

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