Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Mid-Week Studio Walkabout

Now that the rains have temporarily tailed off, I'm out in the studios again.

DreamWorks Animation has finished the refurbishing of the first two floors of the Lakeside Building. Now, instead of plaster dust and the sounds of power tools, there's a new-paint smell, nifty cubicles and dark wood floors, plus story artists and modelers. One of the story artists said to me:

We're working on a new feature with a small crew. Management wants to keep it streamlined, see if having a smaller group works for the picture. So far, we like the way it's going ...

Since the opus I'm talking about hasn't been announced, I give no details about it. (Easy to do, since I don't know anything about the feature. Except the title. And all I'm going to say regarding that is it isn't Willy the Wacky Wombat. I believe John Musker is still developing that one, over at Disney.)

At Cartoon Network in Burbank, most of the execs have departed the original CN building and moved into refurbished offices in the skyscraper on Glenoaks Boulevard.

CN execs don't live here no more. They've moved next door.

Also up in the 'scraper, early development occurs on a new adventure show that will (I'm told) start staffing in the next month or two. And flash animators have moved from the CN building, where they've spent years working on Foster's, to an upper floor of the high rise to work on shorts.

16 comments:

Aldebaran said...

What is Willy the Wacky Wombat"? Is that a joke or...?

Anonymous said...

Didn't they change that to "The Adventures of the Great Wombat Detective" ?

Steve Hulett said...

What is Willy the Wacky Wombat"? Is that a joke or...?

Joke. John used to joke about the title, as I remember. So did I.

Anonymous said...

I thought it was what John called "little John"

Anonymous said...

Hey Steve,

Do you know if the new directors of Rapunzel are changing the style of the film from what Glen Keane had? Also, I've heard some say that there's a push to make it hand drawn now.

Any news?

Anonymous said...

If he did he wouldn't tell you. ; P

Why are some people seemingly obsessed with Rapunzel?

Anonymous said...

To ask a question is to be obsessed? So if I ask how things are going on Princess and the Frog, am I obsessed?

Anonymous said...

I've also heard from pretty legit sources that Rapunzel might be 2D now...

Wouldnt surprise me at all. Roll the CG crew onto King of the Elves, and the PATF crew onto Rapunzel...

Anonymous said...

>I've also heard from pretty legit sources that Rapunzel might be 2D now...<

I CAN`T BELIEVE IT. Could somebody confirm or deny this?!

Anonymous said...

"Roll the CG crew onto King of the Elves, and the PATF crew onto Rapunzel..."

How 'bout roll both of them onto Hand Drawn films and leave that CG stuff to Pixar?

Anonymous said...

What? is CN building in Burbank going to Close, are people leaving, now I found somebody near to Cartoon Network, could you please visit this site, it was created since november 2007:

www.freewebs.com/savecamplazlo

thank you, it will be difficult to convince them but it's a try

Anonymous said...

Rapunzel is still and will remain CG- the directors are Byron Howard and Nathan Greno...

Anonymous said...

>Rapunzel is still and will remain CG- the directors are Byron Howard and Nathan Greno...<
Thank you very much...

Anonymous said...

Will it be the same beautiful style we've seen in all those shots? The heavily Glen Keane influenced look? I home so, I looove the painterly look of this film.

Steve Hulett said...

Do you know if the new directors of Rapunzel are changing the style of the film from what Glen Keane had? Also, I've heard some say that there's a push to make it hand drawn now.


As stated above, it's CG, has songs, and is moving ahead into production.

Steve Hulett said...

Re Cartoon Network, it's in the same two buildings it's occupied for years.

The converted phone co. building next to the Burbank Police Department -- the top of which is pictured above -- and several floors of a neighboring office building on Glenoaks Blvd.

Site Meter