Welcome to Animation General, by and for animation lovers. I wanted a place to discuss opinions on beautiful animation from both independent creators and large studios. Feel free to leave links and opinions on animated movies or videos you've seen recently!
For my first post on here, I have to give them this since they've been robbed of worthy oscar wins at least 3 times now.
Cartoon Saloon.
My love for this upcoming Irish studio is nearly unparalleled. The first movie by them that I saw was Song of the Sea, a gorgeous display of Irish folklore and mythology mixed in with modern times. I then watched The Breadwinner, a very moving story of a girl who disguises herself as a man to support her family and save her father from the Taliban. I then watched Wolfwalkers, another beautiful Irish folklore film. I have yet to watch The Secret of Kells, though I will soon.
As someone who will be going into college as an animation major soon, these films are all major inspirations in my own style. I am looking forward to talking about them with people who know about them and can speak to the artistic, whimsical feel.
Cartoon Saloon.
My love for this upcoming Irish studio is nearly unparalleled. The first movie by them that I saw was Song of the Sea, a gorgeous display of Irish folklore and mythology mixed in with modern times. I then watched The Breadwinner, a very moving story of a girl who disguises herself as a man to support her family and save her father from the Taliban. I then watched Wolfwalkers, another beautiful Irish folklore film. I have yet to watch The Secret of Kells, though I will soon.
As someone who will be going into college as an animation major soon, these films are all major inspirations in my own style. I am looking forward to talking about them with people who know about them and can speak to the artistic, whimsical feel.
Second post
I recently made a connection between many animated videos I saw as a child.
I first remembered these videos, mostly thanks to the music. I really enjoy the style of everything being one line, so I looked up the animator, Andreas Hykade.
Turns out, Hykade made this popular short film as well, Nuggets;
I then found that Hykade was inspired by an old tv show called "La Linea," I really like the style of these videos!
Just goes to show the web of animation inspired by other art, and how that inspiration never ends!
I recently made a connection between many animated videos I saw as a child.
I first remembered these videos, mostly thanks to the music. I really enjoy the style of everything being one line, so I looked up the animator, Andreas Hykade.
Turns out, Hykade made this popular short film as well, Nuggets;
I then found that Hykade was inspired by an old tv show called "La Linea," I really like the style of these videos!
Just goes to show the web of animation inspired by other art, and how that inspiration never ends!
One of my favorite animated movies ever (or just one of favorites movies in general) is Wolfwalkers, also from cartoon saloon. It’s the third and final installment of their Irish folklore trilogy.
The visuals are all around stunning. It’s almost entirely hand drawn, and the backgrounds are watercolor and beautifully painted. I love the colors and the overall designs and aesthetic of it all.
I also find the story interesting. The whole concept is one I’d never heard of, and is executed really well. There’s a lot of parallels within it, I notice new things every time I watch it. There are scenes that make me genuinely happy and others that I find heartbreaking.
here is an article that goes a bit more in depth about the background of the movie.
I think everyone should watch this movie, there isn’t a single thing I don’t adore about it. Beautiful film.
The visuals are all around stunning. It’s almost entirely hand drawn, and the backgrounds are watercolor and beautifully painted. I love the colors and the overall designs and aesthetic of it all.
I also find the story interesting. The whole concept is one I’d never heard of, and is executed really well. There’s a lot of parallels within it, I notice new things every time I watch it. There are scenes that make me genuinely happy and others that I find heartbreaking.
here is an article that goes a bit more in depth about the background of the movie.
I think everyone should watch this movie, there isn’t a single thing I don’t adore about it. Beautiful film.
Haven't watched a lot of movies in the last couple of years. I'd say that it's because 1.5+ hours is a big commitment but that's bullshit as I easily spend way longer periods of time doing other things like watching TV/browsing the internet. Here's some stuff I've been watching:
Arcane is a contender for the best looking animated series I've ever seen. They straight up just trolled top voted concept art posts on Artstation and just made it into an animation. It's also well written and has a good soundtrack.
Invincible was a lot less consistent. This isn't a dig on the style, the style is actually a good fit, but the animation itself was dirt poor for some long stretches. It seemed to get better as the season progressed (or I just got used to it), peaking at just "good" for some more important parts.
It's hard for me to rank the two; Arcane is better in terms of objective technical prowess and effectiveness of presentation but Invincible is the show I'd want to make. Arcane does a lot of things I've seen before *better* whereas Invincible tries to do something I've seen but *different*. If I had to tie into the posts above it's the reason why Wolfwalkers is on my "to watch" list and Onward/Soul isn't.
Smiling Friends is pure comedy and has no long term story ambitions. It's preeetty epic, man; I'd like to see more but I'm not really sure what else can be done with it that isn't just more of the same thing. But since the only thing in its formula is being a funny show about making someone smile it can basically just do whatever it wants there's plenty of room for surprises.
Us is quite charming. All it wants to do is tell a story and it feels quite honest about it. It's small fry compared to these other three but not everything has to be on a major network or whatever.
I've also been circling around the Blender dev studios and keeping an eye on the software, the 2d capabilities in particular. Here's their last open movie Sprite Fright.
A playlist of other animation/animation accessories that I thought was worth saving to a playlist, mostly internet stuff.
Yea I'm not really an animation hipster/academic or anything; I don't usually go looking for animation for animation's sake so only the more mainstream ones get to me but I like cartoons. I could go on and on about 'em, at least the one's I've seen. Could fill a whole forum page about 'em. Making 'em, watching 'em, love it all. Just love hearing myself talk. About cartoons.
Found another one on Reddit just now:
Arcane is a contender for the best looking animated series I've ever seen. They straight up just trolled top voted concept art posts on Artstation and just made it into an animation. It's also well written and has a good soundtrack.
Invincible was a lot less consistent. This isn't a dig on the style, the style is actually a good fit, but the animation itself was dirt poor for some long stretches. It seemed to get better as the season progressed (or I just got used to it), peaking at just "good" for some more important parts.
It's hard for me to rank the two; Arcane is better in terms of objective technical prowess and effectiveness of presentation but Invincible is the show I'd want to make. Arcane does a lot of things I've seen before *better* whereas Invincible tries to do something I've seen but *different*. If I had to tie into the posts above it's the reason why Wolfwalkers is on my "to watch" list and Onward/Soul isn't.
Smiling Friends is pure comedy and has no long term story ambitions. It's preeetty epic, man; I'd like to see more but I'm not really sure what else can be done with it that isn't just more of the same thing. But since the only thing in its formula is being a funny show about making someone smile it can basically just do whatever it wants there's plenty of room for surprises.
Us is quite charming. All it wants to do is tell a story and it feels quite honest about it. It's small fry compared to these other three but not everything has to be on a major network or whatever.
I've also been circling around the Blender dev studios and keeping an eye on the software, the 2d capabilities in particular. Here's their last open movie Sprite Fright.
A playlist of other animation/animation accessories that I thought was worth saving to a playlist, mostly internet stuff.
Yea I'm not really an animation hipster/academic or anything; I don't usually go looking for animation for animation's sake so only the more mainstream ones get to me but I like cartoons. I could go on and on about 'em, at least the one's I've seen. Could fill a whole forum page about 'em. Making 'em, watching 'em, love it all. Just love hearing myself talk. About cartoons.
Found another one on Reddit just now:
This year's Oscar nominees for animation and animation accessories are:
Alternatively, here are the nominations for the Annies as well.
I don't put too much stock into who's winning these things but I just happened to be browsing twitter when the Academy or whatever announced them. That being said, these are the two big awards that come to mind when I think about the big awards for animation. They're probably worth a watch; maybe I'll actually get around to some of these this year.
Alternatively, here are the nominations for the Annies as well.
I don't put too much stock into who's winning these things but I just happened to be browsing twitter when the Academy or whatever announced them. That being said, these are the two big awards that come to mind when I think about the big awards for animation. They're probably worth a watch; maybe I'll actually get around to some of these this year.
Arcane Storyboards n' Animatics
From Ninoc Studio; "Our main mission on this project was to supervise the storyboard department."
From Ninoc Studio; "Our main mission on this project was to supervise the storyboard department."
Concerning the Oscar’s post I would be happy if either Luca or Mitchell’s Vs the Machines won, Encanto as a close 3rd. I saw Raya, it was alright, I have not seen Flee though
raya was beautiful visually. are the awards just 3d animation? the 2d in raya was just as beautiful
The awards are for both 2d and 3d. The trend for the last couple of years (decades) is that big budget cg 3d films tend to dominate the feature film awards and maybe one or two nominations are in other mediums ("Flee" this year, "Wolfwalkers" and "Shaun the Sheep" last year for the Academy).
The line can get pretty thin between 2d and 3d; many films these days have tried to include segments of both but my favorites are when the two are blended together. Spiderverse, which won best animated feature in 2018, and, more recently, Arcane, are notable examples.
The shorts tend to be much more diverse and progressive but god dang they're hard to find, even after they're done screening.
The line can get pretty thin between 2d and 3d; many films these days have tried to include segments of both but my favorites are when the two are blended together. Spiderverse, which won best animated feature in 2018, and, more recently, Arcane, are notable examples.
The shorts tend to be much more diverse and progressive but god dang they're hard to find, even after they're done screening.
oh ok. ive never heard of flee but ive heard of the other ones. i think that all of the animated movies are awesome. if i had to pick one to win it would probably be luca or encanto
I really dislike the trend of giving awards to disney/pixar in general, because I feel there has been multiple times where the indie or other studio films have been much better then that years disney/pixar film, and yet they won. Obviously Oscars does not really matter in terms of personal enjoyment and critical acclaim, but it draws more attention to the movie so id hope theyd be giving it to more indie films one day
i agree
Possibly the best cartoon ever made
Rotoscoped Jesus laying the beatdown on Judas is the funniest thing in the world. I've been watching this video for days now.
Rotoscoped Jesus laying the beatdown on Judas is the funniest thing in the world. I've been watching this video for days now.
I watched Turning Red a few days ago. I can understand why some may not like it, but personally I quite enjoyed it. There is a culture of disliking anything that preteen and teenage girls enjoy, and I feel this movie embraces those things, as well as tackling generational trauma much like Encanto, but I feel it was more focused on how women bring each other down, especially mothers and daughters, when they should work together and lift each other up. The visuals are very impressive and expressive for Pixar standards, lots of anime inspiration in the facial expressions.
Anyways rewatching How To Train Your Dragon, IMO one of the best animated movies ever
Y'all like watching features, huh?
You looking to get into that part of the industry when you're done with school?
Annie Awards summary:
Mitchells vs. The Machines (best feature) and Encanto split most of the other feature awards.
Arcane swept the TV related awards.
Maya and the Three did pretty well in the TV awards for the children's side of things.
Best indie feature - Flee
Best short - Bestia
You looking to get into that part of the industry when you're done with school?
Annie Awards summary:
Mitchells vs. The Machines (best feature) and Encanto split most of the other feature awards.
Arcane swept the TV related awards.
Maya and the Three did pretty well in the TV awards for the children's side of things.
Best indie feature - Flee
Best short - Bestia
Yes I am looking into the animation field as a career, going to college next year :)
Happy to see Mitchells vs the Machines getting well deserved recognition!
Happy to see Mitchells vs the Machines getting well deserved recognition!
I find it “easier” to talk about films due to being more memorable I suppose. There are some YouTube animations or other things I find super cool but mostly it’s not a individual piece but the artist as a whole.
https://youtube.com/channel/UCT5OiJgXRIReyg4N71fzy1A
Example being Amelia Bothe, animator that does warrior cats stuff (why do a bunch of amazing animators work with warriors things?) Very traditional-esq with very detailed line art on the cats :)
https://youtube.com/channel/UCT5OiJgXRIReyg4N71fzy1A
Example being Amelia Bothe, animator that does warrior cats stuff (why do a bunch of amazing animators work with warriors things?) Very traditional-esq with very detailed line art on the cats :)
I plan to watch Mitchells soon. Danny McBride is a funny fucker.
Rewatched Total Drama Island season 1 with my friends over spring break. It's a good "nostalgia" show, but the style and character design is quite intriguing, definitely aiming for a young teen demographic lmao
Gonna keep my eye on this one. Family friendly animation style with an Orwellian twist, my kind of thing.
I just watched The Midnight Gospel again and MAN what a good show, basically free therapy if you’re in the right headspace for content revolving around reality and death and such. That last episode will always make me tear up.
Have three free hours? Why not watch Part 1 of YMS's Lion King Review?
The review provides an in depth, minute to minute comparison of the 1994 and 2019 version of "The Lion King". It touches on many aspects of the medium: sound/music design, writing, technology, as well as animation. I think it could also be a good study on how priorities at Disney and in the industry have changed in the last 20 years.
The review provides an in depth, minute to minute comparison of the 1994 and 2019 version of "The Lion King". It touches on many aspects of the medium: sound/music design, writing, technology, as well as animation. I think it could also be a good study on how priorities at Disney and in the industry have changed in the last 20 years.
Wow. Are they finally going to explain why simba was thrown off the cliff in the opening scene?
The Earth is the largest planet in the world.