Undead Backbrain » Cartoon

Superman Classic

Robert Hood — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:51:07 +0000

Robb Pratt, an animator for Disney (he worked on Pocahontas and Tarzan), has created a neat Superman short just for his own amusement … and ours …, inspired by the music from the old serials. It’s pretty cool. At the end of the short he explains the whys and wherefores. Check it out.

Source: Hollywood Reporter via Stan Hyde

Zombies Arise!

Robert Hood — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 05:35:37 +0000

If there’s one thing that zombies do with startling regularity, it’s ARISE. And ARISE again. And again. The modern zombie apocalypse phenomena, part of a 21st Century obsession with apocalypse as a whole but huge in its own right, has seen the flesh-eating once-were-human monsters maintain their indie credibility while infiltrating mainstream media (for example, in TV shows like the UK Big Brother take, Dead Set, and the new series based on Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel The Walking Dead — not to mention successful box-office hits such as Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland). Novels and anthologies have proliferated (such as the newly released novel/antho Zombie Apocalypse! — created by UK anthologist Stephen Jones and including writers like Michael Marshall Smith, Paul Finch, Pat Cadigan, Kim Newman and even myself). Graphic novels/comics, short films (as always), novelty publications (for example, the NY Times bestseller, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), video games, toy ranges and mass social events like the now ubiquitous “zombie walks”, crop up continually. Even the iconic Marvel Universe has been plagued by the hungry dead, with Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and the rest of the superhero clan not so much defeating the zombie hordes as becoming them. The zombie apocalypse sub-genre continually mutates and rises from the grave, just like the ambulant corpses themselves.

Now Jay Reiter of Satyrn Studios is aiming to expand his Arise franchise to encompass many of the above manifestations of the plague. What began as a comic series has already expanded into a short (17 minute) live-action film, with much more to come. Undead Backbrain asked him about the origins of Arise.

Jay Reiter: First of all, Arise started off as a small four-page mini-comic. This was a school project that I just kept developing and picking away at. It was a LOT of fun and quite a few people seemed rather interested in Arise, so I stuck with it.

But it then became a film? How?

JR: Well, I needed a short film to direct as my senior project, so I just used the four-page Arise mini-comic as a template for the short film. I was originally going to film the Arise short film in 3D, as I have been quite fascinated by the prospects of 3D film making. Unfortunately, SCAD [Savannah College of Art and Design] was not equipped to film in 3D. Very frustrating. After several long talks with both the Chair of film and the Dean of film, as well as the Chair of the SCAD visual fx department, I realised that there was just no way that I would be able to shoot the Arise short in 3D. Regardless of this setback, I was able to broker a deal between myself and Fuddruckers of Savannah to provide almost all of the meals for the Arise short as well as gaining the limited rights to use music by Cannibal Corpse and Behemoth (international death-metal bands).

Teaser Trailer for Arise:

And now you have plans for it to become a franchise, right?

JR: Once the Arise short was completed, I immediately focused my attention on turning Arise into a franchise with a full-length comic, feature length film, action figures, video games and more. So far there has been much success with these prospects. A six-issue comic is on the horizon with art done by Cannibal Corpse artist Vince Locke and I’m in negotiations to turn Arise into the film it was meant to be: a full-length feature film in 3D.

I have just opened up the official Arise Store, where fans can purchase T-shirts, hats, Christmas ornaments, posters, and more. Every purchase of $20 or more will get a free download link for the Arise short film.

What about you? Where did you come from and where are you going?

JR: As far as myself and my background, I’m 31 years old, a recent graduate (Cum Laude) of the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia (majored in film, minored in sequential art), and a HUGE fan of zombie films and horror as a whole. Since graduating I’ve founded my own art studio, Satyrn Studios, as well as co-founding a movie production and visual fx company called Multiverse Multimedia. I fancy myself a writer/director and once Arise is finished, I plan to move forward with an epic fantasy/sci-fi franchise called Skull Hunters.

Looks like Arise is a franchise it will be worth keeping an eye on.

The Original Comic (click to enlarge):

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Comic Concept Art:

Images from the Film:

Weekend Fright Flick: Frantic Undead

Robert Hood — Sat, 29 May 2010 02:26:00 +0000

This weekend’s journey into monstrosity comes from artist Maxwell Perry, whom we featured earlier in the week for his upcoming giant squid animated short called, not inappropriately, Giant Squid. In that article I promised you a look at his previous film, an animated zombie film — Frantic Undead (US-2009; short [8.35 min.]).

Here’s what he told us about it:

The idea for Frantic Undead came after I participated in a charity benefit zombie-walk in 2008. I was working in my studio one day thereafter and started drawing on my digital tablet. What I ended up with eventually became the scene where Ethyl chops one of the zombie’s arms off as they try to smash through the bedroom door.

I had a few scenes together in no time, and a few weeks later I had the original trailer for Frantic Undead. Actually, the first trailer was made before there was even a script for the film. Fortunately, I was aware, even at that point, that what I wanted out of the project was to create an old school 1970s style cabin-in-the-woods zombie cartoon.

After I worked on it for about three months, some friends of mine came over to voice-over the entire script. I used my dining room as a recording studio. It’s a little funny really. Here we were doing take after take, screaming obscenities at the top of our lungs, at my dining room table with a microphone between us in the middle of the day. It wasn’t exactly “The Simpsons,” but of course, that was never really the idea.

[Pictured below is the voice cast, obviously worn out from chowing down on all the blood and human flesh: from left to right, Jason, Lauren, Anna, Max:]

Frantic Undead contains lots of cartoon gore and cannibal zombie action, so as Perry says, “if you’re the type of person that enjoys a good laugh during an especially gory horror film”, then you’ll enjoy Frantic Undead.

So grab your gun and shoot for the head!

Trailer:

The Full-Length Short — Frantic Undead:

Thanks to Maxwell Perry and Avery Guerra.

Weekend Fright Flick: Skeleton Dance, La Bicha, Miracle Fish

Robert Hood — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:03:08 +0000

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Undead Backbrain’s Weekend Fright Flick.

First off, a cartoon. “The Skeleton Dance” (1929) was directed by Walt Disney but created by Ub Iwerks as chief animator. Iwerks was a frequent associate of Walt Disney who is also responsible for one of my favourite cartoons, “Balloon Land” (1935), featuring the very sinister Pincushion Man. “The Skeleton Dance” was the first of Disney’s “Silly Symphonies”.

Synopsis:

The clock strikes midnight, the bats fly from the belfry, a dog howls at the full moon, and two black cats fight in the cemetery: a perfect time for four skeletons to come out and dance a bit.

Next, a faux trailer for a film titled La Bicha (Spain-2006; short [1:47 min]; dir. Paco Rocha), which works as a short film in its own right. It was nominated for Jury Award for Best Animation Short Film at ’06 Edition of “Notodofilmfest, Festival Jameson de Cine Destilado”. Script is by Juan Fernando García and Paco Rocha, based on and idea from J. F. García and Paco Villanueva, with sound, editing and post-production by Juanjo de Latorre.

Synopsis:

The trailer for a 1968 Spanish movie based upon the dropped atom bomb incident two years before on the Palomares Coast. Born of the radiation, a giant reptile rises from the sea.

Our main feature this week is Miracle Fish (Australia-2009; short [17:42 min]; dir. Luke Doolan). It has won several awards, including the BAFTA/LA Award for Excellence.

Synopsis:

Eight-year-old Joe has a birthday he will never forget. After friends tease him, he sneaks off to the sick bay, wishing everyone in the world would go away. He wakes up to find his dream may have become a reality.

Sources/Acknowledgements: “The Skeleton Dance” — IMDb; BoingBoing via Cat Sparks; “La Bicha” — notodoflimfest.com, YouTube entry information, Juanjo de Latorre’s MySpace page via Avery; “Miracle Fish” — IMDb, QOOB: The Digital Factory via Avery.

War of the Worlds: Goliath of a Trailer

Robert Hood — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:54:41 +0000

War of the Worlds: Goliath (US-[in production for 2010]; dir. Joe Pearson) is “a 90-minute, animated, steampunk epic of war, comradeship and courage under fire”, based on H.G. Wells’ iconic Martian invasion novel, War of the Worlds. (See Robot War Espresso for our previous article on it, including lots of artwork.)

The basic scenario?

In 1900, the Earth was attacked by ruthless invaders from the planet Mars. The Martian’s 80 ft tall, heat-ray spewing, Tripod battle machines laid waste to the planet, but the invaders ultimately fell prey to Earth’s tiny bacteria.

Fourteen years later, Man has rebuilt his shattered world, in large part by utilizing captured Martian technology. Equipped with giant, steam-powered Tripod battle machines, the international rapid reaction force, A.R.E.S., is Mankind’s first line of defense against the return of the rapacious Martian invaders. Based in a massive fortress complex at the south end of Manhattan Island, the young warriors of A.R.E.S. train under the leadership of Secretary of War, Theodore Roosevelt, and the grim General Kushnirov.

And return the Martians do. The rematch finds the multinational squad of the A.R.E.S. battle Tripod “Goliath” on the front-lines of a vicious interplanetary offensive when the Martian invaders launch their second invasion using even more advanced alien technology. In the crucible of combat, this young team helming the mighty Goliath will be tested to the limits of their endurance and courage as they fight for Mankind’s very survival under the onslaught of an implacable enemy. (HeavyMetal)

The film’s steampunk aesthetics look great, as does the animation now that we have a chance to see it in a just released trailer. Check it out:

It’s not hard to see the influence of Japanese anime in this — not that that’s a problem. War of the Worlds: Goliath certainly looks to be of the highest quality. In the end, whether the scripting proves to be equally successful will determine where the movie will fit in the pantheon of scifi animation, the upper echelons of which are at present dominated by the Japanese.

Produced by Tripod Entertainment, War of the Worlds: Goliath is being directed by animation veteran Joe Pearson (Epoch Ink Animation), and written by accomplished wordsmith, David Abramowitz (Highlander). Featuring the voice talents of Adrian Paul, Peter Wingfield, Adam Baldwin, Elizabeth Gracen, Jim Byrnes and many others, the movie is being storyboarded and designed by an international team of top artists and designers, and is being animated in a state-of-the art combination of CG and traditional cel animation in Seoul, South Korea. Audio and video post-production including music score, sound design, voice direction, mixing, visual effects and editing will be done by the best studios in Southeast Asia, Imaginex Studios and BaseCamp Films. (HeavyMetal)

Behind the Scenes: can be accessed from this page.

Gallery:

Sources: Joe Pearson; Heavy Metal website (including Production Blog and Gallery; Official website

Simon’s Cat: Fly Guy

Robert Hood — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:36:41 +0000

Yay! Another Simon’s Cat cartoon has appeared. Love ‘em!

More Simon’s Cat

Ub Iwerks’ Balloon Land (1935)

Robert Hood — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:02:11 +0000

This is one of my favourite cartoons – funny, cute and very sinister all at once. If your download rate can take it, hit the “HQ” button and watch the Pincushion Man do his thing in high quality.

Balloon Land [aka The Pincushion Man] (US-1953; dir. Ub Iwerks)

Synopsis:

High in the air floats Balloon Land, where everyone and everything is a balloon. The people, the animals, the trees and even the rocks are filled with nothing but air. Even the movie stars, such as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, are balloons. The citizens of Balloon Land have but one mortal enemy: the Pincushion Man, who lives in the forest. A foolhardy young boy takes his girlfriend into the forest, determined to show he’s not afraid of the Pincushion Man. The boy and girl are nearly popped when the evil creature comes after them. They manage to escape into the seeming safety of the city. But the wily Pincushion Man tricks a guard into letting him in. It will take an army of Balloon soldiers to get rid of this threat. (IMDb)

I used this as the basis of a horror story once — “Beware! The Pincushionman” — which appeared in Southern Blood, edited by Bill Congreve (Sandglass Publishing, 2003), an excellent anthology that is, I believe, still available. In my story the Pincushionman becomes a delusional metaphor for failure and drug addiction.

Weekend Fright Flicks: Gadzooky and Dracenstein

Robert Hood — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:06:18 +0000

I was distracted and busy last weekend and completely neglected to put up a Weekend Fright Flick program. Never mind. As some sort of recompense, here is a double feature — both minimalist animation.

First up, a giant monster epic: Gadzooky (US; dir. Mike Van Cleave)

Synopsis:

The KING of the giant super-atomic fire breathing prehistoric monsters is loose in our world! (Before you start anything, we know the name was used. This is better. Scroom!) Action! Thrills! Destruction! Mad monsters!

Next, Tasmanian mad-scientist horror!

Dracenstein (Aust; dir. Tom Priestley and Bill Flowers)

Synopsis:

A mad scientist’s life turns pear-shaped after accidentally installing a vampire brain in his monster creation.

You can read Jeff Ritchie’s review on the ScaryMinds website if you’d like a bit more background on the film.

King Klunk

Robert Hood — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:33:18 +0000

Here’s a rarity. In 1933, after the release of the classic giant monster film, King Kong, Walter Lantz (of Woody Woodpecker fame) released a parody of the giant-ape-in-love epic. As you’ll see, it follows the bare outline of the plot, adding typical Lantz comic exaggerations. It has been accused of racism in its depiction of the natives, but that strikes me as overly sensitive – it being made in the early ’30s and in the context of a cartoon satire directed not at the natives at all, but at King Kong, the film. Lantz, in fact, has been quoted as saying he thought that Kong was a stupid film, which is why he chose to parody it.

Source: YouTube, but the cartoon is available on the Woody Woodpecker DVD Collection.

Zombie Son

Robert Hood — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:06:21 +0000

Click to make it bigger.

Source: Red Meat. Thanks, Sean.