Dope Sheets: An Animation Blog

Dec 2

purplepeepbits:

So my plush are still being sold exclusively at Qpop shop and they have just updated their website with said plush! Just in time for Christmas! These are extremely exclusive as there are only 500 of these made! Be sure to get a hold of them before they’re gone! 

SLOTH KAZOO PLUSH @ QPOP IS HERE

JIPPO GLIDER PLUSH @ QPOP IS HERE 

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Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays. I’m aware it’s been a long time since Dope Sheets has been updated in any manner or form. Remedying this, here’s an excellent gift for someone close to your heart for the Holidays. These limited edition plushes from Tara Billinger, character designer for Disney TVA, are excellent for collectors, fans of her exceptionally stylized and often quirky work, or simply the sloth and sugar glider enthusiast in your family. They are being sold exclusively through QPOP, where you can also find Billinger’s prints, as well as work from numerous other artists that will make jaw-dropping and thoughtful gifts for anyone on your list.

You can find more of Tara Billinger’s work here.



May 25

Cartoon Network/Hanna Barbera Promo #3

They Might Be Giants-Night Terrors

As a kid growing up in an immense family of artists, I can safely say They Might Be Giants could be found amplifying through the walls quite regularly. I can still remember how exuberant I was upon first seeing framed TMBG banner appear at the opening of this short, especially for what was one of my favorite cartoons of the time. The third short in our CN/HB Promo series.

May 25

-Cartoon Network/Hanna-Barbera Promo #2
Calexico


Calexico is a treat to hear play, but it is especially enjoyable when accompanied by the artistic stylings of this interpretation of Quick Draw McGraw. One of my favorite aspects of coming across the nostalgic is the little ways in which it may surprise you. Perusing through our newly found collection of CN goodies, we came across more than a few choice examples of some of our favorite artists performing for these Hanna-Barbera promos! The second in our short series of CN/HB promos.

May 25

-Cartoon Network/Hanna Barbera Promo #1
Pain “Running Under Water”

Rummaging around Youtube with my fiance, we found a collection of old Cartoon Network promos featuring modernized versions of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons that showed as commercials during the 90s. We decided it would be great to give a bit of nostalgia by posting them to the blog, it goes without saying that once we realized how long it had been since these originally aired and we had initially seen them, we felt relatively aged in comparison. Starting off in the short series of Cartoon Network/Hanna Barbera promos is my personal favorite of the bunch: Pain’s Running Under Water, directed by Jones Odell.

May 22

-Motorcity

I often hear complaints from my generation regarding the deterioration of the quality of animation in modern television. Whenever this statement is made to me, a few choice (and often short lived) works begin to stampede through my mind: Symbionic Titan, Chowder, and a few other rather successful pieces, such as The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. After having seen the first episode of Motorcity (airing on Disney XD), I feel I can already safely state that this will be added to the list of prime examples of fine animation still maintaining itself on the airwaves, for not only the current generation, but for even matured animation fans to enjoy.

May 16

-Peg McClure

House Cats

I felt this was appropriate to post, following the previous entry relating to Gay Purree, as I always felt the black cat was reminiscent of the Money Cats in design, movement,and even accompanying music. What truly pulls this piece together is simply the absolute minimalism of it, which has worked for numerous animated shorts prior to it (early Pink Panther as one shining example), allowing the simplistic character designs to have open reign of their limitless surroundings. The short aired on Nickelodeon in the 90s.

-Gay Purr-ee UPA Studios/Warner Bros I came across this fabulous painting based off of the “Money Cats” scene from the UPA Studios and Warner Bros’ 1962 piece Gay Purree. The scene was painted by Corny Cole (who also worked on The Prince and the Cobbler, as well as Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland), and was showcased at the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Science in Beverly Hills, for the exhibit “Ink and Paint: The Art of Hand Drawn Animation” .
May 16

-Gay Purr-ee

UPA Studios/Warner Bros

I came across this fabulous painting based off of the “Money Cats” scene from the UPA Studios and Warner Bros’ 1962 piece Gay Purree. The scene was painted by Corny Cole (who also worked on The Prince and the Cobbler, as well as Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland), and was showcased at the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Science in Beverly Hills, for the exhibit “Ink and Paint: The Art of Hand Drawn Animation” .

May 16

-Fleet Foxes

The Shrine/An Argument

There is a fine line between that which is beautiful, and that which is unsettling. Often times art can leave one feeling conflicted as to which side of the fence the viewer struggles to lean towards; however, in Fleet Foxes’ The Shrine/An Argument there is no line to cross between, the viewer is both unsettled by how beautiful it is, and finds beauty in that which unsettles them. The video was directed by Sean Pecknold (incidentally, he is also the brother of Fleet Foxes’ frontman).

May 16

-Fears of the Dark

Prima Linea Productions

Without a doubt one of my favorite movies, Peur(s) Du Noir, or Fear(s) of the Dark, is a masterful assembly of the darkness that lurks beneath the human subconscious, being released in one of the most expressive forms imaginable. A collection of six artists from around the world taking on the concept of illustrated horror: Charles Burns, Blutch, Marie Calliou, Pierre Disciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard Mcguire envelop the viewer in mortifying tales of terror that are only matched by the individual beauty of each piece. Luckily for you, Netflix does carry a subtitled copy of this film to be delivered to your home if you are unable to acquire it by other means.

May 16

-Derek Yaniger

Artist Bio: “Okey Dokey Doggie Daddy, lemme give ya’ the skinny on what makes me tick tock. I sprung off my squawkers in 1960 in SwineCity Arkansas. Once I ponied up the bread, I split. I blew into Atlanta ‘round the mid ’80s and gotta gig scratchin’ out art at a local sweatshop. I copped a squat there for 3 years but the cabbage was like, nowheresville, so I just had to cut out. I gave that nogoodnik from creepsville the heave-ho. I still roost in Georgia but nowadays I print my own foldin’ green. Over the past 20 years, give or take, I’ve rolled out chicken scratchins for some way solid big wigs like Marvel Comics and Cartoon Network. Today I spend my dims and brights pedalin’ my art to such mags as Atomic, Barracuda, and Car Kulture Deluxe. I also land a lot of gigs doin’ prints for shows like Tiki Oasis, Hukilau, and the Wild Weekend. Once you get a load of my art I hope you dig it the most. If it really flips your wig and you want me to scrawl somethin’ out just for you, snap the whip, I’l make the trip. Here’s wishin’ you a one way ticket to Flipsville. Plant ya’ now, dig ya’ later!”-Derek Yaniger




I, for one, love coming across such gems as 1950s concept illustration, and Derek Yaniger’s body of work is a jackpot of nostalgia. Yaniger’s work not only transitions classic style, but a type of rhythm and beat that one can almost hear roaring throughout his illustrations. From rockabilly to jazz, from hot rods to voodoo, Yaniger covers endearing and divinely playful flashbacks to lose one’s self in.


You can find more of Yaniger’s art here

May 16

-The BlackHeart Gang
Referenced from DUCK Studios

The Blackheart Gang’s Tale of How is undeniably a short film that one watching will remember for the rest of their life. It is hauntingly beautiful, from the elaborate, almost Victorian flowing, and maliciously twisting forms of the character and background designs, to the melancholy and forlorn tunes of the operatic narrators. I had initially seen this film in 2008 on Nickelodeon’s Animation Fest, and in the past four years, it has maintained itself as one of my (it not the) absolute favorite examples of the excelling factors of animation.

You can find more of The BlackHeart Gang’s work here

May 16

-Zach Bellissimo
Referenced from Cartoon Brew

     Bellissimo presents his gorgeously stylized, and hauntingly enjoyable short film, Blenderstein. One of the most endearing aspects of the film is how comedy and horror are perfectly combined with one another, managing to produce a piece that will both make you squeamish, but as well leave you chuckling for more macabre antics throughout it. The character designs are colorful, distorted, and dramatic, (this as well applies for the gorgeous backdrops used for the scenery) and immensely bring to life the story of the unfortunate heroine, a mad doctor, and Blenderstein himself.

You can find more of Zach Bellissimo’s work here