Animation Monday

I was going to post the link and talk about the clip for the new Laika Animated film, Coraline, but it’s been all over the place, and basically the debate boils down to people who like stop motion and want it to look more stop-motiony, and those who don’t. I think it’s hard to sell a stop motion film with a human lead. Nightmare Before Christmas shines brighter because of the characters and the fact you don’t need them to emote, act and look human. When I saw the clip I wondered - why not use motion-capture and use real humans? When I read the book years ago, there was nothing about it that demanded animation, especially stop motion. Add to that the danger of using Neil Gaiman material as a starting point and I’m not sure what to expect. I hold out hope for it.

How about some really great pencil tests? I love scrubbing through YouTube and finding this stuff.  I guess this is a demo reel from animator Pedro Daniel Garcia. Some really great stuff. I always think pencil tests look better then most finished animation.