Mike Geiger's Olympic Spirit

New one from Mike Geiger, this time it's a take on the whole Olympic funding thing. I think what Mike has to say here is pretty evident in the animation. Actually, this nicely animated piece of social disturbance was created in conjunction with CITIZENShift, "a National Film Board of Canada website dedicated to citizen engagement and social change." Nice to see the NFB continues to give citizens a voice...written, spoken, filmed or in this case, animated. Good on ya!

Either way, it's typical Geiger goofiness, and nicely done. Check out Mike's other animations on his YouTube page, and check out CITIZENShift, see if you want to contribute. More to come!

UPDATE- Fergot, check out Mike's Blog as well!

Despicable Me: Minions vs. Rabbids FIGHT!

The new Universal feature "Despicable Me" opens soon, a story about the world's #2 supervillain vying for the top-dog position...there's a heartwarming life-affirming tale with 3 orphans mixed in there somewheres. My big thing right now is not the film's main character, but his homies.

Seems the second banana has cooked up some groovy lil' henchman. Now, you get your inspiration where you can find it, hell knows my GUNBunnies short cribs from Robotech and Macross and Gundam (oh, my!). But...well, you be the judge. Here's a promo film featuring a bit o' comic biz with the Minions.



Now here's a bit of goofy goodness featuring Michel Ancel's Rabbid characters, stars of the Ubisoft video game series.



Mebbe it's the non-verbal facial mugging, the deadpan-to-manic delivery or the proportions of the characters, but if the ol' production lounge over at Illumination Ent. doesn't have a Wii and a copy of 'Rabbids Go Home' in it, I'll eat my dog bowl. Whaddya think? Comments welcome, people. More to come!

Animator needs funds badly!

O.k., mebbe not badly, but animator Nick Cross, he of 'Waif of Persephone' and 'Yellow Cake' fame, does need your help. He's started his latest opus, 'The Pig Farmer' and needs people to pitch in a few bucks to help him fund the production. He's got various levels of funding, and if you can see your way to sending him at least 25 dollars, he'll give you a credit in the film! Payday is comin', so pony up a few dollars so we can see Nick's latest sooner rather than later. More to come! Oh, and thanks to Aaron Simpson for the heads up. For anyone not familiar with Nick's work, witness 'Yellow Cake', posted below. Enjoy!

U900

A lil' treat today courtesy of fellow blogger John Martz and Japanese Uke masters U900. Check out this sweet lil' video...cute as hell, simple but nicely animated, damn clever. Their ukulele treatment of old American guitar instrumentals is damn infectious. Check out their MySpace page for more crocheted ukulele goodness. More to come!

Jonathan Amitay strips down to the truth

Just heard from TAIS member and gentle, retiring soul Jonathan Amitay, who is under the weather due to having to go under the knife. Wish him well, dammit! Here's his 2007 take on the ol' 'Emperor's New Clothes' chestnut, which he gives his usual life-affirming touch.

O.k., enough with the sarcasm. Jon's stock n' trade is political commentary...he's one of those guys who can't help but comment on the state of the world and mankind's self-abusive nature, and it informs everything he does, including his dark but apt take on an old classic fairy-tale which is supposed to be a funny story about a naked fat guy. I'll have a full profile of Jon and maybe some new stuff of his to show you, just as soon as he's feeling a bit better. More to come!