RubberOnion Animation Podcast

While there weren't a lot of media type animation stories (except for The Good Dinosaur trailer which is covered), that didn't stop this episode from turning into one of the more interesting ones filled will discussions over the roll cartoons play in a child's development, the nature of copyright in the internet age, why the Surface Pro 4 is a sign that Microsoft is doing more for the creatives of today than Apple... oh and there's an Emoji movie being developed... which ALSO turned into an interesting discussion over public domain stories! We also field a question about if these two 2D (hand-drawn) animators would/will ever dabble in 3D (computer modeling). Enjoy the last week of "Stephen's traveling audio" because next week I'll be back in the office and I'll be crystal clear!

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Annotations: (16:34) THE GOOD DINOSAUR trailer (29:04) Sony Pictures producing Emoji movie after winning bidding war (41:35) Surface Pro 4 projection details (46:03) Copyright law scare (again) (53:48) Plump cartoon characters might influence overeating in kids, says Colorado State researchers (1:05:05) RAPID FIRE!!!!! (1:13:37) AUDIENCE QUESTION: "Would you ever/have you ever considered dabbling in 3D animation like with Maya or Cinema4D, seeing as that's just another medium that's still animation?" ~Mike Pindara

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=

The creators of the hit animated short COIN and their newest short BOLTRON NINJA MASSACRE, Chris Burns and Bob Fox of Exit 73 Studios talk to the podcast about their history, methods, goals, and video games (because of course)! We cover how COIN came to be, what prompted the creation of BOLTRON NINJA MASSACRE, how they work together to actually make those awesome shorts, the two-letter onomatopoeia that really tick Chris off and a TON more! We hope you enjoy this episode and are inspired by their tight teamwork and vision. Chris and Bob were great to talk to and if you stay until the end, there's a special surprise for regulars. It's a song. Did I spoil it?

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Annotations: (4:30) Why the name "Exit 73" (5:30) The creation of Exit 73 Studios (9:50) Chris Burns' time at Augenblick Studios (12:35) Why they decided to get a dedicated studio space (14:00) Their early work up on YouTube (especially Detectaholic) (17:08) COIN! Where the idea came from, video games references and the workflow used (23:36) The many talents of animator Bob Fox (including music, sound effects, coding...) (28:00) How does Exit 73 Studios get work? (31:16) What is a normal day like? (35:13) A discussion on past versions of Flash and their preference (38:30) BOLTRON NINJA MASSACRE! (40:33) What led to the decision to make BOLTRON in pixel art (42:00) The "8bit Breakdown" experience and a discussion on the wrath of YouTube comments (43:45 Stephen reads a YouTube comment) (45:56) Where the idea for BOLTRON came from (46:40) Chris Burns breaks my brain with a revelation on his workflow (55:00) Bob Fox's music for BOLTRON NINJA MASSACRE (56:00) Our most satisfying moments of the short and a discussion about Mortal Kombat (59:29) Their new project -- BOLTRON NINJA MASSACRE playable video game! (1:04:00) Addressing the possibility for a COIN 2 and a COIN video game (1:05:09) BRUTUS THE BOUND! (1:09:13) Their dream job and a discussion on what pitching concepts to big studios is like (1:13:27) What is their next step (1:14:55) How many minutes of animation they produce a year, on average (1:16:05) What is it that makes the two of them work so well as a team (1:21:25) Their HE-MAN designs and whatever came of that gig (1:23:28) The two-letter YouTube comment that drove Chris crazy (1:24:20) AUDIENCE QUESTION "I know they animated COIN using Flash. [BOLTRON NINJA MASSACRE] has more of a pixel art aesthetic. Flash is usually known for clean brushwork and nice smooth lines, how were they able to achieve that very retro 16-bit look in Flash?" ~Chris (1:28:12) AUDIENCE QUESTION "What was/is the ups and downs that they deal with in the studio?" ~Ronald (1:29:47) AUDIENCE QUESTION "What is that 'glue' that joins them together as a team? How are those different backgrounds affecting the direction towards Exit 73 Studios is moving?" ~Juan #1 (1:32:29) AUDIENCE QUESTION "Have they found a way to work simultaneously on a single project or are they continuously jumping between different projects as soon as one of them gets done with his assigned task?" ~Juan #2 (1:33:39) AUDIENCE QUESTION "How do they manage their time between commissions and personal projects? How do they join forces to get things done in the quickest way possible?" ~Juan #3 (1:35:27) AUDIENCE QUESTION "Are there any advice they can give us on starting an animation studio? Especially in terms of finding the right people to work with!" ~Juan #4 (1:37:15) Exit 73 Studios wants your portfolios! (1:40:40) OUTRO: Follow Exit 73 Studios on their website, facebook, twitter and Bob Fox's Soundcloud (1:42:51) Rob's suggestion for a studio name-change... ... and stay until the end for more music by Bob Fox!

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=

Comic Con was this weekend and we try to cover the MANY stories that came from that: trailers, movie/series announcements, crossover comics, etc. Not to mention the stories that came out during the week not linked to the event like Harry Shearer coming back to "The Simpsons." I'm also still on the road, so I've left Rob back in NY for a trip out to the IL where I am recording with Pat in his house... or as Rob like's to call it, "The Ryan's Den!" It's a pretty energetic episode this week so enjoy the excitement -- I hope it's contagious.

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Annotations: (7:59) Harry Shearer returns to the THE SIMPSONS (10:38) New GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY animated series poster (13:01) TRANSFORMERS: COMBINER WARS comes to Machinima (15:59) Brad Bird's THE IRON GIANT is getting re-released in theaters (20:11) DEADPOOL trailer (28:30) SUICIDE SQUAD trailer (35:16) THE KILLING JOKE is being made into an Animated Movie (along with 2 other original DC stories) (41:59) BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE trailer (53:20) New Animated Web Series VIXEN trailer (59:07) TMNT / Batman crossover comic is happening (1:07:30) Hugh Jackman teases OLD MAN LOGAN as his last Wolverine film (1:19:15) Crackle animated series SUPERMANSION trailer (1:24:46) CBBC animated series DANGER MOUSE trailer (1:28:12) John C. Reilly teases WRECK-IT RALPH 2 (1:32:33) ADVENTURE TIME will have a fully stop-motion episode (1:36:26) Hayao Miyazaki is making a CGI film for the Studio Ghibli museum (1:40:13) Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, passes away at age 55 (1:41:23) SHOUTOUTS: Ronald Estid Chaparro, Andrew Kaiko, Chris McEwan, Kristen Loader, Martin Bell, Samuel L. Albro, Lamont Wayne, and Timothy Bergeron

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=

There are some amazing fan art topics this week! The BARTKIRA trailer was finally posted, Ave Espelita created a CGI tribute to Samurai Jack and Andrew Kaiko illustrates an INSIDE OUT / LOONEY TUNES mashup! We also talk about a classic Disney attraction closing at what used to be MGM and a discussion about the new Boomerang shows preview images response. Happy Wednesday! Here... have a podcast.

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Annotations: (13:59) BARTKIRA trailer (22:08) CGI Samurai Jack tribute animation by Ave Espelita (34:03) The Magic of Disney Animation attraction is closing (39:30) TOP CAT prequel trailer (48:59) Artella collab site (1:04:49) New WB Animation on Boomerang: Bunnicula, Wabbit and Scooby-Doo (1:24:46) SHOUTOUT to Andrew Kaiko for his INSIDE OUT / LOONEY TUNES fan art

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=

By request, here is a spoiler FREE review of Disney Pixar's INSIDE OUT!! We don't stop there though, there are things to say about the animated short "Lava" ahead of the movie as well as an open discussion about Pixar in general. This was a really great week for art and storytelling so I love episodes like this! There are some other topics covered (which you can see in the annotations below) as well as a Rapid Fire segment and a shoutout about some fan art done which you can see below!

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Annotations: (9:56) Pat's opinion on THE PEANUTS MOVIE trailer from last week (19:47) Our Spoiler Free INSIDE OUT review!! (49:23) Discussing the animated short "Lava" before the movie (59:37) Open discussion about Pixar (1:13:21) RAPID FIRE!!!!!! (1:21:16) SHOUTOUT to Matthew Robert Davies

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=

I (Stephen) am back in NY on my new Wacom Companion 2 and it actually handled the recording and editing rather well! Rob and I talk 3 trailers, 2 series announcements, 3 audience questions and many more stories in our Rapid Fire segment! Of the trailers, "Peanuts" absolutely blew us away (retroactive spoiler alert). I also take the beginning of the podcast to talk about the Wacom Companion 2 and Adobe Flash CC 2015. You can check out the images under the annotations for a quick look at a weird bug I encountered and the symptom solution in Windows 8.1.

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Annotations: (4:54) Stephen got a Wacom Companion 2 and Flash CC 2015 (23:00) PEANUTS trailer #3 (39:27) THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS teaser trailer (49:34) Kung Fu Panda 3 teaser trailer (1:01:15) New POWERPUFF GIRLS series with new lead voice cast (1:12:02) New THREE STOOGES series from Titmouse Inc (1:16:03) RAPID FIRE (1:29:20) Audience Question: “We all heard the comment 'It looked good on paper, but the execution was bad/terrible or the idea didn't live up to certain standards or etc.' Did you guys ever come across those scenarios? How did you learn to over come them?" ~Ronald Estid Chaparro (1:34:59) Audience Question: “Do you guys ever get annoyed whenever someone says something 'isn't original, and thus, why I hate it already?' I'm getting very tired of that, especially from critics.” ~Andrew Kaiko (1:40:02) Audience Question: “What projects, movies, TV show's, etc. that had you say [it looked good on paper but not in execution]? What changes would you each have like to see happen before the product was finished or after seeing the product?” ~Ronald Estid Chaparro

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=

This week we have a special interview with animator Robb Pratt ("Superman Classic," "Flash Gordon Classic"). We talked about how and why he started the Classic series, his thoughts on Superman as a character, Flash Gordon and how he relates to Star Wars, various trials and tribulations navigating the business world of animation entertainment, his recent work on "Wabbit" (the Bugs Bunny animated shorts show) and his absolute love of story and art! Robb was very generous with his time and couldn't have been more fun to talk to. In particular, I loved his insights into the character relation between Bugs Bunny and Superman, the analysis of the Rancor pit scene from "Return of the Jedi" and how he got that creepy voice effect in "Bizarro Classic." Check out his YOUTUBE CHANNEL, WEBSITE and TWITTER for all things Robb Pratt!

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Annotations: (6:03) Why Robb is spelled with two B's (7:08) How the Classic series started and what impact it had (15:14) Bugs Bunny shorts, "Wabbit" (22:25) Car Guy, road rage shorts (23:50) Why Robb started making Indie shorts in the first place & partial career discussion (30:48) How Robb got into animation & further career discussion (32:32) 1940s classic style is without cynicism and what that really means (37:59) Flash Gordon & Star Wars talk (40:31) "Bizarro Classic" (46:31) What draws Robb to the classic style (50:43) "Flash Gordon Classic"s increased scope & background discussion (53:30) Robb on his friendship with John Newton ("Superboy") (55:25) Discussion about Film Fests (57:39) Discussing the possibility of sales (1:00:25) Interpreting Superman (1:02:00) Audience Question #1: "With great classics like Superman and Flash Gordon under your belt, are they're any other franchises you'd like to make an animation for?" ~Chris Guido (1:04:42) ROBB vs ROB! The showdown! (1:11:56) Audience Question #2: "When story-boarding and coming up with ideas for the "Classics" shorts what kinds of things are you looking to achieve overall? For instance is it mostly about re-capturing the nostalgic feel of those old cartoons? Or do you focus more on challenging your own skills, trying things that you may not have had the chance to animate before?" ~Bobby Baxter (1:16:28) Audience Question #3: "Has he ever seen the Filmation Flash Gordon series and what was his opinion about their take on the character? What is his work flow and what software does he use? Has he thought of doing a full 30 min. episode or feature film (if he was able to get the funding and rights)? What does he have planned next?" ~Timothy Bergeron

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=

An animated bomb called "Klaus" was dropped on the community this week screaming that hand-drawn animation can visually compete with CG in today's climate. And then the creator, Sergio Pablos, says that he'll talk about the techniques used to create the short trailer at an Annecy talk. That's about as close to a mic-drop as we get in the animation field... so we talk about it... a lot! Other stories include Pixar's "The Good Dinosaur" teaser, Mega Man getting a TV show, Disney adapting another animation into live-action and a bunch more actually (which is why this episode is almost 2.5hrs long)! Also, I drop an announcement this week about the special episode we have coming NEXT week so be sure to listen for that and send me all your questions via this blog post comment section and/or the #RubberOnionPodcast tag on Twitter and Facebook. To the show!!

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Annotations: (16:06) KLAUS teaser short animation is beautifully and mysteriously hand-drawn (1:02:02) Pixar's THE GOOD DINOSAUR teaser (1:16:57) Man of Action developing MEGA MAN TV-series coming out 2017 (1:24:13) Disney's adapting FANTASIA's 'Night on Bald Mountain' sequence into full-length, live-action feature film (1:30:47) TANGLED TV-series coming out 2017 (1:42:27) Netflix orders 4 new animated kid shows (1:54:23) RAPID FIRE!!! (2:03:10) Audience Question: "Who would be in your dream team in making a animated film? (Directors, Writers, FX , Voice actors, etc.)" ~Ronald Estid Chaparro (2:09:06) Audience Question: "What type of animation trope would you each like to not see on the air or on the web? And most important, film?" ~Ronald Estid Chaparro (2:15:28) Shoutouts! Alex Miller, Benjamin Shelley and Sam Albro

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=

With Stephen and Rob taking on this episode alone with only their wits to guide them, stumble they do into a discussion about how and when to charge for your animated content thanks to a Vanity Fair interview of Don Hertzfeldt. We also field a question at the end about whether a listener should go into Freelance, move to a different city for a salary job or both. It's an all your-stories episode this week so strap in for the shoutouts and name drops!

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Annotations: (13:42) Dreamworks tapped Jason Reitman to write/direct adaptation of "The Adventures of Beekle" (15:58) Anime Studio 11 streamlines production for various types of animation (18:13) Oscar Nominee Don Hertzfeldt interview on Vanity Fair (59:54) "Kung Fury" (1:07:06) Charter Communications acquiring Time Warner Cable in $78.7 billion deal (1:09:58) Trailer for Blender’s New Open Source Film ‘Cosmos Laundromat’ (1:14:03) Patrick Osborne ("Paperman") and Aardman Join Google’s Spotlight Series (1:17:36) WIA (Women in Animation) getting spotlight at Annecy (1:24:02) King and Country Creates Main Title Sequence For History’s ‘Texas Rising’ (1:27:07) Warner Bros. & DC Entertainment Launch New Global Sites (1:28:27) Audience Question: "For nostalgic purposes, what animated show would you each like to see have a second run on air or on the web?" ~Ronald Estid Chaparro (1:29:49) Audience Question: "...I find animation jobs very hard to find locally and I'm constantly feeling torn between starting my own freelance work online or moving to where the work is and trying to get into the industry... Does anyone else struggle with this? Advice on personal skills sets for both? Pros and Cons for relocating? Do some people do both (industry and freelance)?" ~Kristen Loader

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=

This week's episode is discussing ALL VIDEOS. We have four main stories made up of 6 videos (embedded below): three CN pilots, Muppets trailer, a French student film & Robb Pratt's excellent "Flash Gordon Classic." If that wasn't enough, in the Rapid Fire segment has even more videos to embed (4 to be exact) and a discussion about studio expansions, Cannes, Disney's upcoming animated films and SO. MUCH. MORE!!

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Annotations: (7:25) Cartoon network posts three cartoon pilots (26:15) The Muppets (ABC) trailer (40:51) French student film “Celles et Ceux des Cimes et Cieux” (“Girls and Guys from the Summits and the Skies”) by Gwenn Germain (47:29) Flash Gordon Classic animated short by Robb Pratt (1:06:14) RAPID FIRE!!!!!!!!! (1:37:38) Shoutouts! Chris McEwan (who's graduating this year), Chris Kennet (who did art for "The Empire Strikes Back" Little Golden Book), and to those who showed love on a specific Facebook post this week: Jeff Young-Sterling, Chris Guido, Mike Pindara, Juan Sebastián Bossano, and Kristen Loader.

Check out more of your hosts:Stephen Brooks (@RubberOnion)Rob Yulfo (@RobYulfo)Pat Ryan (@TheBadPatRyan)And please Rate/Review us on iTunes & Rate/Review on Stitcher while you're at it (=