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crazy man About a month ago, I was watching a special "animation" presentation by Roger Ebert. It was pretty much whatever business -- he mispronounced Matt Groening's name, he discussed the typical banalities of animation history, he quickly addressed the intriguing aspects of animation history, et cetera. The only really interesting part of the special was the clip from "Iron Giant," an animated film being released by (if I'm not mistaken) Warner Bros this summer. It looks absolutely amazing, moving away from the simplistic formula that guides most children's animated films today. It also presented interesting architectural and layout designs, with the structure of the giant a fusion of organic and industrial shapes.
Other than that short clip, the show was worthwhile for one minor detail. Ebert launched into a segment on Japanese animation and its profound influence on American animation in recent years -- how, for example, the "large-eyed" design of baby Tarzan reflects the exaggerated emotion presented in many Japanese cartoons and comics. He prefaced these comments by educating the American public, a true public service if there ever was one.
Holding his hands about a foot apart, Ebert enunciated slowly, "Japanese animation is known as 'anime.' And anime is spelled like this..." White letters appeared between his palms: A-N-I-M-E. As his lesson concluded, Ebert smiled like a wacky pumpkin and proceeded with his analysis.
Brilliant television, folks.

more to come. really. i promise.

until then: animation books that i own. it's interesting. really. i promise.

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