Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- All the sandbags in front of our studio weren’t enough to hold back the torrential rains that came yesterday afternoon. Manhattan was hit with 3″ of rain in under an hour. Most of it came into my studio, apparently. Because we’ve gone through this before, all the necessary precautions were taken so that nothing would get ruined. The mess is finally cleared, but the sore body parts remain.

– Those in New York this Sunday can attend a world premiere. Xeth Feinberg‘s QUEER DUCK: THE MOVIE will be released as a DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment in July.

However, there’s a theatrical screening this coming Sunday, June 4th at the AMC Loew’s 34th Street as part of the 18th New York LGBT Film Festival. The film will show at 5:30 PM. Writer Mike Reiss will be there for a brief intro and Q & A.

The feature includes cameos by Tim Curry, Conan O’Brien, David Duchovny, Bruce Vilanch and Andy Dick and includes more than a dozen musical numbers. It was directed and animated by Xeth Feinberg.

There is an extensive interview with Xeth at Cold Hard Flash.
You can pre-purchase the DVD at Amazon in advance of its July release.

- On Saturday ABC will present a special program.

Per Leslie Iwerks: The recent project I wrote, directed and executive produced, Pixar’s 20th Anniversary Special, will be airing on the Wonderful World of Disney Saturday June 3rd from 8-11pm on ABC, along with the showing of Toy Story. It features John Ratzenberger as a traffic cop in hot pursuit of Lightning McQueen, the upcoming star of Pixar’s newest movie, CARS.
And please also keep an eye out for my upcoming Pixar feature documentary (The Pixar Story) that should be released before the end of the year.
(Click image to enlarge.)

- I’m sad to note that the brilliant film director Shohei Imamura has died. He was an inspiration to me for many years. I discovered his films at a retrospective at the Japan Society in NYC in 1979. Over the course of several weeks many double bills of his features were screened until they went through them all chronologically. It was one of the highlights of my filmgoing experiences.
Here is his NYTimes obituary. Black Rain, The Insect Woman and Vengeance Is Mine are singular masterpieces.

- Writer, J. Hoberman, in this week’s Village Voice has a short but good article about Richard Linklater’s thoughts in comparing his two current features, both of which premiered at Cannes. A Scanner Darkly, together with Fast Food Nation, represent a picture he has of today’s America.

In a separate mini-review, Hoberman wrote: “Richard Linklater took a hit for his insipid Fast Food Nation but recovered and then some with his animated A Scanner Darkly—not just the best Philip K. Dick adaptation since Total Recall but an adaptation that brings quite a bit to the original. This paranoid drug-opera will soon be coming to a theater near you, improving the summer movie season even more than it did Cannes’s American presence.”

The reception from other critics wasn’t as kind, often comparing it unfavorably to Waking Life. Perhaps Hoberman’s bent for more eccentric film making styles played more in tune with Linklater’s newer opus. I have to admit I’m curious to see whether the rotoscope style used in a more traditional, through story will help it.

- I love Lane Smith’s artwork. Consequently, I love Lane Smith‘s blog currently following the release of his newest book, John , Paul, George & Ben. Everything on it is done with a real sense of fun. Today’s post reprints negative reviews for his book, and his last post featured a mural drawn by him and Mo Willems. As a matter of fact, you can watch a short movie of them painting it.

There was a short time when Lane Smith was to direct an animated feature for Nickelodeon, and that project ultimately fell through. Too bad, it might’ve changed what we think about animated features. And like everything else he does it would have been family friendly, a lot of fun, and brilliantly daring. Not just Paramount’s loss, but ours as well.
(Images enlarge by clicking.)