Best Animation Program or Series
Being Ian
Kathy Antonsen-Rocchio, Blair Peters, Chris Bartleman – Producers

Best Screenwriting in an Animation Program or Series
Colin Yardley, Larry Raskin
Pucca – A Force of Won, Cat Toy, Noodle Round the World

Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series
Marcel Duperreault, Todd Araki, Jason Fredrickson, Kirk Furniss
Pucca – A Force of Won, Cat Toy, Noodle Round the World

Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series
Hal Foxton Beckett
Edgar and Ellen

Congrats to the winners, and all the nominees (including ‘Atomic Betty‘).

Next, Jennifer Shiman’s The 30-Second Bunnies Theatre shorts are being used by Volkswagen to promote their Fox car. The ads are only airing in Germany, and you can watch them over at ad-rag.com if you give them a couple bucks. ****UPDATE*** – in the comments below, Jennifer just tipped us off that you can view the German-dubbed commercials FOR FREE at shortbutfun.com

According to Brandweek magazine, the ‘Happy Tree Friends’ parent company, Mondo Media, signed a deal with the Walt Disney Internet Group. According to the article, the plan is to offer “wallpaper, ringtones, episode downloads and games beginning in the second quarter of 2006.” Also mentioned was G4′s plans to begin airing a ‘Happy Tree Friends’ series in the Fall. Currently, G4 is airing shorts, but I’m guessing longer format episodes are underway. In similar news, AWN reports that the ‘Happy Tree Friends’ podcast hit number one on the download list over the holiday.

Is Conventional Animation Doomed?

New Jersey’s JD Weil supposed that because of the increased use of “CGI and Flash, conventional 2D animation may not survive.”

The question hit a nerve, and the discussion that followed attempted to answer JD’s original query while touching on the essential topics surrounding the Flash ‘revolution’ – Why is Flash becoming so popular? Does Flash limit animation quality? Can a digital project ever supplant the appeal of hand-painted cell animation? The discussion eventually veered way off track and inevitably digressed into chest-pounding, taste-bashing and people sticking up for shows they once worked on.

A few highlights from the thread are listed below.

Matt Wilson

Flash animation creates jobs for animators in the US that is not possible with “conventional” animation.

joshualane

Hand-drawn 2D animation is evolving to a point where things are done entirely on computers. Whether they use flash for the animation, or some other program, it really doesn’t matter. So, yes, “conventional” hand-drawn animation is doomed.

Matt Wilson

The programs certainly don’t do it for the animator. It’s no magic money tree, there’s hard work involved.

Prism

Don’t write off any form of animation as being doomed because there are always comebacks and this includes all mediums.

SirLemming

…I must point out again that Flash animation isn’t very limited. It’s just that most people who use it don’t have big budgets.

Prism

After all Lilo and Stitch would not have been the same without the watercolors that were everywhere. Right now cel is the most versatile of all the animation techniques and digital has a long way to go before it can catch up. (Editor: I can’t let this one go without commenting – Flash allows an artist to import ANY type of non-digital medium, as long as it can be lifted onto a flatbed scanner. Granted, the lens of a scanner may not capture the soul of a watercolor rendering the way film would, but it should be understood that Disney’s feature film ‘Lilo and Stitch’ could have been made in Flash. I wouldn’t have advised Disney to attempt this, but Flash can act as an ink and paint program if need be.)

Scythemantis

…hand-drawn animation has never shown and is not showing ANY sign of being “replaced” by Flash. Flash may be cheaper and quicker but that only means we get more cartoons, rather than different-looking cartoons,

livingfruitvirus

If you want cancelled shows , here’s more: Home Movies (they were the first), Gary the Rat, This Just In, Yakkety Yak, Atomic Betty, Harvey Birdman, O’Grady, Stroker and Hoop (coming soon), Hey Monie!, Shorties Watching Shorties, and probably a couple more I’m forgetting.

Scythemantis

Some people seem to also be confusing “bad animation” with “bad art”. They are totally, totally different things. A bad drawing can be animated well and a good drawing can be animated cheaply.

Desdiablo

Conventional animation isn’t doomed, it’s just taking another turn.

I think Desdiablo’s very civil post sums it up best. Whether the shows being produced in Flash suit your artist taste, wallet or funny bone, the medium is upon us and gaining ground – fast.

FOSTER’S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS

• Best Animated Television Production
• Character Design in an Animated Television Production – Lynn Naylor-Reccardi
• Directing in an Animated Television Production – Eric Pringle
• Writing in an Animated Television Production – Lauren Faust

HI HI PUFFY AMI YUMI

• Character Design in an Animated Television Production – Shakeh Haghnazarian
• Production Design in an Animated Television Production – Michael Giaimo

ATOMIC BETTY

• Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production – Alex Basio

Congrats to the nominees! I’ll see you at the awards in January.

But check this out – as of today, there’s at least 9 Flash animated shows on (or soon to come on) US television.

1 Mucha Lucha – Warner Bros. Animation

2 Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi Show – Cartoon Network

3 Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends – Cartoon Network

4 Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law – Adult Swim, Cartoon Network

5 Atomic Betty – Cartoon Network

6 The Venture Bros. – Adult Swim

7 Katbot – Disney (coming soon, I hear)

8 Omega Dome – Noodlesoup (coming soon)

9 Maggie – Disney TV Animation (coming soon)

I’m not positive on Katbot or Omega Dome, but the rumors are leaning that way. Regardless, it’s been quite an impressive run for ol’ Flash TV animation, once pronounced dead on the floor of the big internet bubble. That being said, most of these are being animated overseas or up north in Canada. But, as studios are quickly learning, the ability to do on-the-fly retakes, and maintain extremely strick on-model accuracy throughout a production is a huge plus.

Long live Flash animation!