Bruce McCall, the Canadian author and illustrator known for his New Yorker cover paintings, recent saw his fellow Canadians bring one of his covers to life. His whimsical 2007 New Yorker cover titled The Ascent of Man was handed to the Toronoto-based team at Smiley Guy Studios over three weeks his concept had become a 2-minute short. The spot was directed by Luke Gustafson, whose work was seen here back in 2006, and the entire piece was animated in Flash, with the exception of the smoke effects. According to the SGS team, McCall’s reaction to the piece was “fantastic.”

The animation was created for ithentic and the NFB.

This story was also highlighted over at Drawn! back in February.

‘Odd Job Jack,’ has a podcast! Okay, wait - I’ll back up. ‘Odd Job Jack’ is a Flash-animated series emanating out of Smiley Guy Studios in Toronto, Canada and playing on The Comedy Network. The features Jack, a 25-year old who can’t seem to land a steady job. He works for a temp agency, Odd Jobs Unlimited, where Jack finds limited success.

The show boasts a very evolved web-presence, and now they’ve got a blog and a podcast. Below is clip from season 3.

A few weeks back, Animation World Magazine posted a lengthy article by Janet Hetherington, titled ‘Canadian Scene: Animation Independents’ Day,’ which touches on the topic of Flash animation throughout.

I counted a total of 8 Canadian Flash studios that were highlighted in the article, and below are a few quotes, listed by studio, and related links.

CHESHIRE SMILE ANIMATION
“Computer Flash and 3D animation is in demand and the demand is growing,” says Tyler of Cheshire Smile Animation. “Flash animation is great because it works well in long-distance production partnerships where the Internet can be used to keep clients, partners, and other stakeholders like distributors or broadcasters in the loop with a project.” Cheshire Smile Animation is providing animation services to Waterfront Kids for Fairy Tale Christmas, a 48-minute classical and Flash animated film. “We recently completed a series of six 30-second series of classical/Flash animated commercials for the Valley National Bank of New Jersey,” Tyler adds.

STUDIO B PRODUCTIONS
“We are also working on ‘Edgar and Ellen’ with Starfarm,” - Blair Peters, Studio B.

FOWLER CARTOONING INK
Fowler is completing an independent animated film called The Picture, due for release in September 2005. “It is a non-narrative Flash animated short film about a parent’s loss of those he loves after divorce,” - Mike S. Fowler.

For Canadian animators, Flash does not appear to be a mere flash in the pan. “Demand for Flash product has increased significantly while the price paid for it has dropped,” says Fowler.

BRADLEEZ CARTOONS
“Tons of studios are doing 2D shows using Flash,” - Bradleez Cartoons’ Brad Trofin

BARDEL ENTERTAINMENT INC.
Barry Ward, president of Bardel Entertainment Inc., Vancouver, says his company has also embraced Flash.

TRAPEZE ANIMATION STUDIO
“Our main production environment is Flash and we have created a number of proprietary tools that help us do things better, faster and cheaper,” says Trapeze Animation Studio’s Rob Balfour.

MAN GONE MONKEY STUDIOS
“We have found that Flash animation is mainly in demand in the overall design of many websites, not content” - Jason Ryan and Hugh Jackson.

SMILEY GUY STUDIOS
“Smiley Guy, a studio from Toronto did the opposite and took their web show Odd Job Jack onto the Comedy Network,” - Kelly Neall, managing director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival.