I (heart) Wall•E

The folks I work for were awesome enough to pay for me to go see the opening screening of Wall-E on Friday morning. If you have not yet seen it, you really have to. For reals. I could geek out for hours about the character development, the fantastic acting, the story, and that's to say nothing of the techy stuff (the rendering is like nothing I have ever seen before. I think my brain actually exploded). At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, it is easily the best animated feature I have ever seen. I look forward to seeing it again, several times before it's out of theatres. You should totally come!

Cooler still was the short that preceded it, Presto, directed by my hero Doug Sweetland. Sweetland's sensibilities translated beautifully in this snappy slapstick send-up to old school Warner Brothers cartoons. The poses were crisp, the arcs were gorgeous, and the timing was flawless. Presto alone was worth the price of admission, and is, for my money, Pixar's best short thus far. Here's just a taste, in case you're not quite foaming at the mouth by now:


Now go see it, or you will kick yourself forever. I am not exaggerating.

-LW

Bakshilicious

I just wanted to take one second to share with you all this article written by illustrator Arik Roper for Arthur Magazine about subversive filmmaker and animation anomally Ralph Bakshi. I found it kind of interesting, and thought that maybe you might as well. Or maybe not, see if I care. Ha!

-Lucas

el politico est funny, jah?

Sorry I haven't posted anything awesome in a while, I've been stupid busy. So I hope that this supercool caricatured sculpture of Barack Obama by Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi more than makes up for my entirely unexpected and utterly inexcusable absence. I will totally post some super rad stuff by the end of the week. Promise.

Are we cool? Cool.
-Lucas

sunsets & sidewalks

The weather is lovely, the grass smells nice, and I have some sketchbook musings for you. Could life get any sweeter? Perhaps, but they haven't invented robot sharks yet.

-Lucas

Ollie Johnston, 1912-2008

The last of Disney's famed and beloved Nine Old Men, the incomparable Ollie Johnston, passed away today at the age of 95. Johnston was a personal hero of mine, and one of the reasons that I got into animation. He was a touching spirit, a teacher and perpetual source of inspiration. I am completely and sincerely heartbroken.
Ollie Johnston was responsible for such timeless performances as the all-too-famous and ludicrously heart-warming spaghetti-eating scene in Lady and the Tramp, The tap-dancing penguins in Mary Poppins, as well as lead animator on such classics as The Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, Bambi, Pinocchio, The Rescuers, The Aristocats, The Fox and the Hound, Robin Hood, The Sword in the Stone, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Fantasia, and the seminal Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to name but a few.

Rest peacefully, Ollie. You have given so much to so many.
-Lucas


April 15, 2008
EDIT: Ollie's official studio press obituary was released today, and can be read here.

sundae.

More sketchbook randoms from the last couple of weeks.
Thank you for choosing LucasBlog Airlines.





-Lucas

sketchy neighbourhood

Y'know, I think I might actually make updating this blog a regular thing. Wouldn't that be nuts!? Yes. Yes it would be nuts. Anywho, here are a few doodles from the last few weeks.




peace! out!
-Lucas

pencilspencilspencils

First and foremost, I completely revamped my website, WWW.POETSANDPRIMATES.COM, so check that out if you haven't already. It's still in need of a spit-shine, but for the most part it's all gravy.
I know it's taken me a while to get to a scanner, but I finally escaped the time-sucking clutches of animation long enough to scan a few sketches. Here are a couple for now, I will post some more in a few days. Enjoy (or else).




--Lucas

they don't make polaroid pictures no more

I promise that I will actually start posting sketches and drawings and all that juicy stuff wicked soon, but I just made a fabulous discovery.
I justifiably loathe a good ninety percent of the stuff on YouTube. Whilst sifting inexplicably through the cyber sea of garbage I came across some gems in the form of the Disney Family Album series. Half-hour documentries chronicling the careers of a few of the Nine Old Men. I'm sure the others are out there, but I managed to find my three favourites:

Milt Kahl: Part I • Milt Kahl: Part II • Milt Kahl: Part III
Ollie Johnston: Part I • Ollie Johnston: Part II • Ollie Johnston: Part III
Frank Thomas: Part I • Frank Thomas: Part II • Frank Thomas: Part III

If that don't turn your proverbial crank, son, nothing will!

Word,
-Lucas

l'anatomie romantique

Happy Valentine's Day, sluts!

Enjoy this small virtual gift from France's Jeremy Clapin, Backbone Tale (Une Histoire Vertebrale), and just see if your heart doesn't do its own tiny game of hopscotch inside your ribs.
I know mine did.

À bientôt!
-LW

iTube, YouTube, We All Tube For Ice Cream

I took a break from animating to waste time and brain power on the YouTube this afternoon, and found some truly awesome stuff. As an animator, if this stuff doesn't rev your proverbial engine, then you should probably just pack it in and go into freelance dentistry or something:
Brad Bird on Milt Kahl
Glen Keane on Ollie Johnston
Andreas Deja on Frank Thomas

I also fell orgasmically upon a four-part documentary on Art Babbit entitled Animating Art:
• Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV •

I also found some Glen Keane lectures, which I might post at a later date. But you can chew on these tasty chunks-o-goodness for now.

Later,
--Lucas

my new bunny suit

Hello all, and welcome to my brand-spankin'-new blog.  I figured I should take a minute to deflower this sucker, and at least christen it with a post lest it remain baron and prestine, like a new pair of really nice shoes.
I draw on nice shoes with sharpies.
But enough petty drivel.  This is my blog, where I'll be posting all sorts of cool stuff: doodles and sketches, animations, works in progress, and generally letting you all know what I'm up to creatively.  And since I'm a creative person I anticipate that I will be posting often. Lucky you!
Or, you can always swing by my trusty rusty website (poetsandprimates.com) for brain food, eye candy, and face soda.
Anywho, I won't yammer.  Hope to see you again wicked soon!

Puppies & candy,
-Lucas