The Animation Podcast

Author: Clay

  • Principles of Animation – Planning

    From time to time between ‘casts (believe me, it’s a lot faster to write than to cut a show) I’ve decided to start posting some animation notes I’ve collected/written for myself over the years. I won’t commit to how often or in-depth this will be, but it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, right?

    I’ll start with some notes I put together for a talk I gave about the fundamentals of animation. They may not be the same as someone else’s list, but they are the things I wouldn’t animate without. Rather than just dump them all at once, I’d rather post one at a time and hopefully you’ll have a chance to read through them and add thoughts or ask questions.

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  • Show 003 – Andreas Deja, Part Three

    Andreas Deja

    It’s Deja vu all over again. The last installment of my first (but hopefully not the last) meeting with Andreas Deja is here. Hear his thoughts on his own work, as well as his friendship with animation legend Milt Kahl.

    CORRECTION: At the end I say meant to say, “This conlcudes Part Three,” not part Two. Andreas’ German threw me off my game.

    Get it here: Show 3: Andreas Deja, Part Three
    Animation Podcast Show 3 MP3

    (16MB, 23:19 minutes)

    Continue for Show Notes…

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  • I’m still here

    Hey everybody,

    I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth, just been busy. I’m here to let you know that I’m working on Show 3, and doing more interviewing in the meantime, so look for the last Andreas Deja segment this week. If you want the shows faster, someone needs to pay me enough to quit my day job. 😉

    -Clay

  • Show Notes are coming

    I’ve added Show Notes to Show 1: Andreas Deja, Part One. It’s not too much, but there are some links to maps and external sites that provide some more info where applicable (and easy to find online 😉 ). I’ll see how it goes, timewise, to determine if I can continue this with each show. I’ll post the show and then add the Show Notes when I have time, so you don’t have to wait to hear the show.

    UPDATE: Show Notes for Show 2 are up.

  • Show 002 – Andreas Deja, Part Two

    Andreas Deja

    The conversation with Andreas Deja continues. In part two Andreas recounts his first years at Disney including working with Tim Burton on The Black Cauldron and Richard Williams on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

    Get it here: Show 2: Andreas Deja, Part Two
    Animation Podcast Show 2 MP3

    (11.9MB, 17:16 minutes)

    Continue for Show Notes…

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  • Joe Grant has passed away

    Right now I am shattered. I just received an email stating that animation legend Joe Grant passed away today. I had talked to him last week about meeting for an interview. We said it would maybe happen this week. Things came up and we didn’t get together. I sent an email last night saying we should definitely do it next Wednesday.

    Joe was going to be my second guest. I feel like I’ve completely let him down. I saw this as the one opportunity for people to hear him tell his story from being hired by Walt Disney to work on shorts and then Snow White all the way up to conceiving the idea for last year’s Oscar nominated short Lorenzo. What an amazing man and an amazing career.

    This isn’t about me at all. I’m not sad for this measly show. I’m sad for Joe, because he deserved to have people know how GREAT he was. The man wrote Dumbo. All I can say is I’ve been slapped in the face by the reason I started this thing. I let the opportunity slip through my fingers because things got ‘busy.’

    Maybe this can be a lesson to us all. I have to admit that I’ve worked in the same building as Joe for over ten years and never once did I knock on his door because I thought I would be bothering him. What a fool I was. In creating this podcast, my secret intention was to have an excuse to bug all the people I admire and ask them all the geeky questions I’ve always wanted answered. I’m sorry I couldn’t share having that experience with Joe, and in turn with you.

    If Andreas showed us anything, even the most talented artists are regular people who have a story they’d like to share. Don’t get burned like me. Go out and knock on those doors and get your answers. I’m just glad I finally met Joe last week.

    God bless Joe Grant. I’m sorry.

    EDIT: Over at Seward Street, Jim has posted a nice addition about Joe, written by Tom Sito.

    Thanks to PJ for the link to this article about Joe at The Laughing Place.

  • DVDTalk.com interview with Brad Bird

    While I’m working on getting Show 2 ready, I thought I’d pass along this link to a Brad Bird interview conducted by DVDTalk.com from March of this year. It’s not mine, but it is about animation. You can expect Show 2 from me on Saturday.

    Click here for the link.

  • Bang the drum! We’re in the top 50, 40, 30, 20!

    Now, I’m new to this whole podcasting thing so I want to explore all the experiences it has to offer. That’s why I’ve been asking you, my gracious audience, to show your support and cast a vote for The Animation Podcast at Podcast Alley. Well, you’ve answered the call and about five minutes ago we (you and I) broke in to the covetted Top 50 List!

    What this means in the long run, I’m not sure, but other podcasters sure seem to want to be there. I think in the end it leads to more exposure for this thing we love called animation and for the artists who create it. That makes me happy because from the start, I’ve been saying that what this Podcast is really about is the people.

    Thanks for voting. (A couple more wouldn’t hurt, so we don’t fall off the list.) They reset the votes for everyone at the start of each month so I promise that if this voting thing isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be, I’ll drop it in the future. For now, let’s score one for animation!

    Click here to vote!

    UPDATE: As of 5/9 The Animation Podcast has broken in to the top 20! This is incredible and I thank everyone for their support. It is definitely directing more traffic to this site and I can only imagine those people are giving the show a listen. As I commented over on Podcast Alley, my listeners are AWESOME!

  • What’s up after three days?

    I posted Show 1 on May 1 and the response has been overwhelming. By the end of Tuesday, I’ve had about 1100 first time visitors and over 2500 page loads. I don’t know how that relates to other sites, but for me it is definitely gratifying to see this level of interest in a project I’m so excited about.

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  • About RSS – how to keep updated

    I’ve had some questions from people wondering if there is some sort of email list for notifications of updates. There isn’t but there are other options.

    The simplest way to get updates is to take advantage of what is known as RSS. If you know about this already, good, then you’re excused. Otherwise, read on for more…

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