Merry Derfmas and Happy Holidays from Animatus Studio! Check out the Derf Christmas card we’ve created just for you fine folks. Enjoy as Derf serenades you with a lovely Christmas tune.
Derf the Viking and Matty the Dragasaurus rock out to a new song in “I’m Derf the Viking, Ay!” which incorporates new 3D CGI along with 2D Hand Drawn animation clips from the Derf cartoon trilogy.
More exciting news for Derf, as his music video also went on to win a 2012 Gold Pixie Award for Excellence in Animation. So, do Derf a favor and give his ego a boost by checking it out!
Animatus is proud to announce that our House of Guitars Christmas commercial is running again this year! This marks 21 consecutive years of animated holiday fun! We believe that this is the longest running clay animated TV commercial in the entire world. Go ahead, prove us wrong. We dare you!
Relive the adventures of Armand the Blue Nosed Guitar Man…
It’s an explosion of animation! There’s morphing, squashing, and stretching. There’s running, jumping, and spear throwing. There’s cats, rats, and bats! Don’t miss all the cartoon action.
As friends of Animatus know, we have been involved with the 360 | 365 Film Festival for over ten years. We’d hate to see this important (and fun!) cultural event to go away.
If you know of any individuals or corporations that can help with funding, now’s the time!
Here’s the official letter from 360 | 365….
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To Friends of the 360|365 Film Festival –
As many not-for-profit arts organizations have found, 2011 has been a very difficult year for fundraising. Public funds have become scarce, and corporate sponsorship budgets have not expanded to make up for shortfalls elsewhere.
360|365 has faced our share of fundraising difficulties this year, which are threatening our ability to produce the 2012 Film Festival. In fact, in order to hold the Festival in May, we would need to start investing dollars in December – dollars we don’t currently have.
With this stark reality in mind, the 360|365 Board of Directors has announced that if we do not raise significant funds by November 30, we must cancel the 2012 Film Festival. If that happens, we would spend the year strengthening our financial picture and preparing for a strong 2013 Festival.
But between now and then, we are reaching out to the Greater Rochester community in hopes that we can raise enough funds to make our 2012 Film Festival happen. Individuals and corporations that are interested in supporting our community’s largest Film Festival are welcome to contact us at SeeYouAtTheMovies AT film360365 DOT com
The board is committed to making 360|365 a stronger organization. We thank you for your continued support, and hope you will help spread the word that 360|365 is an exciting, worthwhile asset that the entire Rochester community should support!
Sincerely,
The Board of Directors, 360|365
Fear Shrinker in the App Store
We’re happy to announce that the FearShrinker is now live in Apple’s app store. Mike Boas of Animatus Studio provided “fishy” characters for this program designed to help ease children’s anxieties.
What is FearShrinker?
FearShrinker is an iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch application designed for the young child (ages 4-8 years) who is scared or worried. FearShrinker provides a road map for young children to reduce their fear response by choosing effective coping strategies.
Cartoons from our Summer workshops are now online.
We’ve got more animation than you can shake a stick at! There’s a haunted castle, a determined squirrel, even a couple takes on Super Mario Bros! What does Batman eat for breakfast? What happens when Superman is late for a rescue? Find out in this batch of cartoons.
We’re pleased to announce that the first Buju & Ziggie short, produced by Crystal Pix with animation by Animatus, has won a coveted bronze Telly Award!
These dancing cats sing the praises of Wegmans Buju and Ziggie Cat Food. In fact, if you visit a nearby Wegmans, you just might see an endcap display like this:
If you haven’t seen the videos yet, check them out below:
The Rochester Sci-Fi Anime Convention comes to the Main Street Armory this Saturday, September 24. Animatus will be there from 10am to 3pm doing animation demos and selling videos!
At noon, we’ll premiere our latest Derf music video, “I’m Derf the Viking, Ay!” and present a behind-the-scenes look at how it was created.
The Weird World of Bill Plympton at The Eastman House
All month long, the Eastman House’s Dryden Theatre is showing classic cartoons and highlighting the works of New York independent animator Bill Plympton. There’s just a few shows left, including the following:
Thursday, September 22nd, 8:00 pm Plympton Short Films
A showcase of Bill Plympton’s short films, ranging from his classic earlier works Your Face and 25 Ways to Quit Smoking to some of his most recent films, including The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger, The Fan and the Flower, and the Oscar®-nominated Guard Dog series.
Thursday, September 29th, 8:00 pm Adventures in Plymptoons!
This new documentary about Bill Plympton follows his path from a Portland childhood spent drawing indoors to a self-made career as an independent animator and cartoonist. Featuring interviews with Terry Gilliam, Ralph Bakshi, Will Vinton, and other animation luminaries.
Saturday, October 1st, 8:00 pm Legendary Animator Bill Plympton in Person! Idiots and Angels
Angel is a selfish, abusive man who awakens to discover himself blessed with a pair of wings. At first frustrated by his new appendages, he soon must battle those who wish to exploit them. Plympton’s new feature is a dark, gorgeous fable, featuring soundtrack contributions from Tom Waits, Pink Martini, and others.
If you ordered a DVD, come by Animatus any weekday between 10am and 5:30pm to pick it up!
Vote for our video in the Primera contest!
See Fred’s anger in action! Vote for our video in the Primera DVD Duplicator contest!
A few years ago, Animatus had a problematic DVD burner/printer unit. Since then, we’ve been using the Primera BravoPro XI with great results.
Now Primera is holding a contest, and Fred is pulling those years of anguish in our video entry, “A True Story.”
Go to http://www.primera.com/videocontest and look for the “True Story” video clip. You’ll have to login to vote, but that’s just to keep everyone honest.
Look for this thumbnail:
Summer Animation Camp
Only a few slots left for the Summer Animation Camp! Pick your day (Wed. or Thurs.) and register online today!
Fish for New Ideas! Hike The Hills of Animation! Challenge the Wild Waters of Creativity!
WHEN: Choose either Wednesdays or Thursdays in August, lasting from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM each day.
PRICE: Sign up for all four weeks for $284.
Here’s your chance to learn the joys of animation in a professional animation studio. All supplies and equipment usage included. Each student’s animation will be showcased on the Animatus website. DVDs are available for an additional $10. Summer students should be sure to pack a lunch.
It’s film festival season once again! For this year’s 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival, we have a few animation highlights to share.
The Animated World of John Canemaker
Our special guest this year is John Canemaker, an Academy Award-winning animator and internationally renowned filmmaker, author and historian. Mr. Canemaker will screen many of his award-winning films and discuss his illustrious career. If you are a fan of animation this is one event you won’t want to miss!
Mr. Canemaker’s expressive and inventive films have appeared to great acclaim at festivals, museums and universities around the world. The ten books he has written on animation history cover subjects ranging from Winsor McCay and Felix the Cat to Tex Avery and numerous Disney artists. His books are among the most important and thoroughly researched in the field, including his latest: “Two Guys Named Joe: Disney’s Master Animation Storytellers Joe Grant and Joe Ranft.”
Screening: Saturday April 30, Dryden Theatre at 4:00 pm
Q&A to follow (120 minutes)
Animatus is also pleased to be a sponsor of MY DOG TULIP, a feature film from animators Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, with the voice talents of Christopher Plummer, the late Lynn Redgrave, and Isabella Rossellini. The story is a bittersweet retrospective account of author J. R. Ackerley’s 16-year relationship with his adopted Alsatian, Tulip.
Paul Fierlinger has produced over 800 films, including “Still Life with Animated Dogs” (produced for PBS) and the Academy Award nominated “It’s So Nice to Have a Wolf Around the House.” He and his wife Sandra were the sole artists on My Dog Tulip, which has a unique, hand-drawn style.
Showtimes
April 27 – 7:15 pm – Little Theatre – Little 5
April 29 – 10:00 pm – Dryden Theatre
360 | 365 presents the Rochester Teen Film Festival
See a selection of films from local teen filmmakers at the Rochester Teen Film Festival showcase!
Among the films screening are:
“Don’t Get Caught Up”
A music video about safe sex and teen pregnancy. Created by urban teens from Threshold at The Community Place in conjunction with Animatus Studio.
“Typical Day at Work”
An absurdist workplace cartoon from Animation Workshop student Davey Jarrell
Free Admission!
Saturday April 30, 1:00 – The Little 5
We’ve got cartoons online from our basic and intermediate students who took classes in March. (Studio students stay tuned — we’ll be rolling out those updates at the end of April classes.) See the animation on our website here:
Visit the Animation Workshop website to see what our students created in January. See morphs, monsters, and mayhem! See cats, rats, guitars, and superheroes!
If you ordered a DVD, you can pick it up at the studio weekdays between 10:00 and 5:00.
Hey look, we’re in the paper!
Troy Smith of the Democrat and Chronicle did a great write-up of Animatus Studio for Sunday’s paper. It covers our history and talks about some of our latest projects, including Buju and Ziggie for Wegmans and Crystal Pix. Thanks to Troy and everyone who talked to him!
If you’ve signed up for March classes, we’ll see you this Saturday, the 5th! Our March workshops are sold out, so you know what that means… Time to sign up for April! (Also known as “Spring II.”) Here’s your chance to learn the joys of animation in a professional animation studio. All supplies included.
Happy Holidays from Animatus Studio
(Fred, Dave, Mike, and Derf!)
It was 20 years ago this season that the Animatus-produced House of Guitars Christmas ad first aired. And, if you’ve been watching TV lately, you’ll notice it’s still airing!
It was 6 weeks of hard work back in 1990. Fred Armstrong, John Vincent, Allie Peed, and the whole crew worked tirelessly to create hopping elves and homicidal record albums.
Watch the commercial and see some behind the scenes photos on our celebratory Facebook page:
For those of you attending the winter session, we’ll see you January 8.
Rudolph takes out the Derf-mobile!
Perhaps Fred was tempting fate with the image of screaming Derf on the front of his car. Perhaps he shouldn’t have lent his car to his wife, Linda. In any case, when a confused deer ran out of the woods and right into the front end, the results were not pretty.
Rest assured, a new and improved Derf-Mobile will be back on the highway soon. (Don’t ask about the deer.)
We’ve got all our Fall Workshop cartoons edited together and ready to share! See tales of singing cats, werewolves, sea serpents, rabbits, mummies, and much much more!
Way back in July and August, we at Animatus were up to our eyeballs in dancing cats. That’s right, it was up to us to animate Buju and Ziggie for a Wegmans cat food webisode.
Crystal Pix produced the piece, and we were hired on to create animated versions of Danny Wegman’s singing and dancing cats. It was a lot of work, and we had reggae music haunting our dreams, but the results are pretty terrific.
Flying anywhere? See our stuff at the airport!
When the Rochester/Finger Lakes Film and Video Office announced they were planning a multimedia installation for the Rochester International Airport, we jumped at the chance to show some Animatus shorts.
Now, travelers from far and wide can be treated to several of our pieces, along with other Rochester movies.
Here’s what’s playing out at the airport:
Derf in Present Danger
Derf the Viking celebrates Animatus Studio’s 20th anniversary the only way he knows how.
Rochester Roots: Let’s Dig In
An exciting look at one of Rochester’s finest educational programs for kids.
Sal Monella’s Deli
From Dave Puls’ Fresh Toones, this cartoon parody of lose-weight-quick infomercials was inspired by a real life experience of its creator.
I Enjoy Riding My Bike
One of Dave Puls’ recent music shows, set to an original positive upbeat song.
The crew at Animatus has been working day and night, and we’ve finally put together our collection of student animation from the August workshops. It’s an unbelievable amount of material this time, so buckle up for a wild ride!
See tales of opossums, zookeepers, super heroes, vacuum cleaners, antagonistic roomates, space wars, and much much more!
If you ordered a DVD, you can pick it up at the studio weekdays between 10:00 and 5:00. (Note: we’re not here on Saturdays except when classes are running.)
Sign up for Fall Workshops
There is still space available for basic and intermediate students in both the Fall AM and PM workshops.
Registration for our morning studio production level students is now full. We currently have TWO AFTERNOON slots open for studio production.
Any studio production students who have yet to pay should do so soon to secure your registration.
Fall Animation Workshops
Saturdays
October 2, 9, 16 & 23
$159
All supplies and equipment usage included. Each student’s animation will be showcased on the Animatus website. DVDs are available for an additional $10.
Horror fan and Animatus artist Mike Boas has put together a promotional video for this year’s H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Los Angeles. It’s creepy, weird, and funny!
Hike The Hills of Animation!
Challenge the Wild Waters of Creativity!
Experience Glorious Air Conditioning!
Time is running out to sign up for Animation Workshops in August! We have just a couple Thursday slots available.
WHEN: Thursdays, August 5, 12, 19, 26.
9:30 AM to 3:00 PM each day.
PRICE: $88.00 per week. Sign up for all four weeks and get a 20% discount, for a total of $284.
Are you interested in drawing? Do you want to see your characters come to life? Have you ever wondered what goes into shooting an animated movie? You just might be right for our Animation Workshops.
This is also a great opportunity for our more experienced Intermediate and Studio Production students. Longer days means more time to devote to your epic cartoons!
It recently came to our attention that the last time we updated our website, we left off our film festival workshop videos. Well, through the magic of Youtube, they’re back online!
Check out the cartoons we did with Rochester youth, in conjunction with the High Falls Film Festival (now the 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival). See the playlist here:
Perhaps you already know our fearless leader has acted in commercials, shorts, and features from time to time. If not, here’s your chance to see samples of his work cut together into one fun package.
