Originally Posted By arstogas I don't mean better than hand-drawn renderings... I mean better than he's looked in CG before. A friend of mine is a designer on a new show debuting in '06, called "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". He did some work for me on another show that will remain nameless. Anyway, back in the fall when he explained his work on this show, I went on a rant, that he quickly joined, as to how Mickey's appearances in CG thus far had been very awkward and frustratingly off-classic-model. He completely agreed, pointing out proportion issues that could be readily solved in Mickey's appearances in the WDW commercials, Philharmagic, and Twice upon a Christmas, but these were more a corporate interfence thing than how the artists really wanted Mickey to look... The red tape to get stuff approved... and the notes they'd get back - stupid. BUT! I'm happy to report that their efforts to retool Mickey, for what will be a very simple little show, really, have been very successful, and having seen Mickey's new look, I'm delighted to say that he looks pretty darn good. The expressiveness is there, and the charm... They've worked hard to bring back more of a classic, emoting Mickey, instantly happy and "balanced" in design. I don't know if this model will be followed for future projects, but I do know it'll serve as reference at least. It's a good precedent, and since Donald already looked pretty good, I think things are headed in a good direction.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros That's great news, especially because the CGI Mickey looks terrible and gives the company a half-bottomed look. I can't believe how bad the WDW commercials looked, yet they played them constantly.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Thank you for letting us know about this, arstogas, duckling! This same issue has been a long-held concern for us in Morva--although, I must say, if they ever decide to recreate any of your Cauldron girls in this...this CGI version, I hope they'll focus more closely on my most attractive features this time-- ORGOCH: --WHAT attractive features?! Face it sister, ya ain't GOT no attractive features ta begin with! Anything they goes 'n does with ya in that there CGI can only be a improvement!!
Originally Posted By arstogas A little addendum - I spoke to my friend working on this show again today, and he said they're waiting to see how the first animation from India (yep) will look - and if it "holds" the design aesthetic they were looking for. And in profile, yes, Mickey's nose IS supposed to slide up a bit, but I'm not sure how far they went with that. Should know soon...
Originally Posted By CuriosWolfSo What about his ears? Do they still stick out all of the time like they always have been in the hand-drawn animated shorts?
Originally Posted By arstogas The ears were something they addressed... they finally realized "it's a trick in hand-drawn animation - something you hope people won't think about too much" ... because if you were being literal with a three-dimensional figure, the ears would not slide around that way. So what they settled on, as I understand, was to use more or less the same "trick" in CG. It requires more manipulation, I think, and I've not seen it, but these artists wanted it to look similar to the way it had for decades (aside from a couple of cartoons in the forties)
Originally Posted By CuriosWolfSo Ahh.... Did they had any other problems with the rest of Mickey's pals like Pete's fatness and weight?
Originally Posted By arstogas I don't know if Pete is in the show... this program is aimed at Preschoolers and is ostensibly educational in purpose. I'm sure they're getting the first stuff back from India any time now... I'll ask more about it soon.
Originally Posted By Blackie Pueblo The only real problem I have with the CGI characters is they are so misproportioned. I understand they "are cartoons!" but the heads are always way too big for the bodies in my opinion. Otherwise I think they look pretty neat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <a href="http://www.newlineagefilms.com" target="_blank">http://www.newlineagefilms.com</a>
Originally Posted By arstogas As an addendum, I'm done posting to LP. It was fun... but there's some very strange moderating going on, and some very bad behavior going uncorrected. This post will likely get deleted... but I wish you all the best, but will not make a formal goodbye elsewhere.
Originally Posted By Blackie Pueblo You could always sign on to our entertainment forums at New Lineage Films. Ha.*blush* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <a href="http://www.newlineagefilms.com" target="_blank">http://www.newlineagefilms.com</a>
Originally Posted By basil fan Re: Mickey's ears. They were tried in 3-D, that is, having the ears turn "realistically." It didn't work. Animation is about the illusion of life, not necessarily portraying things as realistically as possible. Sometimes the unreal feels more real (if anybody can figure out what I mean by *that* statement). Disney Costumes <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/costume.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ disney/costume.html</a>
