Here is a brilliant example of how humour can be expressed through simple drawings and a little bit of surprise. I discovered it on YouTube quite by accident and am I glad I did! This hilarious piece of animation is called “What is Comedy?” and rather than ruin the fun by explaining it, I suggest [...]

I was in a suburban movie theatre 2 nights ago watching “A Wednesday” when they screened the trailer of UTV’s upcoming release - Arjuna, The Warrior Prince. Not that I hadn’t seen it before (thanks to YouTube!!) but experiencing it on a big screen was a whole new experience. I was amazed. This is an [...]

Now that the noise has died down and the dust has settled, the casualty is slowly beginning to show. For two years everyone was shouting from the rooftops about the animation boom in India. Institutes proclaimed India needs animators and ill-informed parents poured out their hard-earned money into many an unworthy school. Many people left [...]

How do some creative Indian film producers combat the slew of animated mythological movies? By making animated versions of old Hindi classics! Why bother with writing an original story when you can just buy the rights to a successful movie from another era and package it as per the flavour of the season - Animation!
Don’t [...]

Animation lovers of India, unite! And do something to stop this movie from shaming us in front of the world!

It’s been a long time since I last blogged but this frightening piece of news brought me back from my brief blog hiatus. Apparently, India’s First 3D Mainstream Animation Movie is about to be released on [...]

Just received a press release from NDTV Lumiere that they will be releasing ‘Persepolis’ in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore on June 20th, 2008.
I am really looking forward to this. I don’t have the details but once I do, I shall put them up here on the blog. It is sad that they seem to [...]

Learning animation is not just about learning how to use the software. Art, literature, history, story-telling, film-making, music, acting… many different things go into it. You also need to watch a lot of good films to be able to create great films. That is what the students of NID, India’s premier animation school, do. [...]

Not really. But I thought it makes for an interesting headline for the announcement that PETA has chosen as its brand mascot - none other than the latest animated hero to hit Indian screens - Ghatothkach.
Created by Shemaroo Entertainment and Sun Animatics for the animated ‘Ghatothkach - Master of Magic’, the character - Ghatothkach [...]

Must see : Brilliant clay animation series by Aardman for Animal Planet.

http://animalssavetheplanet.com

A war between Red and Black Ants makes for a very interesting premise for an animated feature. Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang is a 82 min long being produced jointly by Elecom Animation Academy, a Kolkata-based animation training institute, and Mumbai’s Fiesta Entertainment and will be released in May this year.
SEE THE TRAILER

The name of the [...]

I just received an email from Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, which has a center in Hyderabad in India, about a session with ILM Artist - Nigel Sumner, that they are organizing. Though the only details they have provided are the date (11th May), time (2 pm to 5:30 pm) and speaker (Nigel Sumner), once we [...]

Submarinechannel.com is a very interesting website that I happened to stumble upon…
“Forget the films, Watch the titles”
This site showcases some very well crafted title sequences for films and TV shows. Classified into 4 categories - Animation, Motion Graphics, Mixed Media and 3D, it has some popular film titles (Pink Panther, Juno) as [...]

TASI (The Animation Society of India) is organizing a special workshop and has roped in the creators of all the 3 animation sequences from the popular Taare Zameen Par - Dhimant Vyas, Pankaj Khandpur (Visual Computing Labs) and Vaibhav Kumaresh (Vaibhav Studios) to show us how they created magic.
Do not miss!
Venue: Whistling [...]

After the Ramayana, now it is the turn of the other Indian epic - the Mahabharata to be reborn as Japanese Manga. Hyderabad based Panel Studios is coming out with a 90 minute long feature film called Little Pandavas and they seem to have effectively used the Manga illustrative style for the characters. The film [...]

(click the image to see larger version)
“With an intriguing storyline, endearing lead characters, adventure, humour, music and fun, the feature-length animated film ‘Kutti Chetan and his Friends’ seems to have got what it takes to challenge the mythological heroes currently ruling the Indian animation scene.”
- from “Will Kutti Chetan and Friends dethrone our Screen Gods?” [...]

Taare Zameen Par has not only caught the fancy of the nation as a warm and touching film, but its clay animation sequence has enthralled audiences as well. After we featured the making of the TZP clay animation on the AAA blog (see here), others have followed suit, including Indiafm.com and now CNN IBN.
Last night, [...]

Hear it from the maker himself…
Dhimant Vyas talks exclusively to All About Animation
and shares photos from Taare Zameen Par’s clay animation sequences.
See the Photos
Read the Interview

As promised, we present the transcript of the chat we had with Dhimant Vyas about the making of the clay animation sequences in Taare Zameen Par. Hope you enjoyed the photographs we posted earlier. You can send your feedback and comments to Dhimant directly by sending him an email at dhimantvyas@rediffmail.com
AAA - First of all, [...]

Remember, you saw it here first!!
Stop motion animation veteran, Dhimant Vyas and Aamir Khan Productions have generously shared photos of the making of the Clay Animation sequences from Taare Zameen Par.
Also read the exclusive interview with Dhimant Vyas where he explains the technique he used to animate these sequences and [...]

For the first time ever we will see clay animation as a part of a mainstream Hindi movie. Taare Zameen Par which releases in theaters all over India tomorrow has animated opening credits (3 minutes duration) and more animation in some crucial scenes of the movie.
The clay animation has been done by Dhimant Vyas, our [...]