String Theory

The indefatigable Skwigly Animation Podcast is creeping up to its sixtieth episode, and I'm stoked that in our latest we welcome back LAIKA President and CEO Travis Knight, talking about his directorial debut Kubo and the Two Strings. Granted it's only a slightly longer version of the video interview I posted earlier in the month, but frankly I'm shouting from the rooftops about this film as much as I possibly can.
Also in this episode Steve and I mull over why the film doesn't appear to have gotten as many bums on seats as it should have as well as the various approaches a film's marketing campaign can take, in particular comparing the approaches of Disney's Moana and Dreamworks' Trolls. I also unearth a buried memory of an old animation I've never been able to track down for decades, so give it a listen (or a direct download for later) and see if you can help me out.
Some more animationey goodness to look forward to is the newly-launched programme for the second Manchester Animation Festival. As with its inaugural edition I'll be helping out here and there for a few of the events but here's an overall preview of their programme as broadcast live from their Facebook page earlier this evening:

Before then it's the Encounters festival here in Bristol this week. This year as part of Skwigly's media partnership with the event I'm doing a series of post-screening Q&A sessions that will start going up tomorrow. If you're in town be sure to swing by Waterside 1 at The Watershed immediately after each competition screening, roughly 1:30pm and 7:30pm each day until the end of the week.

Aardmania

This past Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of Aardman Animations, the Bristol-based industry powerhouse that gave the world Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Creature Comforts and Chicken Run, and that's just barely scratching the surface.
Our team at Skwigly have been paying tribute to the event by writing up some of their own perspectives and personal high-points. Laura-Beth rounds up the studio's own celebratory endeavours as well as picking her top ten shorts; Steve looks back at their various TV series; Wez Allard explores their back catalogue of inventive commercials; Rachel Crook recalls the construction of the Wallace and Gromit theme park ride and Marc Hendry gives some love to the studio's feature films.

For this week's podcast we obviously wanted to pay similar respects, so on top of some fond remembrances of Raymond Briggs (and some overdue Sausage Party bashing) Steve and I wax nostalgic about all things Aardman, digging out interviews with the three studio heads Peter Lord, David Sproxton and, making his Skwigly Animation Podcast debut, Wallace and Gromit creator himself Nick Park! Cracking stuff. Give it a stream or a download, whichever puts more cheese on your cracker.
Also up on the site, Laura-Beth has a nice write-up of the recent Animation Super Grill event whose line-up I was a part of. I also have an interview with Regular Show alum Sean Szeles whose own animated miniseries Long Live the Royals has been showing on Cartoon Network UK this week. Meanwhile I've been pinging all over the place and, midst my travels, got to catch an advance screening of LAIKA's jaw-dropping new film Kubo and the Two Strings as well as meet its director Travis Knight. You can have a watch of our chat in the newest episode of Lightbox below:

Travis previously appeared on Skwigly while promoting The Boxtrolls but this was my first time meeting him. A truly impressive bunch, that LAIKA lot, so I implore you all to see this one in cinemas, you'll be glad you did.

Pale September

Good Lord, the time's whizzing by. We're pretty much at the end of the month and there's much by way of updateables, so tilt yourself at a nice comfy angle and let yourself be gently coated in news.
Firstly we at Skwigly recently did our annual Encounters coverage, this time around covering the festival's 20th anniversary edition which included some excellent events, guests and new films. You can have a read of my competition and special screening highlights as well as Laura-Beth and Julia's top picks of the fest.

Skwigly meet Glen Keane. Pic via Encounters Festival

One major perk across the board was getting to meet Disney veteran Glen Keane, a legendary chap responsible for some of the studio's most iconic contemporary characters who's recently partnered up with Google to create the jaw-dropping interactive short Duet. Expect to see some brilliant insight from the man up on Skwigly in the not-too-distant future.
Another special guest of the festival was Yoni Goodman, who presented the Ari Folman films Waltz With Bashir and The Congress, both of which he served as Animation Director on. I managed to catch The Congress at last year's Sommets du Cinéma d’Animation (you can read my review of it here) and was glad to get a second chance to watch it as there's a great deal to take in. I have some ambivalence toward it as an overall film but visually it's mind-bending and, at times, truly inspired so I'm very glad I got some time with Yoni:

On the subject of Lightbox, last week's episode featured Canadian filmmaker Janet Perlman, whose relationship with the NFB goes back almost 40 years. Her latest short Monsieur Pug premiered at OIAF last week and is a very nice piece of work, so have a watch and keep your eyes out for it:

On the more experimental side of the NFB animation spectrum is Michèle Cournoyer, director of The Hat and Accordion whose most recent short Soif is an equally no-holds-barred affair, exploring the tragedies of alcoholism. The film also played at OIAF and got an honorable mention, you can read more about it and Michèle's work in our interview which went up this morning.

Also up today is our latest Skwigly Podcast, featuring extended interviews with LAIKA President Travis Knight (The Boxtrolls) and Yoni Goodman, as well as a chat with Jesse Cleverly of Wildseed Studios, a Bristol-based initiative for the development of new animated series pilots. Download, subscribe or stream below:
Laura-Beth also chats about her recent involvement with Animation Toolkit's first crowdfunding endeavour Pooch Proposal. The campaign has gone live as of this week, I lent a hand in putting the pitch video together and I recommend you all check it out. Should it go ahead there's some brilliant talent involved and the incentives are excellent, especially for prospective stop-motion animators in the market for high-end, professional grade armature kits:

You can also follow Pooch Proposal on Twitter and like their Facebook page for regular updates and behind-the-scenes goodies.
Another shout-out goes in the direction of Rumpus Animation, whose video game project The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle is soon to be released and currently up on Steam Community for a chance to get picked up. Head on over to their Steam page and give it a vote as it's sure to be a good'un and I hear tell it has some mind-blowing voice talent involved.

I like the guy on the left. Can't explain why, I just get a good vibe off him..

Trolling

This Friday The Boxtrolls, the latest film from LAIKA will be released in cinemas in the UK. With all of us at Skwigly being massive fans of the visual style of Coraline and ParaNorman, this one's pretty hotly anticipated and we managed to bag some nice coverage in the lead-up to release.

Up now we have the latest episode of Lightbox which features an exclusive interview with LAIKA President and CEO Travis Knight, a pretty huge get and a major player in the uniquely fascinating story of how the studio came to be (detailed very well in this article from a couple months back). Also featured in this episode is actor Isaac Hempstead-Wright (from Game of Thrones, as the EPK informs me) who plays the film's main character Eggs. This one can't be embedded for use of film clips, though they were provided by the PR company for press purposes so I'm not sure what the dilly-oh is, there. At any rate if you're in the UK you can give it a watch by clicking below:

 Many thanks to Tom Sanders for getting the interviews done. You can also have a read of Laura-Beth's review of the film from last week. It looks to be a good'un.

Laura-Beth is also helping out with a new project by armature specialists Animation Toolkit, in which they'll be putting the equipment they sell to professional use in their own short film Pooch Proposal. It's early days yet but we have it on good authority that some serious animation talent will be involved, so follow them on Twitter and Facebook as it'll be one to watch.

Lastly here's a quick chat with JG Quintel, a very nice fellow who gave us some time at this year's Annecy Festival to talk about his series Regular Show which airs on Comedy Central. It's a fun one so if it's passed you by thus far I'd recommend giving it a look if you get a chance.