Animation Talk: Sure To Be the First of Many

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As of today, I've got a good sized chunk of animation stuff to talk about. So let's get going, shall we?

First on the agenda is "The Simpsons". I know there's been a lot of talk already about whether the show is just past its prime or really going downhill at top speed. Putting that aside, I want to talk about something that I noticed on Sunday night. For anyone who hasn't been watching FOX lately, the network has a new block of Sunday night programming known as "Animation Domination" which launched just a few weeks ago. "Animation Domination" consists of two episodes of "The Simpsons", the revived "Family Guy", and new series "American Dad". ("King of the Hill" is currently separated from the Domination by "Malcolm in the Middle" for some reason.) So last Sunday, I was checking the info on the latest episodes, and what do I see? The second "Simpsons" is the season finale!

Now granted, "The Simpsons" may no longer be the anchor for FOX's Sunday night lineup. But what could the programmers have been thinking? Now they're either going to have to make a change to the "Animation Domination" lineup scant weeks after its premiere or treat us to a double dose of reruns every Sunday. Prior to the new lineup's launch, we got maybe two or three new "Simpsons" episodes in a row with reruns and movies filling the weeks between. But once the new animation block debuted, FOX seemed all too happy to race through its limited supply of remaining new episodes. This seems like an extremely dumb move that will only weaken the lineup's appeal. Maybe what we're seeing is the beginning of the end. Maybe FOX realizes that the show's golden years are behind it and is getting ready to call it quits. But even if that's the case, this move seems like it will hurt the lineup FOX has put so much effort into promoting.



Groupshot from Station 8 Gargoyles

All right, how about some happier news? After a somewhat underpromoted release of its first season on DVD, it looks like "Gargoyles" may be getting a second season DVD. A representative of 3oh!5 Creative - a company that Disney uses for DVD production - started showing up on the boards of "Gargoyles" fan sites asking what fans wanted to see for special features on a Season 2 DVD. Greg Weisman (one of the series' creators who answers fans' questions over at Station 8) confirmed that this guy was legit and the show's fans collectively jumped for joy. Mind you, there's been no official announcement from Disney, so nothing's set in stone (sorry) yet. But this little revelation means the chances for "Gargoyles" - Season 2 on DVD are looking very, very good.


Finally, I've been looking at the special features on the "Pocahontas" DVD Andrew got me recently. I'm well aware that this is not many people's favorite Disney film for numerous reasons, many of which I don't disagree with. But the movie does have one big thing going for it, that being GLEN KEANE. My first favorite animator not only did supervising animation on the main character (and if you try to tell me that the animation on Pocahontas isn't good . . . well, I'll just tell you you're wrong. 'cause you are.), he also worked on the film's storyboards. The result was some beautiful pen and ink sketches and tons of spectacular charcoal drawings, which is what I'm enjoying on the DVD at the moment. If you've never had the pleasure of seeing the concept art for this movie, you should check it out. Beautiful stuff.

I really wanted to have a nice Glen Keane drawing to go with this part of the post. But there don't seem to be many online, my coffee table book is too big to scan, and I can't capture from my DVD here. So instead, here's an interesting little story by my boss (of sorts) about how and why the development of "Pocahontas" started out very differently and then took a sudden U-turn, resulting in the film we have today.

Thanks for indulging my long-windedness. I'll try to do something short tomorrow.