Animation Now!

Rating:
Summary: More brazilian studios....
Review: A beautiful and glamorous package, like the old fashioned index books, a sort of animation yellow page.Of course, many of the most important european and american animators are there. Unfortunately, as for animation art in Brazil, homeland of the authors, some of the best animators and studios were not showed in this edition.

Rating:
Summary: Digital wonders
Review: A must for you folks who work in the animation business. The eighty studios included have from six to eight spreads showing stills, roughs, storyboards and sometimes model sheets. The color, design and printing are first-class. Most of the studios are American, no surprise there but the rest of the world gets a good showing, England, France, Holland, Brazil, Russia, Australia, Japan, Portugal etc. Having so many countries helps to produce an amazing range of styles.

The several hundred beautiful images in the book are all very well but animation implies movement and this is where the DVD comes in, divided into these sections, Short films, Excerpts, Trailers, TV commercials, Making of and finally a Show Reel, it all adds up to three and a half hours viewing! My favorites are the work of Little Fluffy Clouds and Duck Soup Studios but again the work is from around the world and so really varied.

'Animation Now!' is a super package just as a book but throw in the DVD and it surely is a 'must have' goodie.


Rating:
Summary: A Glossy Salute to Contemporary Animation
Review: First and foremost, you're probably wondering which short films are included on the DVD (which is Region 1 compatible and plays beautifully). Here's the list:

Feet of Song - Erica Russell
The Man with the Beautiful Eyes - Jonathan Hodgson
Mt. Head - Koji Yamamura
Yo Yo - Little Fluffy Clouds Studio
Interrogating Ernie - Loose Moose Studio
Anijam - Marv Newland
Death + the Mother - Ruth Lingford
Local Dive - Sarah Watt
Dia de los Muertos - Vinton Studio
A Dog's Cartoon - Wild Brain Studio

There are, as others have mentioned, a wealth of other extras including excerpts, trailers and showreels. Combined with the book, which is too light on text but abundant in beautiful animation stills, the consumer is getting a tremendous value and the animation fan is getting a wonderful addition to her collection.

I particularly appreciated the integration of commercial studio work with the work of the independent masters - it gave the package a more rich overview contemporary animation. Plus, I finally got my first glimpses of some much acclaimed but hard-to-find animations: Daniel Greaves (Flatworld), Igor Kovaliov (Bird in the Window) and Gil Alkabetz (The Swamp) among others.

This book is a real treat -- highly recommended! Enjoy!