Cli-Fi: Angelina Jolie Joins Cartoon Saloon’s The Breadwinner
GKIDS teamed up with Song of the Sea‘s Cartoon Saloon — and Angelina Jolie — to bring Afghanistan’s terrorized tale of the Anthropocene to our poor kids.
Articles by Morphizm
PJ Harvey Portals to Afghanistan
We know there is tragedy but what we see is resilience.
Are We Finished With Elon Musk Being Finished
Definitely.
Stop Running Away From Global Warming, Fort McMurray
Fort McMurray is predictably swallowed by a sprawling inferno.
Prince Handles Helen, Obama, Chuck D, Animaniacs
Look who popped up, from the beyond.
I Will Stand 4 Prince. So Should You.
Who stood for art and beauty and sex and expression, long after public judgment?
Rest in Peace, Prince Among Aliens
If these thankfully human Aliens cannot bring us together, then Earth is without hope.
Exponology Swallows New York
New York’s Democratic primary was a hot mess that can only be explained via disturbing imagery.
MorphToons: January 2016
I finished my run as associate editor with a thinker on Herzog, an interview with stop-mo innovators The Quay Brothers, and more.
Forest 500 Animates Reality of Rainforest Destruction
Can an earnest but alarming cartoon help stop the 500 companies, investors and governments deforesting the Earth to crisis?
MorphToons: December 2015
I shuttered 2015 with a dive into virtual reality, Oscar upstarts, and more.
MorphToons: November 2015
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet is one of 2015’s most compelling films, but it also happens to be one of the historical highlights of anthology animation.
We Nailed It: An Interview With Shaun the Sheep‘s Richard Starzak and Paul Kewley
I spoke with Starzak and Kewley about how and why Aardman’s low-budget, big-picture animation continues to compete in our blockbuster marketplace, and why stop-motion can be even more real than hyperreal CGI.
MorphToons: October 2015
Halloween found me wishing happy birthday to the one and old only Ralph Bakshi, whose anti-sermon shook the toonscape.
I Just Want Them to Wake Up: A Birthday Interview With Ralph Bakshi
“At my age, I wouldn’t release it if I thought it didn’t work.”
Poe, Reanimated
Extraordinary Tales brings Poe’s harrowing stories to the screen for newer generations raised on boundless technologies and influences.
Happy Anniversary, Takahata’s Only Yesterday
Led by women and empowered by the natural world, Only Yesterday may not be as well-known as Takahata’s masterpieces like Grave of the Fireflies and The Tale of Princess Kaguya, but its revelatory journey through the rural countryside still covers familiar territory.
Rethink What We Think is Normal: Interview With Dissonance Director Till Nowak
German-born artist and filmaker Till Nowak is a rare talent who can work across art forms and scientific disciplines, until his viewers are left disoriented and dazzled.
When Will We Strive Again For the Heights of Avatar and Legend of Korra?
Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra are two of the most ambitious and moving animated series of this still-new millennium. Indeed, pound for pound, they can stand alongside most non-animated series and still hold their own.
MorphToons: September 2015
My continuing bow to The Iron Giant, Brad Bird’s timeless masterpiece of war and peace.
Interview: Ken Duncan On Creating New Scenes for The Iron Giant
I spoke with Duncan by phone about how his studio’s work on The Iron Giant: Signature Edition came to pass, and why hand-drawn animation, after years of laboring beneath CG’s towering shadow, is on the comeback trail.
Genndy Tartakovsky On Sony, Popeye, Can You Imagine and Samurai Jack
It doesn’t take long (at all) for the stubborn and refreshingly frank Tartakovsky to hold forth on his frustrations with the way Hotel Transylvania 2 and Popeye were handled.
Brad Bird Confirms The Iron Giant’s Signature
http://The studio’s reticence on the matter is understandable, given Bird’s well-documented love of cinema’s theatrical experience. “See it in the movie theater the way it’s meant to be seen,” Bird counsels
MorphToons: August 2015
From Banksy’s tragicomic Dismaland to Studio Ghibli’s vault, my birthday month was an arty head trip.
The Iron Giant’s Amazing Upgrade
With nearly two decades of growing cultural power beneath its indestructible belt, The Iron Giant is shaping up to be as potent and memorable as Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.