If you have ever seen The Pixar Story there is a part in there where John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Joe Ranft, and Andrew Stanton are headed up to Disney Studios to pitch their very first animated feature Toy Story. Long story short they pitch the movie, Jeffery (Make It Edgy) Katzenberg says why is this so bad, Tom Schumacher tells him, “Because it’s not the movie John set out to make”. The characters didn’t work it was to long and kaboom. What I love about the guys at Pixar is they will work over a story, write, rewrite and through refining make a great movie. I am in no way saying we are Pixar or that I am a John Lasseter (we did both work at Disney as young guys however), not publicly anyway, yet. I am however inspired by these guys and others like Don Hahn who have been generous with their insights through documentaries, books and other outlets. Which leads me to Treasure Hunt (now a working title only).

After starting the project, working through story boards, starting final artwork, we had to shelve the project for a while. Why? Paying clients, who we love. They come first. This was a huge blessing because we were struggling a bit with the flow and structure and didn’t totally realize it. While the characters had defined personalities the story wasn’t really showing that off and why you would love these guys and how they work together. Something was missing. We had the first act, introducing the characters and their world. We had a so so second act, developing the plot and revealing motives and relationships. However we certainly were lacking the third act, down with the bad guys up with the good guys and an ending that was a solid wrap. Reading “The Alchemy of Animation” by Don Hahn was a great eye opener because it laid things out fairly simply. A birds eye view if you will of our problem.

So with that, this week we start the rewrite. Developing a better story line and hopefully having a something that’s entertaining and has a good flow. We are starting with the trailer, an animated short of sorts of about 15 to 30 seconds that shows off the characters, who they are, and why they are that way.

If you have been following us we appreciate you indulging us on our little journey and we are excited about what’s ahead. Here is to new path…

I want to give a big congratulations to Tod Carter at Brainfreeze Entertainment. There app Goosed Up Rhymes has just launched and it is brilliant. Great writing, great art and animation, and great interactivity.

I have had the distinct pleasure of seeing their app being developed over the course of many many months and after going through what we are going through have a deep appreciation for what they have created. Even though the big studios are putting out good stuff Brainfreeze just set a new benchmark. This is a must buy!!!!

Here is a screen shot of the main page. Congratulations Tod!

How does this relate to our production blog? We have decided since Feltman is so cool we should have him popping up in “random” places. Hidden Feltmans if you will. We are currently finding ways to incorporate little hidden interactive Feltmans into the current app Treasure Hunt.

The picture is a little blurry because we shot it ourselves this morning. We just couldn’t wait till we book Curtis Newborn, photographer elite, to do a whole glamour shoot yet.

Welcome to the studio Feltman!

We are going to be filming during the recording session and posting here for ultra exclusive sneak peek. I know your sitting on pins and needles at this point.

Finally for this post our inspiration these past few weeks came from three directions. A fantastic documentary “Waking Sleeping Beauty” by Don Hahn. You have to see this! It gives you a look at the Disney Studios from about 1984-1994 and is fascinating and inspiring to the creative mind.

Pearls of wisdom from an event and long conversation with the way way cool John Rowe, master artsist and Disney fine artist. One of the most interesting guys I have ever met. Many things stuck with me from our conversation, especially these:1. The faster the deadline the slower you need to work. (What! That’s crazy…no, it’s not, it’s brilliant) 2. No amount of work will make up for a idea that wasn’t completely thought out ahead of time. (But if I just keep going maybe it will work…no, it won’t) 3. Believe that you can do it. (This one seems like a given but it helps to hear it again.)

Lastly but certainly not least from the man himself, John Lasseter and his response to a question from an animation student. This little gem on animation, film making and the basics, which applies especially as we create this interactive children’s  story with of course animation.

Zach and the bean stalk/wacom tablet

Peeking over the shoulder of our new intern Zach, we find him illustrating a lamp shade on the left hand side for page 5. This scene is only partially finished as you can see by the lack of eyes on the one and lack of ears on the other monkey. But Zach is plugging away and just look at him go with that Wacom tablet. It’s fabulous. It’s almost like he was born with it, literally born with it.

We are building all our backgrounds in photoshop and then importing them into Toonboom Animate Pro. Quite possibly and most definitely the best 2d animation software out there. The production goal for completed backgrounds is late December and while that seems like a long way out these past couple of months have flown by.

What you see at the bottom is the new 3 Monkeys & Aardvark Studios logo which is about to be unveiled in the next couple of weeks. You are some of the first to see the new identity.

Title Page/Logo for Treasure Hunt

A rough sketch of the hut to get an idea of where action is taking place

There is nothing quite like a Moleskine sketch book. Here are some little props and environment ideas for the soon to be named hut the monkeys live in.

Items we are sketching out for the "decoration"

Leslie Iwerks who hails from the legend Ub Iwerks does a fantastic job in this documentary. Between that movie and The Art of (insert animated film here) books, there is enough to light the creative engines.

This week we are diving into more of the wish list for launch, illustrating more of the beginning of the book and unleashing creative programming. Now where is the coffee?