Awesome Animation

The forgetful fish Dory remembers that she has a family and sets out to find them in what appears to be an ironically familiar story, except now with an octopus, a beluga whale and a whale shark. Finding Dory premieres 6/17/16.

Computer graphics artists and technologists are constantly finding new ways to imbue their creations with life, texture and dimension. This highlight reel soliciting submissions for SIGGRAPH 2016 compiles some of the more wondrous CGI submissions from 2010 to 2015.

Despite their unsuccessful Kickstarter fundraiser, producer Hugh Welchman and his colleagues are still working on their fully-painted feature film about Vincent Van Gogh. It will be made of about 12 oil paintings per second of video. Oil painters can apply here.

While The Flippist’s short flipbook animation of Leonardo DiCaprio came out before he actually won the Best Actor Academy Award for The Revenant, that doesn’t make it any less hilarious. Buy the original flipbook on eBay, with proceeds going to Leo’s charity.

The critically-acclaimed animated movie April and the Extraordinary World takes place in a steampunk version of 1940s France. It’s about a woman searching for her parents, who were two of the scientists abducted by villains bent on hindering technological progress.

A pair of old ladies meet at a public swimming pool for their usual swim. Nearly every scene of Tomek Ducki’s award-winning short film was made with a different kind of animation, contrasting reality and fantasy while maintaining the story’s ambiguity.

Animator Reto Hochstrasser shares this short clip of a group of LEGO minifigs who, just like Reto himself, like to build things with LEGO bricks. Filmed entirely with traditional stop-motion and no CGI.

A woman is sucked into a brutal video game. She masters the levels to save her boyfriend, who got sucked in before her. Guy Collins’ action-packed short film is an homage to platformers… and a game in itself. Interested in playing? Learn more here.

The god of love appears to re-ignite the spark between a couple, but he who lies dead but dreaming has other plans in Giovanni Braggio’s funny and warped animated short. H’ppy Valntaghn to our fellow two-legged beasties.

Loaded Pictures created this lovingly-animated black and white short of celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and his response to Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address. The 16th U.S. President’s contributions didn’t just change society, they changed science forever.

YouTube gamer JonTron recently held a charity fundraiser, where he promised that he would sing Katy Perry’s Firework if they reached their target amount. They raised enough money, so JonTron kept his word. A ton of animators helped him make this music video.

“Leia’s gonna be pissed.” How It Should’ve Ended rights many of The Force Awakens’ wrongs, such as the lack of ghost Vader, Rey’s escape plan and the totally avoidable climax. All we want to see is for Chewie to go Rambo on Kylo Ren.

Writer/director/animator Justin Nixon and team’s dystopian stop-motion short tells the story of a family of robots whose tragedy and desire for resolution leads them to the discovery of the dark secret behind the blind devotion of their fellow citizens.

“…the art challenges the technology and the technology inspires the art.” As Pixar celebrates its 30th year, Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter looks back on the company’s origin and growth, its films’ effect on audiences and its guiding principle: story is king.

Animator Eran Amir created a series of 3D printed baby figurines then traveled through a variety of environments with the baby models on a rig, painstakingly snapping one photo at a time to create a seemingly around-the-world baby marathon. Making of video here.

Illustrator Hombre McSteez and his crew of unhinged Sharpie on transparency creatures are back to invade the real world with their animated antics once again. Stick around for a cameo from Adam Savage, who does not qualify as an inanimate object.

This 1967 Oscar-nominated animated short by Les Drew and Kaj Pindal envisions a day when Martians look down on Earth, and surmise that our planet is not occupied by humans, but by cars and other machines. Maybe they should have bought a better telescope.

The Film Theorists share interesting trivia about Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. Learn how Hayao Miyazaki decided to make it about a 10-year old girl, his favorite scenes in the movie, the origin of the River Spirit and more.

The promo for Archer‘s upcoming seventh season spoofs the opening sequence of Magnum, P.I. It’s all here: the chopper, the mustache, the rodeo clown. Lana as T.C. is incredibly confusing. Premieres 3/31/16.

The latest trailer for Disney’s animated flick expounds on the animal-filled storyline – as an unlikely of a con artist and a rookie cop set out on an adventure to solve mystery together. From the directors behind Bolt and Wreck-It Ralph, and starring an awesome voice cast.

Jeremy Polgar spent the last year perfecting this awesomely animated concept trailer for a film about Analog, the last android in existence and a journey of revenge which leads her down an unexpected path. We love the action, ’80s tinged neon glow, and sharp linework.

An abridged look at the life of a proud doorman in Dublin, Ireland, from his first day at work to his last. Damien O’Connor’s animated short film is a sad tale about how we sometimes miss out on certain opportunities because we’re so focused on others.

A mother gives her son what would normally be a welcome gift: a puppy. But the seemingly heartless boy rejects the dog. Jacob Frey’s award-winning animated short film is an adaptation of Fabio Coala’s comic strip about rolling with the punches.