Today as I was browsing the web and while doing some research I came to find that Studio Ghibli is about to release their new masterpiece by filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki in the United States on August 14th, 2009. As a Miyazaki fan I got super exited and did some more research and the basic drill is that Ponyo is a girl fish who falls in love with a human boy and she wants to become a human herself. It sounds like Miyazaki is putting a spin on the Little Mermaid. I can’s wait to see this. Here are some screencaps from the HD Trailer

As I popped the platinum edition of Sleeping Beauty into my DVD player, I remembered how many times I used to watch this animated feature when I was five years old. I am not sure why I was so obsessed with that animated film but as I started watching it again the memories started flowing back, reminding me of the many reasons.

Obviously as a kid I was fascinated by the animated characters, monsters and the basic story line but there was more to it. The art and design of that film always swept me away and occupied a very special corner in my head along with those russian stamps that I used to collect.

So as I watched this classic film once again I began to notice how visually different it is from other animated feature films made by Disney. The amount of details, the crisp edges, the explosion of colors, the layout design and most of all its unique medieval look and feel. After some research I learned the story behind this special animated film.

It was the Background Artist Eyvind Earle who effected pretty much the entire look of this movie. His astonishing paintings for the background settings in the movie didn’t match the soft and round look of Disney’s characters. The designers and artists publicly protested Earle’s interpretation of the movie’s settings and style.

Earle somehow won the support of Disney, which in turn forced the artist to go back to the drawing board and start over to create a new style for the characters to make them fit within Earl’s world. Eyvind Earle was an incredible artist who had a unique vision and style. He passed away in the year 2000. I think we all agree that we are lucky that Earle had his way with the design of Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty Images : Lyris Lite | Eyvind Earle artwork: http://www.eyvindearle.com

Inspired by Persian miniatures, french director and graphic designer Michel Ocelot created astonishing imagery for his film  AZUR & ASMAR or THE PRINCES QUEST. This visual masterpiece which talks about the conflict between two different cultures, hints on todays struggle between the western and easter cultures according to the filmmaker. The characters were made in 3D and the backgrounds were done in 2D. Striking with its beautiful colors and graphics this is a must watch for any person interested in art and design.

Amazing TV commercial for the new Toyota Prius from Saatchi and Saatchi LA.

A new outstanding animated piece by The Mill. According to the studio director Russell Tickner shot 35mm live action performance of the coins spinning from different angles with different speeds and then the Mill’s R&D department created the 3D code that would help simulate the movement of coins in this superb realistic rendering.