G R E G M A N W A R I N G

2011-08-27T11:10:00.002+02:00

Currently in London animating on a commercial. Nice to visit here again! Seeing lots of old colleagues and friends!

In June I was in Seoul, Korea supervising the animation on a commercial. Interesting place.

Fun Toons LLC

2010-11-10T18:49:00.002+01:00

We've just launched an American subsidiary of our German Company, Fun Toons GmbH!! Fun Toons LLC will be based in Austin, Texas! Yeeee-Haaaaa!

Good times ahead!

March 2010

2010-03-22T17:38:00.002+01:00

Very quick update.

I am currently in Barcelona, Spain, Directing an animated feature film at Accio studios called "Little Big Panda", for Benchmark Entertainment out of Berlin, Germany. Much of the artistic crew are formerly of Django films, and were colleagues of mine there on "The Illusionist". A very talented group indeed!!

Good things are just down the road!!

April 2009

2009-04-05T20:50:00.002+02:00

I had a fantastic trip back to L.A. for meetings about a couple of my projects and to attend the Oscars. I stayed a few days at the home of old friend and colleague, Annie Guenther, who was a delightful host, really looking after my business partner Holger, his girlfriend and myself! She will hopefully come over here and visit us here in Munich sometime this year.

I also stayed the last couple of days with my old friend and roomate, Joe Haidar and his lovely girlfriend Sally. Joe and Jim Baker recently finished a 15 minute live action film mixed with animation (ala' Roger Rabbit), which is a heck of an accomplishment! I salute them both on an entertaining job well done.

I won't go through the whole list of friends that I saw (and the many I didn't get to see), but a special thanks goes out to my old CalArts friend, Ms. Abigail Caro and old Army brat buddy Mark Demos!

This past Friday I finished putting my spin on a Script that has been written for a film to be produced here in Germany soon called "Little Big Panda" (which is more akin to 'Bambi' than 'Kung Fu Panda'). Hopefully it gets into production soon and gets steady employment for many of my friends over here.

I'll hopefully be able to update you all soon with any developments on my own projects.

February 2009

2009-02-06T09:08:00.004+01:00

Wow, I can't believe that my last post was back in August of 2008. Time just seems to fly when you're really busy, as I have been while working in Edinburgh on "Le Illusionist"!

I am temporarily back home in Munich, which gives me a chance to concentrate on my projects. I won't say much, but I am very excited about the near future!

I'll be back in Hollywood for the Oscars and have already set up some amazing meetings and am in the process of setting up more. It's also a nice chance to meet up with old friends there. I've actually been gone 9 years now. That means I was 16 when I left there!

Okay, so my math isn't great.

I have been working with some extraordinary artists in Edinburgh on "Le Illusionist". Many of them are very young (early 20's) and are really holding their own with the very realistic human acting involved with the film! I commend them all! What a wonderful smorgasboard of cultures as well - the Studio is filled with French, Spanish, German, Canadians, Americans, Dutch, Scots and English!

I can tell you that the viewer will be in for quite a treat, as the film looks AMAZING!

Roger Rabbit Mini-Reunion!

2008-08-08T19:40:00.002+02:00

Here at Django Studios in Edinburgh we had a mini Roger Rabbit reunion when Al Gaivoto visited the Studio! Jacques Muller, Al and myself have not been together like this in 20 years! Funny, but I look exactly the same as I did back then! (Of course, that is, if you take away the added pounds and the designer bald look!)

Long lost "Iron Giant" test scene

2008-07-11T10:51:00.007+02:00

David Zart, the worlds biggest "Iron Giant" fan, recently got hold of a test scene I made before the start of production. It was one of two that Brad had me make so that we could see how the characters interact with the Giant. In this one, Hogarth beckons his buddy before having to dive out of the way of his impending step down into the scene. In the other one the Giant actually scoops Hogarth up and carries him as the camera pulls back to reveal the Giant's height in regards to his surroundings.

Unfortunately David was only able to film the scene in slo-mo, and without the camera shakes (from the Giants incoming steps) - but you'll get the gist of it. (of course I only wish I could go back in time to fix up some things! But that's always the case isn't it?!)

The Illusionist

2008-07-01T09:18:00.002+02:00

I'll soon be heading to Edinburgh to help animate on Sylvain Chomet's new film, "The Illusionist"! The craftsmanship in Chomet's films is amazing, as one can see in "Les Tripplettes De Belleville", and makes the allure of working on his new film that much stronger!

Here is an image from the film:

Andy Knight R.I.P.

2008-04-13T12:48:00.005+02:00

I was shocked and saddened to hear about Andy Knight's passing away over the weekend. I want to send my condolensces to his family, friends and team, and hope they can find solace in the many wonderful memories he left us all.

Andy was one of the "good ones"!

Rest in Peace Andy.

Oscars 2008

2008-03-05T07:44:00.015+01:00

I attended the Oscars again this year and had a great time! I made the most out of my trip by pitching projects to both Disney and Paramount studios. Both projects were well received. This makes 4 projects of mine that are actively moving forward (one t.v. series was bought in December)!

Upon arrival at L.A.X. I was picked up by my old friend Fabrice Morvan (1/2 of Milli Vanilli). We attended a pre-Oscar party at the German Consulate where we met up with the German Hollywood correspondant Dierk Sindermann. Dirk has a weekly column that I read in my local Munich newspaper, so it was a pleasure meeting him!

Me, Dierk Sindermann and Fabrice Morvan

A few of my friends met up for breakfast with John K. one morning. We ended up over at my old roomate Joe Haidar's house.

Me, Jamie Bolio, Joe Haidar and Boris Hiestand

Walt, Mickey and Me (?)

The Big Night!

Happy New Year!!

2007-12-31T09:14:00.000+01:00

May 2008 bring each of you more joy, happiness and success!!

Happy Discovery!

2007-12-18T19:11:00.002+01:00

I was happy that someone at Walt Disney World helped locate a brick that I purchased back in 94. The brick is part of the walkway in the park itself. Well, not only did this guy locate the brick but he had it fixed up and treated with a sealant so that it will last forever!!

Here it is!

I'm just really happy that we found it so that my kids will be able to see it on their own someday (maybe with their own children)!

Animation Course

2007-12-18T19:11:00.001+01:00

I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching lectures over the past year and so have decided to offer my tutoring full time through an animation course I have designed. The first group of students will begin in February and will learn from a curriculum which is influenced by my education at CalArts, and the many great animators I have worked alongside during my career thusfar. If you live in Europe and want to know more about the course you can contact me by email at imdgman@gmail.com .

an ENCHANTED evening!

2007-11-23T21:10:00.001+01:00

I was fortunate to be invited to attend a party here in Munich for the film "Enchanted", by my friends Harald Siepermann and Johannes Wolters! To heighten the cool factor, the party was actually held in a real Castle!

Johannes, Harald, Alan Menken, Myself and Amy Adams

Kevin Lima and I

It was fun to surprise my old CalArts friend Kevin Lima, who I hadn't seen in maybe 10 years. He was shocked to say the least! I also had nice chats with Amy Adams and James Marsden (who are both "Iron Giant" fans by the way - with James actually quoting lines for me). And let me say, if you think Amy Adams is captivating in this film - then you should see her in person!

I also got to speak with Alan Menken and his lovely daughter Anna, who is a musician/singer in her own right. Alan's music for "the Little Mermaid" is very popular in our household and my daughter Lizzie sang one of the songs in her schools talent show this past June. You can see her performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kimxN-XLxg

I can't wait to see "Enchanted" and am happy for all of the rave reviews! Everyone is speaking so favorably about the 2d segment that starts the movie, with many questioning why there aren't more 2d films coming out from Disney!! A good sign! Cheers to James Baxter and his crew of VERY talented animators and assistants!

3 Generations of CalArts

2007-09-13T07:33:00.000+02:00

I went and saw my friend Gail Ann Dorsey play bass guitar in Gwen Stefani's concert here in Munich last night. It just so happened another member of the band, Gabe, was also from CalArts! Small world! Actually, come to think of it, Gwen indirectly made it 4 CalArts folk, since her brother Eric went there as well!

Here's a Pic of my Wife and I with Gwen and her crew!

Having fun!

2007-07-24T19:19:00.000+02:00

I just wanted to say that I have been living out one of my animation dreams recently, and that was to animate some of the characters from breakfast cereals! I know that may sound crazy, but it was just something I had always wanted to do. So I am just finishing a Keeblers commercial, and recently animated Tony the Tiger playing soccer and Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet (old friends of mine!) hula-hooping for 'Huggies' diapers! Let's see, only a few more to go... ...Toucan Sam, Snap, Crackle and Pop, Cap't Crunch, etc. - then I'll be satisfied!

It's nice to be doing fun animation again!

Educational News!

2007-07-11T10:42:00.000+02:00

I just talked to Dick Williams the other day and learned that he is just about finished with a 12 dvd set on animation! Wow! I better start saving my pennies!

Just as exciting is the news that Eric Goldberg will be releasing his own book on animation later this year! His wife Sue told me alot of what will be included and let me just say that it will become a 'must have' addition to your book collection!

Fantastic!!

UPDATE: I spoke to Eric recently and he advised me that the book will now be released in the Summer of 2008. There will also be a goodie that comes with the book!

Monkeyjam

2007-05-18T20:21:00.000+02:00

Monkeyjam is a FREE animation linetest program that works GREAT! You can shoot your scene with a camera (I use my webcam) or it allows you to import scanned images. The image is fantastic, as it is simply taking photos, so there is no constant adjusting of the brightness and contrast, praying to get your image to show up, like in other expensive software. It produces AVI files (you can choose the image size).

Check it out for yourself:

http://www.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.com/monkeyjam/

More Family Dog Photos

2007-04-02T12:08:00.000+02:00

Here are more Family Dog photos that were taken during the production by the very talented Alan Smart ("Spongebob Squarepants").

The Illustrious Mr. Bird

FoooChilly

Big Chris Buck seeking guidance from the blue guru! David Cutler can be seen in the background, waiting his turn.

Miss Susy (Kroyer) holding her poster announcing the wrap party to be held at their home.

Ronbo (Ron Hughart) and Klay Bob (Klay Hall).

Animation Lecture

2007-03-25T22:16:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I gave a two hour animation lecture for the SAE Institute here in Munich, in conjunction with Digital Production magazine, and Missing Link software. There were two other speakers on the program, Nico Tuma from Ambient Entertainment in Hannover, and Matthias Zeller from Framestore in London. It is only the second time I've given a proper lecture to students and was alot of fun for me. I just hope the students got something out of my talk.

Sweet Memories!

2007-03-03T18:03:00.000+01:00

It's been 20 years since we made 'Family Dog' and in honor of the anniversary Sue Kroyer sent the crew a few photos she had laying around. Here's a group shot in which you can see, from left to right, Myself, Dan Jeup, Tim Hauser, Pam Thompson, Ralph Eggleston, Gregg Vanzo, Tony Fucile, Brad Bird, Darrell Rooney, and 2 others whom I cannot identify (maybe one of you recognize them?). If you're a Brad Bird fan and haven't seen this cult classic, be sure to look it up on Youtube.com!

2006-12-21T19:41:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to Uli Meyer!!

2006-08-10T09:55:00.000+02:00

Uli Meyer has just announced that his long awaited film project "MonsterMania" is now in production. This is certainly fantastic news and will breathe new life into the London animation community.

I particularly like this project because "MonsterMania" brings together all of the wickedly delicious monster characters that came out of Universal Studios in the 1930's and 1940's.

You can find out more and learn about any updates on the project by going to http://umbackagain.blogspot.com/2006/08/press-release.html

HAPPY 2006!!!

2006-01-13T09:21:00.000+01:00

I am up in Berlin as I write this, directing some episodes of a new television series for Gerd Hahn.

I hope that 2006 can bring all of you greater success in your careers and love, peace and happiness in your personal lives!

I will try to start posting more as one of my new years resolutions.

Update

2005-12-03T21:08:00.000+01:00

Sorry that I've been away from the blog for so long, but I've started a new gig Directing up in Northern Germany. I can't give away too many details at the moment, but I'm having a great time so far!

I've also been busy preparing a presentation package for our projects. That's been alot of fun, mixing various mediums in photoshop. Laying this out reminds me of my days of being on the yearbook staff in high school.

On a depressing note, I recently found out that a friend of mine from CalArts committed suicide a couple of months ago. Alan Schechter was in the live action school and went on to professionally work with Joel Silver on a number of projects. He was a fun guy and very focused on producing. While at CalArts Alan directed a couple of videos for his brothers rock band and for whatever reasons had me act in both of them - which was quite fun. He'll be missed by those of us who knew him.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE: #3

2005-11-09T11:05:00.000+01:00

MOUTH ATTITUDE IN DIALOGUE

To avoid mouth shape gymnastics, and to clearly convey the characters emotion, remember to keep his mouth shape attitude consistant.

Examples:

If the character is happy and has a big smile on his face, be sure to work the dialogue with that smile as the driving force behind it. Don't switch back and forth between having upturned corners of the mouth and shapes that have downturned corners.

If the character is sad, keep his mouth shapes opening and closing with downturned corners.

This goes for special attitudes as well. Remember when Pinnochio has a cigar in the corner of his mouth? When he pulls it out and speaks he talks out of the corner of his mouth - the mouth opens and closes off to the side, keeping Pinnochio's cool guy attitude. The comedian WC Fields talked out of the corner of his mouth like this as well.

Try a couple of excercises right now:

Put on a huge smile and say some happy thoughts. Do you feel how the cheek muscles pull up the corner of the mouth, and pretty much stay there as you speak?

Now, put on a deep frown and pretend to be sad as you speak. Can you feel how those muscles along side of your mouth are pulling down the whole time?

Now, pull up one cheek (as if you're smiling with only one side of your face). Pretend to pull a cigar out of that corner of your mouth, and start talking with only that side of your mouth. Do you see how the shapes form and stay consistant there? You don't suddenly start using centered mouth shapes as you speak do you?

I think you'll agree that nothing in animated dialogue looks worse than mouth shapes that consistantly switch between attitudes (other than overanimated dialogue!).

Eyes and Ears 2005 Awards

2005-11-06T15:22:00.000+01:00

I just found out that a commercial I worked on recently won an award! I animated the two moose from "Brother Bear" for a Disney Channel television Easter advert, for my friends over at ANIMOTO.

http://www.eeofe.de

The funny thing is is that I have never even seen the commercial! I finished my animation on it, literally, hours before boarding a plane to L.A.

I'm really chuffed that the commercial won something. Congratulations to ANIMOTO and the rest of the crew that helped make it!

TRICKS OF THE TRADE: #2

2005-11-04T14:30:00.000+01:00

INNER DIALOGUE

This is a subject that is very dear to my heart, and is one of those things that I think seperates the novice from the professional. 'Inner dialogue' is something you can see in the work of all of the great animators. It's the showing of the characters inner thought process. It might be that moment (or moments) leading up to the delivery of a line of dialogue, or it might be a quiet moment showing a characters inner feelings.

Many animators merely open and close a mouth according to the dialogue written out on the x-sheet - and this is okay if you're a beginner, or a hack - but for those of us that try to become a character as we bring it to life, we need to concern ourselves with the characters thought process, or as I like to call it - "inner dialogue".

Let me give you an example. One character is telling another character something, and because he agrees with what is being said he begins to nod his head and then he delivers his reply. Something like:

A: "...I don't know if any of you have ever been in the same situation... ...but it's pretty embarrassing!"
B: "Ohh yeahhh, I know exactly what you're saying!"

A seasoned pro might have Character B react in the affirmative just after Character A says "...been in the same situation..."

This could also be done in the negative sense:

A: "...and the best thing to do is just to keep quiet and not make any trouble."
B: "Sorry, but I don't agree."

Again, the veteran might have Character B start silently disagreeing with Character A while he's delivering his line. This shows up as a negative shaking of Character B's head 'before', 'during' and even 'after' the delivery of his line. And depending how strong the reaction should be, Character B might even scrunch up his face at the start of the head shake.

Another example of 'inner dialogue' might be the inclusion (by you) of a word, or phrase, to the dialogue that's on your x-sheet. No, I don't mean that you add dialogue for the producers to have recorded just for you. What I mean is that, sometimes, instead of guessing what kind of expression should precede the delivery of some dialogue, or how long an expression leading into the dialogue should last, why not work out a bit of dialogue that the character is saying to himself silently between what is actually being spoken? For example:

Character A: "...Come on man, we're not up that high - just jump!"
Character B: "Are you CRAZY?"

Go ahead and act out your reaction of Character B a few times.

okay.

Now, I want you to add the word "WHAT?!" in front of "Are you CRAZY?". Go ahead and act that out now. Do it a few times.

okay.

Now, do that again, but this time stay silent on the word "WHAT?!" Go ahead and do it a few times.

Do you see how the body language still delivers the word "WHAT?!", even though it's no longer being spoken! This is what I mean about 'inner dialogue'. It takes the guess work out of what a character is thinking, because you actually have the character silently act out his thoughts!

When Oliver Hardy turns into the camera and gives us that infamous look of his, he's not just looking at us indiscriminately, he's actually saying to himself "Can you believe this idiot" before turning back to Stan Laurel - and IT SHOWS!!

Try this technique with your own animation and see how it starts to sparkle!

TRICKS OF THE TRADE: #1

2005-11-03T13:43:00.000+01:00

Ed Love, cartoony animator extraordinaire from the Tex Avery shorts, once let me in on one of his pet secrets. He told me to:

ANTICIPATE DIALOGUE

Even just a slight movement in one direction before delivering the main thrust of the dialogue in the other direction can really add something. try it yourself, deliver a line normally and then try it anticipating slightly before you deliver the line, and then try while you already start delivering the line.

FORTUNE COOKIE

2005-10-22T13:28:00.000+02:00

I thought I'd go ahead and show this since I mentioned it in my first post.

Tone drew the two characters at the top of the poster and I drew the other three.

...Okay, roll camera...

2005-10-21T14:41:00.000+02:00

aaaannnnnnnd ACTION!!

Day 1 of my new blog. I hope I can offer everyone interesting things to view and read. I'm not a great designer like many of my friends, but maybe I can still share a thing or two.

The most exciting thing happening in my career right now is the development of a slate of projects. I am thrilled to have had so many talented friends help in the development. Harald Siepermann has designed the characters for "Rainbow", an irish leprechaun tale, and "Serengeti Samurai", an action adventure about seven unlikely heroes. Many years ago (pre-PIXAR) I was lucky enough to have Tony Fucile design the characters for my Christmas film "Kris Kringle" (as well as another one called "Fortune Cookie"). Walter Koessler has created wonderful inspirational artwork for both "Rainbow" and "Kris Kringle". Dennis Venizelos has added his magic touch to ""Rainbow" as well. Last but not least, Kevin Proctor has created some very cool conceptuals for "Serengeti Samurai".

The current team I am building for the features is already looking damn impressive, and I am sure that in time it will come to include many of you reading this blog.

Even though I created the original ideas for the films, I have since collaborated on many of the stories. Tim Hauser created a magical heartwarming story for "Rainbow", while Patrick Gleeson co-authored "Serengeti Samurai" with me. "Kris Kringle" is my own whimsical journey into Christmas. At the moment we have very engaging treatments for each of the projects and will go into script as soon as we move forward with funding. With a strong Director on board one could actually move straight into Story, just like Walt did in the old days.

I always envisioned "Rainbow" to contain music, like the old classics, and who better to approach about songs than Richard Sherman, of the legendary Sherman Brothers! Dick has been so kind in helping us structure the story up til now, and we really hope to officially bring him on board in the near future! He told us, over dinner at the Smokehouse in Burbank, that he's always wanted to write irish themed songs! Lucky us!!

Another bonus for us is that my old friend from CalArts, Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda") wants to voice the main character in "Serengeti Samurai"! We'll actually record some dialogue with him soon for a small teaser trailer.

I'm certainly hoping that we can be up and running by the new year. Thanks for the support of so many of you out there who have similiar dreams and want to help make them a reality.