JCB Song Music Video

I don't usually write posts about music videos, but they are in fact turning out to be one of the most vital and imaginative areas for animation. This video was animated with Flash software by Laith Bahrani for a band named Nizlopi. It's about a boy traveling the roads with his dad in an earth mover. It's a wonderful song and the animation is full of a gentle kind of humor and affection that is awfully difficult to find anywhere in animation on the Internet. I love the way things just keep gently sliding by the field of vision, everything always in tune with the music. Perfect work.

Go watch The JCB Song Animation

This blog entry comes from CandlelightStories.com

Godzilla Movie Online for Free Viewing

Halloween's coming soon and we thought it might be time to get into the spirit of things with a good horror movie. This is the original 1954 Godzilla from Japan. It's got a great monster and an excellent sound track. It's the best version of the story there is. Have fun watching it in our DramaCast area where we'll post more great horror movies over the coming weeks.

Go watch Godzilla

This blog entry comes from CandlelightStories.com

Global Warming is Wiping out Polar Bears

Here are links to several articles about just how bad the global warming situation is for the Arctic. Scientists now believe that most of the world's polar bear population will be wiped out as Arctic ice vanishes.

"Warming Is Seen as Wiping Out Most Polar Bears," Sep 7, New York Times

"Ice-free Arctic could be here in 23 years," Sep 5, in The Guardian

"Arctic ice cap to melt faster than feared, scientists say," Sep. 7, Seattle Times

Here's more information on Global Warming from Candlelight Stories.

Thank you BoingBoing for posting about these articles. Polar bear picture from Ukumari's Fickr photo set.

This blog entry comes from CandlelightStories.com

Twit Twit - A French Animation

Five students of the ESRA Bretagne school in France made this excellent animation about a robot who travels the American west playing his banjo for hand-outs. Trouble starts when he comes across an unexpected toll stop. I love the cartoon look of the landscape and the expressive characters.

Go watch Twit Twit

This blog entry comes from CandlelightStories.com

Illustrated Essays by David Gillette

What's an illustrated essay? Well, David Gillette makes lots of them and they are wonderfully drawn video expressions of personal opinion. This one's all about visiting New York City and what one can learn by doing so. It's fun to watch and may have you buying a ticket to the Big Apple!

Go see some Animated Essays

This blog entry comes from CandlelightStories.com

Winnie the Pooh from Russia

What's this? An animated Winnie the Pooh that's not boring? Here are several Russian Pooh stories that are beautifully drawn, have fantastic comic timing and characters that are completely charming. These are all in Russian but it doesn't matter a bit. I was laughing out loud as soon as the first one started. This Pooh is a hoot.

Go see a Russian Winnie the Pooh

This blog entry comes from CandlelightStories.com

Man & Whale - Beautiful Animation from Japan

Koji Yamamura has made a simply stunning animation called Man & Whale. It's about a headmaster at a school who remembers a drawing he made of whale when he was a small boy. The artwork is wonderful and the movie actually means something. If you have something to express, you make a movie like this. If you have nothing at all to express, you make something like 'Happy Tree Friends.'

Go see Man & Whale

This blog entry comes from CandlelightStories.com

Classic Animation Backgrounds

Hans Bacher has a blog called Animation Treasures that shows complete background artworks from classic animations. He makes seamless images by stitching together screen grabs. It is unusual to see backgrounds from animated movies in their entirety.

Go see Animation Treasures

This blog entry comes from CandlelightStories.com