Catfish Deluxe Releases Final 'Sidera' Short

Last month, France-based production house Catfish Deluxe released the first of four shorts they created Julien Neel's Lou! Journal infime. Titled Sidera, the shorts recounted the intergalactic voyages of a scantily-clad defender of justice launches herself from the boils of her gigantic space-whale headlong into the grips of danger and intrigue. Catfish has finally gotten around to releasing the final climactic clip from the movie, though two and three are suspiciously absent. Guess we'll have to see the actual movie to check those out!

I absolutely loved the original short and this one is no different; A brightly colored confluence of muscular visor-wielding centaurs, holographic dobermans and monolithic space women. It's like Jem and the Holograms by way of He-Man pitted in a fist-fight against Kill La Kill in a battle for the title of supreme absurdity. So long Sidera, hope to see you again someday!

Throwback Thursday: Everything I Can See From Here

Salutations Awesome-Robonauts! I'm happy to report that we've successfully managed to survive another 365-day circuit around the sun. Now that everyone is coasting off a two-day stretch of toast-making and nursing hangovers, let's spare a moment to throwback to London-based animation house The Line's exquisitely bizarre short, Everything I Can See From Here.

Making friends is easy, if you know how...

It's a story as old as time. Two buddies are having tossing a ball around in a junkyard, marveling at the force of Earth's gravity, when a strange creature with luminescent dreads materializes out of the folds of space to join in on their game. To say things do not go as well is an understatement.

This short is a true diamond in the rough. The strong reliance on ambient sound design and pantomimic gestures, combined with the expert balance between soft and hard color pallets is powerfully reminiscent of Genndy Tartakovsky at his best. I'm pleased Everything I Can See From Here has finally made its way onto Awesome-Robo's radar. Check out the making of video below the break, and check out the Creator Project's interview with the directors discussing the origins behind the short!

Throwback Thursday: Darlingside - The Ancestor

This Thursday, we're throwing all the way back to 2012 with Darlingside's exquisitely beautiful music video for "The Ancestor". Long before Hiro Murai's "Never Catch Me", The Ancestor tells the story of the after-life and of one loving couple's attempt to weather the inevitable consequences of mortality. A older woman with a rose in her hair stares down at the graveside of her beloved. As day turns to night, the spirits of the departed are lifted out of their graves and hoisted into the great beyond along wisping tethers of lights. But one man cannot let go of his earthly ties, and a decision must be made...

Director Keith Boynton, lead animator Abraham Dieckman, lead artist Pamela Goodman and the rest of the team at Crazy Lake Pictures did a phenomenal job with this one. The vibrant colors and abstract art-style perfectly complement the track's dream-like tone. Check out more of their more recent awesome work here.

Inside Me Is An Ambient Electronic 3D Trip

Using a 3D-scan and a photo of his body, Dmitry Zakharov has created an incredibly hypnotic and soothing piece of art. Using the surface of his 3D body, Zakharov takes a familiar piece and turns it into an incredible explosions of patterns and colors. Accompanied by the soft electronic ambience of Nils Frahm, Inside Me is a relaxing experience that takes you to the insides of Zakharov's body in an awesomely unique way.

The quick zooms, and the odd shapes created by inverting the 3D-scans create an interesting feeling of nostalgia, reminding me of the awesome, Beyond The Mind's Eye shorts from the early to mid 90's. Pop culture always seems to find a way to remix itself back into art, and the emergence of more abstract 3D animation like this makes me excited for the coming years. 

印象派 (Impressionism) "BEAM!"

Japanese pop band 印象派 (roughly translated to Impressionism) have been on my radar since early last year after stumbling on the track Endless Summer, pushing me into the depths of Space Shower Music's fantastic lineup of Japanese musical artists. 印象派's new track BEAM! is a pleasant trip on the ears, but the accompanied music video is ridiculous in all the right ways. 

With a set of awesome visual effects, BEAM! takes you on a wild trip between two feuding sets of animal-human-things as they battle for world supremacy. If animal-human-things don't instantly tickle your interest maybe the idea of of animal-human-things firing lasers will. 

The music video is incredible well done, and the mixture of neon colors on a black-and-white world mesh extremely well, creating fast-past action akin to Edgar Wright's take on Scott Pilgrim. Even if you're not a fan of Jpop you should find something you'll enjoy.

The Art of Odori

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"I want it in my home" instantly comes to mind when browsing through Japan based artist Odori's work. The vibrant colors and detailed work provides an excellent escape into a world of abstraction and psychedelic feels.

Each piece provides an interesting juxtaposition, placing Odori's monotone character into lively environments making it all the more apparent that the grass isn't always greener on the other side, even if it's filled to the brim with eye catching colors.

After the break are 7 more pieces of Odori's work for you to peruse, with more work found on Pixiv.

"Pullet's Chair" - An Animation By Former Ghibli Employees

Pullet's Chair (Pullet No Isu) is a short created to commemorate 10 years of Noitamina (Animation spelled backwards), a Fuji TV programming block devoted to anime created to expand the demographic of animation beyond young males. Directed by Hiroyasu Ishida and animated with the supervision of former Ghibli alum Yojiro Arai, it's a heartfelt short about the friendship between a young girl and her magical chair.

Everything from the visual style to the premise give off that warm, fuzzy feeling we've come to expect from Ghibli. With a great message of never lose sight of that youthful side that lies within you, it's a guaranteed cheer up!

The Vibrant Art Of Hyamei

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Simple yet bold and vibrant, Hyamei's (Abigail L. Dela Cruz) art style is a great example of accomplishing more with less. Broad brush strokes with rich color palettes make up the majority of her work, with a distinct emphasis on large forms rather than getting overly detailed and bogged down by minutia.

While we initially discovered her as part of a Sailor Moon themed art gallery project called Moon Crisis, we tracked her work back to her gallery and found some truly cool personal art. Her main character of choice seems to center around a mischievous fox spirit who enjoys playing with the moon, and she's created an entire series of images around this protagonist to add a really cool pseudo-narrative. As well as original pieces, she also dabbles in plenty of fanart and tribute pieces to her favorite shows and characters from various franchises. Check out more of her work after the break!

The Art Of Garrett Hanna

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I first ran into Garrett Hanna's work a few years ago when he released a short film towards the end of his tenure at Sheridian called El Cacto. Fast forward to a few years later and he's currently one of the main concept honchos over at Carbine, currently working on the promising looking Wildstar MMO, which is set to hit online shores sometime later this year.

Hanna's work just oozes plain fun. Everything from his wild color palettes to his always pushed characters come to life in his illustrations and concepts, which push the envelope in his own very distinct way. Look no further than after the break to get a taste of Hanna's wild imagination, and stay tuned for more Wildstar updates as they come.

The Vintage Yet Colorful Art of Kuno

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Mixing a vintage feel with the bright neon colors of the 80's, Japan based artist Kuno has a wonderful assortment of eye catching work. With a selection of obscure character art to beautiful architectural art, Kuno's style manages to cross the path of a variety of subjects. While some pieces hold a 30's and 40's style, it manages to encapsulate the feeling of many early manga and anime artists from the 1950's while throwing in a blend of western culture.

Each of Kuno's work deserve to be framed and hung throughout the hippest of homes, and it's honestly something I'd love to see in my own. After the break is more of Kuno's work for you to gawk at, enjoy!

The Art of Meg Hunt

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It's not often that I come across art that just makes me squee with delight, and proclaim "I MUST HAVE THIS SH*T ON MY WALLS." But today... Today is one of those awesome days. If you're a veteran Awesome-Robo follower, you just might know by now that I have a thing for all things cute (a Cute Mixtape is in the works, I know, it's been forever).  Portland-based artist Meg Hunt captures all that is adorable, but it's not over-the-top fluffy, cutesy work.  It's a little more subtle, and definitely has an awesome vintage feel.

Check out some of her other works after the break!

Welcome To The Magic - A Disneyland Timelapse

Created by Matt Givot and Dan Douglas over the course of a day at Disneyland, Welcome To The Magic was created using a series of over 20,000 images and a fine soundtrack by Disney's officially endorsed remixer, Pogo. If you've ever been to Disneyland before, this beautifully shot showcase will probably get you itching to go back sometime very soon.

In one afternoon, we used timelapse photography to show some of the enchanting experiences guests from all over the world come to Disneyland to enjoy. The film gives a unique perspective of the colorful lights, moving crowds and entertaining rides. Our goal was to showcase the magic experienced only at Disneyland Anaheim, showing how Walt Disney’s theme park vision from the 1930’s has become the world’s most popular theme park. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into his magical world.

Dia de los Muertos

In a perfectly lighthearted Sunday morning cartoon fashion, we stumbled across the student animated short, Dia de los Muertos.  A story about, you guessed it, the Mexican holiday "Day of the Dead."  In the short, a little girl finds herself mourning at a gravesite, only to be whisked away to the land of the dead.  Instead of finding something scary as she clearly first thought, she finds a land of innocent celebration. As is fitting with the holiday, the art style is bright and colorful, and is overall fun to watch.  Created by Ringling College of Art and Design students Lindsey St. Pierre, Ashley Graham, and Kate Reynolds.

The Art of Goro Fujita

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San Francisco based artist, Goro Fujita has a style with a fantastical use of color and a wonderful sense of action for the characters in each of his work. Each piece manages to display a childlike wonder and encapsulates it perfectly with a scene that could be seen in a Pixar film. While a large majority of our featured artists create a story through their world, the expressions and actions of the characters from Goro are the storytellers in his work.

After the break are seven more of Goro's work. Check them out.

The Illustrated Aliens Project

Earlier this year, London-based animator/illustrator Andy Martin decided to create a monthly series of animated shorts based on the characters he illustrated each day that month. Going with an alien/space concept, his series is appropriately titled The Illustrated Aliens Project, with each short numbered in sequential order (Planet One, Planet Two, etc...). While they're all colorful and goofy, each short is fairly different in design and animation style. Check out a few more of the videos after the break!

It Is Not Meant To Be

Created by UK-based Ben Pearce, It Is Not Meant To Be is a wonderfully bright animated short set to Tame Impala's song of the same name.  Beginning at ocean abyss, the camera continually pans upward, giving us a glimpse of a stylized, almost whimsical look at the natural world.  The use of light is exceptionally lovely, from the first ray of light shone through the dark water all the way until the end.  I have to say, on top of the cool animation, Pearce picked a really nice and chill track to go along with it. This is the kind of thing I could have on loop in the background.

Neighborhood Watch by Mike Carlo

Animator Mike Carlo, best known for being the animation director on the demented Adult Swim series, Superjail! recently came out with a new short, Neighborhood Watch.  It's a colorful, if somewhat grotesque (not that we're complaining...) piece with a fun retro feel.  The story is simple enough, which is perfect for this over the top short, which definitely shares some thematic similarities to a typical episode of Ren & Stimpy mixed with Duckman. An overly zealous neighborhood watchman finds himself on the hunt for a local pervert. But wait! Further hijinks commence! Here's to hoping that this pilot gets a little attention, Adult Swim could use some fresh content as of late.

PicPac & Patatrac

Supinfocom student (Man, they're really turning out some awesome talent) Loan Torres created a really colorful, silly animated short with 'PicPac & Patatrac.'  A big, beastly rhinoceros is in for a doctor's visit (aka Dr. Flamingo) when the doctor pulls out the most dreaded of medical arsenal.

No, not the rubber gloves plus two finger salute (I can sense your cringe from here, my apologies), but the needle.  Rhinoceros the Big Baby decides to flee, as any normal person (or animal) in their right mind would.  I loved the use of bright colors, and overall aesthetic, not to mention the simple, but fun story concept.

Hug by Saki Iyori

Tokyo-based Tama Art University student Saki Iyori created a really innocent, and colorful animated short with 'Hug.' A rather clingy girl is shown with her big bear, before being sent out among some other members of the animal kingdom, where she tries to spread her message of love (or again, maybe she's just clingy). There's definitely a real child-like quality to the short, but it's also slightly uncomfortable at the same time. My vote is for the scratchy record audio effect. Definitely love the bright colors, and +1 for multi-colored llamas.

Fight For Everyone

From the folks over at Persistent Peril comes this awesomely adorable animation that was created to be a promo for The Leisure Society.  Anytime is a good time for a fun, peppy animated short, and we're given all of that and more with 'Fight For Everyone.' Ever so tongue-in-cheek, we're taken through a variety of landscapes and situations that just don't quite go well.  It just goes to show that everything is battle in it's own way, but one worth fighting.