Tonko House Announce Storybook Sequels To 'The Dam Keeper'

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We've been following the production of Dice Tsutumi and Robert Kondo's short-film The Dam Keeper for quite some time now. Having finally had the chance to see it amid the remarkable hub-bub over its Academy Awards nomination(!), I can say confidently without a doubt that the film was entirely worth the wait.

But if you're worried that the achingly short, if gorgeous, short-film was the only product of its three-plus development time, worry no more! There's still more of The Dam Keeper to come in the form of two illustrated storybooks published by First Second Books slated for release next year!

The Dam Keeper deserves all the praised it's garnered and then-some. A poignantly beautiful testament to the patience and artistry of hand-drawn animation. Tsutumi and Kondo have assembled an all-star team of talented illustrators and animators and I can't wait to see what they share with us in the years to come!

(The Dam Keeper is available for purchase through iTunes and Amazon)

Yopi the Robot

Yopi is an adorable one-minute student film courtesy of Débora Cruchon and Paula Assadourian, alumni of the prestigious CalArts and Gobelins animation academies respectively. The short, an entry in  CalArts-Gobelins 48-hour collaboration contest, follows a well-meaning robot boy-scout embarking on a nature hike on a journey to set the world right with hilarious results.

The chalky pastel backgrounds and enchantingly child-like sound design combine to create a skit worthy of a Saturday morning cartoon or an awesome bed-time story. Hope to see more work from these two in the future!

The Art Of Redredundance

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Redredundance is the alias of Christina Ellis, a Los Angeles based concept artist and illustrator currently working at Moonbot Studios, which just recently released Diggs Nightcrawler for the PS3. Educated at Ringling College of Art and Design, Christina's work is a highly stylized affair which walks a fine line between painterly and children's book inspired.

Her elongated protagonists inhabit pastel-tinged realms that are quite relaxing to look at, and all her shapes are driven by a strong sense of flow, curve and counter-curve. Christina is currently hard at work on a really cool comic called Flaske as well, which you can check out over here. More of her work after the break!