Animation

Kanye West was honored at last week’s 20th Annual Webbys with the Artist Of The Year award, in recognition of the social media phenomenon’s pioneering use of the internet and his impact on the music landscape. The ceremony’s rules limit the winners’ acceptance speeches to five words, presenting West, who’s known for his lengthy orations, with a challenge. Houses in Motion, the Brooklyn-based animation and production studio, crafted an animation-driven retrospective of the artist’s year, with a video montage that includes abstract design elements, graphics, skewed images, and samplings of the artist’s tweets.

Houses in Motion was called upon by Nick Jr. to produce a playful broadcast package that brightens its young viewers’ winter with a Warm & Fuzzy feeling. The integrated series of promos, IDs, and bumpers features stylized versions of established characters from the network’s popular children’s programming and introduces a new crew of adorable critters. Houses brought their message to life through stop motion animation that echoes the characters’ organic, handcrafted qualities.

Funimation Films announced today that The Boy and The Beast, the newest Mamoru Hosoda film, will open March 4 in more than 100 theaters across the U.S. Theatergoers will have the option to watch either the original Japanese language version (with English subtitles), the new English dub version produced by Funimation, or both, depending on theater location.

Laika, the award-winning animation studio nestled in the heart of the Pacific Northwest, celebrates 10 years of bold and memorable filmmaking this month. For a company whose name means “little barker” in Russian, Portland, Oregon-based Laika has made quite a noise in the global film industry over a relatively short time. With its world-class filmmaking team, Laika pushes the boundaries of family entertainment and animated movies, redefining what stories can and should be told through the art form.