Animation geeks will enjoy following the twists and turns in the remarkable career of claymation expert Will Vinton
This documentary about animation maven Will Vinton, whose medium of preference was clay filmed in stop motion, covers his remarkable career in detail, with expected reverence. Strictly as a documentary it’s conventional and a bit snoozy, but animation geeks will revel in the chance it affords to learn more about Vinton, a mostly genial chap who nevertheless had some sharp corners to his character. While the narrative mostly follows a straight-ahead, chronological path through Vinton’s biography, the story comes with a classic parable about how small companies can end up crashing and burning, especially when they get mixed up with strictly material-minded Mba-holders and aggressively controlling angel investors.
Then again, it’s clear Vinton also had himself partly to blame for his eventual business travails, although for the most part...
This documentary about animation maven Will Vinton, whose medium of preference was clay filmed in stop motion, covers his remarkable career in detail, with expected reverence. Strictly as a documentary it’s conventional and a bit snoozy, but animation geeks will revel in the chance it affords to learn more about Vinton, a mostly genial chap who nevertheless had some sharp corners to his character. While the narrative mostly follows a straight-ahead, chronological path through Vinton’s biography, the story comes with a classic parable about how small companies can end up crashing and burning, especially when they get mixed up with strictly material-minded Mba-holders and aggressively controlling angel investors.
Then again, it’s clear Vinton also had himself partly to blame for his eventual business travails, although for the most part...
- 11/15/2022
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
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In proudly weird Portland, Oregon, far from the Hollywood moviemaking machinery, an animation empire arose in the mid-’70s. It was fueled by a hippie-collective exuberance and one man’s “burning ambition,” as a colleague describes the enterprising energy of Will Vinton, the company’s driving force, in the engaging and insightful Claydream.
With incisive use of clips from the Vinton catalog and discerning interviews with Vinton and those who knew him, Marq Evans has made a film that pays tribute to its subject but is no starry-eyed celebration. Not unlike the characters Vinton and his collaborators brought to the screen through Claymation (a Vinton coinage and registered trademark), the doc combines exhilarating whimsy with dark and complex emotions. And any film that incorporates deposition footage is not likely to be headed toward a simple happily-ever-after.
Those legal proceedings pitted Vinton against Phil Knight,...
In proudly weird Portland, Oregon, far from the Hollywood moviemaking machinery, an animation empire arose in the mid-’70s. It was fueled by a hippie-collective exuberance and one man’s “burning ambition,” as a colleague describes the enterprising energy of Will Vinton, the company’s driving force, in the engaging and insightful Claydream.
With incisive use of clips from the Vinton catalog and discerning interviews with Vinton and those who knew him, Marq Evans has made a film that pays tribute to its subject but is no starry-eyed celebration. Not unlike the characters Vinton and his collaborators brought to the screen through Claymation (a Vinton coinage and registered trademark), the doc combines exhilarating whimsy with dark and complex emotions. And any film that incorporates deposition footage is not likely to be headed toward a simple happily-ever-after.
Those legal proceedings pitted Vinton against Phil Knight,...
- 8/12/2022
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
You’ve almost certainly seen work that wouldn’t exist without the efforts of animation pioneer Will Vinton. But it’s just as likely that this is the first time you’ve ever heard his name. Thankfully, director Marq Evans (“The Glamour and the Squalor”) is determined to ensure that it won’t be the last.
In “Claydream,” Evans has made the tribute Vinton deserves – and the introduction most of us need.
As a student at Berkeley in the late 1960s, Vinton planned to go into architecture. But he found himself drawn to the sculptural works of Catalan visionary Antoni Gaudí, which in turn led to his own experiments with modelling clay. Once he combined this new interest with his love of film, he began innovating the seemingly limitless, if eternally painstaking, genre of stop-motion animation.
Also Read:
Will Vinton, Claymation Oscar Winner and Co-Creator of ‘California Raisins,’ Dies at 70
He and his artistic partner,...
In “Claydream,” Evans has made the tribute Vinton deserves – and the introduction most of us need.
As a student at Berkeley in the late 1960s, Vinton planned to go into architecture. But he found himself drawn to the sculptural works of Catalan visionary Antoni Gaudí, which in turn led to his own experiments with modelling clay. Once he combined this new interest with his love of film, he began innovating the seemingly limitless, if eternally painstaking, genre of stop-motion animation.
Also Read:
Will Vinton, Claymation Oscar Winner and Co-Creator of ‘California Raisins,’ Dies at 70
He and his artistic partner,...
- 8/11/2022
- by Elizabeth Weitzman
- The Wrap
There’s intent in a brief snippet from an archival interview with Travis Knight. He’s asked about getting the animation bug at Laika, of which he’s co-owner with his father Phil Knight while also serving as President and CEO; his answer is, “No. I started at another studio.” It’s not a lie. He began his career at Will Vinton Studios after Phil became a minority shareholder. It’s also not the whole truth—Laika is Will Vinton Studios, or at least what Will Vinton Studios became after the elder Knight initiated a hostile takeover. There’s been a very conscious effort to separate the two despite that lineage, because of how messy the origins ultimately prove. I personally had no clue of the connection until almost seven years later.
While that shouldn’t necessarily be surprising (companies are bought and sold every day), reading around the time...
While that shouldn’t necessarily be surprising (companies are bought and sold every day), reading around the time...
- 8/5/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
The Book of Genesis contains two competing creation stories: There’s the one where an all-powerful deity conjures everything in six days, and the version where a more anthropomorphic god rolls up his heavenly sleeves and makes man from clay.
Guess which one the visionary stop-motion artist Will Vinton would have preferred.
Co-inventor of the “Claymation” technique, Vinton wanted to be the second Walt Disney. Colorful eyegasm “ClayDream” celebrates all that Will Vinton Studios achieved — its most beloved characters include the California Raisins, rabbit-eared Domino’s Pizza menace “the Noid” and Eddie Murphy series “The PJs” — while musing about what might have been, had control of the company not been wrested away from him by Nike honcho Phil Knight, who rechristened it Laika and put his son Travis in charge.
That was an unhappy end for Vinton (who died in 2018), to be sure, but like the Old Testament origin story, this saga has multiple versions.
Guess which one the visionary stop-motion artist Will Vinton would have preferred.
Co-inventor of the “Claymation” technique, Vinton wanted to be the second Walt Disney. Colorful eyegasm “ClayDream” celebrates all that Will Vinton Studios achieved — its most beloved characters include the California Raisins, rabbit-eared Domino’s Pizza menace “the Noid” and Eddie Murphy series “The PJs” — while musing about what might have been, had control of the company not been wrested away from him by Nike honcho Phil Knight, who rechristened it Laika and put his son Travis in charge.
That was an unhappy end for Vinton (who died in 2018), to be sure, but like the Old Testament origin story, this saga has multiple versions.
- 8/5/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Oscilloscope has acquired North American rights to Marq Evans’ Claydream, which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival.
Marq Evans’ feature documentary revolves around claymation icon Will Vinton’s legal fight with Phil Knight. The Nike founder in the late 1990s came in as an investor and eventual took over the famed stop-motion production company Will Vinton Studios, which rose to prominence inventing the California Raisins, Dominos Pizza’s the Noid and the talking M&Ms as well as countless movies, TV series and commercial successes.
The film, produced by XYZ Films, Starburns Industries (Anomalisa), The McCaw and One Two Twenty Entertainment, is being sold by XYZ heading into the virtual AFM. O-Scope is planning a 2022 stateside release.
Vinton’s output was legend, fueled by the popularity of his California Raisins which belted out “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” in ads for the California Raisin Advisory Board. They alone spawned two TV specials,...
Marq Evans’ feature documentary revolves around claymation icon Will Vinton’s legal fight with Phil Knight. The Nike founder in the late 1990s came in as an investor and eventual took over the famed stop-motion production company Will Vinton Studios, which rose to prominence inventing the California Raisins, Dominos Pizza’s the Noid and the talking M&Ms as well as countless movies, TV series and commercial successes.
The film, produced by XYZ Films, Starburns Industries (Anomalisa), The McCaw and One Two Twenty Entertainment, is being sold by XYZ heading into the virtual AFM. O-Scope is planning a 2022 stateside release.
Vinton’s output was legend, fueled by the popularity of his California Raisins which belted out “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” in ads for the California Raisin Advisory Board. They alone spawned two TV specials,...
- 10/25/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Xyz Films and Rick and Morty producer Starburns Industries are teaming to produce Welcome to My Daydream, a biographical feature-length documentary about Oscar-winning stop-motion animation icon Will Vinton. Marq Evans (The Glamour & the Squalor) is set to direct, with Xyz handling worldwide sales.
The docu will feature new original claymation scenes using characters Vinton helped design before his death in October.
Vinton won the Oscar for Animated Short in 1975 with Bob Gardiner for Closed Mondays, the first of four noms in the category. He also was co-nominated for the visual effects in Walter Murch’s Return to Oz in 1986. Vinton’s creations hit the mainstream thanks to advertising campaigns led by the Marvin Gaye-signing California Raisins and Domino’s Pizza’s Noid. His Portland-based Will Vinton Studios eventually was acquired by Nike’s Phil Knight and morphed into Laika, the stop-motion studio headed by Travis Knight that has...
The docu will feature new original claymation scenes using characters Vinton helped design before his death in October.
Vinton won the Oscar for Animated Short in 1975 with Bob Gardiner for Closed Mondays, the first of four noms in the category. He also was co-nominated for the visual effects in Walter Murch’s Return to Oz in 1986. Vinton’s creations hit the mainstream thanks to advertising campaigns led by the Marvin Gaye-signing California Raisins and Domino’s Pizza’s Noid. His Portland-based Will Vinton Studios eventually was acquired by Nike’s Phil Knight and morphed into Laika, the stop-motion studio headed by Travis Knight that has...
- 3/6/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Will Vinton, an Oscar-winning master of Claymation who coined the term, has died. He was 70.
Vinton’s children announced his death in a Facebook post, writing that he had been battling multiple myeloma for 12 years.
Educated at Uc Berkeley, Vinton met future collaborator and clay animator Bob Gardiner in the early ’70s. The pair relocated to Vinton’s native Portland, where they created what would be come Claymation. After they parted ways, the mustachioed animator founded Will Vinton Studios, hiring new creators to expand the studio.
The Oregonian won his Oscar, which he shared with Gardiner, for their 1975 short film “Closed Mondays.” His studio also oversaw creation of several Emmy-winning projects, including TV series “The PJs” and TV specials “A Claymation Christmas Celebration,” “A Claymation Easter,” and “Claymation Comedy of Horrors.” He received three other Oscar nominations for short films “Rip Van Winkle,” “The Great Cognito,” and “The Creation.”
By the 1990s,...
Vinton’s children announced his death in a Facebook post, writing that he had been battling multiple myeloma for 12 years.
Educated at Uc Berkeley, Vinton met future collaborator and clay animator Bob Gardiner in the early ’70s. The pair relocated to Vinton’s native Portland, where they created what would be come Claymation. After they parted ways, the mustachioed animator founded Will Vinton Studios, hiring new creators to expand the studio.
The Oregonian won his Oscar, which he shared with Gardiner, for their 1975 short film “Closed Mondays.” His studio also oversaw creation of several Emmy-winning projects, including TV series “The PJs” and TV specials “A Claymation Christmas Celebration,” “A Claymation Easter,” and “Claymation Comedy of Horrors.” He received three other Oscar nominations for short films “Rip Van Winkle,” “The Great Cognito,” and “The Creation.”
By the 1990s,...
- 10/5/2018
- by Erin Nyren
- Variety Film + TV
Will Vinton, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning filmmaker who co-created the animation process known as “claymation” and is best known for the hugely successful “California Raisins” ad campaign, died Wednesday following a 12-year battle with multiple myeloma. He was 70.
“He saw the world as an imaginative playground full of fantasy, joy, and character. He instilled in us the greatest values of creativity, strength, and pride in ones own work. He created stories and characters filled with laughter, music, and powerful lessons that are globally beloved,” Vinton’s family said in a statement posted on his Facebook account.
“He brightened any room with his signature mustache, and he continued to make jokes and laugh until the very end. His work will live on in animation history and will continue to inspire creative thinkers and makers.”
Also Read: Charles Aznavour, Iconic French Singer, Composer and Actor, Dies at 94
An Oregon native, Vinton studied...
“He saw the world as an imaginative playground full of fantasy, joy, and character. He instilled in us the greatest values of creativity, strength, and pride in ones own work. He created stories and characters filled with laughter, music, and powerful lessons that are globally beloved,” Vinton’s family said in a statement posted on his Facebook account.
“He brightened any room with his signature mustache, and he continued to make jokes and laugh until the very end. His work will live on in animation history and will continue to inspire creative thinkers and makers.”
Also Read: Charles Aznavour, Iconic French Singer, Composer and Actor, Dies at 94
An Oregon native, Vinton studied...
- 10/5/2018
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Will Vinton, the Oscar and Emmy-winning Claymation creator of the California Raisins and the Domino’s Pizza Noid, has died. His passing was announced in a Facebook post by his family on Thursday. He was 70 years old and had suffered from multiple myeloma, a white blood cell cancer.
“We grieve heavily as our dad leaves a hole in our lives that will be impossible to fill,” the post said. “His wishes were for us to continue the projects he had started; we will try our best to do so.”
Vinton was born in McMinnville, Oregon, and was called the Godfather of Portland animation. He was the subject of a documentary, “Welcome to My Daydream.”
The artist built an animation studio started in his basement into a multimillion dollar business. Along the way, he won an Oscar, Emmy and other awards, but eventually lost control of the company and was dismissed.
“We grieve heavily as our dad leaves a hole in our lives that will be impossible to fill,” the post said. “His wishes were for us to continue the projects he had started; we will try our best to do so.”
Vinton was born in McMinnville, Oregon, and was called the Godfather of Portland animation. He was the subject of a documentary, “Welcome to My Daydream.”
The artist built an animation studio started in his basement into a multimillion dollar business. Along the way, he won an Oscar, Emmy and other awards, but eventually lost control of the company and was dismissed.
- 10/5/2018
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
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