Loving Vincent

Loving Vincent is the first animation of its kind. Directed by Polish painter Dorota Kobiela and British filmmaker Hugh Welshman, the animated feature is an investigation of Van Gogh's life through 100+ of his most famous works. The story is draw from 800 letters written by Van Gogh himself that reveal much about his mysterious life and death. It will be the first feature length that is an entirely hand painted animation, where every frame, running at 12 frames per second, is an individual oil painting done in the style of the famous painter. In total, the film will require a total of 57,000 paintings and it should be release sometime this year. 

Peter and the Wolf

When I was younger, one of my favorite things to watch was Disney's 1946 animated version of "Peter and the Wolf." It was a classic Disney animation and watching it now for the first time in years makes me very nostalgic. I especially love how different instruments and riffs go with different characters in the story. Here is the original cartoon:

I also stumbled across another version of "Peter and the Wolf." This version was made in 2006through the Polish animation studio SE-MA-FOR and produced by Hugh Welchman. The film won the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2008. It uses stop motion animation to tell the classic story only this time, it takes place in an industrial wasteland. I found an interview on NPR with producer Hugh Welchman. He talks about the short film and how it was made. He also talks about why they decided to eliminate the narrator in this version. The interview is extremely interesting so I definitely recommend checking it out! Here is the animated version:

It is interesting to see both the Disney version and the stop motion version. They were made in such different time periods with completely different methods, yet both are captivating and tell a great story.