4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

4th Annual August Animation Challenge




Since Mister Peepers cannot run the challenge this year, and people seem to like me as a host, I decided to step up and run the Animation Challenge this year.

Challenge Starts July 31st at 12:01am local time

Challenge ends September 1st at dawn

Rules

Movies/TV shows should be labeled Animation from either imdb.com or allmovie.com. Other labels don't matter as long as there is at least a Animation label from one of those sites. Action/Animation would be fine.

This is the challenge where any and all types of animation is welcome, omputer, hand drawn, puppetry, stop motion, etc. The entire movie/show does not need to be completely animated. Something like Roger Rabbit or a Ray Harryhausen film would generally be allowed.

If anyone has a problem with something someone watches or just wants an opinion on if it's animation or not, ask here.

Animation documentaries are allowed but not DVD featurettes/interviews that are just fluff promo pieces.

As with the other challenges, the lists must be numbered or it won't count.

Watching the movie/show with the commentary can counted as unique items.

Watching multiple versions(theatrical and director's cut) of the same movie/show will also count.

Lists

Since the general consensus seems to be for the easy counting method we will go with that. However, it is not required, so if you wish to count anoter way, feel free, as I will not be doing stats.




How to win

Names will be randomly selected from http://www.random.org/lists/ The top people, one prize per person, get something.



Sponsors:

Hamilton Books

coyoteblue

Prizes:

Double Feature of Fox and the Hound/Fox and the Hound 2

Balto

An American Tail

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Combo Pack - Donated by coyoteblue

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Finalized


Watch works from 3 different studios:

--- Warner Bros
--- UPA
--- Paramount
--- Fleischer Studios
--- Disney
--- Famous Studios
--- Screen Gems
--- Studio Ghibli
--- Depatie-Freleng
--- MGM Cartoon Studio


Watch works from 3 different directors:


--- Tex Avery
--- Friz Freleng
--- Chuck Jones
--- Hanna & Barbera
--- Peter Lord
--- Frank Tashlin
---Bruce W. Timm
---John Kricfalusi
--- Nick Park
--- Bob Clampett
--- Brothers Quay
--- Hayao Miyazaki
--- Satoshi Kon
--- Don Bluth
--- John and Faith Hubley
--- Gene Deitch



Watch 5 Winsor McKay Award Winners from the Annie Awards:


--- Max & Dave Fleischer
--- Tex Avery
--- Fritz Freleng
--- Chuck Jones
--- Walt Disney
--- Bill Hanna & William Barbera
--- Mel Blanc
--- Ub Iwerks
--- Wolfgang Reitherman
--- Sterling Holloway (actor)
--- Ray Harryhausen
--- Ralph Bakshi
--- Don Bluth
--- Genndy Tartakovsky
--- Mike Judge
--- John Lasseter
--- Tim Burton
--- Bruce Timm
--- Matt Groenig

From I Checkmovies

--- Watch 2 short films from Annecy Festival's 100 Films for a Century of Animation
--- Watch 2 short films from ASIFA's Top 50 Animated Short Films
--- Watch 2 animated films from Golden 100 of Russian or Japan Academy Awards' Excellent Animations list Animation
--- Watch 2 films from Filmspotting Top 100 Animated Films
--- Watch 2 Annie Awards Best Animated Feature winners
--- Watch 2 films from Japan Academy Awards' Excellent Animations list
--- Watch 2 films from The Animated Movie Guide: Top 60 Animated Features Never Theatrically Released in the United States (from Jerry Beck's book The Animated Movie Guide)
--- Watch a Saturn Award for Best Animation Film winner




Watch animation from at least 9 different decades:
--- 1900 -
--- 1910 -
--- 1920 -
--- 1930 -
--- 1940 -
--- 1950 -
--- 1960 -
--- 1970 -
--- 1980 -
--- 1990 -
--- 2000 -
--- 2010 -

Watch animation from at least two languages other than English:
--- First language -
--- Second language -



--- Watch an animated movie that spawned a TV spin-off OR an animated movie that was based on an animated TV show

--- Watch a work of animated non-fiction [i.e., Waltz with Bashir, etc.]

--- Watch an Academy Award Best Animated Feature winner
--- Watch an Academy Award Best Short Subject (Cartoon)/Animated Short winner





Watch animation from at least 4 different ratings:
--- G -
--- PG -
--- PG-13 -
--- R -
--- NC-17 / X -
--- Unrated -

Watch animation from at least 4 of these categories:
--- Watch an anime movie or series -
--- Watch a US kid's show that originally aired on Sat mornings -
--- Puppet show -
--- Mostly or all CGI -
--- Watch 90+ minutes worth of shorts (i.e Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny) -
--- Cartoon based on a newspaper comic strip -
--- Motion Comic -

Watch animation from at least 6 different genres:
--- Action -
--- Comedy -
--- Adventure -
--- Fantasy -
--- Science Fiction -
--- Horror -
--- Mystery -
--- Western -
--- Drama -
--- Crime -
--- Romance -
--- War -

Need help with cartoons from a newspaper comic strip?

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

How about combining the NC-17 and X ratings to match other challenges.

Maybe drop:

Title from the hardest to reach part of your collection
First item alphabetically in your collection
Last item alphabetically in your collection

The first is rather subjective. Mine might be buried in a closet while someone else may have them all on a shelf next to the TV.

The First/Last alphabetically seem like they would rarely change for most people (I know mine haven't since last year) so you wind up watching the same 2 films every year just for the checklist.

Maybe consolidate these:
Oldest title(as in year made)
Oldest qualifying title you've bought. If you have old VHS tapes, don't forget to look there too. Format doesn't matter.
Newest title(as in year made)
Newest title you've bought

into:
Oldest or Newest title (year made) in your collection
Oldest or Newest title you've purchased

They seem to have similar restrictions on variety. Especially the "Oldest title you've bought" as it would only change when you get rid of something.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Thanks for hosting this shadokitty. I have some Miyazaki that I'm saving up for this challenge so I can't wait.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I was curious as to what people would consider for wild card items. It's pretty hard to be ALMOST animation, isn't it?

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Perhaps something like Monty Python where there is only a little animation, but not enough to even be considered to fully count.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

As far as counting... I absolutely *hate* the running total method. Either of the others, "traditional" or "easy", would be fine. Considering how much animation can tend to be of the shorter variety, especially if you gorge on Looney Tunes or other shorts, "easy" might be the better choice. It would certainly be easier to read the lists in such cases.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I'd think some of the superhero films... Spider-man, The Hulk, Fantastic Four, Captain America, essentially those which have CGI work for many scenes but aren't considered animation.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE (a Czech production from, like 1960 or something--I'm not gonna look it up just now), in which illustrated backgrounds provide ALL the backdrop for the actors. Like lithography come to life.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I don't mind the running total method, but I like a list that's easy to read, so I don't like the "traditional" method. Easy is best.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Just a heads up that I will probably have the list thread up a few days before the 31st, as I plan to be going on vacation before the challenge starts and wll be out of town. Can't guarantee that I will have my laptop with me.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Enjoy your vacation. And don't worry about the challenges. :)

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I haven't been involved in this long, but I like when the list thread is up early. It gives me time to lay it out and play with the design a little. It kind of builds the excitement for me. Maybe i won't feel the same in a year or so, but right now I do. It might also catch the notice of casual browsers and get them involved.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Well then, someone was talking about how many times in the year you could watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Here's another opportunity! :)

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

That's awesome, and I'm sad that I missed the conversation, and didn't start it myself. Or maybe I did, my memory stinks. What was the answer? Are all 12 Challenges possible with slight fudging or wildcards? 12 times a year is just about right for this masterpiece of a comedy/fantasy/animated/action/adventure /historical Criterion-released scary epic based on a TV series.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Counting
Count me among those who hate having to actually keep track of my viewing time. I'm all for easy counting as the official rule, with the allowance that participants can use traditional if they're old school and just like that better. Or, as someone in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge pointed out, if they just like to be able to measure their individual progress from year to year by keeping the same counting method throughout.

Checklist
I know Mister Peepers created this challenge's checklist from the Unranked checklist, but I have to say I've never really cared for it. (Not trying to bash Mister Peepers or his hard work!) I'd scrap the following:

None of these really promote exploration of animation. They're helpful in the Unwatched lists, but they don't really help here.

I'm not sure I understand the point of this one.

You must be out of your damn mind if you think I'm going to deliberately watch and record 100 animated commercials.

Not a bad checklist item, but I don't see how it really promotes exploration of the medium, either.

Checklist Suggestions
Since I know it's not helpful to just take things apart without offering something constructive, here are some ideas:

--- Watch an animated movie that spawned a TV spin-off OR an animated movie that was based on an animated TV show

--- Watch a work of animated non-fiction [i.e., Waltz with Bashir, etc.]

--- Watch an Academy Award Best Animated Feature winner
--- Watch an Academy Award Best Short Subject (Cartoon)/Animated Short winner

Annie Awards - Winsor McCay Award Winners
Since the Annie Awards are really the Oscars of animation, it seems prudent to mine their awards for ideas. The Winsor McCay Award is "given to an individual in the animation industry in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation." Here are some names that stand out to me, though others may recognize and champion others:

--- Max & Dave Fleischer
--- Tex Avery
--- Fritz Freleng
--- Chuck Jones
--- Walt Disney
--- Bill Hanna & William Barbera
--- Mel Blanc
--- Ub Iwerks
--- Wolfgang Reitherman
--- Sterling Holloway (actor)
--- Ray Harryhausen
--- Ralph Bakshi OR Don Bluth [I combined because I'd rather only have to stomach one work from the pair in any given year]
--- Genndy Tartakovsky
--- Mike Judge
--- John Lasseter
--- Tim Burton
--- Bruce Timm
--- Matt Groenig

I'm pretty sure either last year or the year before, a lot of those names were on the checklist but I didn't see them on the one pasted in this discussion thread. Obviously, different names could be combined to give participants some wider options.

iCheckMovies
There are a handful of lists collated on iCheckMovies that may provide helpful pools. Perhaps something like:

--- Watch [x] short films from Annecy Festival's 100 Films for a Century of Animation
--- Watch [x] short films from ASIFA's Top 50 Animated Short Films
--- Watch [x] animated films from Golden 100 of Russian Animation
--- Watch [x] films from Filmspotting Top 100 Animated Films
--- Watch [x] Annie Awards Best Animated Feature winners
--- Watch [x] films from Japan Academy Awards' Excellent Animations list
--- Watch [x] films from The Animated Movie Guide: Top 60 Animated Features Never Theatrically Released in the United States (from Jerry Beck's book The Animated Movie Guide)
--- Watch a Saturn Award for Best Animation Film winner

Some of those lists are kind of short, like there are only eight Saturn Award winners at present. There will be some duplications, but without looking very closely I think each of those lists I cited are thematically different enough to promote a healthy exploration of animation. I'd probably combine the Russian and Japanese lists to a single checkmark line just because of availability.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Since no one has chimed in with any suggestions as to the preferences of counting methods in almost a week now, and the only suggestions we have had have been for the easy counting method, unless someone steps up against it, we will go with the easy counting method. Speak now, or forever hold your peace. I will add it to the rules officially in a couple days.

Also I will edit the checklist in a couple days with the suggestions that were made.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

SOrry Travis, I missed your post, I might make it like the sci fi challenge then, and make it a count however you like method.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Obviously, you know I'm all about the easy counting method. ;)

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

List suggestion: Animated film of a non-drawn/animated source, e.g., Star Trek TAS, Stargate SG-1, so kind of the opposite of a comic-book movie. When I try to think of examples, the opposite (Scooby-Doo live-action movies) tend to come to mind, which could be a good or bad thing.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I've switched to the easiest, less drama filled method of counting with the sci-fi challenge, the No Counting System. The only time I'd go with the regular counting method is if you were going to do stats or if someone wanted to track how they've been doing over the years, so it might be easiest to accommodate those people by just letting people count how they want. The only complaint I can think of is if someone really likes to compare their numbers with someone else.

I was never a fan of the easy counting system since it was the equivalent of measuring something with a ruler that randomly changes the spaces between the lines. It's not a good method to measure against previous years. Sorry Trevor.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

For the record, here's the list threads for the first three years of the challenge:

2010

2011

2012

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

You make a good point. That's why the last couple of years in challenges I've taken to a running total of movies, episodes and shorts. I started that with my Rank 'Em list (see link in sig) and found I liked using it in a challenge, too. I might start adding a "Traditional Counting System Total" stat to my challenges.

I will almost certainly not, however, be adding a Time Spent Watching total anywhere. That kind of math just gets wonky and frankly, I don't want to actually know how much time I've sacrificed to the passive activity of staring at a screen!

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Regarding the counting method, Travis' suggestion may end up being the best one. Choose one method with the allowance that folks can do it their own way if they wish.

I didn't mind the runtime method, but can see why some wouldn't care for it. Personally, I lean toward the traditional method (think I must be something of a challenge purist, similar to being a baseball fan who wants nothing to do with the DH :) ) However, with all of the short material out there for the animation challenge, even the traditional method can be less than ideal.

Here's a segment of my list from the first year:

It's partially my fault that I like to document everything, but I'd prefer to spend more time watching stuff than I would typing out/formatting my list.

Re: 4th Annual August Animation Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I've made the counting method official in the rules. Since the general consensus seems to be for the easy counting method we will go with that. However, I added Travis's option that it is not required, and since I am not doing stats, feel free to count another way if you wish.