I was at the park the other day with Mason and Story when my friend Jason appeared with his twins. He lives close by, but this was not his local park. He told me that he and the kids were "park hopping." Great idea! I'm totally banking that idea for next weekend.
Jason works for Arc Productions, an animation and visual effects studio in Toronto, so I'm always keen to find out what they've been up to. If you've seen Gnomeo & Juliet, then you've seen one of the movies they've produced. If you haven't, then you can check the trailer out here. They've done 5 feature-length movies now, and from the couple I've seen (9 is the other one), their work is amazing.
Jay's recent update was a HUGE two-parter.
First, it turns out they've been hard at work on the new Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse digital shorts. They are three-minute shorts and from what I've seen, they are very cleverly produced and quite funny. The coolest part for me: Barbie is now animated with "real" hair (styled computer-generated hair as opposed to rigid shapes "painted" to look like hair). Check out the video below and be in awe of the many-stranded, flowing locks on Barbie and her friends. A TV show like this would be great, but I hope they also do a movie soon, because that would make the next YMC Barbie event even more incredible!
Second: Thomas. This is a huge deal for me because the newer Thomas & Friends episodes are computer animated and I know Arc will take this series to the next level. I don't think there's any video to share but there is a press release. I also got a fantastic insider tidbit I wanted to share: Ever wonder how big the original Thomas models are? According to Jason (who has actually seen and held these treasures) they're about the size of a shoebox. Amazing.
Can't wait to hit the park again next week. You never know who might show up.
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