great updates Danachii! 
Thanks for posting all those amazing photos. Even though I wasn’t there, this panel made me super excited also 
is it just me, or does Rapunzel seem to be kinda like Giselle to y’all? I mean, it just really struck a chord when they said she’s naive but still has the ability to learn, a lot like what Giselle had to do when she ended up in the “real world”
As far as I know, it was because it was in production for 7 years trying to develop this style, and were giving John Lassiter nothing. That, I believe, is a pretty darn good reason. They have a limited amount of time to make this movie, and if it has to be regular old CGI to meet deadlines, then so be it.
She even looks like Giselle, at least the animated version (well, okay, I know the hair and the face is different, but the ‘neo-classical’ style is really similar!).
Thanks for the pictures, Danachii! All these concept art seems to be sketched by the same person. Are they all done by Glen Keane or someone else?
If that’s the case I can understand, but I still wouldn’t think it’s unfair to say that Tangled is a letdown, because what sets it apart from any other CGI film is the simple knowledge of knowing it was meant to be special. Way back when Pixar was making the original Toy Story we were all told it would be innovative and unique in a time when we still just had 2D features, and in the end they delivered. More than that, they delivered in a way that changed animated films forever. With Tangled we’re promised something that we think would be the next step (or at least something different), and now at least some of us are asking “Huh? Where did it go?”. Call me crazy, but it makes me glad to not work for studios like Disney since I’ll never have to worry about having the artistic quality of my ideas sacrificed for “just getting it out” which many studios do. When I’m working on my own I wouldn’t care if I had to make people wait 11 years to give them something special, as long as I can preserve my art. If you were to watch me on DeviantART you wouldn’t see a lot there all the time, and this is why. I take my time on making everything look good and figuring things out without any concerns over meeting the deadline. Because I have no deadline to meet. I’m the artist and I’m in control of things.
And I actually don’t blame people too much when they say that the film reminds them of Shrek now. That sort of thing happens when it doesn’t look unique anymore.
I think you’re being extremely unfair to them. There’s a difference between “respecting the art and letting them take their time” and “letting them take your money for years and years without actually getting somewhere.” The thing is, it doesn’t matter how “for the art of it” you are, that’s just ridiculous. I think John made the right choice. If he hadn’t made that choice, then it would have probably fallen through completely because they weren’t delivering. Yes, Toy Story was innovative, but they were almost shut down too because the story was awful at the time. It doesn’t matter how “state of the art” its supposed to be, if it looks like it won’t work out, it is sometimes better to go on the safe side and cancel. The Toy Story crew barely saved themselves when they reworked their script.
Artists that don’t have a deadline usually don’t make much money off their work (And for the record, worrying about money does not make you a selfish, cold corporation, it makes you realistic.) My painting teacher at art camp, an actual professional artist, told us outright “If you want to make a constant or decent paycheck, don’t become an artist.” When does she actually make money? When she makes ads or posters for companies, which as you would expect, have a deadline.
Tangled at SIGGRAPH.
Except Toy Story was almost shut down for story problems, not because they didn’t have the animation figured out. And I was only comparing the two in the sense of being visually unique for their time. I mentioned about five pages ago how I liked Day & Night because I thought it was unique. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do 3D effects inside the outlines of 2D characters in old-school looking animation before. Back in 1995 having the first computer animated feature was something special, but now that everyone does CGI films I think it would encourage for someone now and then to find a unique way of animating with it. Even in that animation test it was still going to be CGI, but it would have really stood out visually among other films being made.
Not working for big companies might be beneficial in some parts, but because you won’t have much financial support, then investing money to start or create a project, such as short films or whatnot, will be extremely hard and even impossible at times. Even Pixar faced a whole ton of financial issues when they were trying to create the first Toy Story film, and it was until Disney bought them that they got the support that they needed in order to make the movie in the first place. So as you can see, both ways have their downsides.
Also, you mentioned that you don’t want to work for companies like Disney, and that’s perfectly fine. But just keep in mind that unless you actually want to make your way as a professional artist, thinking like that is completely unrealistic. Having no due dates and deadlines doesn’t actually benefit any project at all: in fact, it actually makes it a whole lot worse. Due dates and deadlines are extremely important and crucial, and it doesn’t matter if it’s for the good of the art or not: it keeps track of everything and it helps get the project actually finished. I know sometimes even I have to make sacrifices and drop a few things in order to hand in a project for my art classes at college on time. It’s just something that most people have to adapt too, and if you can’t or if you don’t want to, then you can pretty much kiss your marks, your job and your daily paycheck goodbye.
I guess the real reason I say I don’t want to work for studios is because it doesn’t seem likely for me that I ever will anyway. I’m still just a fan of cartoons who practices cartooning with no job to go to yet, so I guess I have no experience being in the kind of environment real animators are in. I think for me cartooning is always going to be just a hobby for me to put my work into than a career, so I don’t have a lot to really invest into for working than just having a ton of paper around. I don’t mean to bring up John K. again, when I learned that one of the reasons he was fired from Nickelodeon for Ren & Stimpy was because of missing deadlines, I actually got to understand that a bit from his point-of-view. He just didn’t want to send anything out unless it was just the way he wanted it, but in his case networks give you a lot less time for that sort of thing than the 7 years Disney gave Tangled. I believe that’s why he works independently himself, but it’s true that he doesn’t ever seem to be doing much either. I really think it’s the networks I wouldn’t want to give my ideas to than studios cause a lot of cartoon shows now are cheaply produced in their animation (watch something like Total Drama Island/Action and you’ll see what I mean). They make them that way so it can be easier, but to me shows like that just plain look bad.
And I’ll admit, even though finding John K.'s blog before may have helped convince me of artistic quality, his criticisms there are probably contagious, because you find yourself complaining about the art also (but I at least don’t agree about everything he doesn’t like).
OMG NEW IMAGE! <3
I wish November could come faster. T__T
Also, is it just me, or does it look like they’re really grinding against each other? 
lol
Oh my goodness, Danachii! Bwahaha! 
Dude-in-distress!
And thanks for the full image link, that would make a great wallpaper for my desktop!
And thank you for the video link, queen_of_painting, I’ll watch it when I get back from school.
You’re most welcome. I was quite amused by that too. XD
OHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOD!!! /dies sqealing
That was SOOO friggin’ amazing! The art, the animation, and how everyone talked about it, just fkdsjhfdjkshfakshks OMFG. I have a feeling this movie is going to be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I’m getting SOO excited and hyped up for it now ~ <3
Okay I’ll admit, watching that made the film sound a lot better now. They’re much more serious about it in this than in that trailer, with that pop music that’s not even going to be in the film at all. I guess the trailer was the only thing to really judge until they put this up, and I agree on what’s been said here before that it’s unwise to judge a film by it’s trailer since they can be so misleading, but I think any of us have been guilty of this mistake and never seem to learn from it. I don’t think I had so much doubt that the story or music may still turn out good or even the production quality of it, but the only thing I was really whining about with the trailer is the characters not looking the same as the test footage anymore (just looking like usual CGI characters, except maybe a bit shinier). They make it very clear that the film will still look beautiful regardless, but I guess I could only argue that keeping the painted look of the characters would make it that much more special and unique (and somehow I’m sure they could have made it work). So yeah, maybe it is unfair of me to nitpick the film over just that when they’re still putting a lot of work into it.
YYYYEEEEEEESSSSS!
That just made me feel so much more comfortable about it. The art was so gorgeous, and the way they talked about the look and feel of it really made me excited for the atmosphere. Even the title looked more elegant after it.
But now, of course, its made me hungry for more. DX
I really like the idea of the bar. How the tree is pushing against it. Very creative!
Lol, same! I cannot wait for the new D23 to come now, it’s like driving me insane how much I want to read/ watch more Tangled stuff.
Also- that video totally made me super happy I love Cinderella’s and Sleeping Beauty’s design, so for them to be making it in the same fashion, all I can say is HECK YES.
There have also been rumors (via imdb and wikipedia) that a new trailer will premiere August 3rd, I really hope that it’s true. And, the title for Rapunzel’s “I want” song is titled “when will my life begin”, sounds interesting to me! I think I can definitely relate to that xD Let’s hope that a new trailer does come out soon!
Too many I Want songs.
It’d be cool if this was the first Disney film to have a sad ending. That’d totally be revolutionary.
You can never have to many I Want songs! They’re usually one of the best songs in the movie.
Well, Hunchback was kind of bittersweet. But I kind of want the couple to get together. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I do.
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what about Pocahontas? That ends with John Smith leaving back to England and Pocahontas staying in America.