Fantastic Mr. Fox

It's a bank holiday. We've just returned from a long weekend camping at Rocks East woodland campsite (more on that another time, perhaps). Weary - if no longer wet after the sun that followed the rain - and collectively stinking like a badger's....never mind...we continued the woodland theme with some low-effort kids entertainment in the form of Wes Anderson's delightful adaption of The Fantastic Mr Fox.

If the trailer above is not enough enticement for you, go watch the Making Of (from a site co-founded by Natalie Portman) which gives an insight to how such a movie is made. In brief:

5,229 shots
621,450 frames
120 Gb a day
18.5 Tb total storage

Actually, that's less interesting than the fact that a friend of mine is the sister of the puppeteer whose remarkable talent is that of Eyebrow Animator (or something?). I'd love to have met his career advisor!

Where's my sun powerered electro-suspension car gadnammit?

I really like this Magic Highway USA Disneyland video from 1958. The animation style is fantastic and the optimistic, often completely impractical visions of the future are entertaining. Moving sidewalks and cantilevered skyways are all very well, but I suspect Wall-E's vision of the future is a tiny bit closer to reality.