Highbrow Magazine - claymation https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/claymation en New Film Shows the Rise and Fall of Will Vinton’s Claymation Dream https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/21006-new-film-shows-rise-and-fall-will-vinton-s-claymation-dream <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/film-tv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Film &amp; TV</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 08/10/2022 - 13:20</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1claydream.jpg?itok=3T5deQlm"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1claydream.jpg?itok=3T5deQlm" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Will Vinton was a man who dreamt big. A pioneer in claymation, he sought to be the next Walt Disney with his own entertainment empire, and even though he got close, he never quite made it. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Claydream</em> is a documentary that shows Vinton’s rise and fall, from his early success to being ousted from his own studio. It’s an interesting story that shows the greed of corporations and how creative minds can fall victim to the beast of show business. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Will Vinton had an interest in filmmaking from an early age and he made a short film while in college with his close friend Bob Gardiner. <em>Closed Mondays</em> was made using claymation and the striking, new form of stop-motion animation garnered enough attention to win an Oscar in 1975. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2claydream.jpg" style="height:650px; width:439px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">However, Vinton and Gardiner had a falling-out soon after and both went on to pursue ventures in animation on their own. The documentary does a good job of telling the story's twists and turns without foreshadowing too much. Seeing the early examples of claymation and how it was made is also a nice touch, and it helps the viewer appreciate the art form.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Vinton caught his next big break when his production studio started making the “California Raisins” commercials, which became a pop-culture phenomenon in the 1980s. The problem is that Vinton Studios never expected the commercials to take off and didn’t have a share of the merchandising. So while the California Raisin Advisory was raking almost half a billion in merchandise sales, Vinton Studios didn’t see a dime of it. It’s around that part of the film that you start to feel bad for Vinton and his team. They started out as a small group of creatives who wanted to express their ideas through one of the most unique forms of art, and instead they were taken advantage of. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As time went on, Vinton Studios struggled more and more and by the 1990s, the art of claymation went from the cool new thing to being oversaturated. Vinton’s dream of becoming the Walt Disney of claymation might have made him blind to the fact that he was missing a crown jewel character to make it all happen. When the viewer’s sympathy starts to fade, you learn that Vinton never lost his artist’s perspective and his biggest mistake was being too naive in the world of business. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3claydream.jpg" style="height:366px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Vinton’s story becomes heartbreaking towards the end of the movie. While he had the creative spark and passion to become a huge name, his lack of business sense and dedication to keeping Vinton Studios employees on board cut his dream short. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Claydream</em> tells an interesting story that adds a lot of context to what was happening in pop culture from the 80s to as recent as the 2010s. The claymation shown throughout the film is eye-catching, and the various interviews do a great job of showing you who Will Vinton was.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Ulises Duenas is a senior writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/will-vinton" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">will vinton</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/vinton-studios" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">vinton studios</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/claymation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">claymation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/claydream" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">claydream</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/california-raisins" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">california raisins</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/california-raisins-commercial" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">california raisins commercial</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ulises Duenas</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 10 Aug 2022 17:20:10 +0000 tara 11247 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/21006-new-film-shows-rise-and-fall-will-vinton-s-claymation-dream#comments