Still from Bunny © 1998 Blue Sky Studios, Inc
Bunny a seven-minute short film from Blue Sky Studios, written and directed by CHRIS WEDGE received an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.
One of five films nominated in the category, Bunny took top honors during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Oscar Night® ceremonies held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.
Introduced by the well-loved characters of the feature-animated hit "A Bug's Life," Chris Wedge took the stage thanking the Academy members, his family and wife Jean, Bunny's Producer Nina Rappaport, and Composers Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan. He added, "This is especially thrilling because this was a labor of love . . . and to everyone of you who now or ever has worked for Blue Sky Studios, thank you for allowing me to follow my heart and for pouring so much of yours into Bunny."
In addition to it's engrossing, bittersweet tale of loneliness and ultimate reunion, "Bunny" also creates a new standard of cinematic storytelling for computer animation using an advanced computer rendering technique known as radiosity which mimics the most subtle properties of natural light. This technique, never before used in film, enabled Chris Wedge and his crew to create an unparalleled dimensionality and organic realism.
The other short animated nominees included The Canterbury Tales directed by Christopher Grace and Jonathan Myerson An S4C/BBC Wales/HBO Production; Jolly Roger directed by Mark Baker, an Astley Baker/Silver Bird Production for Channel Four; More directed by Mark Osborne and Steve Kalafer, A Bad Clams Productions/Swell Productions/Flemington Pictures Production; and When Life Departs directed by Karsten Kiilerich and Sefan Fjeldmark, an A. Film Production.
In addition to screening at several national and international film festivals, Bunny is schedule to screen at The Film Forum in New York from May 12 - 25, and is featured in the 1999 Spike & Mike Film Festival which tours over 50 states in the U.S. and Canada.
Bunny's Credits
Written and Directed by Chris Wedge
Produced by Nina Rappaport
Music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
Digital Effects Supervisors: Dave Walvoord, Hilmar Koch
Editor: Tim Nordquist
Lead Animators: Doug Dooley, Nina Bafaro
Animators: Jim Bresnahan, Raquel Coelho, Rhett Collier, Ed Gavin, Jeff Joe, Justin Leach, Dean Lennert, Carlos Saldanha, Jesse Sugarman, Steve Talkowski, Aimee Whiting, Dan Whiting
Lighting Lead: Mitch Kopelman
Technical Directors: Andrew Beddini, Tom Bisogno, Chris Burrows, Danielle Cambridge, Jaime Castañeda, Rob Cavaleri, Scott Clifford, Rhett Collier, John Donkin, Mike Eringis, Dave Esneault, Sing-Choong Foo, Kristi Hansen, Jesse Hollander, André Mazzone, Lutz Müller, Tim Speltz, Kevin Thomason, Jodi Whitsel
Production Coordinator: Irka B. Seng
Modelers: Cliff Bohm, Rachael Cohen, Rhett Collier, Shaun Cusick, Mike DeFeo, Doug Dooley, John Kahrs, Justin Leach, Alex Levenson, David Mei, Carlos Saldanha, Kevin Thomason, Chris Wedge, Aimee Whiting, Danny Williams, Jodi Whitsel
Digital Paint Artists: Andrew Beddini, David Mei, John Siczewicz
Technical Assistants: Chris Burrows, Tim Speltz
Production Executive: David Brown
Production Manager: Laney Gradus
Production Accountant: Anthony Nisi
Production Assistant: Billy Foster
Blue Sky Research and Development: Richard Hadsell, Carl Ludwig, Trevor Thomson, Eugene Troubetzkoy, Maurice Van Swaaij, John Turner
Blue Sky Software Tools: Joe Higham, André Mazzone, Sam Richards, Chris Trimble
Systems Support: Dan Weeks, Leon Xiao
Rendered on a Compaq Computer Corporation, AlphaServer RenderPlex system - Special thanks to the following groups at Compaq: High Performance Servers Division - AlphaServers, Media and Entertainment Industry Group, DIGITAL UNIX Group for technical support and assistance, Enterprise Systems Lab for systems test support
Extra special thanks to Steve Briggs for making this film possible.
Music Produced by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
Music Arranger: Francis Thumm
Sound Engineer: Jacquire King
Musicians: Andrew Borger, Trevor Dunn, Matt Brubeck, Joe Gore, Ralph Carney, Carla Kihlstedt, Nik Phelps
2nd Engineer: Jeff Sloan
Foley Artist: Ginger Geary
Audio Recording and Mixing by Kessler Media Productions, Ltd.
Sound Designer: Robert Kessler
Sound Engineer: Scott Cresswell
Sound Engineering and Mixing Engineer: Paul Goodrich
Sound Transfer: Sound One
Dolby Sound Consultant: Eric A. Christoffersen
Film Recording by Pacific Ocean Post - Special thanks to Pat Repola
Negative Cutter: Noelle Penraat
Color Timer: Fred Heid
Color by Technicolor
A production of Blue Sky Studios, Inc. © 1998
