That fan film is better looking than some film films. Whoever did that should have any job in animation he/she wants.
^^^ Was thinking much the same while watching it myself. Pixar needs to take a look at the whoever made this and hire them. And, The Rocketeer is always awesome. Recently got the Rocketeer Complete Collection book, and Stevens' art was simply wonderful, to say the least. A pity they only made the one movie.
Dave Stevens. Dave Stewart was the guy from the Eurythmics. Cute, but it didn't really work for me. Seemed to miss the point of what the Rocketeer was all about.
I never read the original comics (so, I don't know if it misses or gets the point of them), but I liked the short. The tone seemed similar (though lighter, obviously) to the movie.
Well, a huge part of the comic, for me, was Stevens' utterly incredible art. Obviously the cartoony-CG-style doesn't capture that at all. But it was a nice tribute from an obviously loving fan.
I loved that (I'm not sure why it misses the point of the Rocketeer either. Perhaps JonnyQuest038 could elaborate further). I got an "Iron Giant"/"The Incredibles" vibe from the short. This makes me want another "The Rocketeer" project of some sort.
I think it's just a little too cute to really capture The 30's pulp feel of the Rocketeer. The Music also didn't have enough punch. A pitch perfect Rocketeer cartoon would be similar to the Fleischer Superman series imo. Regardless, I still loved this short.
A lot of the charm of Stevens' work, and The Rocketeer specifically, was a slightly fetishy quality. He took pulp adventure and married it to pin up art, peppering it with details of fashion, hairstyles, weaponry, etc. (He basically gave America its second Betty Page craze.) The cartoon is done by someone with obvious talent, it's just not right on the money with its subject.
It's more Jimmy Neutron than Rocketeer. AND, it's the movie, not the comic book he's recreating. Look at the rocket pack.
Nevertheless the fan's heart is in the right place. I think he was attempting to create the heroism feel of The Rocketeer rather than it's original pulp roots. I did notice the movie style designed jetpack. Cliff even looked a bit like Billy Campbell to me as well when he gets his helmet knocked off and puts it back on in the barn. I think the filmmaker was trying to homage both Stevens and the film.
I pretty much agree with what Kirkman said above. And as others have noted, about 95% of what made the Rocketeer special was Dave Stevens' art. This short was more about the humor than evoking the design sensibilities and pulp atmosphere of the 30s. And the moment where the Rocketeer activated his rocket pack for split second to give his punch extra power really bugged me. Cliff Secord never displayed that sort of precise control of his rocket pack in the comics or in the movie. If the comic book Cliff tried that stunt, he'd be more likely to crash through the roof than to land a punch.
The art looks loo lego-like. Something more like the original art would have been leaps and bounds better.
Sad but true. Every time I ink, I want it to come out like Dave Stevens, and every time I try, I'm reminded that I'm not Dave Stevens.
That was quite fun. Would prefer a slightly less "cute" aesthetic, but their choice certainly works too.