I don’t know how this news passed me by, but Don Graham’s classic book about composition called Composing Pictures is back in print for the first time in nearly thirty years! Graham played a key role in the development of character animation when he headed up the Disney studio’s legendary in-house artist training program during the 1930s.

This endorsement from Chuck Jones is about the finest one somebody could get:

The mark of a great art teacher is indicated by the quality and accomplishment of his students. By this measurement, Don Graham must be considered the finest teacher in America. His students range from people who have won innumerable awards in all fields and all media. … Composing Pictures. Read it. Draw it. Read it for pleasure, for reward, and for understanding. If you want to be an animator, you MUST read and draw this volume. It is not a luxury to you; it is a necessity.

Order Composing Pictures on Amazon for $30.

(Thanks, Tom Knott)

I was hanging out with my friends Will Ryan and Tom Knott this morning and we dropped into one of my favorite places on Melrose Avenue, Off The Wall Antiques. Amongst the coolness on display there was this large object hanging from the ceiling, a Popeye Painted Wood Carousel Figure. Kids were meant to ride on his back. The proprietor told us this was part of a set with Felix The Cat and a Mickey Mouse-like figure. It’s a very cool piece, though it’s priced way above my station… Check the Off The Wall Antiques site for more photos taken at other angles. May the right Popeye collector buy it!

Next Tuesday, the CineFamily will present a rare 35mm screening of Chuck Swenson’s Dirty Duck (aka Down And Dirty Duck, 1974). Long before Bill Plympton and Nina Paley, Swenson convinced producer Roger Corman to give him the money to make a one-man hand drawn animated feature. The money he got was so little, the film was originally titled “Cheap” (it was also test marketed under that name). However, like Ralph Bakshi’s Fritz The Cat, the finished film is surprisingly smart, funny and original. Featuring the voices and songs of Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles and the Mothers of Invention), Dirty Duck is a strikingly stylized psychedelic odyssey that perfectly embodies the raunchy American underside of the 1970s. Animation director Charles Swenson will appear in person for a Q&A after the screening.

This will be preceeded by a selection of Turned-On Toons, a pre-show of titillating short cartoons from across the ages, from raunchy XXX-rated revelries of the ’60s and ’70s, up to the perversions of now. All hosted by yours truly, Jerry Beck. The show starts at 8pm, at the Silent Movie Theatre, 611 N. Fairfax Ave. in Hollywood, California. Advance tickets available now.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be hosting two back-to-back animation events in August. The first, on Thursday night August 19th, will be a panel on the art of animation voice acting. Panelists will include June Foray, Susan Egan, Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh), Yuri Lowenthal (Ben 10 and anime) and Russi Taylor (Minnie Mouse), animation directors Bob Peterson (Dug) and James Baxter, and casting director Rick Dempsey. Voices of Character will be moderated by animation historian Charles Solomon.

The second program, the next night Friday August 20th, will be a screening of all nine Oscar nominated and winning Chuck Jones cartoons in 35mm. The program will include For Scent-imental Reasons (1949), So Much For So Little (1949), Mouse Wreckers (1948), From A To Z-Z-Z-Z (1953), High Note (1960), Beep Prepared (1961), Nelly’s Folly (1961), Now Hear This (1962) and The Dot and The Line (1962, pictured above).

Tickets for these events go on sale August 2nd, general admission is $5 (students with a valid ID $3). Both programs will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, 8949 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills, California.

This looks like ____ ! (fill in the blank in the comments below)!

(Thanks, Paul Dini)

Nathan Love created this uncommonly appealing NBC station ID in collaboration with NBC ArtWorks, the on-air graphics department of the network. The source of its concept is clear, so I’m glad to see that Nathan mentioned it on the YouTube page: “Inspired by the infamous Spumco promos, as well as vintage NBC logos.” Frankly, I still prefer Spumco/John K’s version, but then again, I’m a sucker for funny, skillful character animation.

UPDATE: The animation studio Nathan Love commented about the production process on Motionographer: “It should be noted however, that this piece is entirely 3D, with the exception of the paint-stroke effect for motion blur, which was added in After Effects. We wanted to experiment with South-Park style animation, so in the end, every unique shape (expressions, head/body turns, etc), were all illustrated beforehand, and rigged in 3D.” There is also a behind-the-scenes video posted on Motionographer.

CREDITS
Client: NBC Artworks
Director: Nathan Love
Creative Director: Joe Burrascano
Art Director / Designer: Anca Risca
Animation & Rigging: Dan Vislocky
Additional Animation: Ryan Moran
FX Compositing: Sylvia Apostol
Sound Design & Music: Drew Skinner

Animation studio owner Larry Schwarz (pictured above in the sombrero) wasn’t pleased with our story from a couple days ago that reported about a lawsuit against his company Animation Collective. His lawyers sent us a cease and desist letter. Here’s the letter:

(click for larger version; the reason for the black bar is that they sent the letter to the wrong email address)

(click for larger version)

This was Cartoon Brew’s response:

Dear Mr Feldman,

We are using the photo of Larry Schwarz and the republication of information from the Wall Street Journal in the context of news reporting and critical commentary, which are uses that may not be authorized by your client, but which serve the public interest. For this, and other reasons, we believe our use is fair. We further do not accept that we have broken any criminal laws in publishing it, and in any event, there are multiple inaccuracies in your complaint. For example, the image of Larry Schwarz was not private; it was posted in a public, unsecured website and made accessible to everybody.

We therefore believe that we are entirely within our rights to publish the photo and the news, and as such we cannot comply with your removal request.

Sincerely,

Amid Amidi
Owner, Cartoon Brew LLC

Smarter-than-the-average comments welcome below.