Cartoon Brew reader J. M. Walter imagined Pixar characters in the role of The Avengers and shared this image on our Facebook page. Click to embiggen.

We’re excited to announce a call for entries for our third annual Student Film Festival, a yearly showcase of outstanding student films from around the globe. We’ve received hundreds of submissions in our first two years that have resulted in a fantastic selection of films, and we hope to continue that trend this year. Click to see the 2010 lineup and 2011 lineup.

Our mission for the festival is simple: to share student-produced animated shorts with the widest possible community of industry artists, fellow students and animation fans. And not just any student films, but films of the highest caliber…the most original, the most thought-provoking, the ones that make us laugh hardest and engage us emotionally. Of course, we present student films throughout the year on Cartoon Brew, but we want the festival to direct even greater attention to the exciting work being produced by today’s up-and-coming filmmakers.

Filmmakers who are selected to screen in Cartoon Brew’s Student Animation Festival will each receive $300. We’re also adding a new twist this year. After all the films have debuted, there will be an audience poll where Cartoon Brew viewers can vote on their favorite film. The winner of the audience choice award will earn an additional $500.

Here’s all the info you need:

RULES

1. It has to be animated. (Obviously.)
2. It has to be a student film. (Even more obvious.)
3. Must have been completed after May 1, 2011.
4. Must be an online premiere. (Films that are accessible online to the public will not be considered.)
5. Submissions due by Thursday, May 31, 2012

SUBMIT
To submit, send an email to studentfest (at) cartoonbrew (dot) com with the following info:

• Your name, school and country
• Film title and synopsis
• Private link and password (ex: Password-Protected Vimeo link, Private or Unlisted YouTube link, or a website download link).

WHAT HAPPENS IF I’M SELECTED
Up to 12 films will be selected for the festival. We will announce the festival selections in early June. Screenings will begin on Cartoon Brew in late June. Every film that is selected to screen as part of the Cartoon Brew Student Film Festival will be paid a screening fee of $300(US). We don’t assume any exclusivity or ownership of your film. In other words, you are still free to submit to festivals, sell it to distributors, and post it anywhere else on-line shortly after its online debut in our festival.

ONE FINAL NOTE
Many students are informed in school that posting their film on-line ruins their festival chances. We’ve explored the issue before by speaking with festival directors and recommend reading this. None of the major animation festivals enforce such a rule today. However, some non-animation festivals, like Sundance, ask that a film be taken off-line during the course of their festival. As far as we know, the only awards organization that strictly demands films remain off-line is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, so if you’re trying to qualify for a Student Academy Award, you don’t want to post your film on-line. To understand the issues better, read this case study written by Avner Geller, who co-directed Defective Detective, a film that appeared in last year’s Student Animation Festival as well as won a Student Academy Award.

We’ve entered a new era of Disney-related memoirs—books written by artists who worked at the tail end of animation’s Golden Age or memoirs written by friends and relatives of the artists. Below is a look at four such books. At least a couple of them are self-published. And while some of them may be short on Disney or animation-related content, they should be worth a look for those who are interested in the lives of animation artists.

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Warp and Weft: Life Canvas of Herbert Ryman is a memoir/bio of Herb Ryman by his longtime friend John Stanley Donaldson. Ryman worked as an art director on a number of early Disney features, including Dumbo, Fantasia and The Three Caballeros. He was selected by Walt Disney as one of the artists to accompany him on the famous 1941 South America trip, and he later spent many years working as an Imagineer, where he famously drew the first comprehensive map of Disneyland in 1953.

Warp and Weft has garned more than its share of controversy: this review of the book alludes to the author’s personal squabbles with the Ryman family and rhyming ‘beat poetry’ writing style. Historian Didier Ghez, who is an authority on Disney literature, warned on his blog that, “This book is highly problematic and should be read with an extremely critical mind.” If you’re adventurous enough to try it, it’s available for $20 on the author’s website.

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Disney veteran Floyd Norman has put together Animated Life: A Lifetime of Tips, Tricks, Techniques and Stories from an Animation Legend, which looks to be part-memoir and part-tips & technique. Floyd, who began working at Disney in the 1950s, never shies away from sharing an honest opinion, as evidenced by the multiple gag drawing books he’s published, so this book promises to be a valuable record of his thoughts. The book will be out in June from Focal Press and can be pre-ordered on Amazon for $21.44. Some of the interior pages can be previewed on the publisher’s website.

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Hanna-Barbera designer (and Milt Kahl’s clean-up man) Iwao Takamoto wrote his autobiography before passing away in 2007, and there’s plenty of good stuff in it. Now, his step-daughter, Leslie J. Stern, has written a memoir that will be released in September. Living with a Legend will tell “the story of her step-father’s emotional influence on her and never before told humorous anecdotes of her youth.” The book will include personal drawings by Iwao, family photographs, and holiday cards drawn by Iwao and other animators.

A limited edition numbered hardbound can be pre-ordered on Leslie’s website for $79.95. I hope a less expensive edition will be made available, too.

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It’s Kind of a Cute Story is a memoir by Rolly Crump, written in collaboration with Jeff Heimbuch. Crump started working in Disney’s animation department in 1952, but made his greatest contributions to the company as an Imagineer, where he worked on classic rides and shows like the Haunted Mansion, Enchanted Tiki Room, and It’s A Small World. Crump was a pretty chill dude, and I’m looking forward to learning more about him. There’s no official release date for the book yet.

Animator Ken Harris becomes a meme. Via Reddit. (Ironically, Harris was one of the fastest animators at Warner Bros. and would often leave work early to play tennis. Does anybody have that luxury nowadays?)

The Hub has responded to yesterday’s brouhaha caused by this Care Bears press release from their pr agency, BWR Public Relations. Crystal Williams, the Hub’s manager of communications and publicity, sent me the following note this afternoon:

Hi Amid,

Last night I came across your story on Cartoon Brew titled “The Hub Hopes Men Will Start Calling Themselves “Belly Bros” and “Care Dudes.” In response, I wanted to let you know that this was an unapproved and unsanctioned pitch by our PR agency that we are completely taken aback by. Both The Hub TV Network nor American Greetings Properties had any knowledge of the pitch angle. It is not our intention to compare Care Bears to My Little Pony and/or the Brony community.

All the best,
Crystal Williams
Manager, Communications & Publicity
The Hub

Another year, another funny little film from graduating student Brian Carter (I posted his Give Me Space last year). Here is his final film (4th year) at CalArts, Princess of the Magical Tears:

What if a couple of guys decorated a van with colorful images, drove around the countryside, and invited children to come into their van to watch cartoons? Normally, I’d caution parents to be wary, but Spanish artists Carles Porta and Toni Tomàs are the real deal.

Their whimsical art project on wheels, Puck Cinema Caravana, is returning for its fourth season. They bill themselves as the smallest cinema on earth, and with only seven seats in their van-theater, they’re probably pretty close to that. The trailer above, created by Carles Porta, promotes this year’s programming theme, “Follies de la Simpatia a l’Absurd.”

Everything about Puck is thoughtfully designed from their promotional materials to the van itself. They also have great taste in curating films, and do a great job of introducing quality animated shorts to an audience that may not otherwise experience such films. This year’s all-star line-up of filmmakers includes Mark Baker, Grant Orchard, Torill Kove, Bruno Bozzetto, Alexey Alexeev, Juan Pablo Zaramella, Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Txesco Montalt, Yann Benedi, Antoine Robert, Dorianne Fibleuil, Maud Sertour, Paulin Cointot, and Nathan Hall.

Puck travels around Spain throughout the summer months. Visit PuckCinema.com for more details.

Thank you Facebook, for allowing us to to see another side of Disney – off model Mickey’s, awkward Donald’s and suggestive Pigs – courtesy of postings from around the world. Just had to share some of my favorites:

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