On Friday May 7th at 7:30pm, The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a screening of all the animated & live action short film nominees & winners from the most recent (76th) Academy Awards. The Academy screening will be hosted by John Lasseter (Pixar).The screening will include Harvie Krumpet (winner) and Destino (Dali & Disney), Gone Nutty (Blue Sky), Boundin’ (Pixar) and Nibbles (Chris Hinton). The AMPAS screening appears to be the only place these films will be screened all together. Apollo Cinema is bringing an 2004 Oscar program (sans John Lasseter) to a theatre near you: Here’s their release schedule

During 2002 and 2003, the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ran a weekly series, every Monday night for 75 weeks, each week one of the Best Picture winners accompanied by the Best Cartoon Short winner and other assorted goodies. Begining Monday May 17th , the Academy will present a ten-week sequel: “Great To Be Nominated”.Each week a restored 35mm print of a nominated feature will be shown with a nominated short (in 35mm) - as well as newsreel footage, Trailers, Out-takes, and other rare material.
NOTE: July 12 a 35mm restored print with original titles of HOLIDAY LAND, the first Columbia Color Rhapsody cartoon, starring Scrappy, will be screened.
July 26th The first public screening of the 35mm restored Popeye special, POPEYE MEETS SINDBAD - You’ve been warned: DO NOT MISS THIS SCREENING!
Here’s the full schedule: May 17 - SEVENTH HEAVEN (27-28) w/ Plane Crazy
May 24 - IN OLD ARIZONA - (28-29)
June 7 - THE LOVE PARADE (29-30)
June 14 - SKIPPY (30-31) w/ScreenSong “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”
June 21 - THE CHAMP (31-32) w/Mickey’s Orphans
June 28 - LADY FOR A DAY (32-33) w/Building a Building
July 12 - ONE NIGHT OF LOVE (34) w/Holiday Land
July 19 - LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (35) w/Who Killed Cock Robin?
July 26 - ANTHONY ADVERSE (36) w/Popeye Meets Sindbad
Aug. 2 - A STAR IS BORN (37) w/Little Match Girl
Aug. 9 - ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND (38) w/Mother Goose Goes Hollywood
Aug. 16 - MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (39) w/The Pointer.The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California.

A few interesting animation artist websites I’ve run across recently…

Ben Balistreri, who has done design work for Disney and Nickelodeon, has a lot of his work samples up at SaltySugar.com along with a preview of a forthcoming personal comic project. Ghostbot.com is the website for three different animation artists, including Roque Ballesteros, creator of the stylish Wild Brain webcartoon series JOE PARADISE. Tim Biskup, whose work is always a treat, has a redesigned site at TimBiskup.com. Greg Araya, whose short film CRIMENALS (a hard-boiled concoction of Chester Gould comics and Anthony Mann film noir dialogue) is currently making the festival rounds, has a nice step-by-step description of how he put the film together HERE.

Harry Babbitt, who did the distinctive laugh of Woody Woodpecker in the 1948 Kay Kyser hit record “The Woody Woodpecker Song”, has died at age 90 in California. Babbitt was a member of the Kyser’s band from 1938 to about 1949 and appeared in seven movies alongside the bandleader. This BBC News article exaggerates Babbit’s role in relation to Woody, but Babbit’s laugh is indeed heard in the Lantz cartoon WET BLANKET POLICY (1948).

Here’s something we don’t see everyday: an article in Thursday’s Orange County Register on Paul Frees. The piece mentions a new book, “Welcome, Foolish Mortals …” by Ben Ohmart (Bear Manor Media, $29.95), which can be ordered from the publisher at paulfrees.com

I went to the Samuel French Bookshop today - still the best book store in L.A. for the latest books on Cinema, TV and animation - and found three new books on animation. I bought only one of them, and I haven’t read that one yet - but here’s what I found:
Goodness Gracious- Al Broadax wrote a book! UP PERISCOPE YELLOW: THE MAKING OF YELLOW SUBMARINE (Limelight Editions) might be interesting - but it didn’t look so good when I flipped through it. In fact, it looked mighty disappointing compared with Robert Hieronimus’ INSIDE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE (2002, Krause Publications). And not one mention of Snuffy Smith or Beetle Bailey! I welcome readers reviews to set me straight.Another loser, was ANIMATED FILMS (Virgin Books) by James Clarke. This was a random collection of essays on various “significant” animated features - with an emphasis on anime. Ho-hum!The one I purchased was NICKELODEON NATION (New York University Press) edited by Heather Hendershot, a collection of interesting essays by the likes of Linda Simensky, Mark Langer and Kevin Sandler on various aspects of the pioneering kids channel. Looks substantial and I look forward to actually reading it.

A reminder - if you are in Southern California this weekend:Friday April 23rd at 7:30pm - Ray Harryhausen will be at the Academy presenting five newly restored 35mm prints of his fairy tales - which he produced, directed and animated in the forties and fifties - with additional footage of abandoned projects and a panel discussion hosted by Leonard Maltin. Admission is only $5.00 for the general public. Check the Academy’s website for further details and ticket information.You can also catch Ray (and a SHREK 2 preview) on Sunday in Pasadena at Bruce Schwartz’s monthly Comic Book and Science Fiction Show.On Saturday April 24th at 3pm at the AFI Campus in Hollywood is Asifa-Hollywood’s monthly screening - hosted by yours truly - A Tribute To UPA with 35mm prints (thank you Mike at Sony Pictures Repertory), Tee Bosustow and a panel discussion with UPA veterans - and rare video footage. Get the address here.

Here is an interesting piece of fiction from the current issue of The New Yorker: CAT ‘N’ MOUSE by Steven Millhauser.