Reason #432 Why we love ebay…Who knew that Frank Moser - partner of Paul Terry from the early 1920s to the mid 1930s - was an artist known for his Hudson River landscape paintings? And who knew a guy that drew Farmer Alfalfa like this (at left) could paint like that (at right)? Somebody is selling an original oil painting on canvas of Frank Moser, painted by Moser himself - and signed on back - on ebay. What a find! What a mouse! What an absolute must for a Terrytoon completist! You have until Saturday to bid on this animation oddity here on ebay.If a lucky Brew reader gets it, let us know.
(Thanks to Mark Mayerson for the link)

Bill Clinton likes Warner Bros. & Paramount cartoons!According to his best-selling autobiography, MY LIFE, in chapter three recalling his youth, the ex-president says:

“For cartoons, I preferred Bugs Bunny, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and Baby Huey, with whom I probably identified.”

I am personally very excited about the forthcoming new feature from Katsuhiro Otomo (AKIRA): STEAMBOY. If you haven’t seen the trailer, please click here.

This is terrific!Columbia Pictures and Lego produced a wonderful stop motion piece by Tim Drage and Tony Mines (of Spite Your Face Productions a London based animation studio responsible for several successful LEGO parody films) called “The Peril of Doc Ock” - it sums up SPIDERMAN 2 completely in “Legomation”. View it in Quicktime here(Thanks to William Ansley for the link)

More details have emerged, so mark your calenders:Bob Clampett, Casper and Super PresidentThe SID JACOBSON spotlight is Friday, July 23 from 1-2pm in room 3.The BOB CLAMPETT panel is from 4-5pm on Friday, July 23 in room 8.WORST CARTOONS EVER screening is on Saturday night, July 24 from 8:30-10:00pm in room 6AB (followed by Bill Plympton and Spike and Mike).Be there! San Diego Comic Con

Sky BlueAs 2-D sits dormant here in the U.S., anime continues to evolve in Asia.Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre, home of the American Cinematheque, runs a continuous schedule of the most eclectic film programming in southern California. The new July-August program is out and there are two animated features making their L.A. debut - and possibly their only big screen appearence - that are worth noting:Dead LeavesOn Friday August 6th at 7pm is premiere of the english dub of the intriguing Korean feature Wonderful Days, under its new title SKY BLUE. The writer/director of the English dub will appear to answer questions and no doubt explain the plot.On Saturday August 7th at 3pm, Japan’s Production I.G. (Blood: The Last Vampire, Ghost In The Shell) previews their latest film, DEAD LEAVES. This one looks very loopy, fast paced and fun.

Here’s a TIME MAGAZINE story about Imagi, the Hong Kong studio that’s producing the animation for the upcoming DreamWorks TV series FATHER OF THE PRIDE. Until a couple years ago, the company’s primary business was manufacturing artificial Christmas trees but now they specialize in animation. PDI animator Raman Hui, who is overseeing the animation in Hong Kong, says the studio’s lack of experience is refreshing because “They say, ‘Tell us how to do it.’”

Couple new books about Disney. HOW TO BE LIKE WALT: CAPTURING THE DISNEY MAGIC EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE by Pat Williams is a “character biography” which aims to draw out important lessons from the life of Walt. Might be good, might be bad. I have no idea. If it turns out you don’t have what it takes to be like Walt, you might have better luck with another book by the same author: HOW TO BE LIKE JESUS.

Next is FROM WALT TO WOODSTOCK: HOW DISNEY CREATED THE COUNTERCULTURE by Douglas Brode. Being from a university press, the book could potentially be just a bunch of overwrought pretentious nonsense, although the premise of this is fascinating enough that I’m tempted to give it a read. Here’s the book description from the Univeristy of Texas Press website:

Douglas Brode overturns the idea of Disney as a middlebrow filmmaker by detailing how Disney movies played a key role in transforming children of the Eisenhower era into the radical youth of the Age of Aquarius. Using close readings of Disney projects, Brode shows that Disney’s films were frequently ahead of their time thematically. Long before the cultural tumult of the sixties, Disney films preached pacifism, introduced a generation to the notion of feminism, offered the screen’s first drug-trip imagery, encouraged young people to become runaways, insisted on the need for integration, advanced the notion of a sexual revolution, created the concept of multiculturalism, called for a return to nature, nourished the cult of the righteous outlaw, justified violent radicalism in defense of individual rights, argued in favor of communal living, and encouraged antiauthoritarian attitudes. Brode argues that Disney, more than any other influence in popular culture, should be considered the primary creator of the sixties counterculture - a reality that couldn’t be further from his “conventional” reputation.