The Simpsons is set to reveal that Marge’s sister is a lesbian.According to Ananova.com, this season the purple-haired Patty decides to pursue women after being snubbed by every man in Springfield. She finds true love after being seduced in a bar by a butch lesbian. Homer - who dubbed Patty and twin sister Selma the “gruesome twosome - is horrified at first. But according to early scripts, he ends up being ordained as a minister - then marrying Patty and her girlfriend.

Ward Jenkins, a talented director and designer at Atlanta’s Primal Screen who I finally met in Ottawa last week after many email exchanges, points out that there’s another Toulouse, France-based graffiti artist, Miss Van who has been doing the ‘plump girl-style’ longer than Fafi. Says Ward, “[Miss Van]’s work does fall into a certain rut, as all her girls look the same, with highly-stylized features and over-the-top sexuality, but there’s something more to them than from what I saw in Fafi’s work. My two cents.”

Katie Rice (aka ‘KatieNice’), currently working as a designer on Disney’s MAGGIE THE MAGGOT series, has posted a handful of super-appealing cavegirl sketches HERE. (Thanks to Shane G. for the link)

Evidence that a new “toon boom” is upon us - with the highly anticipated release of THE INCREDIBLES, ROBOTS, CHICKEN LITTLE, MADAGASGAR, CARS in the next 18 months - comes with this announcement about Wild Brain and Miramax.Is this another Disney buffer against losing Pixar? Sounds like it to me - but it’s an exciting move that adds another player to the growing list of current CGI cartoon factories: Blue Sky, Pixar, Disney, Sony, Dreamworks and ILM.

Now, THIS looks good: the teaser trailer for MADAGASCAR.

Charicature by
Ollie JohnstonLast night at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Disney held a memorial for Frank Thomas. It was a wonderful heart felt, loving tribute to the man and his life, produced with class by the Disney Studio and Howard Green.As we entered the theatre - large personal photos of Frank were projected on the El Capitan screen. Buena Vista President Dick Cook made a few opening remarks and introduced Amy and Howard Green, who acted as hosts for the evening. Among the speakers were animation historians John Culhane and Charles Solomon, animators Andreas Deja and John Lasseter, family members Gregg Thomas, Doug Thomas and Ted Thomas and personal friends Marshall Ayers and Alan Kay. Leonard Maltin did a short on-stage interview with Ollie Johnston.A few clips were shown: an excerpt about the spagetti scene in Lady And The Tramp from Ted Thomas’ Frank & Ollie documentary; Frank & Ollie’s cameo scenes in The Iron Giant and The Incredibles; Frank’s first computer animation (from 1986); a musical home recording Frank made in 1941; a great The Firehouse Five Plus Two performance from a 1962 TV show Jazz Scene; and the evening concluded with the squirrel sequence from The Sword In The Stone, a scene Frank apparently requested be shown at his memorial.Chocolate chip cookies were given to everyone as they entered the theater. The mood was upbeat, the presentation was tasteful, funny and reverent.Rest In Peace. Franklin Rosborough Thomas, September 5, 1912 - September 8, 2004.

This just in:
Get the New York Times this Sunday (Oct. 3) or visit them online, for John Canemaker’s latest - a lengthy article on THE INCREDIBLES and Pixar’s breakthrough animation of human characters.

Ottawa ‘04 has concluded and a complete list of winners can be found HERE. Grand prize for short film went to Chris Landreth’s RYAN and best feature went to RAINING CATS AND FROGS. Numerous other awards were handed out in other categories, and notably, no award was given in the Machinima category (wink, wink…hint). Personally, I had a terrific time at the festival and it seems that everybody else did too (well, everybody but the Machinima filmmakers). I’ll file a lengthy report upon my return to LA. At the moment, I’ve taken a little side trip to Montreal and have found a charming (and quite crowded) coffee shop on St. Laurent with wi-fi access (thanks for the tips Emru).

I just recieved a copy of Fred Patten’s book Watching Anime, Reading Manga, and I highly recommend it. It’s hard to believe that this is technically Fred’s first book. (He’s contributed essays to several - and was co-editor of The Complete Anime Guide, 2nd Edition) I’ve known Fred for quite a long time now, and have always admired his knowledgable opinions and writings on anime. He may very well be anime’s first true scholar.This new book collects 25 years worth of Fred’s best articles, columns and reviews. Reading it will give you a comprehensive overview of Japanese animation, as well as the story of American anime fandom and the emergence of it’s influence in western popular culture. If you could only have one book on anime, this is the one to get. Fred covers everything from Tezuka to Miyazaki, From 8th Man to Dragonball Z in an entertaining, informative way.
Congratulations, Fred. Go-Go-Go!

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