Last month I sung the praises of Benjamin Ettinger’s anime blog AniPages Daily, but it’s worth doing again. During the past couple weeks, he’s posted an excellent beginner’s guide to the history of independent animation in Japan and it’s fascinating reading. I’ve managed to see a handful of the films he writes about including Tezuka’s TALES OF A STREETCORNER (thanks Mark), a retrospective of Taku Furukawa’s work at Ottawa ‘02, a couple of Yoji Kuri’s films, and assorted bits here and there, but to be honest, until I read Ben’s pieces I had no idea how all these artists and films related to one another in the context of Japan’s indie animation scene. The story begins in this ENTRY, continues HERE and ends with this POST. If only every blog was this informative and entertaining. And while on the subject of Japanese animation, here’s a nice page that has a listing of all of Osamu Tezuka’s independent films complete with stills and clips. I’d really like to see PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION one of these days.

The Second Annual Benefit for the Cartoon Art Museum will be held Saturday, October 2nd at Pixar. Pixar Animation Studios will host the second annual benefit at 6pm with a special evening on the Emeryville campus.

Over wine and hors d’oeuvres you will see a stunning gallery exhibition featuring the pre-production artwork for the Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film, The Incredibles, opening November 5, 2004. Guests will then be escorted into Pixar’s state-of-the-art 240 seat theater to hear the artists and wizards behind Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles share their unique perspectives on the movie-making process. After the presentation, guests will have an opportunity to converse with the speakers and other Pixarians.
Special guest speakers ewill include: Gary Rydstrom, sound designer; Andrew Stanton, writer/director, Finding Nemo; Mark Andrews, Head of Story, The Incredibles; Angus MacLane, animator; and Dr. Michael B. Johnson, Pixar R&D.This event will sell out quickly and there are only a limited number of seats available. Cartoon Art Museum members can purchase tickets for the reduced rate of $125, while the non-member rate is $175. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

More information is posted at www.cartoonart.orgCartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
phone: (415) CAR-TOON

Good news in Toon Town: Michael Eisner is leaving Disney. The catch? It’s the long goodbye: he’s going in 2006 when his contract expires.Still, this is a good bit of news for the Save Disney crowd and should provide some optimism to the folks behind the “magic”.

New Yorkers can see BUSHWHACKED!, another Bush-related film festival, this weekend at the 8th annual RESFEST. Here is a description of the show:

A special program for this election year of great viral political films from media jammers (The Yes Men, Bryan Boyce, Michael Moore) around the world, includes some world premieres like Pinocchio (image shown here) which was too hot for MoveOn.org, and a “Schoolhouse Rock”-style animation from Eric Henry, Pirates & Emperors (Or Size Does Matter).

(via Boing Boing)

Eddie Mort and Lili Chin REPORT on their blog that Macromedia is developing a new version of Flash geared towards animators and designers. Mike Downey of Macromedia emailed them this note: “I’m happy to tell you that we’re in the early stages of defining the next version of Flash, code-named ‘8ball’, and will be focusing the release on animators, multimedia designers, and digital artists… The next product release is being managed by an entirely new team of long-time Flash and graphics experts (unlike the last release) and we are all super-determined to return Flash to its roots and make it much better for designers and animators. We may not be able to do everything within the next release, but we definitely have Flash back on track for the future.” If you’re a Flash animator, feel free to contribute to the COMMENTS section of Eddie and Lili’s blog and tell Macromedia what features you’d like to see incorporated into the udpated Flash.

Hargrove Entertainment is currently soliciting films for the GW Bush Animation Festival. The selected shorts will be screened theatrically this fall as well as released onto DVD. According to the organizers: “It doesn’t matter if you’re pro-Bush or anti-Bush, we want to see your work. Toons will be chosen based on the quality of the work, not the political affiliation of the animator.” VHS and DVD screeners can be submitted to:
GW Bush Animation Festival
c/o Hargrove Entertainment Inc.
PO Box 750338
Forest Hills, NY 11375-0338

Frank Thomas, the second-to-last surviving member of Disney’s “Nine Old Men” group of supervising animators, passed away on September 8, three days after his ninety-second birthday.The following is excerpted from the official Disney announcement:

Frank Thomas, one of the most talented, inventive and influential animators in the history of the art form, a member of Walt Disney’s elite “Nine Old Men,” and a pioneering animator who worked on many classic shorts and features during his 43-year career at the Disney Studios, passed away on Wednesday (9/8) at his home in Flintridge, California. He was 92 years old. Thomas had been in declining health following a cerebral hemorrhage earlier this year.In addition to his achievements as an animator and directing animator, Thomas (in collaboration with his lifelong friend and colleague Ollie Johnston) authored four landmark books: Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, Too Funny for Words, Bambi: The Story and the Film, and The Disney Villain. Thomas and Johnston were also the title subjects of a heartfelt 1995 feature-length documentary entitled “Frank and Ollie,” written and directed by Frank’s son, Theodore (Ted) Thomas.In a career filled with milestones, Thomas’ remarkable animation included such indelible moments as the first date and spaghetti dinner in “Lady and the Tramp,” Thumper teaching Bambi how to ice-skate, Baloo the bear telling the man-cub Mowgli that he can’t stay in the jungle in “The Jungle Book,” Pinocchio trapped in the birdcage by the evil puppeteer Stromboli, the lovesick squirrel whose heart is broken in “Sword in the Stone,” Captain Hook playing the piano in “Peter Pan,” the dancing penguins in “Mary Poppins,” among others. He also animated several of Mickey Mouse’s most impressive scenes in such films as “The Pointer,” and “Brave Little Tailor.” Noted animation historian/author/filmmaker John Canemaker, described Thomas’ special talents in his book, Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men. “Thomas is particularly known and admired for his ability to animate emotionally sensitive material; the saddest scenes, the most romantic, most deeply felt sequences, the sincerest heart-tuggers usually found their way to his drawing board.” John Lasseter (head of creative for Pixar Animation Studios and director of the “Toy Story” films and “A Bug’s Life”) said, “Frank was a giant in our field and he meant everything to me and to all of us who love the art of animation. Besides being one of the key guys to help elevate animation from a novelty to an incredible art form, he was so generous in passing along his knowledge and experiences to the generations that followed. The books that he wrote with Ollie had a big impact on so many of us working in animation today. Frank was one of my main mentors and a tremendous influence on me. I feel very privileged to have known him.” Leonard Maltin, animation historian, film critic, and author, observed, “Frank helped to invent animation as an art form and took it to incredible new heights through his work at Disney over four and a half decades. He and his lifelong friend and colleague, Ollie Johnston, had a remarkable gift for explaining and articulating how they did what they did. That’s a rare quality in an artist. Even in his nineties, Frank retained a youthful spirit and indomitable sense of humor.”Thomas retired from animation in January, 1978. Over the next five years, Thomas and Johnston devoted full time to researching and writing the definitive book on their craft, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. The book distilled forty years of knowledge and experience into what many consider the finest book ever written about animation. Too Funny for Words was published six years later and explored the gags, humor and story elements that went into the features and shorts. Walt Disney’s Bambi: The Story and the Film (1990) told the behind the scenes story of the creation of one of the greatest animated films of all-time. Their final collaboration, The Disney Villain (1993), explored the richest and most colorful rogue’s gallery in film history.In addition to his career as a top animator, Thomas also expressed his musical talents as the piano player in the popular jazz group, The Firehouse Five Plus Two. Formed in 1940s, the group consisted of other Disney employees, and achieved success with their numerous Dixieland jazz recordings and personal appearances. They officially disbanded in 1971. In 1995, Thomas was the subject of a feature length documentary, “Frank and Ollie,” released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written, produced, and directed by Frank’s son, Theodore (Ted) Thomas, and produced by Ted’s wife, Kuniko Okubo, the film played film festivals around the world and received acclaim for its insightful look at the lives, careers and extraordinary friendship of the two legendary animators.No funeral is planned but details regarding a life celebration will be announced shortly. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made in Frank’s name to the Character Animation Program at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) in Santa Clarita, California.

I’m still hungover from two mind-blowing nights of classic cartoons with John K. at the Egyptian theatre. So while I recover, here’s an unrelated guest report from Brew reader Chris Sobieniak:

A couple days ago, I went off to mail some videos at the post office, afterwards, I decided to check out the Korean import mart close by to see what goodies they got this time, and I found a couple things of interest you might like to see…First off, is a package with a familiar figure on it, Popeye, pimping for Samyang Food’s own “Star Popeye Snack”! Though a typical non-spinich gig for our one-eyed sailor, he still gets to show it in his hand anyway (though the packaging mmicks a rather uncanny look of generic soda cups from the drive-in). More info on this (though in Korean) can be accessed hereAnd finally, a package of the Korean version of Frito-Lay’s “Chee-tos” (notice I still use the hyphen), produced by Orion Frito-Lay (a joint venture between a Korean confectionary and PepsiCo supposibly). Oddly, this version of Chee-tos isn’t the cheesy type we’ve come to know and love in the US, but now is barbacue flavored! Somehow I couldn’t get halfway through the bag before I threw the rest away (just don’t have a taste for it). Featured on the front of the package is none other than the recently released (and horridly adapted) “Astro Boy” character, with a freebie surprise inside (you don’t expect that anymore)! Not really a nifty item, looks to be some kind of spinner, though I kept thinking of it as the milkcap or “pogs” of a decade ago.