Insert your own wise-ass comment here.

Meet my new favorite animation artist of the moment: Chris Harding. I’d never heard of him until yesterday when I ran across his name on the Persistence of Vision blog. The clips from Chris’s short film MAKE MINE SHOEBOX made me laugh so hard I nearly pissed my pants…which is the highest praise I can offer a cartoonist short of actually wetting myself. Hard to believe that SHOEBOX was a corporate film produced for Hallmark Cards. The animation is inventive, the voice-over narration hilarious and his sense of humor ingeniously skewed. Not to mention Harding has the “Fifties look” down pat. Clips from his other films - LEARN SELF DEFENSE and HE’S A GOOD MONKEY - are equally worthy of praise. This guy is a natural cartooning talent and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. Check him out at ChrisHarding.net.

A couple Brew readers wrote in to correct some of my recent sloppy reportage. In this ITEM posted on paid product placements in animation, I incorrectly wrote that SHORTIES WATCHIN’ SHORTIES was a new series. The first season actually premiered earlier this year and this week is the premiere of the show’s second season. But I think I’m still correct about calling the show ‘craptacular.’

Another Brew reader wrote in regarding the same topic and tells me that the NY TIMES also misreported something in their ARTICLE on product placements. The TIMES said that the product references in FATHER OF THE PRIDE were inserted gratis. Apparently, this is untrue. This reader has it on good authority that while NBC did not get paid, DreamWorks has received monetary compensation for some of the show’s product endorsements.

And finally, yet another Brew reader wrote in to say that product placement in animation is not a new phenomenon. According to this person, Disney has engaged in such activities dating back to the Eighties: “Coca Cola was one of several companies that got ‘placement’ on the streets of New York for OLIVER AND COMPANY. The artists were thrilled. During production of the feature, Coke put in soda machines all through the studio which dispensed free soda.”

The Brewmasters - Jerry Beck and Amid Amidi - would like to thank Ken Pontac for being our “Guest Brewer” the last couple months and delighting us, and other readers, with tales from his animated sojourn to Iceland. You can see the results of his trip on Nick’s TV series LAZYTOWN. This will be Ken’s last entry on the Brew. We’ll be joined by a new guest blogger on November 1. Thanks, Ken!

Tuesday, August 3, 2004
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The Sunday pub tour with Thorir was fantastic (the parts that I remember, anyway). I was somewhat negligent in taking pictures or writing down the names of any of the places we went, but here are a couple of images that I probably took, because they were in my camera:

I remember a few things about that night:

> I ate three hot dogs, a slice of pizza, and a big old sandwich.

> I won a jackpot in a slot machine.

>I killed many Vikings.

After drinking until 4AM, the next day was pretty much a waste. I have no recollection or documentation of Monday at all. I was probably in an embarrassing stupor or some such thing.

That brings us to today, when I stepped outside my door to go to the little cafe that’s my home away from home, and while walking down the street saw a woman so remarkable-looking that I was compelled to take her photograph. One thing led to the next and soon she was joining me for a chat and a groove in the little cafe. It turned out that this formidable Amazon was Andrulla Blanchette, Ms. Olympia 2000. We chewed the fat for half an hour, then Andrulla had to hop on a plane to her next She-Hulk-style adventure.

Later that morning I enjoyed a ninety-minute soak and massage at the Nordica Hotel Spa, then cabbed it back to the hot dog stand to undo any of the medicinal benefits of that experience. This was followed with a quick nap and some intense LAZYTOWN writing, all washed down with a delicious dinner of Icelandic sushi (no whale or baby seal included). A few hours later I hooked up with Thorir at Club Nasty to listen to Long John Baldry. The place was packed, but we snagged a corner by the bar where I was able to buy drinks and shoot some great bootleg video of the legendary bluesman. This was the best day in Iceland ever! - Ken Pontac

Today is the official publication date of the new book ANIMATION ART which I participated in as a writer and General Editor.The book is a 384 page “coffee table” book, a lavishly illustrated general history of worldwide animation, attempting to touch upon every significant filmmaker, event, studio, trend and technique during the last century. It also has a groovy giant eyeball on the cover (that wasn’t my idea).The book was written by a number of animation experts, including myself, Harvey Deneroff, Michael Mallory, Chris Robinson, David Gerstein, Keith Scott, Graham Webb, Mark Mayerson, Harry McCracken, Fred Patten, Will Ryan and Ray Pointer. If you need a crash course in animation history - this one’s for you. To order it from amazon.com, click here.

On his excellent blog AniPages Daily, Ben Ettinger discusses a show that airs on NHK (”Japan’s PBS,” as he puts it) called DIGITAL STADIUM. The program, on the air since 2000, screens short films by up-and-coming animators. Far from just a random showcase of films, each week’s selection of shorts is curated by well known Japanese animation directors. Following the films, there is a roundtable discussion between the filmmakers. At the end of each show, they select a “Hall of Fame” film and again at the end of the season, choose a grand prize winner. All of the “Hall of Fame” films can be viewed ONLINE. Leave it to the Japanese to innovate once again and create an insightful TV program that treats animation with respect.

My pals Tom Sito, Roger Shulman and Heather Kenyon are appearing on a panel together on Wednesday night, for the Learning Annex in L.A., simply titled: Learn About Careers in AnimationThe panelists will discuss the state of the animation industry today, where the jobs are - in movies, TV, direct-to-video, traditional drawn animation vs. CGI and the development process. Panelists include:Jeff Howard (moderator): Director of creative affairs, DisneyToon Studios.
Saul Blinkoff and Elliot Bour: Directors, DisneyToon Studios.
Karen Foster: Development executive, Dreamworks Animation.
Heather Kenyon: Director of development, Cartoon Network.
Tom Sito: Director (Osmosis Jones), Animator and storyboard artist.
Robert Souza: Story artist on Shrek, Spiderman and Pocahontas II.
Roger S.H. Schulman: Screenwriter/producer. Credits: Shrek, Balto, Mulan II and The Jungle Book II.Wednesday, October 27, 2004 from 06:45 PM to 09:30 PM. For more info click here.

An inappropriate response to this book: “Remember the good old days when they were content just to be ink-and-paint girls?”

Read more about the book HERE.
(link via Red Tango)