Brew regular Chris Sobieniak caught this swipe:

While having to go to the store earlier today, I came across what I spotted as a near identical pose lifted from one of Preston Blair’s famous animation books! The Ohio Lottery Commission has released a scratch ‘n win ticket called Lucky Dog Doubler that shows a dog with a wad of cash in his mouth while having his front left paw out.I decided to check for that same image in “Cartoon Animation” and it couldn’t help but think of how uncanny if was for some artist to swipe that shot from page 13 (though with some slight modifications and other liberties thrown in). I’ve attached the dogs in question just so you can compare, but I got a laugh seeing that on a scratch ‘n win ticket!

In Japan, an AOL-like service called Open Data Network promotes itself using a Disney Pooh theme. In the US, that would mean it was targeting kids, but (as best as I can tell) they’re not particularly doing that in cute-friendly Japan. In fact, I have a sign-up disc with a video that seems to show two successful businesswomen using a service called PoohMail2Plus. (I picked up the disc when I was in Tokyo last year, and just found it in my messy office–which is why I’m suddenly bringing all this up.)

ODN’s Pooh site is available for your entertainment here. It’s 99% in Japanese, and that’s one reason why I just spent about five minutes wandering around it, being pleasantly confused. If you like oddball uses of American cartoon characters in foreign lands, I suggest you do the same.

One other note: Both the disc and the site have prominent credits for A.A. Milne and Ernest Shepard. I’m not sure why–or if they’d be pleased or disgruntled to be associated with the Disneyfied versions of their characters. But it’s nice to see an example of Disney licensing that actually credits the guys who came up with the characters in the first place.

Joe Horne’s new Flash episodes of STEVIE & ZOYA, which I wrote about HERE, are now being posted at FlashPlayer.com. The first couple are up, and more will be posted soon. View them HERE.

Katie Rice, currently a designer at Disney TV Animation, has updated her website with a bunch of nice girl drawings. Worth a Sunday browse. Go HERE.

Over at my very own Harry Go Round, Kip Williams is reporting on Michael Paulus’s Skeletal Systems, a series of drawings of…well, of the skeletons of cartoon characters we know and love, including everyone from Baby Huey to the Shmoo.

If you’re in Portland (Oregon, that is) you can see these in person at a coffee shop this month. If you’re anywhere else, stop by the online gallery and prepare to spend some time being startled and fascinated.

There are bears that have been licensed, such as Yogi, Pooh, Paddington, the Care Bears, and other lovable ursines who I’m forgetting right now. And then there’s Licensable Bear(tm).