Spring is here. Time to change the wallpaper on your desktop. Here’s a whole page of Tex Avery scenes to choose from.

3 pm on Saturday @ the American Film Institute: Jerry Beck & ASIFA-Hollywood present rare animated TV spots from the 50s and 60s. Details HERE.

Harvey Kurtzman is among a handful of cartoonists who can be labeled a true genius, and just one example of his genius can be found in his pre-MAD comic strip HEY LOOK!, which he created in 1946. These full-page strips still look and feel remarkably fresh today, nearly sixty years after they were first drawn. They were reprinted in a book collection in the early-90s which is now out of print, but it’s possible to see over 150 of the HEY LOOK! strips online at the Cartoonist Group. When you go to the search page, just select Harvey Kurtzman as the artist. For even rarer Kurtzman, check out this amazing Cartoon Retro forum thread. (HEY LOOK! link via Frog Blog)

Here’s one from the Disney rumor mill. I recently heard that Disney is developing a CG-animated version of Tim Burton’s 1984 live-action short FRANKENWEENIE. Not many details emerged yet, though according to folks who have seen the CG tests, it looks to be a very promising project.

Whoever said corporations don’t listen to their customers? Cartoon Brew has found out that following the embarassing debut of LOONATICS, the fine folks at Warner Bros. have taken significant steps to improve the quality of that cartoon concept. Here’s a chart to help you understand the comprehensive changes WB has made.

Tonight:A tribute to Frédéric Back, with a screening and a panel discussion with Pete Docter (Pixar), Production Designer Paul Felix (Disney), Glen Keane (Tarzan), Bob Kurtz (Pink Panther), and Charles Solomon (The Los Angeles Times). The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ 9th Annual Marc Davis Lecture on Animation, tonight at 7:30pm at their Samuel Goldwyn Theatre on Wilshire Blvd. For more program information, go to oscars.orgToday:
There are a few tickets left - and today is the last day you can reserve them - for the Golden Awards Banquet that The Animation Guild is holding on April 9th, 2005 at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank, California. This event honors animation veterans with fifty years in the industry of screen cartooning and related fields. Award presenters include Tom Sito, Floyd Norman, Mark Kausler, Tim Walker, Tee Bosustow, Scott Shaw, Tina Price, Leonard Maltin, Gary Owens and yours truly, Jerry Beck. For further ticket information, please contact Dave Brain. Any questions, suggestions or if you’d like to advertise in their program book, please contact event organizer Bob Foster at bfosterla@aol.com or check the Animation Guild website.

This Saturday, March 26th at 3pm, Asifa-Hollywood is presenting a program of the coolest animated television commercials from the golden age of TV. We will be screening rare 16mm prints and will include a selection of Ford spots created by Playhouse Pictures (above), including some of the earliest animation of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. It’s two hours of cartoon fun - and much of the material being screened on Saturday is not on video or viewable in any other format.Join us! Uber cool designs, commercials for cigarettes & beer… from the greatest animators in the business.Saturday March 26th • 3:00pm
The American Film Institute
TED ASHLEY/WARNER BROS. SCREENING ROOM
2021 N. Western Ave.
Hollywood, CA

After the recent post about Ward Kimball paintings, somebody emailed to ask whether I had a color version of Kimball’s painting of Disney colleagues Tom Oreb and Jesse Marsh, which was printed in ANIMATION BLAST #6. Indeed I do. Click on it for the full image.

The only thing I enjoy more than plugging the work of animation artists is plugging my own work, so with that in mind, let me direct you to a positive review of THE ART OF ROBOTS posted at FanboyPlanet.com. Derek McCaw writes:

Sure, it’s a given that these coffee table books will show up as tie-ins, but this effort by Amid Amidi (with a preface by Joyce and foreword by Wedge) does a better job than earlier efforts from Chronicle at really taking us into the process of designing an animated film…One of the advantages that this book has over previous efforts lies in a greater access to detail. The layout on some pages draws clear lines between inspiration and final product, highlighting specific elements on a character or a building. A few illustrations also have detailed color “callouts,” guides for the animators that provide another way in to the creative process.

In the end, The Art of Robots makes a satisfying book to flip through, and stands firmly with Chronicle’s growing library of movie art books. Whether you end up liking the movie or not is almost beside the point.

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