Tomorrow’s HOLLYWOOD REPORTER has a story that Fox/Blue Sky’s next feature following ICE AGE 2 will be an adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ HORTON HEARS A WHO! The film is scheduled for release in late-’07 or early-’08. No director is attached to the project yet, but the screenplay is being written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, whose prior writing credits include THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 and BUBBLE BOY. Those writers are the only part of the announcement that raises a red flag for me, but otherwise I’m confident that Blue Sky will do a fine job with this project. Full details at THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER website. The REPORTER piece neglected to mention that HORTON HEARS A WHO! was previously adapted to animation by Chuck Jones in 1970. For my money though, the most entertaining animated adaptation of Seuss’ Horton character is Bob Clampett’s HORTON HATCHES THE EGG (1942).

Animation designer Alex Kirwan (My Life As A Teenage Robot) sends us this link to a new animation production blog:

“This one belongs to my friend Elizabeth Ito, novel in that it’s one of the first female production blogs I’ve seen. Adventures on the Animation Rollercoaster shows Elizabeth documenting (among other things) the development of television projects and the recent excitement over her student film “Welcome to my Life” - which won producer’s pick in the Nicktoons film festival, and can be viewed here.”

Tonight - Voice actress June Foray signs her book PERVERSE, ADVERSE AND ROTTEN VERSE at the Barnes and Noble, in The Grove at the Farmer’s Market at 7:30pm - 189 Grove Dr. (Suite K30).March 19th - Voice actor Trustin Howard (Philbert) signs his new book My Life with Regis and Joey, 2:00pm at Borders Books, 14651 Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, CA.

Barely a week old, but quickly becoming a favorite: DRAWN!, a new multi-author blog devoted to illustration, art, cartooning and drawing. Eight super-star contributors, including Ward Jenkins, Jared Chapman, Jay Stephens, John Martz, Patricia Storms and Claire Robertson… Enough talk!
Go there! Now!

A friend of mine just pointed out this item on ebay - he called it a Holy Grail of cartoon collectibles, but I’m not too sure of that - but it sure brought back a flood of memories to me.I guess finding a Sparkle Paint set in mint condition would be a rather rare find. And get a look at this example of UPA merchandising in its waning days.The Dick Tracy Show with it’s wealth of ethnic stereotyped dectectives and policemen - and Mr. Magoo and his Chinese houseboy, “Cholly” (not Charlie). No wonder we rarely see these cartoons anymore.Ahh, the good old days…

Progenitorivox is a fake pill - not a placebo - but a fiction devised as part of a campaign by Consumers Union, the non-profit publishers of Consumer Reports, to pass legislation requiring drug makers to disclose the side effects of their products.Regardless of politics, this funny animated music video was produced by The Animation Farm out of Austin Texas, and is well worth a look.(Thanks, John Hudgens)

The Tim Burton garage sale that Cartoon Brew first broke the story on, and which has subsequently spread around the Internet like wildfire this past week, reportedly does not have the official endorsement of Tim Burton. According to the Tim Burton Collective, the following are Burton’s comments sent out via email from TimBurton.com:

“It recently came to my attention that a warehouse sale, claiming to include “previously -owned” items of mine, is scheduled to take place. Allegedly, these items include props, memorabilia and costumes from various films I have directed, as well as some drawings of mine that were private gifts–never meant for public display or purchase. Since I have not been contacted by the sellers, it is important to note that I can in no way vouch for the authenticity of these items. I am completely against the selling of personal items in such a public way.”

It’s important to note that there’s no way to confirm the validity of whether these comments are actually from Burton, but WOW Report has this additional bit of info: “It’s strictly ex-girlfriend Lisa Marie getting rid of stuff he gave her over the years or just left behind when they broke up. Their split was not amicable.” So at this point, it seems like the garage sale will still contain a lot of Burton’s possessions, but it’s more like Lisa Marie’s garage sale than Burton’s. Also interesting to note, one of the items up for grabs will be this chair prop from ED WOOD.

Shane Glines gave a positive plug on Cartoon Retro to the new Chronicle book ALL WRAPPED UP: GROOVY GIFT WRAP OF THE 1960s by Kevin Akers calling it “a surprisingly good reference book for early sixties color, lettering and design.” I saw the book a couple months ago and can definitely concur. It’s far more inspiring than I ever imagined a book on ’60s giftwrap paper could be.