Brad Bird will be on Fresh Air with Terry Gross Wednesday, April 6th.Meanwhile, Dateline: Hollywood bets Pixar will sign up with Harvey Weinstein’s new distribution company.

Yessir, it’s that time again - the monthly plug for my cartoon/short musical 16mm film show, as opening act for the fabulous Janet Klein And Her Parlor Boys. It’s a fine night of time travel - back to the late 1920s/early 1930s with obscure and forgotten old time jazz, rag-time, blues and novelty songs. The fun starts at 8pm Thursday night April 7th at the Steve Allen Theatre in the Los Feliz area, 4773 Hollywood Blvd., (West of Vermont, across from Barnsdall Park). We do this the first Thursday of every month. Please check Janet’s website (under “Showtime”) for more details.

The Girls Productions is a new animation company founded by illustrator/painter Amanda Visell and writer Michelle Valigura. Both of them used to work in stop motion as sculptors and fabricators, but they’re now developing their own animation projects. Currently posted on their site are a number of Visell’s paintings, which have a playful quality with pleasing colors and shapes. There are promises of more content to come.

BRING ME THE HEAD OF CHARLIE BROWN is an amusing late-’80s student film parodying the Charlie Brown animated specials. When I first watched it, I thought it really felt like a CalArts film, and indeed the credits reveal that it is, but what’s interesting to note is that it’s the student film of longtime SIMPSONS director Jim Reardon. Other familiar industry names also appear in the credits. Download the film HERE (33mb). (Video posted at AnimeHell.org). (Thanks, Chris Sobieniak)
Update: New link HERE.

From the “Isn’t This Incestuous Dep’t.”: At the recent Tokyo Animation Fair, Toei Animation, Aniplex and Cartoon Network announced a new series tentatively titled DAMESHITAA! POWERPUFF GIRLS Z. So the POWERPUFF GIRLS, an American cartoon that was originally inspired by Japanese anime, has now been optioned by the Japanese and translated back into a very conventional-looking piece of TV anime. Noticeable differences in the new version are that the Powerpuff Girls are now older, have fingers instead of stub-hands, carry weapons, and the Professor has been turned into an angry-looking preschooler. Promotional art can be seen HERE and HERE, while stills from the pilot episode are HERE. (Thanks, Scott Warren)

Another L.A. cartoon landmark is the subject of an L.A. Times article (registration may be required) today.Felix Chevrovet has been a fixture in downtown Los Angeles since 1923. According to the article, Winslow B. Felix traded Pat Sullivan a new car in exchange for use (apparently in perpetuity) of the Felix character as a mascot for his car dealership. The earliest example of animation licensing? Unless there is a long lost Gertie the Dinosaur hamburger stand or Farmer Alfalfa action figure, it may well be!

It isn’t often that cartoons are discussed on talk radio - so it is with great pleasure that I alert you to my next radio appearence, Tuesday April 5th at 10:00am (Pacific Time, 1:00pm EST). Film Club of the Air on San Diego’s KPBS radio (89.5 FM), an NPR affiliate out of San Diego State University, will be discussing the current state of animation and I believe they will take phone calls. The show will be available on-line, both live and archived.
I hope you’ll “toon” in.UPDATE: At the last moment, I was informed that I won’t be on the show this week - however, they are rescheduling me for another day. Still - they will be discussing cartoons and its worth a listen, regardless.

The Dudley Do-Right Emporium - the Sunset Blvd. landmark started in 1971 by Jay Ward to sell unique merchandise, animation cels and moose antlers - closed earlier this year and is facing the wrecking ball at any moment. Mark Arnold supplied us with this photo taken last week. Asifa-Hollywood is in discussions with the Ward estate in efforts to save the sign.