Gary Leib’s New York based flash animation studio TWINKLE is best known for bringing Harvey Pekar’s cartoons to life in the AMERICAN SPLENDOR feature film — but the studio has done much more than that. Check out the studio’s TWINKLELAND website and view their music video for They Might Be Giants (with artwork by Mark Newgarden), their Altoids commercial (designed by Charles Burns), and especially watch The Ship That Never Came In, an animated promo piece for Kim Dietch’s brilliant BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS.(Thanks to Mark Mayerson for the link)

Jeff Harris sort-of sums up what’s wrong with TV cartoons these days over at TOONZONE.

Okay New Yorkers, here’s your chance to see classic cartoons on the big screen. Greg Ford is programming a two week event for the Film Society of Lincoln Center, I LOVE TO SINGA: CARTOON MUSICALS, August 19-31 at the Walter Reade Theatre.The festival includes: • IWERKS BY DESIGN, an Ub Iwerks tribute, with The Skeleton Dance, Fiddlesticks, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack Frost, Balloonland, Merry Mannequins, Skeleton Frolic and more.
Fri Aug 19: 1pm; Sun Aug 21: 8:30; Sun Aug 28: 8:30; Wed Aug 31: 6pm.• “SILLIES” AND OTHER SYMPHONIES includes Cookie Carnival, Woodland Cafe, Who Killed Cock Robin?, Musicland, Cock O’ the Walk, Bumble Boogie, All the Cats Join In, and Eric Goldberg’s “Rhapsody In Blue” amongst much else.
Fri Aug 19: 3:30; Sat Aug 20: 5:30; Sun Aug 21: 3:30; Wed Aug 31: 3:30pm.• MUSICAL MICE will showcase such Mickey’s as The Whoopee Party, Blue Rhythm, Puppy Love, Mickey’s Amateurs, Mickey’s Grand Opera, Thru the Mirror, The Band Concert and others.
Fri Aug 19: 6pm; Sat Aug 20: 3pm & 8pm; Wed Aug 31: 1pm.• FANTASIA James Algar, U.S., 1940; 120m
Thurs July 21: 2:30 & 6:15 (introduced by Martin McQuade)• ALLEGRO NON TROPPO Bruno Bozzetto, Italy, 1977; 75mSat Aug 20: 1pm; Wed Aug 24: 3pm; Thurs Aug 25: 4:30 & 8:30; Tue Aug 30: 1pm.• THE MGM (Cartoon) MUSICAL will screen Hey! Hey! Fever (1934), The Blue Danube (1939), Saturday Evening Puss (1950), Solid Serenade (1946), Zoot Cat (1944), Red Hot Riding Hood (1943), Swingshift Cinderella (1945), The Shooting of Dan Magoo (1945) Flea Circus (1954) and Magical Maestro (1952).
Mon Aug 22: 1pm; Tue Aug 23: 1pm; Wed Aug 24: 7pm; Wed Aug 31: 8:30pm.• THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE Sylvain Chomet, France, 2003; 78m
Mon Aug 22: 3:30; Wed Aug 24: 1; Thurs Aug 25: 6:30; Tue Aug 30: 3pm.• AMERICAN POP Ralph Bakshi, U.S., 1981; 96m
Wed Aug 24: 5 & 9:30; Thurs Aug 25: 1pm; Mon Aug 29: 4pm• THE TUNE Bill Plympton, U.S., 1992; 69m
Thurs Aug 25: 3pm; Mon Aug 29: 2 & 8:30pm• WARNERS CARTOONS GO POP
A program that might be redubbed “Mel Blanc’s Hit Parade,” includes the following: Back Alley Oproar, Yankee Doodle Daffy, I Love To Singa, One Froggy Evening, Penguin Parade, Eatin’ on the Cuff, Book Revue, Three Little Bops, Show Biz Bugs, and What’s Up, Doc?.
Fri Aug 26: 1pm & 6pm; Sat Aug 27: 3:30pm.• WARNERS CARTOONS GO CLASSICAL includes Rhapsody in Rivets, Corny Concerto, Pigs in a Polka, Long-Haired Hare, Rabbit of Seville, What’s Opera, Doc? and others!
Fri Aug 26: 8pm; Sat Aug 27: 1 & 6pm; Sun Aug 28: 3:30pm.• COLUMBIA CARTOONS’ MUSICAL MISCELLANY 35mm restored prints of Prosperity Blues, Scrappy’s Party, Swing Monkey Swing, Bon Bon Parade, Little Match Girl, Concerto in B-Flat Minor, Magic Fluke (pictured above), Rooty Toot Toot, Oompahs, Little Boy With a Big Horn, Gerald McBoing Boing’s Symphony. Don’t miss this one.
Fri Aug 26: 3:30pm; Sat Aug 27: 8:30pm; Sun Aug 28: 1pm; Mon Aug 29: 6pm.Check the Walter Reade Theatre website for a more detailed write-up.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it here! No witnesses. No suspects. No head.

Tina Price and Rik Maki are co-owners of Digital or Not. Tina’s Digital, Rik’s Not. Both are 20 year veterans of Walt Disney Feature Animation. They have self published their first book entitled Scribblin’ Away at Mike’s Cafe”, a collection of Maki’s doodles on placemats of a favorite haunt in Burbank. Maki was a character designer for such films as Finding Nemo, Treasure Planet, A Bug’s Life and Dinosaur. He has also created thousands of designs for Marvel Studios, Filmation Studios, Hanna Barbera Productions, Pixar Animation and 18 years with Walt Disney Feature Animation.

We don’t usually review graphic novels here on the Brew, but this one is worthy of note. COLOSSUS by Mark Andrews is an incredible tale of swords, sorcery, action and adventure - told by a master storyteller. Andrews, story supervisor on The Incredibles, has storyboarded, among other things, The Iron Giant, Spider-Man, and Star Wars: Clone Wars. This is his epic work, a 200 page novel in black and white and greytones (often reminding me of my youthful days reading Warren’s horror comics magazines CREEPY and EERIE). It’s an adult work and would make a helluva film (live or animated).Ronnie del Carmen has a page about Mark and Colossus on his blog. Mark himself has a blog. Colossus is part of the E-Ville Press collective of Pixar based artists who have recently launched their own comics line.

Asifa-Hollywood’s screening this month is for the real die-hards. I’ll be showing about a dozen 1940s-50s Paramount cartoons in 35mm Technicolor on Saturday afternoon at the AFI Campus on Western Avenue.Paramount’s cartoons - produced by the staff of Fleischer Studio veterans, under the generic name of Famous Studios - get an undeservedly bad rap. While it’s true that none of their cartoons were ever nominated for an Oscar, and that they didn’t produce a Chuck Jones or Tex Avery-like talent, nor developed a unique house style of their own (even Terrytoons did that), the Paramount shorts are slick, well produced entertainments, drawn, painted and voiced by some of the best East coast talent (including Bill Tytla, Steve Muffatti, Dave Tendlar, and Jim Tyer). It hasn’t helped their reputation that their films, if seen at all, are presented in faded worn 16mm prints.So be warned. These aren’t cartoon classics - though there is a lot of good stuff in here to be sure. If you want to just kick back and watch some good old fashioned animated mayhem - check your brain at the door and join us Saturday at 3pm at the AFI.

Masaaki Yuasa’s MIND GAME (mentioned on the Brew yesterday) has received a thumbs-up from none other than Bill Plympton. He concurs with nearly ever other person who has seen this film and thinks it’s mind-blowing. Should I even mention that this film was largely made using hand-drawn animation? That seems almost besides the point, but now would be as good a time as any to make that clear. Anyway, here’s what Bill wrote about MIND GAME on his website:

It’s totally different from any other animated film I’ve ever seen. The art is very simple, almost Western in style, and the humor and storytelling is exactly as the title implies - crazy ideas are tossed around, then played back and fast-forwarded. I know “trippy” is an overused expression, but MIND GAME is the trippiest film I’ve ever seen.

First it was Fred Osmond and Katie Rice who started blogs. Now, two more talented folks who recently worked on DISNEY’S THE BUZZ ON MAGGIE have put up their own blogs: Flash artists Sean Szeles and Tony Mora. Sean’s blog, called “Face It!,” promises to have great artwork. Already posted are some entertaining studies from SONG OF THE SOUTH and random napkin doodles. He has a fun cartoony style mixed in with an illustrative bent, and I’m looking forward to checking out more of his work.

Tony’s blog, titled “So Bad It’s Good,” has nothing to do with animation, but instead focuses on carniceria (butcher shop) art painted on buildings around Los Angeles. Says Tony, “I’ve always had a fascination with them ever since I was a little kid. Seeing these somewhat surreal and fanciful paintings depicting the foods that I would be eating later that day. Taco stands, bars and restaurants will make there way on this site as well. This is my tribute to those paintings and the artists that made them.” The carniceria art actually doesn’t look all that different from the artwork one finds when flipping through JUXTAPOZ magazine — the only difference being that this art strikes me as coming from a more honest place and more deserving of the title “lowbrow art.” These artists paint what they know and create murals that serve a functional purpose; these aren’t ‘hip’ paintings intended to make the artists rich by selling for thousands of dollars at some trendy Silverlake gallery. It’s JUXTAPOZ without the pose and it’s commendable that Tony is bringing some of this work to light.

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