It opened in Australia! Steven Rowley has posted the first review I’ve seen, of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, on his Cinephobia website.

Following up on my post below about the theatrical release of the new TOM & JERRY movie, Michele Martell of KIDTOON FILMS wrote in to clarify what her company does:

I just saw your posting about Kidtoon Films and our theatrical releases of new animated movies for kids and thought I’d drop you a note to give you some background.The theatrical distribution arm, Kidtoon Films, is part of Sabella Dern Entertainment - a production company run by Paul Sabella and Jonathan Dern. Paul and Jonathan were the co-heads of MGM Animation (ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN 2)for most of the 90’s, and I’m sure you are aware of Paul’s experience and reputation in the field (especially given your book on Pink Panther!).One of the primary motivations for creating Kidtoon Films was our awareness that much of the animation being produced for kids these days is destined for the direct-to-DVD market, and we believed that there would be a theatrical audience for this content. The response from audiences, theatre circuits, and the companies making and releasing these films has validated that belief. In particular, we are happy to be working closely with the folks at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, as it has such a great legacy in animation and cartoons.In addition to new films, we are also showing cartoon shorts - some classic such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, and new, award-winning shorts like “Gopher Broke” from Blur Studios. We see this new theatrical pipeline as a way to create additional opportunities for animation of all kinds - shorts or features, 2D or 3D, made independently or by studios, and from the US or international territories.

Oh Yeah!For over ten years, Fred Seibert has been championing the production of funny, original cartoons - first as president of Hanna Barbera in the mid-1990s, and since 1997 with Nickelodeon and his Oh Yeah! Cartoons program. Fred has promoted his cartoons throughout the years with clever limited edition promo postcards which only went out to select few (only 200 of each were printed). These featured special artwork by the likes of Seth MacFarlane, Tim Biskup, Dave Wasson, Craig Kellman, Vincent Waller, Miles Thompson and many other current cartoon notables. You can see the postcards on his Frederator Studios website - but even better, the card artwork is being collected in a 256 page full-color book, beautifully printed on slick glossy stock - with informative text pieces (including an introduction by yours truly).This is no Cafe Press affair, it’s a big, honest-to-goodness real live book (published by Easton Studio Press)! And I’m impressed! It officially goes on sale November 30th, but Fred is selling a few advance copies on his website now - at a $10 discount, and with two free Frederator collectibles: an actual studio postcard and an original Frederator silkscreen poster. For more information, see www.Frederator.kz

WOMEN DO ANIMATE - and they are apparently doing it very well in Australia.Marian Quigley interviews ten Australian animators’ in her new book - which comes packed with a DVD sampler. Not available in the U.S. (yet), the book can be ordered from Insight Publications in Victoria, Australia.

Our dear friend Fred Patten suffered a stroke last March. I’m happy to say he’s recovering nicely (slowly, but nicely) - and he now has a new webpage which is being updated with his current health status and activities. Fred is the foremost U.S. historian on Japanese anime - and his contributions to my forthcoming book, THE ANIMATED MOVIE GUIDE, were invaluable.Get well Fred - I need you for the revised edition!

After seeing our previous post on the ABC SUPER SATURDAY CLUB, J.J. Sedelmaier comes clean with his past transgressions by sending in the the above image - with a note:

“It’s SO sad that I still have this. . .”

(Click on image to see much larger picture)

I can count all the great books about modern independent animation on one hand…hell, probably on one finger, because there simply aren’t that many. There’s a book coming out this month though that is guaranteed to fill that void. UNSUNG HEROS OF ANIMATION by Chris Robinson promises to be an insightful, much-needed examination of many of today’s leading voices in indie animation. The book (click on cover above for larger version) features profiles on numerous filmmakers including Signe Baumane, Brothers Quay, Paul Bush, Michele Cournoyer, Andreas Hykade, Igor Kovalyov, Ryan Larkin, Priit Parn, Pjotr Sapegin, and JJ Villard, among many others. Being familiar with Robinson’s previous writings, I know these aren’t going to be your run-of-the-mill artist profiles. I’m expecting hard-hitting insights into what makes each of these artists so special and I’m sure Chris is going to deliver.

From John Canemaker’s blurb on the back of the book:

Robinson writes with keen perception and a critical eye; he is sincere, compassionate and always passionate about his subjects, many of whom push the borders of film content and technique wide open. His unfailingly evocative descriptions of the works make one hungry to see them. ‘Let’s end the obscurity here and now,’ demands Robinson, whose new book goes a long way towards doing just that.

The book isn’t listed on Amazon yet, but is being distributed by Indiana University Press in North America. It officially debuts at the Ottawa International Animation Festival later this month.

I sat with June Foray at the CINECON banquet last night in Hollywood. I’m not trying to name drop, but I wanted to pass along this bit of news: June is scheduled for an appearence on CNN, with Larry King on September 22nd.