Now that Michael Eisner is no longer desecrating the Disney name on a daily basis, he’s going to spend his time building his dream house in Malibu, at least according to Kim Masters at Slate.com.

Devin Crane, currently a vis dev artist at DreamWorks Feature Animation, is having a one-man show at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight (7020 Melrose Ave., corner of Melrose & La Brea). The show is called “Illusion Factory: Fairy Tales from Hollywood” and the idea behind the paintings is to “reinvent traditional fairy tales and classic book titles, while commenting on the superficiality and shallowness of modern day Hollywood.” I’m not familiar with Devin’s work, but if the rest of his paintings are as cool as the “Snow Queen” one they’re using to promote the show, then it should be worth checking out. Opening reception is this Sunday, October 9, from 6-9pm. The show only runs for one week, closing on October 16, so you better drop by quick. More details at Gallery1988.com.
(Thanks, Jon Gibson)

Former ANIMATO! editor Harry McCracken calls WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT “the most enjoyable non-Pixar non-Japanese animated feature I’ve seen since Lilo and Stitch.” But Harry also has some very legitimate concerns about where Aardman goes from here, and wonders whether the studio is capable of “reaching deeper into our emotions, in the way that the major characters in the best Disney and Pixar features do.” Read McCracken’s thoughts HERE.

I’m still working on my own little write-up about the Ottawa Animation Festival, but there’s a whole lot of festival coverage being posted around the blogosphere. Here we go:

Primal Screen director Ward Jenkins has posted part one of his Ottawa coverage. Stay tuned to the Ward-o-Matic for further installments. Ward also has a nice Flickr photoset from Ottawa.

Tom Neely, director of the delightful rubber hose-styled Muffs music video ‘Don’t Pick On Me,’ has a trip report on his I Will Destroy You blog.

Bill Robinson, an animation student at RIT, also has a trip report HERE.

Roque “The Rogue” Ballesteros, whose exquisitely designed short film MOLE IN THE CITY took home the award for best Internet cartoon, has the first part of his Ottawa coverage posted on the Ghostbot blog.

Jeff Hasulo is doing a number of updates on his blog, and he also has a Flickr photoset. Jeff writes about the Michael Dudok de Wit masterclass, which was one of the festival highlights for me as well. Talking about animation is never easy, but Dudok de Wit eloquently verbalized his thoughts about creativity and art for two whole hours. And I could have easily listened to him speak for two more. Check out Michael Dudok de Wit’s site HERE.

Ken Priebe, a filmmaker who works at VanArts, has a five-part festival report on his blog.

Don’t be fooled by the photo gallery of sixteen-year-old Lev Polyakov, who won the elementary/secondary film award for his film PIPER THE GOAT AND THE PEACE PIPE. He looks harmless enough, but give him an award, and Holy Christ, you better watch out.

Emru and Tamu Townsend have posted a plethora of pics from the Ottawa International Animation Festival (including a few capturing the Brewmasters of this blog) on their mighty fine animation website, FPS.Click here to dig in.

In an effort to raise money for the Red Cross to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, the CESD Talent Agency is sending their clients to the monthly Los Angeles Comic Book & Science Fiction Convention this Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium Expo Center. Appearing in person to sign autographs for this cause will be cartoon voice actors Richard Horvitz (Invader Zim), Bob Bergen (Porky Pig), Kevin Michael Richardson (The Batman), Scott Menville (Teen Titans), Bill Farmer (Goofy) and many others. The show opens at 10am. For more details click here.

FILM THREAT on the current status of Disney’s SONG OF THE SOUTH.

As usual on the first Thursday of every month, I’ll be showing several 16mm films at the Steve Allen Theatre (at 4773 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Feliz) October 6th at 8pm, preceeding a live concert by Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys.This gig has finally caught on (despite limited press coverage) and the crowd grows larger every month. If you want to be musically transported back to the late 20s/early 30s - this be the place. I usually run a few Fleischer cartoons to set the mood and Janet usually sings a few songs that are familiar from movies and cartoons of the era.Join us!