Meet my favorite new artist…Deanna Marsigliese. No explanation necessary.

Here’s an event I wish I were attending.This Sunday afternoon in Dallas Texas, the Deep Ellum Film Festival honors Brad Bird with the Texas Avery Animation Award. Special Guest Appearances by Nancy Avery Arkley (Avery’s daughter), artist William Joyce and local movie critic Gary Cogill. The event be held on Sunday, November 13th from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. at the North Dallas High School (3120 North Haskell Avenue), the same high school Tex Avery attended. Admission is $10 with proceeds benefiting Hurricane Katrina victims suffering from cancer. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.def2.org or call (214) 752-6759.

Finally, something to explain the popularity of Hello Kitty. An article in the NEW SCIENTIST says the results of a brain scan study have shown that women are more easily amused by cartoons than men. Or in scientific terms:

[The researchers] were surprised to find differences in the part of the brain known as the reward centre. The nucleus accumbens, part of the mesolimbic reward centre, is a dopamine-rich area that is most strongly activated when a reward - in this case, a funny joke - is unexpected. The team discovered that when women found a cartoon funny, their reward centre was more active than for men, suggesting the females’ expectation of being amused was lower. But when men found a cartoon unfunny, they showed de-activation in their reward centre, suggesting disappointment.

(Thanks, David Maas)

Here’s some exciting news: Ollie Johnston is headed to Washington DC tomorrow with his family, Roy Disney and Howard Green for a Thursday ceremony at the White House. He is the first animator to ever receive the National Medal of the Arts Award. Here’s the officicial government press release:

President George W. Bush today announced the recipients of the 2005 National Medal of Arts. Ten medals will be presented by the President and Mrs. Laura Bush in an Oval Office ceremony at the White House on November 10. The National Endowment for the Arts notified the artists of their selection to receive a National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence.”These individuals and organization have all made significant and enduring contributions to the artistic life of our nation,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia. “Whether through pioneering film animation, writing memorable novels, championing jazz, or creating new dance styles, their work has transformed the ways we experience and appreciate the world.”

Other recipients to be honored on Thursday include actor Robert Duvall, musician Wynton Marsalis, and singer Dolly Parton.

Katie Rice reveals on her blog Funny Cute that John Kricfalusi is directing a music video for one of Weird Al Yankovic’s new songs. I know Weird Al has wanted to work with John for a number of years, so it’s great to see that they’ve finally hooked up.

South Africa recently released its first live-action teen comedy STRAIGHT OUTTA BENONI, and the opening and end credits were both animated. Normally, animated credits are not a big deal, but Michael Robertson, who did in-betweens and clean-up on the end credits, tells me that this is a major milestone for the South African animation community because it’s the first time that locally produced animation content has appeared on the big screen in that country. Animator Jonathan McKay of Eject Media was responsible for creating the intro and Dave Hillier of Network BBDO was the lead on the end credits sequence. There’s an article with more details on these animated segments at AnimationSA.org.

Janet Perlman reports:

I have some very sad news. Derek passed away last night, after having had cancer for a number of years. He has been in Washington State for a few months, where he was staying with his friend Dal Lamagna. His wife, Tracie Smart, was at his side. I understand that he was at peace. I spoke to him last week and he was still enthusiastic about various film and music projects despite being very weak.

Derek Lamb started his animation career with the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s. He has worked extensively as a writer, director and producer in Canada, the US and Europe, both in commercial and experimental film. For six years, during the 1970s and 1980s, he served as Director of the National Film Board of Canada. He won an Oscar for producing EVERY CHILD (1979). He was most recently an executive producer on the PBS animated pre-school series Peep And The Big Wide World.

These two Kia car commercials (bottom of the page) are from a while back, but I hadn’t seen them before and think they’re worth pointing out. The Picanto spot in particular has a really nice cartoony CG esthetic. They were designed by Pete Fowler and directed by Pete Candeland of Passion Pictures.
(Thanks, Gabe)