LOS ANGELES LETS BE FRIENDS is a delightfully inventive CG/live-action spot from 2005 directed by Greg Gunn, Reza Rasoli and Diffan Norman of the Los Angeles animation collective Three Legged Legs. The designs were inspired by the work of Jeff Soto. Too bad Los Angeles isn’t actually like this.
(via Tween)

DC Direct, the action figure division of DC Comics, is releasing a series of Looney Tunes figures this spring which look pretty hot. The toyline, dubbed the “Golden Collection” (not to be confused with the DVD sets of the same name), are based on scenes from great Warner Bros. cartoons. They look terrific.Meanwhile over in Italy, a company called Ape Collection is selling a set of 60 individual figurines based on the Warner Bros. cartoons including such obscure figures as Clampett’s Do-Do, Slow-Poke Rodriguez, Baby Face Finster (below, left), Cecil Turtle (below, center) and Egghead (below, right). And that’s NOT all, folks! According to moderator Jon Cooke on The Termite Terrace Trading Post, they plan to release further obscurities like Cool Cat, Conrad the Sailor and the Bookworm. With Looney Tunes no longer on broadcast TV or Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. is slowly managing to erase its animation legacy from the public mindset. Luckily the DVD sets and these smart collectibles can remind us how great these cartoons are for years to come.

John Canemaker discusses Oswald The Rabbit on NPR’s TALK OF THE NATION.

REMIXING THE MAGIC opens this Friday, February 17, at Gallery 1988 (7020 Melrose Ave., corner of Melrose & La Brea). Opening reception is 7-10pm. The exhibit features the work of fifty contemporary artists, including many animation folk, reinterpreting Disney characters and films. Jerry mentioned this show on the Brew last weekend, and now we’re offering an exclusive preview of a few of the pieces that’ll be on display.

Show co-curator Jon Gibson tells the Brew, “The most amazing part of this show is the broadness of the theme - some artists went all-out theatrical classics, while others dug into the vault of Disney shorts, while others, like Biskup, did Disneyland. There’s even an Oswald piece!” Personally, I think there’s a great symbolic quality to this show as well: artists are reclaiming classic animated characters that have for too long been slumming it as corporate symbols. The timing of the show couldn’t be more appropriate considering that in the past month artists have begun reclaiming the Disney studio as well and helping to set it on the right path again.

(click on images for larger versions)

Gepetto’s Dilemma
Greg Simkins
Inspiration: PINOCCHIO, misc.

Tinkerbell’s Lucky Day
Aaron Jasinski
Inspiration: PETER PAN

Bambi
Chris Roth
Inspiration: Duh!

Tomorrowland Man
Tim Biskup
Inspiration: Tomorrowland (Disneyland)

Skeleton Dance
Alex Kirwan
Inspiration: THE SKELETON DANCE

The Unbirthday
Brandi Milne
Inspiration: ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Alice Spills Her Tea
Lola
Inspiration: ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Baby Mine
Amanda Visell
Inspiration: DUMBO

Yoo-Hoo!
Joe Ledbetter
Inspiration: BUILDING A BUILDING

Tags: Art, Disney, Animation

Classic Disney cartoon shorts are slowly being made available for download in Apple’s iTunes music store. The plan is to release every Disney Oscar winner and nominee over the next several months, ten at a time. Among the first titles available are THE OLD MILL, THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR and THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE. We applaud the decision to include the original version of THREE LITTLE PIGS with its original 1933 United Artists opening titles and the infamous Peddler gag intact - a scene which was subsequently re-animated in the 1940s to be less offensive (the Apple download combines the original 1933 picture with the Wolf’s voice, in that one scene, re-dubbed from a 1940s reissue). This stuff is highly recommended in any format!

Guess who finally has his own blog? John K really needs to write a how-to animation book, but until that day, we’ve got his blog. His first post offers some excellent tips on caricature.
(Thanks, Katie)

SLIPP JIMMY FRI (FREE JIMMY) is Norway’s first CG animated feature, and also the country’s most expensive film production to date, with a budget of approximately $16 million USD. The film is written and directed by underground cartoonist Christopher Nielsen and premieres in Norway on April 21. There’s a teaser trailer for the film HERE and the film’s WEBSITE has a production timeline with some interesting visuals. The animation looks serviceable, if not exactly Pixar/DreamWorks quality, but the grungy production design and offbeat story set this film apart from anything currently being produced in the States. Like many animated films coming out in the US this year, FREE JIMMY riffs on the animals-on-a-grand-adventure formula. This time though the animals are a drug-addicted circus elephant and a moose. But there’s a lot more to the story. From a synopsis found online:

Four stoners, five vegans, three mobsters, four hunters and a million reasons to free one elephant. Roy Arnie has a dream. One day he will run his own circus and conquer the world. Today, however, he is a stable hand working in the Circus Stromowski, a miserable Russian big top, run by a hopeless alcoholic fourth generation circus director, Igor Stromowski, and full of useless has-beens and tired animals that will only perform under the influence of narcotics. Roy Arnie invites his old buddies Gaz and Odd, and their sidekick Flea, to come and work at the circus, and while work is an alien concept to Gaz and Odd, the appearance of an irate criminal who they are indebted to decides the issue. At the circus, Roy Arnie introduces the trio to the star attraction: Jimmy the elephant. Jimmy is the key to Roy Arnie’s dreams. The elephant carries a secret, a secret of enough value to bankroll Roy Arnie’s circus. All he has to do is free Jimmy and his dreams will come true.

The English screenplay for the film was penned by British actor/comedian Simon Pegg, and the English-version voice cast sounds promising, with an eclectic mix of Brits and Americans on board including Woody Harrelson, Kyle MacLachlan, Samantha Morton, Simon Pegg, and Jim Broadbent.
(Thanks to the person who told me about this and whose email I’ve misplaced.)

Check out this commercial for insurance company Winterthur by THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE director Sylvain Chomet. The animation and overall look is top notch, but the concept for the ad is somewhat flat and uninspired. You can just feel the ad agency all over this one. Chomet has a lot of good stuff coming up, including the feature THE ILLUSIONIST and a sequence in the upcoming anthology film PARIS JE T’AIME.
(via Hydrocephalic Bunny)