95-year-old artist Tyrus Wong (Bambi) was honored with a Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Annie Awards ceremony. Here is an excellent 8-minute bio of Wong (Real Player required), from the PBS series Life & Times, which documents highlights of his long career - and what he’s been up to lately.(Thanks, Bob Miller)

I’m not sure how many folks are aware of this, but there’s interesting and rare animation popping up almost daily now on YouTube. For example, I recently spotted a couple of the best shorts produced for Hanna Barbera’s mid-90s shorts series WHAT-A-CARTOON (aka World Premiere Toons), an idea of then-Hanna Barbera president Fred Seibert. TALES OF WORM PARANOIA, was directed by the one and only Eddie Fitzgerald, and it has some of the fullest and most interesting animation in the entire series. Eddie spoke about his experiences making the film here and here. The other short, BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE, was written and directed by Don Shank, Charlie Bean and Carey Yost. The talent on this short was unbelievable - besides the capable trio of Shank, Bean and Yost, other artists who pitched in include Scott Wills, Bob Jaques, Chris Reccardi, Lynne Naylor, Mike Fontanelli, Jim Smith, Craig McCracken, Mucci Fassett, Dave Wasson, Julian Chaney and Rob Renzetti. I can’t even imagine how it’s possible to use so many great artists for one seven-minute short. The production values speak for themselves though and there’s some solid design and layout throughout.

TALES OF WORM PARANOIA

BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE

(TALES OF WORM PARANOIA poster at top via Frederator)

I recieved a 300 page full color auction catalog in the mail yesterday and have been mesmerized by it for several hours. It’s an auction of various collections (buttons, postcards, toys, advertising items, World’s Fair memoribilia, etc.) compiled by adman Roger Steckler for Random Treasures Auctions. 2500 lots being auctioned off over four nights. It closes next week. Check this BETTY BOOP wall fixture, this bizarre MICKEY MOUSE ashtray and a set of rare 1930s cartoon buttons (pictured above). Amazing stuff - Worth a browse!

This Flash-animated music video for Telemetry Orchestra’s song “Suburban Harmony” is one of my favorite music videos of recent months. It was created by London-based Australian Steve Scott, who is also a member of the band. The video is pretty clearly a tribute to Heinz Edelmann’s production design for THE YELLOW SUBMARINE (1968), with touches of other late-60s graphic styling like Terry Gilliam’s animated films and the illustrations of New York design studio Push Pin. You can read more about Scott’s work at Cold Hard Flash or check out his animation/illustration portfolio at SteveScott.com.au.

Pixar story artist Jim Capobianco is working on a personal hand-drawn short called LEONARDO and he’s almost done with the rough animation (image above). He tells me the film should be finished by mid-2007. Keep up with the production HERE.

Japanese illustrator Toru Fukuda, previously mentioned here, has started this blog, where he’s posting all types of fun things that inspire him.

There’s some nice drawings on the blog of animation artist Stephen Nicodemus. Also, check out this slick series of bgs he painted for the new Cartoon Network series MY GYM PARTNER’S A MONKEY.

Former Spumco comrades Gabe Swarr and Wil Branca have started blogging.

To all our friends out in Dallas, Texas - take note: legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen will be discusing his craft and career on Thursday, March 30, 2006, 7:00 p.m. at the Angelika Film Center, Mockingbird Station, 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane in Dallas. Harryhausen will be interviewed by producer, Arnold Kunert, followed by a question and answer period. After the event, Mr. Harryhausen will autograph copies of his new book. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the door or in advance at www.abunchofshortguys.com. For the diehard fans, a limited number of VIP tickets are available to the pre-event reception at 6:00 p.m., the opportunity to meet Mr. Harryhausen, and reserved seating for the event.

The blog Lyris-Lite is reporting that the British Board of Film Censors, the equivalent of the MPAA in the US, has censored over 3 minutes of an upcoming dvd release of REN & STIMPY seasons 1 and 2. The censored segment is the “Hanging Song” from the episode OUT WEST, which was cut because “the subject of hanging is presented as comedic, fun and risk free, on the grounds of potential harm to the likely audience and in accordance with the Video Recordings Act 1984.” More details HERE.

The Egyptian Theatre website has posted more information about their highly anticipated UPA tribute taking place Sunday, March 26. It’s going to be a real treat to see these wonderfully designed cartoons on the bigscreen - the way they were meant to be seen. Here’s the info on the line-up of speakers. I feel humbled to be included with such amazing company:

In-between the films, animation historian and author, Jerry Beck, will moderate two panels about the studio and its films. Veteran UPA animators and designers including Bill Melendez, Alan Zaslove, Willis Pyle, Fred Crippen, and Sam Clayberger will be joined by contemporary animator Mark Kausler (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE LION KING), Lou Romano (production designer of Pixar’s THE INCREDIBLES) and author/historian Amid Amidi (CARTOON MODERN: STYLE AND DESIGN IN FIFTIES ANIMATION, Chronicle Books).