Studio Ghibli has released Paul Grimault’s classic French feature LE ROI ET L’OISEAU onto dvd in Japan. The production story of this film is almost as convoluted and legendary as Richard Williams’s THIEF AND THE COBBLER. Grimault started the film in the late-1940s, and didn’t finish a version that he was satisfied with until 1979. Over the years, different cuts of the film have been released under titles like LA BERGERE ET LE RAMONEUR and THE CURIOUS ADVENTURES OF MR. WONDERBIRD. One of those earlier versions was an influence on Ghibli directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata when it opened in Japan in 1955. Now, as a way of saying thank you for the childhood inspiration, they’re introducing Grimault’s animation to a new generation of Japanese filmgoers.

Studio Ghibli is not only releasing LE ROI ET L’OISEAU onto dvd, but also giving it a limited theatrical run at the Cinema Angelica in Shibuya, Tokyo. It’ll run through September 22. In conjunction with the dvd release, there’s also a Paul Grimault exhibition at the L’Institut Franco-Japonais de Tokyo which runs through August 31. Ghibli has a website about the film HERE (in Japanese). Be sure to check out the film’s incredible TRAILER.

(via Anime News Service, thanks Terry)

Mick LaSalle is quickly becoming a household name; in the past week, his awful MONSTER HOUSE has been picked up all over the blogosphere including Boing Boing, Cinematical and SFist. Toronto-based writer Jason Anderson, apparently jealous of LaSalle’s infamy, decided to write his own article showing a profound lack of understanding about the animation art. Yesterday, he had an article published on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) website that explains to the world how MONSTER HOUSE and ANT BULLY are revolutionizing animated filmmaking. His classic line is that MONSTER HOUSE offers audiences a “taste of the future technologies that will someday make Pixar’s classics seem as quaint as Dumbo.”

Here are some of the choice cuts from Anderson’s piece:

“While Pixar set the standard, recent films like Warner Brothers’ The Ant Bully and Sony Pictures’ Monster House are pushing big-league Hollywood animation into promising new territory.”

“Though Cars has been a box-office leader this summer - second only to Disney’s live-action phenomenon Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - Over the Hedge, The Ant Bully and Monster House strike a far better balance between form and content, tweaking the Pixar formula and moving beyond its limitations.”

“[MONSTER HOUSE] does, however, have the best-rendered cast of CGI Homo sapiens to date…”

“At the screening I attended, the children in my row frequently seemed to be on the edge of tears. Sure, they might require psychotherapy in later life, but they’re getting a taste of the future technologies that will someday make Pixar’s classics seem as quaint as Dumbo.”

(Thanks, Peter Fries)

Rankin-Bass historian Rick Goldschmidt has now started a companion blog to his already massive Enchanted World Of Rankin Bass website. Considering that Rick eats, drinks and breathes Rankin-Bass on a daily basis (when he’s not performing his own music, that is), this will be the place for updates, new finds, and R/B news on a regular basis.

Are you a PINKY or a BRAIN?We had a contest this morning and the first ten readers who answered any one of the questions below won a DVD prize.

The questions (and answers) were:1. What Warner Animation employee’s caricature was the inspiration for the look of The Brain?
Answer: Tom Minton2. What is Brain’s country music name?
Answer: Bubba-bo-bob-Brain3. What famous film comedy is “King Yakko” loosely based on?
Answer: Duck Soup

THE CONTEST IS NOW OVER! No more entries accepted.The first two winning BRAINS were Tyler Sticka and D. Brown (who got the new PINKY AND THE BRAIN dvd Collection). The next two winning BRAINS were Scott Underwood and Robert Palmer who will get the ANIMANIACS collection). And the next six PINKYS were Jared Norby, Eric Emin Wood, Ellen Yu, Ralph Bingham, Alicia Wishart, and Michael Nusair - and they are getting my home made WORST CARTOONS EVER collection (2006 edition). PINKY AND THE BRAIN and ANIMANIACS are available from Warner Home Video at fine video stores near you. THE WORST CARTOONS EVER (2006) can be purchased here.(Thank you Earl Kress for providing the questions)