Remember A KITTY BOBO SHOW? It was a pilot that Cartoon Network produced back in 2001, and as far as CN pilots go, it looked like it had some potential. The appealing design and color styling is what I remember most about the short, though as I recall, the cartoon had decent storytelling too. The show’s co-creator, Kevin Kaliher, recently created a 50-page show bible in Flash where he explores the world of KITTY BOBO in greater depth. You can check out the Flash “electrobooklet” on Kevin’s blog and let him know what you think of the ideas.

At least a half dozen people have emailed me about Turner Broadcasting’s decision in Britain to start censoring over 1500 Hanna-Barbera cartoons and removing all instances of smoking when it appears to be “condoned, acceptable or glamorised.” So far, the affected cartoons include Tom & Jerry shorts like TENNIS CHUMPS and TEXAS TOM, but H-B’s TV cartoons like THE FLINTSTONES are also being put on the chopping block. The news about these edits is being reported all over the mainstream media including BBC, MSNBC and the INDEPENDENT among others. Mark Evanier also has some nice thoughts on his blog. Censoring classic cartoons is, of course, nothing new so this can hardly be considered “news” to animation fans. A few random thoughts did cross my mind about cartoons and censorship:

* Personally, I’d rather not see these cartoons on the air at all than to see these corrupted versions receive broadcast.

* This type of censhorship underlines the important role that animation fans play in the preservation of classic animation. It’s important that anybody who has uncensored versions of these cartoons to post hi-res copies on the Internet, and for fans to develop a network of making these cartoons available online. If studios insist on systematically ruining the work of animation legends like Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, then it’s up to the fans to make sure that everybody has access to the original vision of these filmmakers.

* If somebody tried to censor parts of a Picasso painting or a James Joyce story, there would be an uproar beyond belief. Animation, however, still doesn’t merit similar consideration as Art, which is why the works of animation masters can be freely tinkered with and destroyed. When, if ever, will that change?

UPDATE: Mark Evanier has penned an excellent must-read answer to my question above of why Hollywood animation isn’t treated as seriously as other arts. I think I even knew that Bill and Joe had at some point endorsed the editing of their own cartoons, but it certainly didn’t come to mind when I wrote this. Hopefully the missteps of directors like Avery, Hanna and Barbera can serve as a lesson to contemporary artists in how they regard their own work and the effect that has on other people’s perception of their work.

The full shipment of ANIMATION BLAST #9 arrived this past weekend and everything looks great. I’m currently shipping pre-orders and I’d estimate that 1/4 of all the orders have already been shipped. I’m hoping to have every order shipped by this weekend. If you’ve had a change of address or have any questions about your order, now would be the time to email me at amid (at) animationblast (dot) com. Only 2500 copies of this issue were printed and at the rate they’re going, I expect this issue to sell out faster than any of the previous editions. I’d suggest ORDERING your copies soon. Also, by the end of next week, I’ll post a list of stores that are carrying this issue. Let me know what you think of BLAST 9 when you receive it; I’d love to hear your thoughts.

We mentioned this last month and completely forgot about it. Today is director Friz Freleng’s 100th birthday (or his 101st or 102nd, depending on which source you look at), and in honor of that occasion, Hell on Frisco Bay is hosting a Friz Freleng Blog-A-Thon. They have a great post about Freleng’s cartoons and links to twenty other blogs which have written something or another about Freleng.

A couple weeks ago Coke unveiled the second CG ad in their new “Coke Side of Life” campaign, which is essentially a parody of the videogame GRAND THEFT AUTO. The first spot in the series was problematic in my opinion, but I have no such reservations with this second commercial. It’s directed by British duo Smith & Foulkes of Nexus Productions. These guys have one of the best track records in recent years and possess an uncanny ability to take simple, even mundane, agency concepts and execute them to perfection. Take for example their Abba to Zappa spot for the Observer Music Monthly, the ‘black ink’ obstacle course for the VW Touareg, or Motorola’s “Grand Classics” spot - conceptually, none of these ideas is particularly special yet Smith & Foulkes somehow make each one work. The same can be said of their current Coke spot which manages to turn video game parody into great art.

(via Feed)

The 5-minute clip reel shown last month at the San Diego Comic Con for Frederator’s new series of Random Cartoons has been posted on You Tube. If you look real close (and don’t blink), about 2 1/2 minutes into it, you’ll see a few shots from from my project, Hornswiggle.

For the second year in a row, Cartoon Brew is giving away two full festival passes to the Ottawa International Animation Festival (September 20-24) courtesy of the fine folks up at the Ottawa fest. This is North America’s biggest, and quite frankly, only major animation festival. It’s THE place to get connected with animation artists and other people who love the animation medium. This year promises to be extra special since it’s the festival’s 30th anniversary. And, of course, both Brewmasters - Jerry and Amid - will be hanging around the festival as well.

Each pass we’re giving away is valued at $200 (Canadian) and includes:

* Access to all OIAF screenings and workshops
* Access to the OIAF picnic
* Access to all parties
* OIAF Program Book
* Personal hug from the festival’s artistic director Chris Robinson

Ok, we made up that last perk, but you get everything else. To enter just send us a drawing that tells us why you deserve to go to the festival. Creativity, originality and draftsmanship count. The deadline to enter is by the end of this Sunday, August 27. Email your drawings to amid (at) animationblast (dot) com and jbeck6540 (at) aol (dot) com. Here are last year’s winners.

Disney story artist Mark Kennedy has been posting a wonderfully informative series of thoughts about design and drawing on his blog Temple of the Seven Golden Camels. There’s five entries so far and each one is well worth your time.