This music video, Ankle Injury by British alternative musicians Fujiya & Miyagi, was directed by Wade Shotter of UK’s Factory Films.

CG — or stop-mo of actual dice? Discuss.

This cartoon series is a surprising and joyful discovery for me. From what I’ve read online though, it seems to be a well known classic among Czech viewers. Between 1965 and 1967, Czechoslovakian animator Bretislav Pojar made a series of six shorts called Hey Mister, Let’s Play. The mostly stop-motion cartoons star two bears—one smart, the other not so much. Pojar made five more episodes featuring the same bears in the early-1970s, this time calling it Who Threw That, Gentlemen?.

Below is the first short—”Potkali se u Kolina” (”How They Met At Kolin”)—which introduces the characters. The cartoon is over forty years old yet it looks as fresh and vital as any cartoon being produced today. How did they ever manage to create something with so much charm and appeal? It’s not an easy thing to accomplish, and director Pojar and designer Miroslav Stepanek make it all look so effortless. The animation of the characters is particularly fun to watch with stylized movement and graphic inventiveness abound.

For those who want to see more and can understand the following website, two dvds of these shorts can be purchased here.

Can animation exist in real time? Without film, without video, without digital tricks… this is the opening ceremony for football’s Asian Cup and these are apparently workers for Samsung in South Korea. Pretty amazing…

(Thanks, Rob Carroll)

Be sure and check out this terrific article by animation veteran Floyd Norman about how Walt Disney offered creative latitude in his studio to artists with non-Disney styles like Ward Kimball, Tom Oreb and Walt Peregoy. Norman writes, “As much as he wanted things his way, Walt Disney recognized he needed people on his staff that would challenge, disagree and go against him in his own animation department. This is the stuff that breeds and nourishes creativity and keeps the medium alive and vital.” His closing thought is aimed at today’s Disney studio but is advice that all studios would do well to heed:

Today, I see the Disney Company making some of the same mistakes that were made in the 1970s. Back then, there were artists with strange drawing styles. Some had odd and quirky ideas. There were those who wanted to break new ground with technology. However, these guys just weren’t Disney. They simply didn’t fit. The talented individuals who failed to conform to the company line were allowed to walk out the door - - only to be brought back years later at considerable cost.

Walt Disney Feature Animation has had a name change, and along with that I think they could use a new attitude. This studio could use a roomful of mavericks and “crazy men” to challenge the status quo. All too often the people the studio gets rid of are the very people they should embrace. The artists who refuse to “play by the rules” and make the movies that are acceptable to the establishment.

Fred Bastard is a pilot for an adult animated series that London-based Uli Meyer Animation produced in 2001. The content is crude—the show was a possible vehicle for English comedian Johnny Vegas—but it’s well animated. The inking style and designs remind me of French comics.

Philipp Lenssen’s ambitious comics website Cover Browser attempts to compile the covers to every popular comic book ever published. He has a long way to go, but I’m happy to report he’s just expanded his entries to include several of my favorite comedy and animation titles including Dell’s Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, DC’s Sugar and Spike, Funny Stuff and Real Screen Comics and Creston’s Giggle and Ha-Ha Comics. Lots of good inspiration here and well worth a browse.

Animator Mark Kausler (who has a great new blog, by the way) recently unearthed this 1955 article on Terrytoons, written for children, from Junior Scholastic magazine. This was written shortly before the studio was sold to CBS and Paul Terry himself retired. The piece explains the basics of how animated cartoons were produced in ‘55, with a great photo we hadn’t seen before of director Connie Rasinski and storyman/voice of Mighty Mouse Tom Morrison. Mr. Terry also has a great quote at the end:

“My advice to a young artist is this: Always carry a pencil and pad with you. Draw anything and everything you see that may give someone a laugh. That’s what a good animator does. He makes people laugh,”

Click on thumbnails below to see full size scans.

“Here we come, walking down the street, get the funniest looks from, everyone we meet…”

Hey, Hey.. I may be comin’ to your town in the next few weeks. Here’s a list of public appearances I’ll be making soon, just so you can mark your calenders (and spread the word):

•Wednesday August 22nd Radio appearance: on Internet radio, Stu’s Show - two hours of classic cartoon talk and your phone calls. 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific (And don’t miss Stu’s broadcast all this week in the same time slot, with animation writer Earl Kress and Yakky Doodle voice actor Jimmy Weldon).

•Tuesday August 28th Cartoon Dump - I’ll be hosting another live performance of our popular podcast at the Steve Allen Theatre in Hollywood. Surprise guests are planned (to be announced as we get closer)!

•Monday September 17th Worst Cartoons Ever! - a special screening for ASIFA-East at NYU (room to be announced). I hope all my New York friends will drop by. I’ll be en route to the Ottawa Animation Festival later that week.

• Thursday November 8th Worst Cartoons Ever! - a special screening at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus Ohio. Meet me at this rare visit to Columbus.

I’ll post more information about these events as we get closer to each date. I always love meeting our readers and I hope to see you there.