For 2 days in October, Hollywood gets its first animation festival in over five years - The Los Angeles Animation Festival (Oct.20-21 2007) at the Silent Movie Theatre (611 N. Fairfax Ave., near Melrose Ave., in Los Angeles).

“A festival run by animators for animators.” That’s how festival organizer Miles Flanagan describes his ambitious event.

The weekend will include world premiere screenings (FANTASTIC LALOUX), Gala tributes (Fantastic Planet) and guest speakers including musician Sean Lennon and director Michele Civetta. Every screening is followed by a catered networking party (in the theatre’s Spanish patio). Also of note, my good friends over at Ka-Chew! are co-sponsoring a Rockin Animation music video contest.

For full details, ticket sales and a complete schedule of events/competitions go to the Festival website. See you there!

P.S. Forget about the Disney furniture collection.

This Saturday you can bid on Bozo’s personal furnishings. The property of Larry Harmon (a.k.a. Bozo the Clown) is being auctioned off in New York by Tepper Galleries (click on the Sept. 8th preview for detailed information). Nothing too weird is listed, no 16mm prints of Laurel and Hardy, no cels of Butchy Boy. Just a bunch of classy furniture.

What a clown!

I’m sorry. This is the worst thing we’ve ever posted on the Brew. I’m horrified—and yet can’t stop laughing. Thanks to Jeremy Bernstein at DreamWorks for directing me toward these.

Some believe that the art of classic character animation is dead. So perhaps it’s quite fitting that the Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale is currently hosting an animation exhibit entitled Visions: The World of Fantasy Art.

Crystal Mora (of the Platform Animation Festival) checked it out:

Knowing very little about the exhibit, I was not only delighted to find some amazing fantasy illustrations on display, but also many pieces on loan from the Walt Disney Animation Studio. Some of the work on display includes maquettes from The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, original character sketches by Glen Keane, storyboards, backgrounds, and concept art from Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan and more!

The entire exhibit itself was not very large, but it’s completely free to enjoy. Having the location be at the top of a large cemetery was a bit questionable, but the drive was lovely (and slightly creepy).

The exhibit is currently running through January 6th, 2008. For more information check the website.

So you’re a 23-year-old unknown animator and you’d like your work seen by millions of people on national TV. How do you do it? For Detroit-based artist Ben Zurawski, it was as simple as drawing some flipbooks and posting them onto YouTube. A few weeks ago, one of them was shown on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Here’s the segment:

Zurawski has posted nearly thirty flipbooks so far onto the video sharing site. Some of them take on pop culture figures like Steve Irwin and Stephen Colbert, while others are fairly ambitious graphically and accompanied with sound, like My Disastrous Little Flipbook. His most viewed flipbook, nip-slip flip book (safe for work) has received over 450k views. Ben also accepts commissions to create custom flipbooks, starting from $55.

In this day and age of whiz-bang gadgetry and powerful digital software, Zurawski is proof positive that a lo-fi approach to animation can garner success online, and even get your work featured on late-night talkshows. Here is a link to a recent interview with Ben about his artwork in general.

Born in Moscow and currently living in Spain, 22-year-old illustrator/animator Nicolai Troshinsky creates beautiful lyrical mini-films in a variety of techniques including cut-out (El Paraguas), hand-drawn (Good Morning) and stop motion ( Trenes). There’s nothing flashy about Troshinsky’s work, but his talent and thoughtful approach to art are evident throughout the animated pieces.

(Thanks, Taylor Jessen))

Notice anything animated about this room?

According to Drexel Heritage, this is furniture inspired by Walt Disney! The Disney Signature Collection is what they call a “life-style brand”. There are over fifty pieces in the collection, none of them featuring any characters, but all inspired by the Moderne office decor of the Burbank studio of the 1940s (with names that make reference to famous locations in Disney history - like the “Kingswell Chair” and the “Marceline Mirror”). Some of these pieces are really nice - but this behind-the-scenes sales video is, at best, a bit pretentious.

So grab your copy of Mike Barrier’s The Animated Man and get comfortable in the “Storyteller Sofa”, grab a drink from the “Buena Vista Bar Cabinet”, and put your feet up on the “Animators End Table”. After a hard day of mocap and key framing, you deserve it.

(Thanks, Brad Constantine)

Calling all cartoon historians! Animator Darrell Van Citters is researching and writing a book about the classic UPA TV special Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. All primary interviews and research have been completed, but Darrell is now looking for anyone who might have additional relevant information, documents, artwork or photos regarding these crew members: Lee Mishkin, Sam Weiss, Steve Clark, Tom McDonald, Hank Smith, Ed Solomon, John Walker, Xenia DeMattia and Earl Jonas.

Anyone who has any information or artwork from either Magoo’s Christmas Carol or The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo is strongly encouraged to contact darrell.vancitters (at) renegadeanimation.com.