Starting today, Leslie Iwerks independent documentary The Pixar Story will begin a small Oscar-qualifying run in 14 select cities across the United States.

The film contains never-before-seen footage from the Pixar library, along with exclusive interviews with some of the key players in the Pixar story including John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs, George Lucas, Brad Bird, Michael Eisner, Bob Iger, Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal and more. Go see it if it’s playing in your area - it’s incredibly informative and very entertaining.

SCREENING SCHEDULE: October 23-25, 2007
Chicago – Landmark Century Centre Cinema
Dallas – Landmark The Magnolia
Detroit – Landmark Maple Art Theatre

October 30 - November 1, 2007
Washington DC – Landmark E Street Cinema
New Orleans – Landmark Canal Place Cinema
Denver – Landmark Chez Artiste
Seattle – Landmark Metro Cinemas

November 6-8, 2007
San Diego – Landmark La Jolla Village Cinemas
Boston – Landmark Kendall Square Cinema
Atlanta – Landmark Midtown Art Cinema
Milwaukee – Landmark Downer Theatre
Indianapolis – Landmark Keystone Art Cinema
Minneapolis – Landmark Lagoon Cinema

November 13-15
San Francisco – Landmark Lumiere Theatre

Iwerks’ award-winning theatrical documentary The Hand Behind the Mouse-The Ub Iwerks Story will be included on the forthcoming Disney Treasures: Oswald The Lucky Rabbit dvd, on sale Dec. 11th.

Hal Adelquist, (pictured above, left of the Mouseketeers) was an assistant director on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, production coordinator on The Mickey Mouse Club, and a loyal Disney employee for 23 years. He was given the boot in 1956 and apparently ended up on Skid Row. Don Brockway found this 1977 article about Adelquist from the New York Times which tells some of the sad story.

“The Art and Flair of Mary Blair” show opens this Saturday at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. More than fifty pieces of original Mary Blair art will be on display including her animation concept work, Golden Books, commercial illustration, personal paintings and Disney theme park designs. A preview of some of the pieces on display can be found on the blog of the museum’s curator Andrew Farago.

(via Journalista!)

I like the honest name of this new how-to book: How to Cheat in Flash CS3: The art of design and animation in Adobe Flash CS3. Forget honing your skills and mastering the craft of animation like those classic artists, just cheat your way into thinking you’re an animator by moving some crap around in Flash. Why not, everybody else is doing it.

My friend Bruce Schwartz runs the Comic Book and Sci-Fi Convention at the Shrine Auditorium (near USC) in Los Angeles each month. And he always invites down some great in-person speakers, the famous and the infamous. I want to give a heads up for his November 4th show because it features two of my favorite people - from two completely different ends of the cartooning spectrum.

Actor Marvin Kaplan, the voice of Choo-Choo (pictured above left) from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series Top Cat, will be there signing autographs from 11:00am to 3:00pm. Marvin is also known for his role as Irwin in the comedy film It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, and has done many cartoon voices throughout his career, such as The Smurfs.

Animator and Playboy magazine cartoonist Dean Yeagle will be signing copies of his books, Mandy’s Shorts, and his new book, Melange: The Art of Dean Yeagle, from 10:00am - 5:00pm. Dean is an amazing artist and his drawings of the ladies define the term “good-girl art” (sample above right).

For more information on the monthly Shrine Auditorium Comic Con, check the website at www.comicbookscifi.com.

Our friend Charles Shopsin has unearthed yet another vintage article about animation in the 1930s from the pages of Modern Mechanix. This one from 1934, What Makes Mickey Mouse Move, is very simplistic and, despite a blurb that mentions “fifty highly trained artists” and photos of animators and technicians at work, the article itself credits Walt with drawing the figures and painting the backgrounds (though no mention is made of Walt providing the voice of Mickey).

Once again, another Euro 2D animated feature that looks intriguing - and with no U.S. release planned whatsoever. This is the latest Lucky Luke animated feature (Tous à l’Ouest : une aventure de Lucky Luke) opening in France on December 5th and the trailer looks great.

(Thanks, Tristan Rogers)

Citizens of Los Angeles - please note: tonight we are once again presenting Cartoon Dump Live at the Steve Allen Theatre in Hollywood. That’s Joel Hodgson (creator, Mystery Science Theatre 3000) above with Dumpster Diver Dan. He once again joins our regulars Frank Conniff (Moodsy), Erica Doering (Compost Brite), Eddie Pepitone (Morty the New-Age Agent), Joe Keys (Hangover Hound), along with a new character, Lizzy Cooperman (as Quack Whore), and guest comedian Blaine Capatch. It’s our Halloween show, so expect some scary cartoons and a visit from a friendly ghost. And free candy!

The fun starts at 8pm. Ticket info here.