Yours truly will be broadcasting once again, live on Shokus Internet Radio this Wednesday October 17th from 4pm to 6pm Pacific time (that’s 7pm to 9pm for you in the Eastern Time Zone).

Stu Shostak and I will be discussing Terrytoons, my new books, and the upcoming DVD releases of classic animation. If you have a specific question you want answered, call in during the broadcast toll free (888) 746-5875. The first hour will be open for listener Q & A.

Calling all New Yorkers. Check out Treasures from a Chest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) this Friday.

The annual program, mostly live action, presents rare silent films curated by film preservationist/entertainer Serge Bromberg (artistic director of the Annecy International Animation Festival). Bromberg’s Lobster Films archive is one of the best in the world - and Serge is one of the world’s great animation historians and film preservation heroes. The program at BAM is distilled from nearly 200 pounds of old film discovered in a hidden chest in a house in France, and includes comedies, fantasies, trick films, newsreels, cartoons, and “talkiesâ€? selected to recreate the magic of the first cinema screenings. Bromberg will be present for live piano accompaniment and commentary. If I were in New York on Friday, I’d have a front row seat (as it is, I’ll be in Burbank celebrating June Foray that night). Click here for more information. Go!

ASIFA-Hollywood is planning a special screening and panel discussion in honor of the 30th Anniversary of Richard Williams’ Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. This event will take place on Saturday November 17th in the Mark Goodson Auditorium at the American Film Institute (2021 N. Western Blvd.) in Hollywood. At 3pm, a rare CinemaScope 35mm print will be screened, followed by a panel discussion at 5pm with a large group of production personnel. Light refreshments will be available.

Williams’ Raggedy Ann was the subject of John Canemaker’s first book, and the film was unique at the time, as it was based in New York (with satellite studios in L.A. and London). Veteran animators, such as Art Babbit, Grim Natwick, Emery Hawkins, Tissa David, Gerry Chiniquy, Willis Pyle, Corny Cole, Irv Spence and Williams himself, were joined by a who’s who of talented newcomers including Michael Sporn, Eric Goldberg, Tom Sito and Dan Haskett. This event is a benefit for the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Admission will be $15 for ASIFA members, $20 for non-members.

Ty Wong standing in front of his illustrations for The Wild Bunch at the opening of the show a couple weeks ago. (Matt Petit/©A.M.P.A.S.)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences recently opened a new show at their LA headquarters called “The Art of the Motion Picture Illustrator.” The show recognizes the work of three illustrators who worked in the art departments of live-action film studios: William B. Major, Harold Michelson and Tyrus Wong.

To animation fans, Wong is best known as the artist who devised the lyrical watercolor art direction of Disney’s Bambi, but this exhibit examines his film career following his brief stint at Disney. For twenty-five years afterwards, Wong worked at Warner Bros. creating storyboards and illustrated key sets for live-action films such as The Sands of Iwo Jima, Calamity Jane, Rebel Without a Cause, Around the World in 80 Days, Auntie Mame, Harper, and The Wild Bunch. The exhibition runs through December 16 and admission is FREE. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday (10am-5pm) and weekends (noon-6pm). The Academy is at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA.

Set design painting by Wong for an unidentified Warner Bros. musical

NFB director Théodore Ushev writes to let me know that his gorgeous Constructivist-flavored short Tower Bawher is now viewable for free on the NFB website for at least a couple of weeks thanks to their World Animation Day celebration. Check it out HERE. Ushev’s work also appears on the Brew as the illustrations for Chris Robinson’s column “Alone, Stinking and Unafraid.”

We reached a milestone earlier in October that I think is worth mentioning: 10,000 reader comments on Cartoon Brew. We only launched comments in mid-February of this year, and we reached the 10,000 mark in under 8 months, which averages out to around 42 comments a day.

What has surprised both Jerry and I is not just the sheer number of comments but the consistently high quality of participation that we receive from industry professionals, cartoon buffs, and animation students alike. Sure, online discussion by nature lends itself to some silliness, but there’s also a lot of lively, passionate and informed discussion on the Brew. For this the credit has to go to our readership, which certainly must be one of the most knowledgeable animation communities on the Internet.

Comments moderation is not an easy task for us and takes up a significant amount of time. That includes fixing people’s links and formatting, emailing readers when a comment is inappropriate or off-topic, despamming comments that accidentally end up in the spam filter box (over 25,000 pieces of spam to date), and in general, keeping things in order. However, we believe that the effort has been more than worth it; we’ve learned a lot from the comments and feel it adds a valuable dimension to the Brew. So here’s to the next 10,000 comments and beyond.

Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what the most commented upon posts were on the Brew. These posts by no means represent the finest comments, but they are revealing in that they highlight what has generated the most reaction amongst our readers. As it turns out, bad animation will do the trick every time.

119 comments: New George of the Jungle in Flash

118 comments: Worst. MoCap. Ever.

116 comments: How Many Licks Does It Take To Make It CG

109 comments: Brew Review: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Film

108 comments: Here Comes Trouble

105 comments: Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Incompetence

There’s a lot more reaction appearing online to David Michaelis’ new book Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography. In the Wall Street Journal, Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson gives the book a positive review, saying that Michaelis has written a “a perceptive and compelling account of Schulz’s life” that “finally introduces Charles Schulz to us all.”

Editor & Publisher has an excellent piece highlighting many of the revelations in the book and the family’s objections to them.

Charles Schulz’s son, Monte, who we’ve already pointed out isn’t pleased with the book, posted a comment on our previous Cartoon Brew post further detailing his objections. Here’s his comment in full:

“The point of objection to this biography of my father is how much is simply untruthful, and deliberately so. There are many factual errors throughout the book; there are people who are give authority to speak about our family who have no insight to do so; and there are so many elements of my father’s life that David deliberately left out of the book, that it really is impossible for anyone outside of our family, or Dad’s circle of friends, to come to any genuine conclusions. I can tell you absolutely that he was not a depressed, melancholy person, nor was he unaffectionate and absent as a parent. Honestly, the quote I’ve really wanted to give the press, after reading both the early of the manuscript and the final book, is this: “The book is stupid, and David Michaelis is an idiot.â€? That said, I had a six year on-going conversation with him about this book, and like David quite a lot. But I was shocked to see the book that emerged, because it veered so drastically away from what he told us he intended to write. Which is why we’ve been so militant in our response. Incidentally, the material David edited out of the book is even more outrageous. The fact is, after reading the book, I decided I’d learned more about David Michaelis than I did about my dad. I found that interesting.”

UPDATE: A new in-depth comment from Charles Schulz’s son, Monte Schulz, as well as his sisters Amy and Jill, can be found in the comments below.

I don’t know how this happened, but I just found out that Song of the South had a public performance in the Philadelphia last Tuesday night. The Chestnut Hill Free Library showed it twice, apparently without protest. Sam Adams of the weekly Philadelphia CityPaper gave the film a plug with a nicely written overview.

Was this an authorized showing - or did they screen an old VHS? Can any institution book the film? When will Disney release the film on DVD? Inquiring minds want to know.