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JibJab’s latest political music video premiered last night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and it’s another winner. Co-Director Evan Spiridellis tells us:

I think you’ll notice that we significantly upped the production value while trying to remain true to the original thing that made This Land work - funny collage heads. It was also really important to us was not to repeat ourselves so rather than the tit-for-tat that was in This Land we wanted to make this a true character piece and give each player a verse to try and define themselves. (It was a real challenge trying to sum up each candidate with only 5 lines!)

Evan and Gregg have also written a great production blog on the making of this particular film.

Take note: Ray Billingsley’s syndicated comic strip, Curtis, is referencing out-of-work Disney 2D animators in this week’s continuity. (click here for Tuesday’s strip, here for Wednesday’s, Thursday’s and Friday’s).

(Thanks, Uncle Wayne)

Studio AKA has released the trailer to Varmints, a followup to the 2004 BAFTA-winning short JoJo in the Stars. I’ve always loved the way that Marc Craste, the director of this short, uses CG to create worlds that are poetic and impressionistic.

Here’s a bit more about the film:

Adapted and directed by Marc Craste, Varmints is a 24-minute film based on the award-winning book of the same name by Helen Ward and illustrated by Craste, that tells the story of one small creature’s struggle to preserve a world in danger of being lost forever through recklessness and indifference. A crew of 35 people worked in three countries over a two year period to make the film, and an original score by Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson and sound design by Adrian Rhodes complete the picture.

Varmints will have its London premiere in September this year. It has also been accepted into the Rhode Island International Film Festival (August 5-10) and the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (August 15-21).

Philip Hunt of Studio AKA also informs me that they’ve launched a new easier-to-navigate website. There’s beautiful commercial work throughout.

The San Diego Comic Con commences next week and I’ll be there. If you want to meet me and say hello, I’ll be signing copies of my book The Hanna Barbera Treasury on Thursday July 24th, 2pm to 3pm and again on Friday 7/25 from 11am till noon, at the Insight Editions/Palace Publishing booth 2913-J (located in the Lucas Pavilion). Later that day, at 9:30pm, I’ll be screening my latest compilation of THE WORST CARTOONS EVER in room 6CDEF.

Otherwise, when I’m not looking at old comic books in the dealers room, I’ll try to check out the following panels:

Thursday (Complete Thursday Schedule)

• 10:00-11:00 Click & Clack’s As the Wrench Turns, Behind the scenes with the creators Tom Sito, Bill Kroyer, Stephen Silver, Floyd Norman, and Tom Minton. Room 2

•10:30-11:30 Tiny Toons and Freakazoid panel featuring Bruce Timm, Paul Rugg, Paul Dini, Jean MacCurdy, Rich Arons. Room 6A

•10:30-11:30 Spotlight on Noel Neill in Room 7AB

•11:00-12:00 The Disney Animation Story Process with Nathan Greno (head of story, Bolt), Don Hall (head of story, The Princess and the Frog), Mark Kennedy (head of story, Rapunzel), Joe Mateo (story artist, Bolt), Michael LaBash (story artist, Bolt), Paul Briggs (story artist, The Princess and the Frog), and Josie Trinidad (story artist, The Princess and the Frog). Room 32AB

•3:30-4:30 Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan. Chip Kidd lifts the veil on officially licensed, original Batman manga stories from 1966 Japan, not previously collected or translated in over 40 years. Narrated slide show, with Q&A to follow. Room 30AB

•5:00-6:00 Spotlight on Floyd Norman, moderated by cartoonist Scott Shaw! Room 7AB

•6:00-7:00 Bill Plympton will screen the first 20 minutes of his animated feature Idiots and Angels, plus a Q&A session to follow. Room 7AB

•7:00-9:00 Comedy Central TV Funhouse with Robert Smigel. Room 6CDEF

Friday (Complete Friday Schedule)

•2:00-3:00 That ’70s (Animation) Panel. Mark Evanier talks to animation legends Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. Room 8

• 5:00-6:00 Nickelodeon’s Making Fiends with creator Amy Winfrey and supervising producer Dave Wasson . Room 7AB

• 5:30-6:30 Spotlight on Kim Deitch. Room 10

• 7:15-8:15 Mystery Science Theater 3000 20th Anniversary Reunion with creator Joel Hodgson, producer Jim Mallon and performers Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl, Paul Chaplin, J. Elvis Weinstein, Bridget Nelson, and Bill Corbett in a Q&A panel hosted by self-professed “MST3K nerd” and comedian Patton Oswalt. Room 6B

• 9:30-10:30 Worst Cartoons Ever! Room 6CDEF

Saturday (Complete Saturday Schedule)

•10:00-10:45 Futurama Secrets Revealed! with creator Matt Groening, executive producer David X. Cohen and series regulars Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, and Maurice LaMarche, producer Claudia Katz and director Peter Avanzino. Ballroom 20

•10:15-11:15 Spotlight on Ralph Bakshi. Moderated by Jon M. Gibson and Chris McDonnell. Room 6B

• 12:30-2:00 Cartoon Voices I. Co-hosts Mark Evanier and Earl Kress welcome Jason Marsden, Wally Wingert, Phil LaMarr, TV legend Chuck McCann, and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants). Room 6CDEF

• 12:45-1:45 Q&A with the writers of The Office. Moderated by cast member Rainn Wilson, panelists include Greg Daniels, B.J. Novak and Mindy Kaling. Room 6A

• 2:30-3:30 Scott Shaw!: Oddball Comics. Room 5AB

• 2:30-3:30 Disney Pixar preview: Bolt and UP. Directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard (Bolt) and Peter Docter (UP) presents the first-ever look at Disney and Pixar’s new animated features.

• 4:30-5:30 pm: Artists Only: a Discussion with Ralph Bakshi - Ralph addresses the issue of what it means to be an artist in animation today. Moderated by Stephen Worth. Room 10

Sunday (Complete Sunday Schedule)

•1:15-2:30 Cartoon Voices II. Co-hosts Mark Evanier and Earl Kress welcome Chris Edgerly (Harvey Birdman, Celebrity Deathmatch), Dee Baker (American Dad, SpongeBob SquarePants), Cheryl Chase (Rugrats), Katie Leigh (Dungeons & Dragons, ), and Billy West (Futurama, Ren & Stimpy). Room 6B

Also: I strongly recommend all panels moderated by Mark Evanier - Click Here for complete list.

Oh, and if you can’t make it to the San Diego, I can also be seen on G4’s live TV coverage of Comic Con ‘08 on July 24 and 25 at 7pm each night.

This commercial simply blew me away. It was produced by The People’s Republic of Animation, an outstanding animation studio in Australia, founded on their philosophy of “BE BOLD, BE CREATIVE, BE ENTERTAINING”.

Formed in 2003, PRA founders Eddie White and James Calvert, have done numerous stylish commercials (such as the one above) and several outstanding shorts — including the acclaimed Carnivore Reflux (2006), which we featured on Cartoon Brew Films. For more cartoon goodness, check out their amazing sample reel on Vimeo.

(Thanks, Jake Parker)

Next Tuesday, July 22, indie filmmaker Brent Green is performing a FREE show of his animated shorts at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. I say “performing” because his mixed-media and stop-motion animated shorts are combined with live musical performance by Green and his backup band. I saw a show by Green last year and it’s an incredible experience that marries music and animation in ways that I hadn’t previously thought possible. Some of his films can be viewed online but the full effect really shines through during the live performance.

More details about the show are at the Hammer website:

Expect a full body experience including live music, short films, and improvised narration—an evening spent on the verge of collapse with wobbly guitar, musical saw, banjo, fiddles, trumpets, accordion, drums and adamantly hand-made animations. Watch Brent Green’s films (Susa’s Red Ears, Hadacol Christmas, Paulina Hollers, Abe Lincoln, Carlin, Louisville/Gravity, and Walt Whitman’s Brain) accompanied by Brendan Canty of Fugazi, Jim Becker of Califone, Alan Scalpone of the Bitter Tears, Rodney McLaughlin, and Brent Green himself.

What does the little man on the emergency exit sign do when he’s not helping humans? “Signs of Life” is a witty animation installation created by Freddie Yauner that answers the question. Here is the explanation of how the interactive aspect of the project works.

(via We Make Money Not Art)