Eliza Jäppinen, a co-founder and creative director of the up-and-coming Finnish animation studio Anima Boutique, recently told me about a cool vintage cut-out animation series from Finland that I’d never heard of called Käytöskukka. I’ve posted a couple of the cartoons in this post, and the rest of the episodes can be viewed on YouTube. Here’s some brief background on the series from Eliza:

These are old Finnish-made cartoons called Käytöskukka, and I draw a lot of inspiration from them. They are very fun to watch, even if you don’t get anything of the language. The idea of the Käytöskukka was to teach children manners. Heikki Partanen made it during 1966-67 and produced altogether 13 episodes. Every episode has a theme: pride, consideration, laziness etc. In every episode a character behaves badly and gets what’s coming to them. In the end the narrator recites “the lesson learned.”

The Animation Show has announced the film line-up for their fourth annual tour, and the most exciting piece being offered, in my opinion, is the premiere of an exclusive short film by the British commercial directing duo Smith & Foulkes.

Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes are among my favorite directors working in commercial animation today. Evidence of their terrifically innovative and humorous commissioned work can be seen here, here, here, here and here. As far as I know, this is the first personal piece they’ve produced since beginning to work as professional directors, and if it’s as fresh and original as their commercial work, it should be something special.

The new Animation Show has some other promising works in their line-up including Stefan Muller’s Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker, the hilarious Japanese series Usavich and an exclusive new short by PES called Western Spaghetti. This year’s Show, however, is a major departure from previous years in that the lineup is not particularly challenging or artistically meritorious, and it’s heavily geared towards lighter and goofier fare, especially from younger directors.

A film like Angry Unpaid Hooker veers dangerously close to Spike & Mike territory, and while it’s a fairly amusing piece, it’s also an aesthetic eyesore that’s more suited for online viewing than bigscreen theatrical exhibition. Similarly, Luis Nieto’s Far West is more gimmick than film and not the quality of programming that we’ve come to expect from the Animation Show. Bottom line: There’s good stuff in this year’s program and I’m looking forward to checking it out, though I can’t promise the overall experience will be as great as years past. The first screenings of the 2008 show take place on April 25 in Austin, Texas and Columbus, Ohio.

How much is it worth to you to visit Pixar? What if we threw in tickets to the world premiere of Wall*E, a tour of Disney Studios Studios in Burbank, lunch in the executive dining room and personal meetings with Disney and Pixar animators? Maybe $15 Grand?

If so, Sam’s Club has a deal for you! For $14,700. you and three members of your family can do all this (and more), lodging and transportation included. To be fair, this isn’t as money-grubbing as it sounds - a portion of the proceeds from every purchase of the Once-in-a-Lifetime Package Disney/Pixar Animation Lover’s Dream Vacation Behind The Scenes Access Pass is being donated to support juvenile diabetes research.

Tickets are available for purchase on Wednesday April 9th. If any of our readers decide to buy this, please send us a full report!

Note: Jack Orin Spilberg (pictured above) did not pay $14,700. to visit Pixar. He has a friend in the development department.

(Thanks, Joe S.)

Digital animators and visual effects artists at Sony Pictures Imageworks created this unofficial short that shows two artists concerned about how Sony’s new outpost in Chennai, Imageworks India, may affect their lives in Culver City. It’s meant to be a funny gag film, but the underlying message represents a very real fear that surely many animation and vfx artists in the US have right now.

UPDATE: According to this blog, this film was the prize winner in an “under $100 film” contest held at Sony Pictures Imageworks.

(A sidenote: The video is even funnier if you’re familiar with this Bollywood movie scene. And for you English-speakers, here’s the translated version.)

(via Thinking Animation blog)

French animation school Gobelins, which turns out no shortage of quality CG films, has another student film that’s been attracting a lot of buzz recently: Oktapodi. I saw an article about it last week in a French design magazine which inspired me to find out more about it. It’s directed by Julien Bocabeille, FX Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier, Emud Mokhberi.

The short won the “Best Animation” honor a couple months ago at the Imagina Awards 2008. The film isn’t online but it does have a sparse website at Oktapodi.com. Lots of development artwork from the short can be seen on the blog of one of the filmmakers, Quentin Marmier.

Starting in two weeks, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills will begin the fifth edition of their annual Great To Be Nominated series. Each Monday at 7pm an Oscar nominated feature (no winners, just nominees) will screen with selected nominated shorts. The features to be shown are listed here. The animated shorts are not posted on the Academy’s website, but the following are scheduled to be shown:

4/21 - THE MIGHTY RIVER
4/28 - THE BIG STORY
5/5 - RUNAWAY BRAIN
5/12 - LA SALLA
5/19 - REDUX RIDING HOOD
6/2 - THE MERMAID
6/9 - JOLLY ROGER
6/16 - WHEN THE DAY BREAKS
6/23 - REJECTED
6/30 - STRANGER INVADERS
7/14 - DAS RAD
7/21 - DESTINO & NIBBLES
7/28 - LORENZO & GUARD DOG
8/4 - BADGERED & 9
8/11 - NO TIME FOR NUTS
8/18 - LIFTED
8/25 - I MET THE WALRUS

Notable among the titles selected are Don Hertzfeldt’s Rejected, Disney’s Destino, Runaway Brain and Redux Riding Hood. The latter film is particularly hard to see and shouldn’t be missed—it’s one of the best studio shorts of the last twenty years.

Redux Riding Hood (1997) was produced by Disney Television Animation for an aborted series of Twisted Fairy Tales. This one, written by Dan O’Shannon (The Fan and The Flower) and directed by Steve Moore (Flip Magazine) tells the tale of an obsessed wolf (voiced by Michael Richards, before he was un-P.C.) who builds a time machine to undo his previous mistakes in catching Red Riding Hood. It was never really released, and who knows if anyone at the studio will ever figure out a way to put it out on video. Michael Richards’ involvement may seal its fate forever. It’s screening on May 19th with L.A. Confidential, a terrific double bill. This, along with Song of the South and The Sweatbox, may be the one of the best films perpetually locked in the Disney vault. If you are in L.A., make plans to see it.

It’s no masterpiece, but it is rare and significant.

Below is the first four minutes from the Joe E. Brown comedy When’s Your Birthday? (released February 19th, 1937) and it marks the first directorial effort of Bob Clampett. Those familiar with Bob’s art and Chuck Jones drawing style from this period can pick out the scenes they did. There is little of Bob’s trademark zaniness (though there are a few semi-naked girls running around Zodiac heaven), but my guess is that this sequence was probably script-driven - as any dream sequence in a live action movie would’ve been back then.

When’s Your Birthday?, which isn’t very good by anyones standard, was extremely hard to see in the last 25 years. The print that turned up last week on Turner Classic Movies wasn’t very good either - and the “Technicolor sequences” (which I assume included this opening cartoon bit) only exist in black and white. As this will not be included on any DVD any time soon, I’ve posted it on YouTube as a public service for all the Clampett completists who missed it.

(Thanks to Thad K for taping it.)

Bill Plympton just wrapped a new music video for Dutch musician Parson Brown. The video, “Mexican Standoff (Falling Into You)”, intercuts Plympton’s monochromatic animated scenes with live-action of the singer. Animation credits for the vid here.