Tom and Jerry have always represented chaos — but this Indian commercial is mind-numbing in its confusion. Here, Tom & Jerry join forces with Bollywood mega-star Kajol and Alpenliebe candy mascot, the crocodile Mr. Mach. The animation was produced by Black Magic Motion Pictures and directed by Abhijit Chaudhuri. The 3D crocodile animation was produced by R&H India.

(Thanks, Karl Cohen and Animation Express)

I’m still confused. Which studio’s films does this guy like more?

(Thanks, Karim)

Did you know that Adventure Time creator Pen Ward drinks Shasta Cola in the bathtub? How about that Sony animator Kim Hazel wants a remote control airplane? Or that even Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane can’t get decent customer service from AT&T? If you love useless minutiae about the lives of other people, Twitter can fulfill those needs.

Animation artists are beginning to join the site in significant numbers, though at the moment the number of graphic designers and illustrators using the service seems to outweigh the number of animators. If you’re just getting started with Twitter, here’s our list of twenty-two animation Twitterers who are worth following, as well as three feeds that are related to Cartoon Brew and the Brewmasters. Feel free to share your suggestions for twittering animators in the comments.

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…if you enjoy Tex Avery, Virgil Partch, Roy Williams, Billy Barty and Spike Jones. Mark Evanier has a must-read story that ties all these folks together.

This summer, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be running a film series on Monday nights showcasing the ten (yes, 10) Best Picture nominees of 1939. It’s the 70th Anniversary of what many consider the Hollywood’s greatest year. The celebration will include restored prints of such films as Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Stagecoach, Gone With the Wind and of course, The Wizard of Oz.

In addition to the feature films, each week will include a chapter of Universal’s Buck Rogers serial with Buster Crabbe (surely this must be the first time a serial is screened at the Academy!) and a 35mm print of a select 1939 cartoon. The cartoon line up hasn’t been announced, but it is sure to include Disney’s The Pointer (above), The Ugly Duckling, MGM’s Peace on Earth and Warner’s Detouring America. I believe the restored Popeye two reeler Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp will also be screened.

When I get the get the cartoon schedule I will post an update. In the meantime, mark your Monday’s from May 18th through August 3rd. The series ticket is $25. for all ten films - that’s $2.50 per screening! For more information check the Academy website. See you there!

The Social Side of Health and The Fight are a couple of oddball industrial films directed by Nine Old Man Les Clark at Disney in 1969. The films are rarities which I’d never seen, which is why I’m posting them here. There’s a reason though why these haven’t appeared on any of the “Disney Treasures” DVDs. Like every other major Hollywood animation studio, Disney was not immune to the restrained film budgets of the 1960s and the results are evident, if not unintentionally amusing as well.

The Social Side of Health

The Fight

Dreamworks had a very good weekend.

A $58 million dollar opening for Monsters Vs. Aliens was the biggest opening weekend gross this year and generating the third highest March gross on record. It also set a record opening for a 3-D film in digital and IMAX screens. Even more impressive was the debut of the new Dreamworks animated series, The Penguins of Madagascar which Nickelodeon is reporting as the most-watched series premiere in the network’s history, drawing 6.1 total million viewers.

I caught the Penguin show last night and, considering it’s aimed at kids, its better than most of the CG series that have come along lately. It doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s very entertaining. Mark McCorkle and Robert Schooley, the executive producers, toiled on many of the better Disney television productions in the past ten years (including those wonderful Genie Great Minds Think For Themselves interstitials). The TV critic at the L.A. Times points out that the show…

“…doesn’t revolve around bratty/neurotic children and their pets. (May I take this moment to remind every parent of a cartoon-watching child that the iconic “Tom and Jerry” and “Roadrunner” were essentially silent — oh time, time, go back in thy flight.)”

Nickelodeon will feature two weeks of Penguins primetime premieres weeknights until April 10, at 8:00 – 8:30 PM (ET/PT). The series will move to its regular timeslot on Saturdays at 10:00–10:30 AM (ET/PT) beginning April 18.

The Secret of Kells is a largely hand-drawn 2-D animated feature that is garnering a lot of good buzz from people who have seen it, such as this Variety review that calls it “absolutely luscious to behold…UPA-studio-meets-the-Dark-Ages characters with intricate, Celtic design-inspired detailing.” The 6 million Euro feature originated out of the studio Cartoon Saloon in Ireland, but is a truly global co-production with studios from Brazil to Hungary working on the film.

A couple weeks ago, the film was screened privately for artists at Disney and Pixar. Below is a post-screening Q&A that took place at Pixar with the film’s director Tomm Moore and producer Paul Young, the duo who founded Cartoon Saloon in 1999. They get a lot of praise and positive feedback from the folks at Pixar. Tomm Moore also has a blog about the film here. No American release has been set, though Secret of Kells is playing at a lot of festivals, including Annecy in June.