As part of an online campaign to protest the serving of foie gras at Euro Disney, Jurjen Bosklopper and Mustafa Kandaz created an animated piece that features a couple of familiar characters preparing geese for the dish. The spot was created from start to finish in two weeks, and it’s a fine example of how to humorously and effectively communicate a message using simple well-planned animation.

(via Motionographer)

I endorse everything Craig Yoe does. Even this.

Especially this. His latest book project, Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster, is having a launch party this Sunday night. The book collects recently rediscovered X-rated art by the Shuster, done to illustrate erotic magazines in the 1950s, a low point in his professional career. The public is invited to join Craig (”along with assorted BDSM fetishists and comic book enthusiasts” — is there a difference?) Sunday April 5th from 8pm to 2am at ARLO & ESME, 42 E. 1st Street [at 2nd Ave.] in lovely New York City. Come dressed as a superhero and win a prize. For more info go to Yoe’s blog.

Love it or hate it - the theme song has become a classic.

Marvel.com is posting the entire series of the 1967 ABC Spider-man Saturday morning cartoon show, one episode per week (each Thursday) on their site. It’s amazing that talents like John Dunn and Herman Cohen worked on this stuff. I don’t know if I can watch more than one - however the Bakshi ones come later in the run and they may be worthwhile. Here’s the first episode…

The San Diego Union Tribune is reporting on a controversy brewing at the Chuck Jones Gallery over a new one-of-a-kind oil painting displayed in their window. It’s a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper named The Gathering. It substitutes Looney Tunes characters, and the Grinch, for disciples — and Bugs Bunny for Jesus.

“Most people think it’s fun and amusing, but 5 percent are pulling their hair out,” said Mike Dicken, sales director for the gallery. Click here for a larger version of the above. For more information click here.

(Thanks, Jon Cooke)

Animation historian Michael Barrier spent 40 minutes today discussing classic cartoons on the radio show RadioWest, originating from The University of Utah in Salt Lake City, on NPR’s KUER 90.1. It was a lively conversation that centered on the Warner Bros. cartoons and discussed their adult appeal, the comics, the music, wartime cartoons, cartoon stereotypes, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, What’s Opera Doc?, as well as South Park and other fun topics.

It’ll be available online for only three weeks, so I’d recommend listening in soon. Here’s the link.

I’ve learned that American animator Jack Dunham passed away a couple weeks ago at age 98. I’d written about Dunham back in 2006 after a story was published in the Montreal Gazette about how he and his wife had become homeless in Canada.

Born in North Dakota in 1910, Dunham worked at Universal on Oswald shorts in the early-1930s before moving to Disney in the mid-1930s. After Snow White, on which he was an inbetweener, he moved into management where he worked as a unit manager until 1947. There’s a fascinating series of videos on YouTube that offer short interviews with Dunham from a couple years ago. The memories aren’t very specific, likely because he wasn’t being challenged with specific names or events, but it’s still a treat that these videos exist. Here’s one of him talking about encounters with Walt Disney:

A couple photos of Dunham exist online. The first one comes from Michael Barrier’s website and shows Dunham (right) with Tex Avery at Universal.

The second photo, from the Animation Guild blog, shows Dunham (left) at the infamous Snow White wrap party at the Norconian Club in Norco, California.

The description text in the YouTube videos offers an account of Dunham’s post-Disney career:

Jack later moved to Canada in 1955 by invitation of the Canadian Government to manage Associated Screen News (ASN) of Canada in Montreal. After his mandate at ASN Jack continued to live in Canada where he mainly produced animated and live action commercials in Montreal and Toronto, Canada. He was the original artist of Montreal’s famous St. Hubert BBQ Chicken cartoon character and produced their first television commercials among many others.

[In 2006] Jack and his wife Dorothy were evicted from their Montreal appartment and placed against their will under Quebec Government care. Because they were now homeless and his wife was highly dependent on alcohol they were locked up indefinitely in a psych wing of an all-French old age residence to prevent them from trying to escape. While in a wheelchair at 96 years old, Jack and his wife Dorothy (seventy years old) successfully planned and executed an escape to Ottawa by bus from Montreal where they were found by police in an Ottawa hotel a few days later and returned to the Montreal facility against their will. I just received word two weeks ago that he passed away [around March 15, 2009]. He was a real great guy with an incredible history spanning nearly a century. He never gave up hope and is finally free.

No, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke.

Since November, blogger Dave Stratton has been posting in the form of “daily dialog-driven animation.” Stratton prefers to create these pieces instead of writing. Oh, have I mentioned Stratton is a professional copy writer? He certainly isn’t a professional animator.

Check out all his posts at Dead Pan Inc. - if you dare.

(Thanks, Alex Rannie)