Wow!

If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. Animation director Darrell Van Citters (Renegade Animation) has written and self published one of the best animation books of the year. Scratch that… one of the best animation books ever! Van Citters has documented the creation and production of the classic UPA TV special Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol with thorough details (wonderfully written I might add) and lavishly illustrated with rare production art (the book layout is superb). This is a must-have for anyone interested in animation history – and specifically, if you have any interest in UPA, animator/director Abe Levitow, songwriters Jules Styne and Bob Merrill, artists like Corny Cole, Gerard Baldwin, Bob Singer and others, not to mention actors Jim Backus, Morey Amsterdam, Jack Cassidy, Paul Frees… you will want this. Van Citters dug up rare behind the scenes photos, cels, storyboards, backgrounds, pencil sketches… a treasure trove of art material that alone justifies the purchase. It gets my highest recommendation.

If you want to see pages from the book, check out Darrell’s Magoo’s Christmas Carol webpage, where he is taking advance orders for a special edition of the book signed by the surviving cast and crew.

The book will go on sale July 23rd at the San Diego Comic Con. You can find it exclusively at the Van Eaton Galleries booth and Darrell will sign copies on Friday and Saturday at 11am and 3pm each day (animator Bob Singer will join Van Citters to sign on Saturday). You can pre-oder autographed copies here. Buy this book. Order it now!

Here’s a delightful way to begin the week. Cartoon Brew reader Saturnome writes:

Your post last week featuring Bob Godfrey’s Great made me realize how some of the animated film Oscar winners are nowhere to be found on the Internet. I have uploaded some of the rarest ones: “Is It Always Right To Be Right?,” “The Box,” and “Leisure.” It’s all on my YouTube page. From what I know, this make “Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature” the only Oscar-winning short I haven’t seen anywhere around.

For convenience, I’ve also embedded the videos below. Thank you, Saturnome!

The Box (1967) directed by Fred Wolf

Is It Always Right To Be Right? (1970) directed by Lee Mishkin with design by Corny Cole and narration by Orson Welles

Leisure (1976) by Bruce Petty

Tina Price of the Creative Talent Network went to Cal Arts on Tuesday and gave Corny Cole a check on behalf of the animation community. Cole, a veteran animator and educator, lost his home and possessions in a fire last month. CTN’s online fundraiser raised $12,168 thanks to the donations of his many colleagues, fans and students (and quite a few Cartoon Brew readers). Photos of Corny receiving the funds are posted here.

Our sincere best wishes to Corny Cole!

Legendary animator and CalArts faculty Corny Cole has lost his home and everything in it during the recent fires in Southern California. Corny evacuated before the fire hit and is unharmed, but his home, pets, and all of his artwork, save for what he has in his office at CalArts, are gone. LA’s KTTV has posted a story about him on their website.

Update #1: The Creative Talent Network held an online fundraiser. The CTN fundraiser has closed and on Oct 24th at midnight the total was $12,168.00 donated. CTN will be handing a cashiers check to Corny for $12,168.00 before Nov. 1st along with the list of donors (See the Comments below for the list of donors).

Update #2: Jeff Pidgeon has informed us that you can make a check payable to Cornelius Cole and mail it to:

California Institute of the Arts
ATT: Trish Patryla, Office of the Provost
24700 McBean Parkway
Valencia, CA 91355

Update #3: CalArts is providing housing for Corny, so he’s being well cared for. They’ve even stocked the place up with food for him. One of his cats has been found alive and well, and Jackie at Cal Arts is checking area animal shelters for more. So keep your fingers crossed.

(Thanks, Nathan Strum & Jeff Pidgeon)

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.

It’s getting so that every animation artist has a blog. Maybe in the next update, I’ll do a post about artists who don’t have blogs. Now that’d be something.

Raymond Xu was a runner-up in our just-completed Ottawa contest, but his blog is an all-out winner. He’s currently a student at Sheridan. There’s excellent personality-packed illustrations throughout his blog so be sure to check out his monthly archives. It’s nice to know a few of the younger artists can still draw nowadays.

Speaking of people who can draw, Jim Smith (REN & STIMPY, SAMURAI JACK and currently DreamWorks) now has a blog. When I was working on REN & STIMPY, I remember even his drawings that ended up in the trash were still great. I don’t think he’s physically capable of doing bad drawings.

I never met Daniel L—pez Muñoz while I was writing THE ART OF ROBOTS, but he created some superb art for that film. He’s jumped ship from Blue Sky to Pixar where he’s started blogging.

Whatever happened to Cartoon Network’s WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ROBOT JONES? Who knows. We do know, however, that the show’s creator, Greg Miller, now happens to have his own blog.

Craig Clark has worked on everything from the Peanuts specials to Bakshi features. He started in the biz as a teenager at Duck Soup, and on his blog he shares stories of working with legends like Amby Paliwoda, Duane Crowther and Corny Cole, as well as showcasing his own current projects.

If you ask me, some of the funkiest and most distinctive animation backgrounds being created today are those by Ben Prisk for Adult Swim’s SQUIDBILLIES. His bgs are a combination of real paint combined with scanned paint textures, and he recently started a blog devoted to his work on the series.

Quick reminder: Tomorrow afternoon, ASIFA-Hollywood’s ANNIE AWARDS ceremony at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Anything that brings together Brad Bird, Corny Cole and William Shatner has to be good. Highly recommended!

Asifa-Hollywood has released its list of nominees for the 2005 Annie Awards. The winners will be announced at a star-studded ceremony on February 4th at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Corny Cole, Ty Wong and Fred Crippen will be recieving Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Awards. Tickets are now available now for the event.Congratulations to all the nominees!