Eight years ago yesterday, Chuck Jones passed away. In 1998, Jones recorded a 3 hour interview with Tom Sito for the Archive of American Television. It’s a perfect way to mark the occasion:

(Thanks, Chuck Arnold)

Friday will mark Tex Avery’s 102st birthday. To commemorate, the students of North Dallas High School, Avery’s alma mater, the place where Avery picked up the “What’s Up, Doc?” tagline he later gave to Bugs Bunny, are decorating the halls of the school with a mural of characters he created.

In another tribute to Avery’s genius, I highly recommend the latest post by Chris Lopez on his ComicsCrazy blog. Chris has posted over 40 vinatge MGM model sheets from various Avery classics: Lucky Ducky, Little Tinker, Bad Luck Blackie etc. The one above is from Screwball Squirrel, drawn by Claude Smith.

(Thanks, Oliver Coombes, Kevin Kidney and Peter Kurilecz)

Attention! If you are hungry for a new Bill Plympton cartoon - or some great barbeque steak - New York’s Hill Country Barbecue Market will present the world premiere of Plympton’s latest, The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger on Tuesday March 2nd. Plympton will be there to introduce his brand-new cartoon short, along with live performances by his musical collaborators Nicole Renaud and Maureen McElheron. Everyone who comes receives a free Bill Plympton cow drawing.

When: Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010, 6-8pm
Location: Hill Country Barbecue Market is located at 30 West 26th St., NY.

Here’s the reel from London-based boutique animation studio Sweetworld. Founded in 2006 by Yasmeen Ismail and Sandra Salter, the studio specializes in designing, directing and producing commercial animation with an emphasis on traditional hand-drawn styles. Check out their website for complete examples of their work.

The master of Chinese animation, Te Wei (Sheng Tewei), has passed away at age 95.

Te Wei, a pioneering animator and cartoonist, was one of the founding fathers of the Shanghai Animation Studio. His most significant film of the 1950s was The Conceited General, which I’ve embed below:

In the 1960s his animation style was influenced by the painter Qi Baishi. His 1963 mastepiece, The Cowboy’s Flute (Part 1 below), is one of the most beautiful films from China - or anywhere.

(Thanks, Saturnome)

This animated short was made with post-it notes and markers for Dutch channel RVU. They asked several animators to illustrate and interpret the writings of philosopher Bas Haring. Mustafa Kandaz - we posted his film protesting foie gras at Euro Disney last April - created this one about instinct. It was made in 3 days: 1 for animation, 1 for editing and 1 for the sound.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of blogging on Cartoon Brew is every so often discovering the young filmmaker who loves to experiment with the medium and isn’t bound by conventional notions of animation filmmaking. I’d venture to say that Dundee, Scotland-based Graeme Hawkins is one of these chaps. Witness the breadth of his approach to the art form by visiting Retchy.com, which is filled with all kinds of fun animated experiments including 3D zoetropes, projection mapping and VJing, along with generous descriptions of his processes and techniques. He also worked as a digital artist on Sylvain Chomet’s new film The Illusionist.

Below is his thesis film, 5, which is “an exploration of childhood memories, combining scientific theory, the wandering mind of a child, and largely abstract sound design to hopefully evoke feelings of nostalgia, familiarity and comfort.” I was impressed by the blend of sophisticated visuals, surprising transitions, and sharp sound design, but if you want to read into it further, Graeme explains on his website that the film has something to do with Richard Feynman and Richard Dawkins.

Here’s another quickie film of his I enjoyed—McDonalds on the Brain:

Heads up, Angelenos. The USC School of Cinematic Arts invites you (or anyone who can get to USC this Friday) to participate in a retrospective evening and conversation with legendary Russian animator Yuri Norstein. The admission is free. The event begins at 7:00pm on Friday, February 5th, 2010 in the Norris Cinema Theatre/Frank Sinatra Hall. The conversation with Norstein will be led by Ukranian animator Igor Kovalyov (Milch, The Rugrats Movie, Hen His Wife, etc.). Norstein will also present a preview of his feature-length film adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s Overcoat. The evening will conclude with a dessert reception in front of the theater.

To RSVP and for more information check the USC Cinematic Arts website. Below is one of Norstein’s classic films, Hedgehog In the Fog (1976):