Cartoon Brew

Remembering Bird

There are two great Birds in the world of art. One is, of course, the Brad Bird of animation. The other is the Bird of jazz - Charlie "Bird" Parker. Today marks the 50th anniversary of his death (August 29, 1920 - March 12, 1955), and in commemoration, here's a drawing by Oscar Grillo.

Lisa Marie/Tim Burton Garage Sale Report

Daisy C. reports in on the Lisa Marie/Tim Burton garage sale (previously HERE and HERE):

Just wanted to mention that my friend and I went and checked out the Tim Burton garage sale thing today - and it's really a bit of a bust. Actually, just plain disappointing. The only movie prop was that chair from Ed Wood (still there for a mere $20,000), and other than a smattering of used furniture and pricey used designer footwear and clothes (average going price for used shoes - $100-$400, dresses and skirts $400+), it was this odd collection of junky old yard sale stuff - salad spinner, old mugs, fabric, assorted boxes of electric cables and whatnot. But, all my friends back east are jealous that we even got to check it out, so hey.

AT THE COMIC SHOP

Friday is the day I usually walk over to Golden Apple and see what's new. I've noticed that I've become very picky in recent years. I usually only buy fanzines like Alter Ego and Comic Book Marketplace and the occasional alternative comic that catches my eye. This week I noticed for the first time the incredible 9 inch tall Fleischer-style limited edition, hand-painted cold-cast porcelain maquette of LOIS LANE. This has been out for a while, and I'd known about it - but I hadn't seen it until now. It's fantastic. (click on image above to see the full figurine). I wish I could afford it.

More affordable was an excellent new anthology (right) from Chris Pitzer's Ad House Books. Pitzer has commisioned over 3 dozen indy cartoonists and alternative artists to create a superhero image or comic strip and filled 288 pages in color with the coolest comics I've read in a long time (well at least since a few weeks ago when I bought BIZARRO WORLD). PROJECT: SUPERIOR features story and art by Brew favorites Ronnie Del Carmen, Tim Biskup, Seonna Hong, Scott Morse, and Brandon Ragnar Johnson - and many many others. Much fun, much eye candy. I don't buy many of these anthologies, but this is one of the best I've seen.
It was a good week.

Looney Tunes and Silly Symphonies in Astoria

Here's a good one for the New York area Cartoon Brew readers.

The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria (Queens) Thursday, March 24, 2005 at 7:00 PM presents Looney Tunes and Silly Symphonies, a special presentation by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. There will be a shorts screening and panel discussion with author & animator John Canemaker, cartoonist Ben Katchor and Raymond Scott Archivist Irwin Chusid. Additionally, Six members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will perform, live, selections of the music of Raymond Scott.

Looney Tunes and Silly Symphonies will explore the relationship between cartoons and the concert hall, comedians and composers. John Schaefer of WNYC Soundcheck is the moderator/curator of the event.

Riklis Theatre
Museum of the Moving Image
35 Avenue at 36 Street
Astoria, N.Y. 11106
To reserve a seat please call 718/784-4520

A F***ING LOONATICS PREVIEW

Sander Schwartz can kick back and relax. Somebody has already done the work for him and animated the new LOONATICS cartoon, starring that one and only "Buzzed Bunny." Actually, it's a Flash parody of what the show might be like and it's absolutely hilarious. WARNING: CONTAINS VERY STRONG LANGUAGE, but come on, WB deserves it. Click here to watch A NEW BUNNY. (Thanks, Daikun)

Chris Wedge and Steven Lisberger

Chris Padilla has posted a terrific interview at AnimationTrip.com between TRON director Steven Lisberger and ROBOTS director Chris Wedge, who also worked on TRON. It's a lot of fun to read and feels more like a conversation between two friends rather than the typically tedious q-&-a interview format. Check it out HERE.

Blue Sky doing Seuss

Tomorrow's HOLLYWOOD REPORTER has a story that Fox/Blue Sky's next feature following ICE AGE 2 will be an adaptation of Dr. Seuss' HORTON HEARS A WHO! The film is scheduled for release in late-'07 or early-'08. No director is attached to the project yet, but the screenplay is being written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, whose prior writing credits include THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 and BUBBLE BOY. Those writers are the only part of the announcement that raises a red flag for me, but otherwise I'm confident that Blue Sky will do a fine job with this project. Full details at THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER website. The REPORTER piece neglected to mention that HORTON HEARS A WHO! was previously adapted to animation by Chuck Jones in 1970. For my money though, the most entertaining animated adaptation of Seuss' Horton character is Bob Clampett's HORTON HATCHES THE EGG (1942).

ANIMATION ROLLER COASTER

Animation designer Alex Kirwan (My Life As A Teenage Robot) sends us this link to a new animation production blog:

"This one belongs to my friend Elizabeth Ito, novel in that it's one of the first female production blogs I've seen. Adventures on the Animation Rollercoaster shows Elizabeth documenting (among other things) the development of television projects and the recent excitement over her student film "Welcome to my Life" - which won producer's pick in the Nicktoons film festival, and can be viewed here."

L.A. BOOK SIGNINGS

Tonight - Voice actress June Foray signs her book PERVERSE, ADVERSE AND ROTTEN VERSE at the Barnes and Noble, in The Grove at the Farmer's Market at 7:30pm - 189 Grove Dr. (Suite K30).

March 19th - Voice actor Trustin Howard (Philbert) signs his new book My Life with Regis and Joey, 2:00pm at Borders Books, 14651 Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, CA.

DRAWN!

Barely a week old, but quickly becoming a favorite: DRAWN!, a new multi-author blog devoted to illustration, art, cartooning and drawing. Eight super-star contributors, including Ward Jenkins, Jared Chapman, Jay Stephens, John Martz, Patricia Storms and Claire Robertson... Enough talk!
Go there! Now!

SPARKLE PAINTS

A friend of mine just pointed out this item on ebay - he called it a Holy Grail of cartoon collectibles, but I'm not too sure of that - but it sure brought back a flood of memories to me.

I guess finding a Sparkle Paint set in mint condition would be a rather rare find. And get a look at this example of UPA merchandising in its waning days.The Dick Tracy Show with it's wealth of ethnic stereotyped dectectives and policemen - and Mr. Magoo and his Chinese houseboy, "Cholly" (not Charlie). No wonder we rarely see these cartoons anymore.

Ahh, the good old days...

Progenitorivox

Progenitorivox is a fake pill - not a placebo - but a fiction devised as part of a campaign by Consumers Union, the non-profit publishers of Consumer Reports, to pass legislation requiring drug makers to disclose the side effects of their products.

Regardless of politics, this funny animated music video was produced by The Animation Farm out of Austin Texas, and is well worth a look.

(Thanks, John Hudgens)

Tim Burton Garage Sale Update

The Tim Burton garage sale that Cartoon Brew first broke the story on, and which has subsequently spread around the Internet like wildfire this past week, reportedly does not have the official endorsement of Tim Burton. According to the Tim Burton Collective, the following are Burton's comments sent out via email from TimBurton.com:

"It recently came to my attention that a warehouse sale, claiming to include "previously -owned" items of mine, is scheduled to take place. Allegedly, these items include props, memorabilia and costumes from various films I have directed, as well as some drawings of mine that were private gifts--never meant for public display or purchase. Since I have not been contacted by the sellers, it is important to note that I can in no way vouch for the authenticity of these items. I am completely against the selling of personal items in such a public way."

It's important to note that there's no way to confirm the validity of whether these comments are actually from Burton, but WOW Report has this additional bit of info: "It's strictly ex-girlfriend Lisa Marie getting rid of stuff he gave her over the years or just left behind when they broke up. Their split was not amicable." So at this point, it seems like the garage sale will still contain a lot of Burton's possessions, but it's more like Lisa Marie's garage sale than Burton's. Also interesting to note, one of the items up for grabs will be this chair prop from ED WOOD.

All Wrapped UP

Shane Glines gave a positive plug on Cartoon Retro to the new Chronicle book ALL WRAPPED UP: GROOVY GIFT WRAP OF THE 1960s by Kevin Akers calling it "a surprisingly good reference book for early sixties color, lettering and design." I saw the book a couple months ago and can definitely concur. It's far more inspiring than I ever imagined a book on '60s giftwrap paper could be.

Remembering Vance Gerry

There's a thread on Animation Nation where people who knew recently departed Disney storyman Vance Gerry (1930-2005) are speaking about his life and work.

Robin Williams Quote of the Week

Robin Williams: "My humor fits perfectly for animation. It's like William Shatner's toupee. It fits just right." Who wants to offer the rebuttal?

Liz Smith Loves My Book

Wow, I've finally made Liz Smith's legendary entertainment gossip column. No, not for my many torrid love affairs with various Hollywood actresses, but for THE ART OF ROBOTS. Well...these days I'll take whatever I can get. Liz writes: "Amid Amidi's new book, THE ART OF ROBOTS, about the making of this movie, is totally fascinating with beautiful artwork." If anybody has an extra copy of this item printed in the NY POST's Page Six, please drop me a line at amid (at) animationblast (dot) com. (I'm good now - thanks). (Thanks, Sarah P.)

VANCE GERRY (1930-2005)

Storyman and layout artist VANCE GERRY, a Disney veteran of fifty years, died March 4 of cancer at the age of seventy-five.

Three Nights of Animation in New York

The judging nights for the ASIFA-East Animation Festival are a great opportunity to see animation that's currently being produced in New York. The screenings take place at the School of Visual Arts, and are free and open to everybody, though only ASIFA-East members are eligible to vote. Screening dates are:

Tuesday, March 8 - Student Films
Thurday, March 10 - Independent Films
Monday, March 21st - Commercials, Promos and Sponsored Films

Rumor has it that on March 10, John Dilworth, of DIRDY BIRDY and COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG fame, may or may not premiere his new epic animated short, which has been four years in the making.

The Old Crocodile

Koji Yamamura, director of the surreal Oscar-nominated short MT. HEAD from a few years back, has finished a new 13-minute short called THE OLD CROCODILE. The film premieres March 25 in New York at a retrospective screening of Yamamura's work, before hitting the festival circuit. (via AniPages Daily)

ROBOTS REVIEW

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER gives ROBOTS a luke-warm review.