Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra is quickly becoming the the hub in LA for awesome animation and illustration-related art shows and programs. If you haven’t already noticed their ad on the right side of the Brew for tonight’s show, take note. From 7-11pm tonight, they’re hosting the opening for Kevin Dart’s art book project “Seductive Espionage: The World of Yuki 7,” in which Dart concocted an imaginary Sixties female super-spy and developed an entire history around her film career. In addition to Dart’s artwork, the book project includes contributions from other artists, many of whom work in animation: Bill Presing, Bob Logan, Bobby Pontillas, Brigette Barrager, Brittany Lee, Chris Turnham, Clio Chiang, Daniel Arriaga, Don Shank, Elizabeth Ito, Horia Dociu, Joey Chou, Jon Klassen, Josh Parpan, Justin Parpan, Megan Brain, Scott Morse, Sean Szeles, Stephane Coedel, Ted Mathot, and Victoria Ying. Full details about tonight’s event on the Gallery Nucleus website. If you can’t pick up the book at Gallery Nucleus tonight, it can also be ordered from the Fleet Street Scandal website.

Here is a trailer for the project, directed by Stephane Coedel and Kevin Dart:

Guess who else doesn’t like the new CN? The people who used to make cartoons at the network, like Chowder creator C.H. Greenblatt. He posted the following comment on his blog a couple days ago: “As I sit here on an empty floor of an empty building looking at all the empty animation offices, I can at least put this on endless loop for some comfort.” The endless loop refers to this ignominious piece of video.

Meanwhile, at Cartoon Network’s executive offices, where the blind continue to lead the blind into irrelevance, they’re convinced that they’ve discovered what kids really want to watch on TV nowadays: golf. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the farcical details about one of the network’s new programming initiatives, which involves teaming up with the PGA of America to offer live-action golf shows for kids. “We have to work hard to ensure that we continue reaching families and young people for golf to be relevant in the future,” said Joe Steranka, chief executive officer of the PGA of America. “The Cartoon Network complements the PGA of America’s leadership in junior golf.”

If you wish, there’s a Boycott CN Real group on Facebook. Frankly, I’m just about ready to label it a lost cause and move on.

After graduating from French animation school Gobelins, Tom Haugomat and Bruno Mangyoku partnered up and became the directing duo Tom&Bruno. They are currently repped by Cube Creative and have been working on a short film called Jean François, the trailer for which can be seen above. The piece looks beautiful; it’s a fusion of anime filmmaking techniques and graphically inventive character design that wouldn’t look out of place in an Estonian animated short. Can’t wait to see the finished product. The filmmakers have a blog with artwork from the film.

(Thanks, Jakob Schuh)

Your name is Cartoon Network,
so you expect to see
nothing but animation when you flip CN on your TV.
But the times they are a-changing,
so don’t get left behind
because now we’ve got real people and
we’ve heard it blows your mind.

Those are the lyrics from an abrasive Andrew W.K. music video that Cartoon Network released online yesterday. We’ve been reporting on Cartoon Network’s slow, steady decline since April 2006. It’s fascinating to watch how clumsily the network is diluting their brand, and how tactlessly they’re integrating this cheap hodge-podge of live-action shows into their line-up. The first signs of a CN Real backlash are already forming: a Facebook group called Boycott Cartoon Network’s “CN Real” block was recently started and has over 1,400 members.

I didn’t expect to be using this picture in such a sad context, but here is a photo of Michael Jackson visiting with Ward and Betty Kimball.

The opening to Rankin/Bass’s Jackson 5ive series. (Thanks, OM)

Will Vinton’s “Speed Demon” sequence from Moonwalker.

“Do the Bartman” co-written and produced by Michael Jackson. (Thanks, Carlos)

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle easily ranks among my favorite cartoon/comic-related books of the past few years, if not all-time. How good is it? I was so anxious to get my hands on this book that I ended up buying a copy at the bookstore instead of ordering it from Amazon. The selection of artwork, the design of the book, and the print quality are all jaw-droppingly gorgeous. The text, which I’ve only begun to read, also appears to be top-notch. Kurtzman was the rare individual who was equally gifted as both an artist (Hey Look!, Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat) and editor (Mad, Help, Trump, and this volume lovingly acknowledges both sides of the man. The book was published by Abrams’ promising new ComicArts imprint and is an incredible value at $26.40 on Amazon.

UPDATE: Sherm Cohen made this video preview of the book:

Tucky Tales is a simple but inventive example of digital “cut-out” animation. The pre-school series for Baby TV was created by Israeli husband-and-wife animation team Eduard and Nurit Mitgartz. They’ve produced twenty 5-minute episodes at their studio Kipod Animation.

The Art of the Title Sequence interviews director Jim Capobianco and animator Alex Woo about the thoughtful end credit sequence of WALL·E. From the article intro:

Jim Capobianco’s end credits to Andrew Stanton’s “WALL·E” are essential; they are the actual ending of the film, a perfect and fantastically optimistic conclusion to a grand, if imperfect idea. Humanity’s past and future evolution viewed through unspooling schools of art. Frame after frame sinks in as you smile self-consciously. It isn’t supposed to be this good but there it is. This is art in its own right. Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman’s song, “Down to Earth” indulges you with some incredibly thoughtful lyrics and, from the Stone Age to the Impressionists to the wonderful 8-bit pixel sprites, you are in the midst of something special