> ASIFA MAGAZINE is relaunching this summer as the CARTOON JOURNAL. Chris Robinson will remain the magazine’s editor, but instead of being published independently by the ASIFA organization, it will now be published and distributed by John Libbey Publishing. The magazine will be expanding in both size and scope, and color pages are also being added. Robinson says, “We’ll be doing a mix of academic, historical, technology and feature pieces on all facets of animation.” With Chris’s strong editorial vision and Libbey’s involvement, I think this magazine should be well worth picking up, which is something I haven’t been able to say about a print animation magazine in a long time. More details to come.

> STASH magazine is a new monthly collection of animation, vfx and motion graphics released on dvd. It’s not cheap ($228 for a one-year subscription or $35 for individual dvds), but there’s a lot of interesting short films and commercials included in each edition. Previews and content listings for the first five issues are posted on-line. I suspect a lot of creatively-deficient animation producers will be subscribing to this and using it as a cribsheet to studios and styles that are currently hot.

In honor of the new 2005 ANIMATION SHOW program, Cartoon Brew is giving away three beautiful one-sheet (28″x39″) movie posters with Tim Biskup’s SHOW painting. These have been printed in a swanky limited edition of 400 and won’t be easy to find in the future. We’re giving away one today, one tomorrow and another on Friday. Today’s question is, “What classic piece of Disney animation was shown in last year’s edition of the ANIMATION SHOW and who was the director of that film?” First person (North America only) to answer at amid (at) animationblast (dot) com will win today’s poster.

TODAY’S WINNER: Raymond Delgadillo is the winner for today. The correct answer was MARS & BEYOND and the director was Ward Kimball. New question will be posted tomorrow evening between 7-8 pm.

The 2005 edition of the ANIMATION SHOW premieres this Friday, February 18, in Los Angeles at the Nuart Theatre (11272 Santa Monica Boulevard). There’s a diverse, inspiring line-up of films this year including gems like WARD 13, GUARD DOG, THE MAN WITH NO SHADOW and PAN WITH US. ANIMATION SHOW co-founder Don Hertzfeldt will be in attendance at the premiere this Friday to discuss his amazing new short THE MEANING OF LIFE. I’ve seen the film and let me say that this film alone is well worth the price of admission. I have the honor of interviewing Hertzfeldt on Friday so drop by- a jolly time will be had by all. The ANIMATION SHOW opens in Seattle and Vancouver next week, and both Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge will be present for those screenings. Details at TheAnimationShow.com.

Robin Williams sings an anti-Disney/pro-Pixar slave spiritual.
(via IGN’s FilmForce)

DISNEYWAR by Pulitzer-prize winning author James B. Stewart is a blistering new indictment of the Eisner regime. Stewart had all sorts of insider access, including the cooperation of both Eisner and Roy Disney, so it should make for some juicy reading. The book also reprints the text of the letter of support for Roy and Stanley so if you signed that last year, then your name should be in the book. Here’s links to DISNEYWAR articles in TIME magazine and THE NEW YORK TIMES.

With all the media surrounding his recent “Gates” installation in New York City’s Central Park, it seems appropriate to point out that Christo has also wrapped Snoopy’s house. I think it’d be nice if for his next project, Christo wrapped himself up…very tightly. (Thanks, Florian)

OVER TIME is a wonderfully inventive and atmospheric student film, a tribute of sorts to Muppet creator Jim Henson. It was directed by Oury Atlan, Thibaut Berland and Damien Ferrie as a graduation project at the French animation/media school Supinfocom, whose CG student films routinely kick the ass out of anything produced by North American animation schools. The directing trio are now billed as Oury & Thomas and represented by Partizan Lab, the animation division of the London/Paris-based commercial firm Partizan. Watch OVER TIME here. (Thanks, Phil)

This comic by Michael Shaw of BAGnews Notes suggests that there may yet be some fallout from the recent SpongeBob controversy. One of the BAGnews readers christened the new character with a most appropriate name: JesusBob ChristPants.