Here’s a couple fanboy-ish projects which are commendable for their attention to detail and thoroughness. The Guide to Springfield USA is an exceedingly detailed map of the Simpsons’ hometown, and places different buildings according to where they appear in relationship to each other in specific episodes of THE SIMPSONS. Not to be outdone is The Don Martin Dictionary which compiles every sound effect used by Martin in his MAD MAGAZINE strips. (Martin link via Boing Boing)

At the San Diego Comic-Con last week, Matt Groening revealed that in an upcoming SIMPSONS episode, one of the characters will come out of the closet and take part in a gay marriage. In the episode, Homer becomes an ordained minister over the ‘Net and begins performing gay marriages. Timely cartoon indeed, but I doubt it’ll out-gay the new batch of REN & STIMPY episodes premiering August 20th on Spike TV. [Updated 7/29: John K. wrote to inform me that there is no gay humor in the new batch of REN & STIMPY episodes and seeing as how he's the director, he probably knows best about these type of things.]

I’ve only bought one DVD so far. REN & STIMPY: THE COMPLETE FIRST AND SECOND SEASONS will be my second purchase.

Mike Barrier has announced that he’s starting a regularly updated blog on his website MichaelBarrier.com. I’m looking forward to reading his insightful, often provocative, comments about animation and comics on a more frequent basis. New to Mike’s site is an update of his Europe trip journal, with an entry about Zermatt, Switzerland and the city’s connection to Walt Disney. Also added is a none too complimentary review of SHREK 2. I have to give Mike credit though: he was brave enough to actually sit through the entire film. Even the chance to see it for free hasn’t been enough to lure me into the multiplex for this Katzenberg gem.

While cartoonist-types don’t often appear on late-night talkshows, this evening’s THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO will feature an appearance by JibJab.com co-founders Gregg and Evan Spiridellis. Their Web animation site has been around for quite a few years, but they’ve shot to a new level of fame in the past few weeks with their biting political short THIS LAND.

This is a great INTERVIEW with Bill Plympton where he talks about his latest films - HAIR HIGH and GUARD DOG, as well as numerous other topics. On the subject of why more animators don’t go independent, Bill has this to say: “And what surprises me is that more people don’t do it, because it’s really not that difficult; as long as you keep your films short, keep the film funny and keep it cheap, you can do it.”

It’s a shame they don’t make movie posters like THESE or THESE for animated shorts nowadays. Oh, I forgot, they also don’t make shorts anymore.
(Thanks to Oscar Grillo for the link)

While USA TODAY is often criticized for being written at a fifth-grade reading level, the intelligence of its reporters is apparently at an even lower level. In this ARTICLE about DreamWorks Animation’s decision to spin off into a separate publicly traded company, there’s this gem of a line: “The SEC filing gives the public a first thorough look at the finances of the biggest part of the privately held company famous for computer-animated hits including SHREK, ANTZ and CHICKEN RUN.” Tomorrow USA TODAY is publishing a piece on the third quarter financial results of McDonald’s, or as they like to call it, “That fried chicken restaurant.” But that’s nothing compared to their story next week about Apple Computer and how the company revolutionized the world with its Windows software.

(Thanks to Fred Patten for the tip)