Thank you to Warner Bros. who has sponsored our site for the past couple weeks. They are promoting The Jetsons Season 2 Volume 1 dvd. The company continues to be ambitious in making available the library of cartoons it owns. Recent releases include the Fleischer’s Superman shorts, Chuck Jones’s Tom & Jerry shorts, and a couple sets of Saturday morning cartoons from the Sixties and Seventies. For info about all of their video releases, visit the Warner Home Video website.

Cartoon Brew TV returns later this week with the exclusive online premiere of an animated short. We’re going to be presenting new films and other goodies throughout the year on Brew TV, but unlike the first season, we won’t be doing it on a weekly basis. Instead, we’ll serve up new episodes only when we have something really cool to show.

In anticipation of the new Brew TV episodes, we thought it’d be fun to revisit the top five most-viewed episodes from our inaugural season. Click on the title of any film to watch:

5. Like Me, Only Better by Martin Pickles

4. The Story of One-Eyed Ophelia Jackson by Kat Morris

3. The Pumpkin of Nyefar by Tod Polson and Mark Oftedal

2. BREW VAULTS: Superman’s Secret Cartoon History

And by a long-shot, the #1 most viewed episode from our first season was:
Doxology by Michael Langan

We wanted to take a quick timeout to thank Cartoon Brew’s sponsors from the last couple months. The support of these companies allows us to devote a greater amount of our time to the site, as well as to add new features like Cartoon Brew TV and Guest Brewers, both of which will continue to expand in the coming months.

We work hard to find sponsors who offer relevant products and services to our readership. Unlike most other animation media, we are editorially independent and these companies respect our independence. That’s why we’re so pleased to have these companies advertising on the Brew, and we encourage you to learn more about them by clicking on their ads or on the links below:

Animation Mentor is an online animation school founded by industry animators. Their current roster of teachers includes artists working at Pixar, Sony, DreamWorks and Disney. The school’s eighteen-month program has a well-defined curriculum focused on teaching animation and character performance, and preparing students for careers as CG character animators. Check out some of the recent student work in their student showcases.

LA-based Gallery Nucleus chose to promote their art show for the “Ancient Book of Sex and Science,” but they’ve got excellent art exhibitions year round, not to mention an awesome store.

CTN Animation Expo is a major animation event coming to Burbank in November.

Schoolism offers online storyboarding, caricature and design courses taught by leading industry professionals

Animation legend Don Bluth is promoting a special two-disc DVD edition of Banjo the Woodpile Cat, which Jerry reviewed earlier on Cartoon Brew.

The Labyrinth is Toronto’s source for comic, illustration and animation books.

The Guys is a quirky online animated series from Finland in which the characters are animated over user-submitted home videos.

If you’d like to advertise on Cartoon Brew, especially any San Diego Comic-Con related products, please visit our ad rep Reachout Media.

Whether your company is big or small, if you want to advertise on Cartoon Brew, there’s now an easy and efficient way to do so. Beginning today, all advertising on Cartoon Brew will be handled exclusively by the Reachout ad network. We’re especially proud to make this announcement because Reachout is an initiative of Cartoon Brew. Even better, we’ve partnered up with some amazing blogs to build an ad network from the ground-up that is geared towards our needs. It is the largest network of its kind, capable of delivering millions of ad impressions a month throughout animation, illustration, CG and film blogs.

The initial roster of sites represented by the Reachout network are blogs that we not only respect but that we’re fans of and read regularly. In addition to Cartoon Brew, Reachout now sells advertising for the following sites:

ArtoftheTitle.com
Booooooom.com
Drawn.ca
Motionographer.com
SubmarineChannel.com
TrailersFromHell.com
TwitchFilm.net

So what does this mean to the average Cartoon Brew reader? Perhaps not much except for the simple fact that we’re going to be able to continue doing what we’re doing. Cartoon Brew will remain free as always, and we will continue to expand and add new features like Brew TV. Hopefully the ads that we run on this site will enhance your experience and introduce you to interesting and relevant products. If you enjoy Cartoon Brew, the most effective way of showing your support is to click on the ads every once in a while and learn about what our advertisers have to offer. Who knows, you may just find something that you want or need.

And if you’re a company looking to reach creative people, and people who appreciate creativity in all its many forms, look no further than Reachout. To learn more about advertising on Cartoon Brew or any of the sites listed above, please visit ReachoutMedia.com. Our sales team looks forward to working with you.

Now for a couple shout-outs. First, to our webguru Rob Kohr whose tech expertise never fails us. He has been instrumental in getting the backend of the ad network up and running, as well as designing the Reachout site. Second shout-out goes to Scotty Reifsnyder who created our lovely Reachout header illo. Check out more of Scotty’s work at SeeScotty.com.

For the amount of traffic we receive, the comments on Cartoon Brew remain remarkably trouble-free, owing largely to the awesomeness of our readers. January 2009 was our highest month of traffic ever on Cartoon Brew, and with so many new readers coming onboard, we think now would be a good time to remind folks to check out the comment posting guidelines for this site. The most common infractions are folks who post their names/signatures in the body of their comment (your name is already listed at top with a link to your website) and those who don’t include real email addresses (we’ll delete comments with fake emails if we’re in a bad mood). Also, please remember that we don’t tolerate personal insults directed towards any other commenter (or Brewmaster, for that matter). It’s easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment discussing an art form that we’re all passionate about, but comments must be directed towards the other comment writer’s opinion, not the writer himself. Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging…

We’ve arrived at the end of season one of Cartoon Brew TV and we’re going out with a bang. This week’s offering, To the Moon (2008), by Jacob Ospa is one of the finest examples of cartoon animation we’ve seen in a long time. That it was animated by a 21-year-old reaffirms our faith in the future of animation. The Flash-animated thesis film was created at the School of Visual Arts. Watch To the Moon only on Cartoon Brew TV.

Did you know George Pal and Bill Tytla animated Superman during the the Golden Age of animation or that Bob Clampett was the first animation cartoonist to spoof the Man of Steel? Jerry Beck is back this week to take us deep into the “Brew Vaults” with a look at the rarely discussed animated history of the Man of Steel. Head on over to Cartoon Brew TV to hear Jerry’s thoughts about Superman’s many animated incarnations!

Today on Cartoon Brew TV we’re offering an exclusive excerpt from an animated feature that we’ve praised frequently over the past year: Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues. The film, which won the best feature prize at Annecy as well as a special mention at the Berlin Film Festival, is an exquisitely assembled mix of Indian mythology, contemporary heartbreak and 1920s American jazz. Watch the Sita Sings the Blues excerpt only on Cartoon Brew TV.

We’re pleased to report that last weekend the Cartoon Brew community on Facebook surpassed 1500 members. Thanks to everybody who has joined. It’s big fun being able to finally put faces to our readers. We’ll try to use our Facebook group more in 2009. We tried a ticket giveaway on there last year which worked out well so expect more giveaways and contests this year. It’s also a fine place to share your animated projects with the Cartoon Brew community. In fact, we’ve picked up at least a couple news items for the Brew from tidbits that people have posted on the Facebook group. Or use it as a forum to start discussions about animation topics that aren’t covered on this site.

Cartoon Brew TV is back from the holidays and we’re ready for action–19th century style! This week’s offering, Love on the Line (2008) by G. Melissa Graziano, offers the tale of a pair of star-crossed lovers who yearn to communicate with one another in a time before texting, IMing and the Internet. A combination of stop-motion cutouts and 2D computer animation, the short was made at the UCLA Animation Workshop and has won multiple awards since. Watch Love on the Line only on Cartoon Brew TV.

Our Christmas present to you: episode 15 of Cartoon Brew TV. Jerry Beck is back this week with a brand-new commentary edition of “Brew Vaults.” He takes a look at a rare episode of A Few Quick Facts. This cartoon was originally shown to servicemen during World War II as part of the Army/Navy Screen Magazine, a newsreel program produced under the supervision of director Frank Capra. This three-part episode honors the Navy’s latest battleships; praises the American soldier’s brain; and explains the cost and care of a G.I’s shoes. Jerry is joined on the commentary by animator and historian Mark Kausler. Head on over to hear Jerry and Mark’s thoughts about A Few Quick Facts only on Cartoon Brew TV!

We’re a few days late with the new episode of Cartoon Brew TV but this week’s film is worth the wait. Like Me, Only Better by Martin Pickles is a film we’ve been seeing at animation festivals all year long and it makes us laugh each and every time. We’re delighted that Martin is doing the online premiere of the film here on the Brew. Watch Like Me, Only Better on Cartoon Brew TV.

Jerry Beck is back with a brand-new commentary edition of “Brew Vaults.” This week he takes a look at three vintage trailers for old-school anime features–Jack and the Beanstalk, Princess Knight and Little Prince and the 8-Headed Dragon. Head on over to hear Jerry’s thoughts on vintage anime only on Cartoon Brew TV!