Some believe that the art of classic character animation is dead. So perhaps it’s quite fitting that the Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale is currently hosting an animation exhibit entitled Visions: The World of Fantasy Art.

Crystal Mora (of the Platform Animation Festival) checked it out:

Knowing very little about the exhibit, I was not only delighted to find some amazing fantasy illustrations on display, but also many pieces on loan from the Walt Disney Animation Studio. Some of the work on display includes maquettes from The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, original character sketches by Glen Keane, storyboards, backgrounds, and concept art from Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan and more!

The entire exhibit itself was not very large, but it’s completely free to enjoy. Having the location be at the top of a large cemetery was a bit questionable, but the drive was lovely (and slightly creepy).

The exhibit is currently running through January 6th, 2008. For more information check the website.

Notice anything animated about this room?

According to Drexel Heritage, this is furniture inspired by Walt Disney! The Disney Signature Collection is what they call a “life-style brand”. There are over fifty pieces in the collection, none of them featuring any characters, but all inspired by the Moderne office decor of the Burbank studio of the 1940s (with names that make reference to famous locations in Disney history – like the “Kingswell Chair” and the “Marceline Mirror”). Some of these pieces are really nice – but this behind-the-scenes sales video is, at best, a bit pretentious.

So grab your copy of Mike Barrier’s The Animated Man and get comfortable in the “Storyteller Sofa”, grab a drink from the “Buena Vista Bar Cabinet”, and put your feet up on the “Animators End Table”. After a hard day of mocap and key framing, you deserve it.

(Thanks, Brad Constantine)

Got a spare fifteen grand? You might be interested in this killer item.

Van Eaton Galleries, in conjunction with the Creative Talent Network, is holding a unique event featuring a tribute to some of Disney Heroes of Imagination, past and present. Honorees for the evening are Rowland Wilson, Joe Grant (above), Walt Stanchfield and Mel Shaw. From the press release:

There will be an exhibition of art, never-before-seen-publicly, from the private collections of family, friends and colleagues of these artists on display throughout the gallery. Attendees will receive a commemorative brochure that includes biographies of each artist and a collection of statements and anecdotes from the many celebrated artists who have shared studio space with these great talents.

The Disney Heroes of Imagination event will be held on Saturday, September 15th, 2007 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm at Van Eaton Galleries, 13613 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks, California. RSVP’s are now being taken. Anyone interested in attending should call (818) 788-2357.

Lest we forget: This year marks the anniversary of Disney’s biggest commercial cartoon star: Fresh-Up Freddie.

It was fifty years ago (in 1957) when the Leo Burnett Agency created the Freddy ad campaign for 7-Up and its sponsorship of Disney’s prime time Zorro TV series. The Disney studio made the commercials and designed the character (essentially a hybrid of Panchito and the Aracuan Bird from The Three Caballeros). I’ve seen very few of them myself, but luckily, like everything else, they are now showing up on the Internet. There is a nice long Freddie commercial currently featured at The Museum of Broadcast Communications website near the start of the American Bandstand episode (at the 1:50 mark). And here’s another one from YouTube:

These spots are nice, but they are nothing Walter Lantz or any other commercial cartoon studio couldn’t do just as well. Commercials were not really part of Disney agenda…perhaps he should have stopped doing them 35 years earlier, after Tommy Tucker’s Tooth.