Bill Clinton likes Warner Bros. & Paramount cartoons!According to his best-selling autobiography, MY LIFE, in chapter three recalling his youth, the ex-president says:
“For cartoons, I preferred Bugs Bunny, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and Baby Huey, with whom I probably identified.”
This is terrific!Columbia Pictures and Lego produced a wonderful stop motion piece by Tim Drage and Tony Mines (of Spite Your Face Productions a London based animation studio responsible for several successful LEGO parody films) called “The Peril of Doc Ock” – it sums up SPIDERMAN 2 completely in “Legomation”. View it in Quicktime here(Thanks to William Ansley for the link)
More details have emerged, so mark your calenders:
Bob Clampett, Casper and Super PresidentThe SID JACOBSON spotlight is Friday, July 23 from 1-2pm in room 3.The BOB CLAMPETT panel is from 4-5pm on Friday, July 23 in room 8.WORST CARTOONS EVER screening is on Saturday night, July 24 from 8:30-10:00pm in room 6AB (followed by Bill Plympton and Spike and Mike).Be there! San Diego Comic Con
Sky BlueAs 2-D sits dormant here in the U.S., anime continues to evolve in Asia.Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre, home of the American Cinematheque, runs a continuous schedule of the most eclectic film programming in southern California. The new July-August program is out and there are two animated features making their L.A. debut – and possibly their only big screen appearence – that are worth noting:
Dead LeavesOn Friday August 6th at 7pm is premiere of the english dub of the intriguing Korean feature Wonderful Days, under its new title SKY BLUE. The writer/director of the English dub will appear to answer questions and no doubt explain the plot.On Saturday August 7th at 3pm, Japan’s Production I.G. (Blood: The Last Vampire, Ghost In The Shell) previews their latest film, DEAD LEAVES. This one looks very loopy, fast paced and fun.
For those who can’t get enough of Ralph…Emru Townsend has posted, on his fine FPS website, a lengthy, exclusive interview with Bakshi here.
Looney Tunes/UPA/Charlie Brown animation veteran Bill Melendez has a newly redesigned website (using Flash) that’s very cool – and loaded with information (and images) from Melendez’s fantastic career in Hollywood cartoons.Check it out: www.billmelendez.tv
Here’s an early heads up – Jerry Beck will be part of at least three panels/screenings at the San Diego Comic Con July 22-25.I don’t have all the details myself, but here’s what I know: I’ll be part of a panel/tribute to Bob Clampett with Mark Evanier and other special guests. I’m hoping to show a part of a Bob Clampett documentary that will be included as bonus material on Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume 2. So come by and get a sneak preview.
I will be moderating a spotlight on Sid Jacobson on Friday July 23rd at 1:00pm. Sid was the man behind Harvey Comics from 1954 till 1994 – 40 years of friendly ghosts, devil kids and muscle-bound ducks! Don’t miss this!
And I’ll be running an all new edition of THE WORST CARTOONS EVER on Saturday night. Will Super President, Mighty Mr. Titan and Johnny Cypher In Dimension Zero return in all new episodes? Find out on Saturday July 24th.I’ll update my activities at Comic Con with exact dates, times and room numbers as we get closer to the event.
Columbia TriStar’s upcoming 2-disc HELLBOY dvd will contain four great cartoons from Columbia’s UPA archives, including How Now Boing Boing, Gerald McBoing-Boing on Planet Moo and The Tell Tale Heart. Director Guillermo del Toro is a longtime animated cartoon fan who insisted these cartoons be added to the dvd release.That’s really the only way Columbia will release it’s cartoons. Similiarly, Ub Iwerks Color Rhapsody SKELETON FROLIC is included on dvd release of THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVERA – because a certain cartoon buff at TriStar insisted it be part of the package.It’s too bad the marketing geniuses at Columbia TriStar Home Video themselves don’t understand the bounty of animation classics in their vaults…
…and on the side doors, and in the rear view mirror.NASCAR drivers Jeremy Mayfield (#19) and Casey Kahne (#9) are driving Popeye 75th Anniversary-themed cars this Saturday night at Daytona. The race is being shown on Fox.You can see the Popeye car – or buy the toy version – at the NASCAR.COM Superstore.
(Thanks to Tom Giatras for the link).
You hated his QUEST FOR CAMELOT, now you can hate Frederik Du Chau’s new live action/CG hybrid… RACING STRIPES.
This morning we held a trivia contest in which the first five winners (Marc Crisafulli, Joe Queen, Chad Erekson and Jay Smith and Josh Cooley) got a copy of Shout Factory’s new dvd compilation SPIKE & MIKE’S CUTTING EDGE CLASSICS. The question:
What was the name of the first CGI short film from Pixar, directed by John Lasseter?
However, the answer I was looking for, THE ADVENTURES OF ANDRE AND WALLY B (1984), was wrong.Brew reader Patrick Toifl pointed out to me that ANDRE AND WALLY B. was actually directed by Alvy Ray Smith. John Lasseter did character design and animation. You’d think I’d know that. Patrick will get a special prize for correcting me…And I’ll make it up to you all with another contest real soon.
Ralph Bakshi discusses his role with the 1960′s SPIDER-MAN TV cartoons in the Toronto Globe and Mail.
Shout Factory has released a second set of animated shorts from the Spike & Mike Festival archives, SPIKE & MIKE CUTTING EDGE CLASSICS.This is an outstanding collection of 18 independent shorts – not the “sick & twisted” variety, but interesting, entertaining films by the current crop of leading independent talents – including Adam Elliot, Patrick Smith and Marilyn Zornado. My favorites included in this set are STUBBLE TROUBLE (Calabash Studio), THE SNOWMAN (Lane Nakamura) and MONS THE CAT (Pjotr Sapegin)… this is great stuff – and if you’ve been putting off buying these short collections, this one is a great starter collection.Shout Factory wants to encourage BREW readers to take a chance and has offered us five copies to give away. I couldn’t resist the oppportunity to allow some of our readers a chance to get this dvd for free… so I guess I’ll have to create a contest to give everyone a chance. I’ll post a trivia question on Thursday (7/1) at (roughly) 9am Pacific time. First five correct answers will win the CUTTING EDGE CLASSICS dvd.
Henry Selick has big plans for Will Vinton Studios. Five films are being developed – but first up, Tim Burton’s THE CORPSE BRIDE.Johnny Depp has been signed to lead voice duties in Bride, along with Helena Bonham Carter, Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Emily Watson and Joanna Lumley. Danny Elfman will also be returning to work with Selick & Burton when he scores the film.
