The Second Annual Benefit for the Cartoon Art Museum will be held Saturday, October 2nd at Pixar. Pixar Animation Studios will host the second annual benefit at 6pm with a special evening on the Emeryville campus.

Over wine and hors d’oeuvres you will see a stunning gallery exhibition featuring the pre-production artwork for the Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film, The Incredibles, opening November 5, 2004. Guests will then be escorted into Pixar’s state-of-the-art 240 seat theater to hear the artists and wizards behind Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles share their unique perspectives on the movie-making process. After the presentation, guests will have an opportunity to converse with the speakers and other Pixarians.
Special guest speakers ewill include: Gary Rydstrom, sound designer; Andrew Stanton, writer/director, Finding Nemo; Mark Andrews, Head of Story, The Incredibles; Angus MacLane, animator; and Dr. Michael B. Johnson, Pixar R&D.This event will sell out quickly and there are only a limited number of seats available. Cartoon Art Museum members can purchase tickets for the reduced rate of $125, while the non-member rate is $175. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

More information is posted at www.cartoonart.orgCartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
phone: (415) CAR-TOON

Good news in Toon Town: Michael Eisner is leaving Disney. The catch? It’s the long goodbye: he’s going in 2006 when his contract expires.Still, this is a good bit of news for the Save Disney crowd and should provide some optimism to the folks behind the “magic”.

Frank Thomas, the second-to-last surviving member of Disney’s “Nine Old Men” group of supervising animators, passed away on September 8, three days after his ninety-second birthday.The following is excerpted from the official Disney announcement:

Frank Thomas, one of the most talented, inventive and influential animators in the history of the art form, a member of Walt Disney’s elite “Nine Old Men,” and a pioneering animator who worked on many classic shorts and features during his 43-year career at the Disney Studios, passed away on Wednesday (9/8) at his home in Flintridge, California. He was 92 years old. Thomas had been in declining health following a cerebral hemorrhage earlier this year.In addition to his achievements as an animator and directing animator, Thomas (in collaboration with his lifelong friend and colleague Ollie Johnston) authored four landmark books: Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, Too Funny for Words, Bambi: The Story and the Film, and The Disney Villain. Thomas and Johnston were also the title subjects of a heartfelt 1995 feature-length documentary entitled “Frank and Ollie,” written and directed by Frank’s son, Theodore (Ted) Thomas.In a career filled with milestones, Thomas’ remarkable animation included such indelible moments as the first date and spaghetti dinner in “Lady and the Tramp,” Thumper teaching Bambi how to ice-skate, Baloo the bear telling the man-cub Mowgli that he can’t stay in the jungle in “The Jungle Book,” Pinocchio trapped in the birdcage by the evil puppeteer Stromboli, the lovesick squirrel whose heart is broken in “Sword in the Stone,” Captain Hook playing the piano in “Peter Pan,” the dancing penguins in “Mary Poppins,” among others. He also animated several of Mickey Mouse’s most impressive scenes in such films as “The Pointer,” and “Brave Little Tailor.” Noted animation historian/author/filmmaker John Canemaker, described Thomas’ special talents in his book, Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men. “Thomas is particularly known and admired for his ability to animate emotionally sensitive material; the saddest scenes, the most romantic, most deeply felt sequences, the sincerest heart-tuggers usually found their way to his drawing board.” John Lasseter (head of creative for Pixar Animation Studios and director of the “Toy Story” films and “A Bug’s Life”) said, “Frank was a giant in our field and he meant everything to me and to all of us who love the art of animation. Besides being one of the key guys to help elevate animation from a novelty to an incredible art form, he was so generous in passing along his knowledge and experiences to the generations that followed. The books that he wrote with Ollie had a big impact on so many of us working in animation today. Frank was one of my main mentors and a tremendous influence on me. I feel very privileged to have known him.” Leonard Maltin, animation historian, film critic, and author, observed, “Frank helped to invent animation as an art form and took it to incredible new heights through his work at Disney over four and a half decades. He and his lifelong friend and colleague, Ollie Johnston, had a remarkable gift for explaining and articulating how they did what they did. That’s a rare quality in an artist. Even in his nineties, Frank retained a youthful spirit and indomitable sense of humor.”Thomas retired from animation in January, 1978. Over the next five years, Thomas and Johnston devoted full time to researching and writing the definitive book on their craft, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. The book distilled forty years of knowledge and experience into what many consider the finest book ever written about animation. Too Funny for Words was published six years later and explored the gags, humor and story elements that went into the features and shorts. Walt Disney’s Bambi: The Story and the Film (1990) told the behind the scenes story of the creation of one of the greatest animated films of all-time. Their final collaboration, The Disney Villain (1993), explored the richest and most colorful rogue’s gallery in film history.In addition to his career as a top animator, Thomas also expressed his musical talents as the piano player in the popular jazz group, The Firehouse Five Plus Two. Formed in 1940s, the group consisted of other Disney employees, and achieved success with their numerous Dixieland jazz recordings and personal appearances. They officially disbanded in 1971. In 1995, Thomas was the subject of a feature length documentary, “Frank and Ollie,” released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written, produced, and directed by Frank’s son, Theodore (Ted) Thomas, and produced by Ted’s wife, Kuniko Okubo, the film played film festivals around the world and received acclaim for its insightful look at the lives, careers and extraordinary friendship of the two legendary animators.No funeral is planned but details regarding a life celebration will be announced shortly. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made in Frank’s name to the Character Animation Program at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) in Santa Clarita, California.

I’m still hungover from two mind-blowing nights of classic cartoons with John K. at the Egyptian theatre. So while I recover, here’s an unrelated guest report from Brew reader Chris Sobieniak:

A couple days ago, I went off to mail some videos at the post office, afterwards, I decided to check out the Korean import mart close by to see what goodies they got this time, and I found a couple things of interest you might like to see…First off, is a package with a familiar figure on it, Popeye, pimping for Samyang Food’s own “Star Popeye Snack”! Though a typical non-spinich gig for our one-eyed sailor, he still gets to show it in his hand anyway (though the packaging mmicks a rather uncanny look of generic soda cups from the drive-in). More info on this (though in Korean) can be accessed hereAnd finally, a package of the Korean version of Frito-Lay’s “Chee-tos” (notice I still use the hyphen), produced by Orion Frito-Lay (a joint venture between a Korean confectionary and PepsiCo supposibly). Oddly, this version of Chee-tos isn’t the cheesy type we’ve come to know and love in the US, but now is barbacue flavored! Somehow I couldn’t get halfway through the bag before I threw the rest away (just don’t have a taste for it). Featured on the front of the package is none other than the recently released (and horridly adapted) “Astro Boy” character, with a freebie surprise inside (you don’t expect that anymore)! Not really a nifty item, looks to be some kind of spinner, though I kept thinking of it as the milkcap or “pogs” of a decade ago.

Very busy time for me this week.I’m hosting the John K. Classic Cartoon night, tonight, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Don’t miss your last chance to see the 35mm restored POPEYE MEETS SINDBAD print everyone (especially me) is raving about - also 35mm prints of THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ROBBERY (Daffy Duck), SOLID IVORY (Woody Woodpecker), BLIND DATE (Heckle & Jeckle, Jim Tyer), MINNIE’S YOO HOO (Mickey Mouse), and many others, with live commentary by John K. (and sometimes me). Don’t miss it - it starts at 8pm!Thursday night I’m the opening act, showing several musical shorts (and cartoons) at the Steve Allen Theatre in Los Feliz. This is an event for Janet Klein and her Parlour Boys who are having a CD release party at 8pm. Janet sings and plays 1920s jazz - she’s got quite a cult following in both Los Angeles and Japan. Her new album is called Living In Sin - and I recommend it (the album, that is). Check out her nifty website.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 (Part II)
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I know it’s going to be a crazy adventure. And a TON of work. My first day here I was up for 30.5 hours (a new personal record!). After my grueling plane ride I got two hours of sleep before I was driven to the studio, given a quick tour by Creative Consultant Mark Valenti, and plopped in front of a video monitor where I watched every episode of LAZYTOWN that had been produced to date. If you’ve seen the show you can imagine what kind of a sensory overload that was.

The studio is the type of creative madhouse those of you familiar with that sort of environment might imagine, but for various reasons it’s even more so. The place embodies the spirit of country, where the capricious climate has given birth to the phrase, “If you don’t like the weather in Iceland, wait five minutes and it will change.” The production is driven by a mercurial genius named Magnus Scheving, and he is, as far as I can tell, the personification of this unpredictable island. Magnus is such an incredible character that I’ll have to devote a separate entry just to describe his dynamic persona, and even then, words won’t do the man justice. He’s one of the most energetic and amusing fellows I’ve ever met, and sharp as a damn whip.

I can’t talk about Magnus without mentioning his co-star: Stefan Karl, who plays Robbie Rotten in the show. For those of you who know what I’m talking about, Stefan is the Icelandic version of Rob Paulsen. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, that means that he’s a very funny, very shmoozy, very ambitious actor. We get along famously. More on him later.

The final member of the live action cast is Julianna Rose Mauriello, a remarkable thirteen year-old who is absolutely incandescent on the screen. She’s a triple threat (singing, dancing and acting), and she’s also smarter than the average kid her age. Her mother, Kahlua O’Callahan, promises to be a breath of straightforward American air during future late night bull sessions. I look forward to them in smoky dark clubs with endless coffees.

I’ve met a lot of people in a (very long) day, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of my experience. A good writer leaves his audience wanting more, though, so I’m going to sign off for now. Tomorrow morning I’m going to take a walk and see what kind of place I’ve landed in. One more image follows, just to amuse and clarify the “Land of the Midnight Sun” concept. The picture below was taken at midnight, outside of the flat where I’m crashing.

One final, disconcerting thing: as I’m falling asleep tonight I keep hearing the voices of women, speaking fragments of trivial sentences in English, clear as a bell and right in my ear. When I wake with a start they stop. Is the place I’m staying haunted, or are the walls just thin?

Good night to all
Ken Pontac, Iceland

Gordan Calma has updated his POPEYE website with a work-in-progress gallery of vintage Fleischer POPEYE cartoon posters. Go here and enjoy!

I’m away this weekend attending the marathon screenings at the Egyptian Theatre (aka Cinecon), so I’ll have little time to blog the next few days.I wanted to quickly plug my local comics shop, GOLDEN APPLE, because they’ve got a few upcoming events I want you to know about. First off, on Saturday 9/11 at 3PM they are hosting a “Petition signing Party” for John K. and the Spumco Crew. Come down and add your voice to the plea to get Ren & Stimpy back on the air with new shows. Then on Saturday November 20th at 3pm, the IRON GIANT DVD SPECIAL EDITION release celebration and animation crew reunion:

A chance to meet and interact with over a dozen members of the creative team responsible for this milestone animated project. A reunion of the animators (and special guests) who conceived and created this much-loved movie. Autographs, lively Q&A and presentations, pre-production and test drawings, stories, surprises and lots more. Discussions will be moderated by Ramin Zahed, Editor of Animation Magazine who is co-sponsoring the Event. Admission to the Event is FREE with the purchase of the Special Edition DVD at any Golden Apple location. Pre orders will be available Oct. 1, 2004. Contact: Bill Liebowitz at Golden Apple (323) 658-6047 or billL@goldenapplecomics.com

Mark your calenders now.