Wanted to point you in the direction of a small Chicago collective, Chewbone Animation, who are nearing completion of a 5-minute animated short: A Time For All Seasonings. They’ve been at it for two years and their production blog displays some promising sample animation.

An early plug for my monthly movie gig with Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys. As always, the live musical program will be preceded by a selection of several cinematic goodies, screened in glorious 16mm celluloid. Join us, October 5th at 8pm, at THE STEVE ALLEN THEATER (Center for Inquiry-West), 4773 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood (Two blocks west of Vermont — Plenty of FREE parking in the rear). Admission $15. – a bargain!

The Little Explorer is an alternative band out of London. Aaron Bradbury is an animator from Derby. The Fool Looks at the Finger that Points to the Sky is a remarkably cool CG music video by Bradbury set to Little Explorer’s music. His website details the production with concept art and video tests. Worth a look.

Yes, that’s me as “Scientist #3″ in Teddy Newton’s new film, THE STUDIO OF TOMORROW. I’ve been spending the last few days helping Teddy (of Pixar and Boys Night Out fame) by being an extra in his live-action comedy short – a film which demonstrates how modern technology will improve the “future” of the animation industry. Teddy will wrap principal photography this week, with editing and post production scheduled over the next few months. I’ll post more information on this film later on, down the road, when it’s finished and available for viewing. My part is very small (it’s one of those blink and you’ll miss me cameo roles), but if you’re alert you’ll also catch Mike Mitchell (Spongbob, Ren & Stimpy, Sky High), Tom Winkler (Doodie.com), Lou Romano (Pixar, Powerpuff Girls), Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles) and other animation notables, in bit roles. It’s a hilarious concept – one which every BREW reader will particularly enjoy.

I had the pleasure of seeing my old friend Marv Newland (Bambi Meets Godzilla) up at the Ottawa Festival last week. He was handing out postcards to promote his INTERNATIONAL ROCKETSHIP Garage Sale this Saturday, September 30th, starting at 9am. If you are in Vancouver, it would be worth a peek for some of the books, animation desks, art supplies, production equipment and other assorted strange goodies that they are getting rid of. The address is 8938 Shaughnessy Street (in the rear). The phone number is (604) 738-1778.

So much to do at the Ottawa festival, and no time to blog.I am delighted to meet so many people who read Cartoon Brew up here. I’ve made a bunch of new friends and it’s great to see my old out-of-town buddies Mark Mayerson (we go back over 30 years), Linda Simensky, Michael Sporn, J.J. Sedelmaier, Steve Stanchfield, Mark Langer, Kelly Armstrong – not to mention my regular L.A. colleagues Heather Kenyon, John K., Tom Knott, Fred Seibert – and a host of others, including Chris Robinson and the staff of the Ottawa Festival. Wonderful people, all.The first two days here feature a business conference devoted to Television animation, with many great panelists and talent. One thing that emerged from the conference: Nelvana’s RUBY GLOOM looks very promising.The festival competition is wonderful. It’s not over yet, but the best films I’ve seen so far include Joanna Quinn’s DREAMS & DESIRES: FAMILY TIES, Georges Schwizigel’s JEU, Obom’s HERE AND THERE, Mait Laas’ GENERATIO and Run Wrake’s RABBIT. John Kricfalusi gave a great speech about the influence of Bob Clampett with numerous clips and John’s wonderful commentary on what makes them so great. The festival ran a group of Clampett’s best films, most of them in gorgeous 35mm prints.Well, I gotta get back to the festival. I’ll be back home on Monday night.

Today’s a travel day. I’m on my way to Ottawa to attend the International Animation Festival, this time as a spectator. Last year I was a Judge and presenter of two programs. This year I’m just hanging out, with the intent of watching as many films as I can.I’ll be bringing with me a bunch of Hornswiggle buttons and postcards to give away, and I’ll have a few DVD copies to sell of the all-new 2006 edition of WORST CARTOONS EVER. I’ll be around all week, but you can count on my presence at the Clampett retrospective, Amid’s book signing, the Cult Toons screening and the Animators picnic – so feel free to come up and say hello.

Like the Famous Studios cartoons which inspired (and ultimately dominated) them, Harvey Comics has gotten little attention (or respect) from the comics community at large. But its establishing artists in the 1950s consisted of such talented East Coast animators as Steve Muffatti, Dave Tendlar and Marty Taras. Then a second generation of cartoonists in the 1960s and 1970s – including Howie Post, Ernie Colon, and especially Warren Kremer – did an amazing job creating a comic book universe that kids really cared about, years before cable TV and video games.One of those kids, Mark Arnold, has been publishing a fanzine devoted to Harvey Comics for 16 years. Long before the Internet, his Harveyville Fun Times was all there was for devotees of Casper, Richie Rich and Baby Huey. In case you missed the first fifty issues, Mark has now compiled a 400 page “best of” volume, which is currently being printed “on demand” at Lulu.com. The book contains numerous indexes to Harvey animated cartoons and comic books, as well as reviews, commentary and interviews with Harvey writers and artists.I hope to see further research on the history of Harvey and Famous (in fact, I hope I get a chance to write some of it myself), because there is more there than meets the eye. For now, Mark’s efforts are a real good start.