Excerpted from today’s Daily Variety:

“DodgeBall” star Vince Vaughn has gotten Warner Bros. revved up again about “Speed Racer,” a live- action adaptation of the Japanese cartoon series. Project casts him in the role of Racer X.”Speed Racer” has remained a viable title at the studio, despite a decade of false starts. The pic almost got to the starting line with such directors as Gus Van Sant, Hype Williams, Alfonso Cuaron and Julien Temple — the latter of whom had Johnny Depp ready to star before the vehicle stalled because the budget was too high. Vaughn revived it by pitching a streamlined take that concentrated more on character and a family angle than budget-busting race scenes.
“I’ve been a fan of the show since I was a kid and I always liked the theme of the protective older brother who can’t reveal his identity,” Vaughn said.

Reg Hartt is a controversial figure on the film scene in Toronto. I’ve never met the man myself, but I’ve been following his enthusiastic writing on classic cartoons and admired his numerous local film screenings from afar. During the past 27 years he’s earned a reputation as one of the foremost authorities on film history in Canada.Right now he operates the Cineforum out of his living room. Before his shows start, he stands up and lectures, sharing his knowledge with the audience. Here are his upcoming toon shows:Saturday, June 26 at 7pm: BEST OF THE SEX & VIOLENCE CARTOON FESTIVAL: You will be amazed how much we missed as kids! Highlights: Betty Boop, Tom And Jerry, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd $20. $10 under 24.Saturday, July 3, 10, 17. at 7pm: JAZZ IN HOLLYWOOD CARTOONS FILM FESTIVAL. This two hour retrospective includes:MINNIE THE MOOCHER (1931) SWING WEDDING (1936) SNOW WHITE (1932) Max & Dave Fleischer; COAL BLACK AND DE SEBBEN DWARFS (1942), BOOK REVUE (1946), RED HOT RIDING HOOD (1941) CLEAN PASTURES (1936) GOLDILOCKS AND THE JIVING BEARS (1945), SCRUB ME MAMA WITH A BOOGIE BEAT (1940), THE BOOGIE WOOGIE MAN (1944) and JUNGLE JIVE (1945), THE PIED PIPER OF BASIN STREET (1945), RHAPSODY RABBIT (1947), and TIN PAN ALLEY CATS (1943).THE REG HARTT FILM SCHOOL AT THE CINEFORUM, 463 Bathurst Below CollegeToronto, Ontario Canada. 416-603-6643. The Cineforum is private. Membership is required for admission. (Membership is free on request). Members are invited to bring their own food and drink. And wipe your feet on the mat before you enter.

What kind of person reads CARTOON BREW?Robin Joseph, a struggling cartoonist at Sheridan College in Ontario, does. That’s Robin’s charicature of Tim Burton (at right). Robin’s website Patch Of Orange is filled with more nifty artwork.Marc Spess is another dedicated reader who runs a stop-motion website www.animateclay.com and has a film in production, ZOMBIE PIRATE which he’s been working on in his spare time.Brian Kolm is another young artist with a website and he volunteers at the very cool Comic Art Museum in San Francisco. Check it out. We get many requests by various people, companies and events for a plug on Cartoon Brew. We are flattered, but that’s not how this blog usually works – until today. I’m not normally a pushover, but every once in a while, I feel generous. Today was that day.End of Plugs.

This Saturday, June 26th, in Burbank, Asifa-Hollywood is hosting a 2-D EXPO.I will be plugging this a few times this week with re-posts and updates – and I urge my readers to spread the word.The 2-D EXPO is a full day of panels, screenings and discussions on the current state of traditional (aka hand drawn) animation. Confirmed panelists & guests include Eric Goldberg, Shane Glines, Raul Garcia, Mark Kausler, Mike Nguyen, Bert Klein, Tom Sito, Eddie Mort, Lili Chin, Jorge Gutuerrez and Gabe Swarr. Amid Amidi, Rita Street, Tom Sito and I will be moderating panels. Panels cover topics such as “2-D THE NEXT DIRECTION”, “FLASH ANIMATION”, “DOING IT YOURSELF”, “DISTRIBUTION” and “NETWORK PROGRAMMING”.In the evening we will be presenting a program of UNSOLD PILOTS. There will be a networking area with a few exhibitors, including bookseller Stuart Ng, animators Stephen Silver and Bob Harper, The Animation Show and an Asifa booth which will take consignments, selling artists sketch books and artist materials.All of this starts at 9am on Saturday June 26, 2004- and keeps going on till 10:00pm on the Burbank campus of WOODBURY UNIVERSITY 7500 Glenoaks Blvd. (Buena Vista & Glenoaks). Admission prices for the panels vary: Asifa Members $20. Students $15., Networking area is free admission.Join us! It’s going to be fun. Please check the Asifa website for more info. If you’d like to help us out, be on panels, sell sketch books or volunteer your time to this event, contact me directly jbeck6540@aol.com and I’ll point you in the right direction.

I’m bound by a confidentiality agreement not to discuss the contents of the LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTION volume 2 (due out in November).However, a list of the cartoon contents has leaked to the internet (see here) and the buzz on several message boards is very enthusiastic.
I won’t confirm or deny the contents just yet, but I will tell you one thing: wait’ll you see the list of bonus materials!

Animation legend Bruno Bozzetto has posted a hilarious series of flash animations in honor of the Olympics here.These little vignettes get progressively more funny and subversive as they go along – and are done in a stick figure style, not unlike Don HertzFeldt. But clearly the gags and timing are Bozzetto’s – and shows why this man is still one of animations greatest talents.

Two names that helped shape early 1960s TV animation – Al Brodax and Fred Ladd – will both be making live appearences in the Los Angeles area in late August.Al Brodax will be at the Santa Monica Barnes & Noble on Tuesday, August 24, at 7:30 PM to promote (and sign) his new book Up Periscope Yellow: The Making of the Beatles Yellow Submarine. I’ve been informed that his friend, cult actress Julie Newmar (Catwoman), will be in attendance. Brodax of course, was the czar of 1960s King Features animation and producer in charge of churning out the Popeye, Krazy Kat, Snuffy Smith, Beetle Baily, Cool McCool and Beatles TV cartoons of the era.Fred Ladd will appear at the monthly Asifa-Hollywood meeting on Saturday August 28th at 3:00pm in the AFI Warner Screening Room – where we will screen rare anime pilots, as well as scenes from Astro Boy, Kimba, Gigantor, The Big World Of Little Adam, Pinocchio In Outer Space and discuss his colorizing of classic cartoons. As a bonus, we will screen Fred’s copy of the rarely seen THE SPACE EXPLORERS.August is shaping up to be a feast for fans of classic cartoon kitsch…

In case we didn’t mention it before, it’s Donald Duck’s 70th Anniversary this year.The short-tempered duck will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame next year. He is not, as this article says, the first cartoon character to have a star in cement on Hollywood Blvd., I know at least Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse already beat him to it.Donald will also appear on a set of Disney character first class U.S. postage stamps this summer.