If you have an extra ten minutes to spare today, you can spend that time no better than watching the lyrical short HERON AND CRANE (1974) by Russian animation genius Yuri Norstein.

Here is a bit of background about the film that I found online:

Norstein’s third feature is based on a Russian fairy tale. It marked the first of several collaborations among Norstein, his wife, the artist Francesca Yarbusova, and a cameraman Alexander Zhukovsky. To achieve Norstein’s artistic vision, they invented a special piece of equipment which allowed them to animate on layers of glass. Norstein’s original script was not approved by the studio administration. Veteran director Roman Kachanov was assigned to serve as project “supervisor” and write an acceptable script. Unbeknownst to the studio administration, Norstein filmed the original script. Thanks in great part to support from Fyodor Khitruk, Norstein’s HERON AND CRANE - with Norstein credited as co-writer - was approved for distribution after numerous additional clashes with the studio management. Very Popular in the former USSR , the film also won many honors abroad.

A dvd of Yuri Norstsein’s complete works can be purchased from RussianAnimation.com or Amazon. There’s also a fairly new book out about Norstein written by Clare Kitson - YURI NORSTEIN AND TALE OF TALES: AN ANIMATOR’S JOURNEY - which I’ve heard good things about.

Some sick perverted souls in South Korea came up with this piece of Flash animation. It might make you queasy. It might make you hate animation. If you know what’s good for you, just don’t click on this link. Seriously, DO NOT CLICK ON THIS LINK. If you clicked on that last link, then for heaven’s sake, please don’t click on this one HERE! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
(Thanks?, Karl Cohen)

If Michael Eisner talks and nobody listens, does he still have a talkshow? The debut of Eisner’s new series on CNBC tanked with a 0.0 Nielsen rating and a 0 share on Tuesday night, the lowest rating possible. CONVERSATIONS WITH MICHAEL EISNER lost 82% of the total viewers from its CNBC lead-in, a rerun of the gameshow DEAL OR NO DEAL, and ended up with 95,000 total viewers, including 39,000 adults 25-54 (the network’s desired demo). For the record, most of the show reviews haven’t been very positive. All I can say is that it’s incredibly refreshing to finally see Michael Eisner muck up something that isn’t related to Disney or animation.

My new favorite blog of the moment is Thad Komorowski’s “Identifying Animators and Their Scenes.” The site has only been up for a few days and it’s already packed with excellent material. As the name of the blog implies, its concept is dead simple: post clips from Golden Age cartoons and identify who animated the scenes. For example, check out this great post about Walter Lantz shorts where Thad identifies scenes by Fred Moore, Ed Love, Pat Matthews and Grim Natwick. Absolutely incredible detective work. The site has plenty of other animation clips posted already, animated by the likes of Emery Hawkins, Virgil Ross and Manny Gould.

If there’s one thing that ties together the work of all of these distinctive animators, it’s how beautifully they communicate with cartoon imagery. I had the sound on my computer turned off when I first started viewing these clips, and I’d watched four or five clips before even realizing that there was no sound. There are significant lessons to be learned here about visual storytelling and clarity in staging and acting.

One more impressive thing worth pointing out: according to Thad’s Blogger profile, he’s only 16-years-old. These crazy animation historian types…they’re getting younger everyday.

After posts about Disney’s forays into VD prevention and gonorrhea drugs, I’d be remiss to not post Disney’s 1946 film THE STORY OF MENSTRUATION. The film is available on YouTube, something that was kindly pointed out on We-Make-Money-Not-Art.com. While not exactly a classic piece of animation, its kitsch value is unsurpassed.

UPDATE: Disney historian Jim Korkis wrote in with some interesting info about STORY OF MENSTRUATION. Here’s what he says:

Disney’s “The Story of Menstruation” was originally delivered to the International Cellu-Cotton Company on October 18, 1946. It has been estimated that the film has been seen by approximately ninety-three million American women. Neither sexuality nor reproduction is mentioned in this influential film, and an emphasis on sanitation makes it a more a hygienic crisis rather than a maturational event.

In fact the entire film is very quiet, subtle, formal and clinical. “Menstruation is just one routine step in a normal and natural cycle that is going on continuously in the body,” soothes the narrator while she reminds us that there is an accompanying free book available in case the information supplied by this film is so overwhelming that a viewer isn’t able to retain it all.

That booklet was entitled “Very Personally Yours” and was filled with promotional material for Kotex brand feminine products and included Disney artwork from this educational short. The 1947 edition has a cover that features a somewhat sophisticated female hand holding an engraved card that says “Very Personally Yours” with no hint what the contents might be. My copy (thanks to eBay) is approximately 5 by 7 inches, small enough to slip into a purse, with twenty pages of text. In the side margins are drawings from the film but interestingly, there is no Disney copyright in evidence anywhere in the book. The final text pages are very directly aimed at promoting a variety of Kotex products for feminine hygiene. Since the Disney film was run for at least two decades after its creation, the booklet was updated over the years and I don’t know how much of the Disney artwork remained in later editions.

I used to think the most bizarre Disney film was THE STORY OF MENSTRUATION. That was, until I saw VD ATTACK PLAN (1973), an educational short about that most Disney of subjects: venereal diseases. The film was directed by Nine Old Man, Les Clark, and animated by Charlie Downs, who manages to create some really interesting movement for a main character who has no arms or legs. Here’s a short article about the film. And you can watch the film below, in its entirety, courtesy of Google Video:

(Thanks, Benjamin Plouffe)

Just a quick note to follow-up on Jerry’s post below. Prior to the screening, there will be a private reception at the Egyptian Theatre from 4:30-5:30. If anybody wishes to mingle with the UPA veterans in a more intimate setting, you can attend the reception by RSVP’ing by this Saturday to Tee Bosustow: bosumedia [at] yahoo.com. The cost is $15 and can be paid at the door.

The Annecy International Animation Festival announced this week their film selections for the 2006 edition, which takes place June 5- 10. Two hundred and sixty films were selected for competition and panorama screenings out of 1732 films submitted. A complete list of selected films can be found HERE.