Animator and comic book artist Jack Bradbury passed away in 2004. Now his son Joel has launched a tribute website loaded with comic art and animation history. It’s a treasure trove of over 1300 pages of classic comics, odds and ends and a wealth biographical information, shedding new light on working as a freelance comic artist in the 1940s and 50s. I especially love the correspondence between Jack and various comic book editors, discussing the virtues of Hucky Duck, Pansy the Chimp and Angus McSnoot.

It was bound to happen. A reality show based on animators making an animated film.

7200 Frames is seeking independent animators from around the US with ideas for a short (five minute=7200 frames) animated film. The chosen films will be fully funded and the process will be documented on video from start to finish. According to their website:

The documentary series will be about the artists and the behind the scenes process of the creation of the animated films, so the submitting artist must be comfortable appearing on camera. The artists must be able to draw, animate and direct – as well as commit to a 4-6 week exclusive production schedule. Interviews will be held in Los Angeles and San Diego in Summer 2009. Applicants must be 18 or older.

Animators must submit portfolio or reel AND live footage of the artist describing his/her film idea. This live interview should be no longer than five minutes. All submissions are due by June 26, 2009.

Animators will be considered for this project during judging sessions that will take place during 2 days in LA and 2 days at the San Diego Comic Con (the producers have reserved a boat behind the Marriot for the judging).

For more information and a trailer, check the 7200 Frames website.

Sorry for the late notice. There is a sale today at Clars Auction Gallery that is offering several lots from the estate of Preston Blair. Among the material being offered is (click thumbnails below to see enlarged image): original art to pages of his essential Walter Foster Animation book, several autographed copies of the same, the storyboards for Journey Back To Oz, rare magazine articles on Red Hot Riding Hood, cels and production art from his commercial films, as well as this transparancy negative (pictured above, flipped to positive) for the rare original titles of Columbia’s 1930s Krazy Kat cartoons. If you act fast you may still be able to place a bid on some of these items. If not you can, like me, simply enjoy some of these images online.

(Thanks, Robert Forman)

The word genius is thrown around so loosely and frequently nowadays that it’s hard to discern who might actually be worthy of the distinction. David Daniels is, and his animation technique—Stratacut—is mind-boggling and beyond words. Yesterday, The Art of the Title Sequence posted an interview with David Daniels that is pure gold. In addition to the interview, there are hi-res examples of his animation, and most amazingly, a series of video demos documenting his Stratacut technique. Whether you’re already familiar with Daniels’ work or not, prepare to be blown away.

Funny, the things you find for sale on the Internet. Got a spare $2 million? If so, you can afford Max Fleischer’s house in Miami. From the seller’s listing:

Designed in 1936 by Albert Anis for Winter Residence of famous cartoonist, Max Fleischer, creator of Superman, Popeye and Betty Boop… John F. Kennedy once visited this house… it’s full of history.

Full of history? I’m wondering if the basement is filled with cels from Gulliver or Mr. Bug. Obviously the house has been renovated and not much of original is left - however the shelves in the kitchen do look like something Grampy might’ve installed. Click here and check it out.

Lou Romano emailed me to point out this amazing blog post he did about his work on UP. It’s got tons of development art, animated fx tests, and photos from research trips.

Animation writer Antony (Tony) Peters passed away this past Sunday in New York. He was a longtime Asifa-East board member and veteran animation story artist on several Rankin-Bass classics, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Willie McBean & His Magic Machine and Tales of the Wizard of Oz. He also wrote episodes of Rocket Robin Hood and Grantray-Lawrence’s Marvel Super Heroes cartoons of the 1960s. Since then, he produced dozens of industrial and commercial films out of his studio, Instant Miracles in New York. David Levy has posted a proper obit on the Asifa-East website.

I met Tony once about fifteen years ago in New York and told him I was a big fan one his work on the 1960s Paramount cartoons. We both agreed his best film was The Itch (1965) - he was quite proud of it, in fact. So was Howard Post, its director, who told me how he decided to tell the story with Ronald Searle-inspired art style - and how he convinced actress Hermione Gingold, appearing on Broadway at the time, to come in to record, uncredited, the part of the wife. It hasn’t been shown much at all, and is one of the best cartoons the studio ever made — so here in tribute to Tony Peters, is The Itch:

(Thanks, David Burd)

Check out this self-produced mini-doc by writer Matt Zoller Seitz about Peanuts director Bill Melendez — covering his artistic roots, his directorial style, and his influence on the films of Wes Anderson. The juxtaposition of Melendez’s art between Hitchcock’s and Kubrick’s presents a fresh and exciting way of looking at animation in a filmic context. Bonus points to Matt who writes in the YouTube comments that he used my book Cartoon Modern as a resource when preparing this film.