10 Comments »   posted in Cartoon Culture, Barack Obama, Bill O'Reilly, Jimmy Kimmel

Tweet Share on Tumblr

If Al Hirschfeld’s $5 million Manhattan townhouse was too rich for your blood, then you probably won’t want to hear about Jim Henson’s Manhattan townhouse, at 117 E. 69th St, which is listed for sale at around $28 million. Of course, when Henson purchased the 12,000 square foot space in 1977, he paid only $600,000 for it.

For several years, the building housed “a significant portion of the New York workshop,” according to the book Jim Henson: The Works. The workshop was “installed in a bright, airy basement area that opened onto a sunny courtyard and was illuminated by an enormous skylight projecting from the rear of the main building. It was there that you would find Calista Hendrickson decorating a gown for Miss Piggy with bugle beads. It was there that you would come across Leslee Asch restoring classic Muppet figures for a traveling museum show. It was there that you would encounter Faz Fazakas tinkering with electrodes and transistors.”

The Henson family sold the building in 2005 for $12.4 million. Since then, it’s been owned by wealthy, unimaginative financiers like Brian Brille, a Bank of America executive, and most recently, Edgar Bronfman Jr., CEO of Warner Music Group and Seagram liquor heir. According to the WSJ, Bronfman doesn’t even live in the building and rents an apartment when he’s staying in New York. The paper reports that Bronfman is “preparing to list the townhouse…at a time when sales of elite townhouse properties are showing renewed vigor after falling hard during the downturn.” It’s hard to understand exactly what ‘falling hard’ means considering that the home’s sale price has more than doubled in the past five years.

Below are a couple more photos of the building’s interior circa the Henson years. Sadly, the energy and magic of Manhattan is largely inaccessible nowadays to artists like Henson, and without those artists, the island’s unique vibe is fading away, no doubt to make room for more condos to house the rich and unimaginative. Thankfully, there’s always Brooklyn.

25 Comments »   posted in Cartoon Culture, Jim Henson, Real Estate

Tweet Share on Tumblr

Van Eaton Galleries planning Cartoon Auction

February 6, 2011 10:45 pm

Prepare to geek-out. Mike Van Eaton is co-producing a major animation art auction in Los Angeles on Saturday May 14th. The auction is a joint venture between Van Eaton Galleries and Profiles In History and will contain rare animation related items, including production art, Disneyana, Movie Posters, Hostorical Documents, etc. Mike says:

“I honestly dont think there has been a major LIVE animation art auction in at least 15 years. It will be held here in Los Angeles, with live bidding as well as bidding on the internet, etc. Let your readers know that we are still accepting consignments, at least till the end of the week, and then we will start to build the catalog.”

So, if you have anything incredible you want to auction off, send a note and a jpeg to VEGALLERY-at-aol.com. In the meantime, Mike is sending me sneak-peeks of art and other things already accepted for the auction – and has allowed me to share them on the Brew. First up, a few of the incredible vintage posters from Disney (above) and Ub Iwerks, Mutt & Jeff, Scrappy and Dinky Doodle. View the gallery after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments »   posted in Cartoon Culture, auction, Van Eaton Galleries

Tweet Share on Tumblr

Dad of “Simpsons” Creator Matt Groening Was a Filmmaker Too

February 6, 2011 11:44 am

Basic Brown Basic Blue (1969) is a recently unearthed short film directed by Homer Groening, the father of Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons. Here’s the description from The Academic Film Archive of North America which posted the film onto Archive.org:

Ever wonder how Matt Groening of ‘The Simpsons’ got his quirky sense of humor? Probably from his filmmaker dad, Homer Groening, who passed away in 1996. Although known for his documentaries, Homer Groening directed and narrated this film, ostensibly about color, but filled with an ongoing series of bikini-clad bathing beauties. The film is perhaps best viewed as a graphic artifact that will interest media historians seeking additional insight into the elements that influenced the cartoonist.

Prior to this, I knew nothing of Groening’s father. This obituary fills in some fascinating details about his life. There’s a certain sense of relief in learning that Groening’s father was nothing like the famous cartoon character named after him, but who would have expected a guy who sounds as calm and reserved as Mister Rogers? Well, at least the real Homer loved doughnuts, too.

This is what Homer Groening looked like in 1973, a few years after this film was made.
Read the rest of this entry »

9 Comments »   posted in Cartoon Culture, Homer Groening, Matt Groening, The Simpsons

Tweet Share on Tumblr

Guillermo and Jeffrey Like Each Other So Far

February 4, 2011 10:29 am

Last night at the Lakers game, Guillermo del Toro hung out with Jeffrey Katzenberg. I guess this can be taken as a sign that the animated projects Guillermo is developing at DreamWorks are moving along smoothly.

Another pic of them together after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

22 Comments »   posted in Cartoon Culture, Guillermo del Toro, Jeffrey Katzenberg

Tweet Share on Tumblr

Buy Al Hirschfeld’s Pink Manhattan Townhouse

February 3, 2011 10:42 am

If you missed purchasing Mary Blair’s house and Ward Kimball’s house, don’t fret. The Wall Street Journal reports that caricaturist Al Hirschfeld’s garishly pink Upper East Side townhouse is currently on the market for $5.3 million. He lived and worked in the home, which formerly housed workmen from a nearby brewery, from 1947 through his death in 2003. He credited his ability to purchase the home to the success of a book he illustrated—S.J. Perelman’s Westward Ha! Or Around the World in 80 Clichés. More details about the 4,160 square feet home on the WSJ website.

Animator and director Eric Goldberg has long been inspired by Hirschfeld’s style, and based the “Rhapsody in Blue” sequence from Fantasia 2000 on his work:

23 Comments »   posted in Cartoon Culture, Al Hirschfeld, Real Estate

Tweet Share on Tumblr

“UP” cake

January 23, 2011 4:00 am

We haven’t featured a post about cartoon cake in several months, so this is long overdue. Submitted for you approval, this clever “Up Cake” which was featured on GirlyBubble a while back. Apparently Pixar’s Up has inspired dessert chefs as much as it’s inspired the animation community.

And if this doesn’t make you hungry, check out these delicious Up Cupcakes!

(Thanks, Bill Perry)

4 Comments »   posted in Cartoon Culture, Up

Tweet Share on Tumblr

Japanese Kids Love SpongeBob

January 21, 2011 12:27 pm

I’ve got the proof:

(via Maorinette)

49 Comments »   posted in Cartoon Culture, Japan, SpongeBob Squarepants

Tweet Share on Tumblr

• Page 10 of 50
• <
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13
• 14
• 15
• 16
• 17
• 18
• 19
• 20
• 21
• 22
• 23
• 24
• 25
• 26
• 27
• 28
• 29
• 30
• 31
• 32
• 33
• 34
• 35
• 36
• 37
• 38
• 39
• 40
• 41
• 42
• 43
• 44
• 45
• 46
• 47
• 48
• 49
• 50
• >