In a “clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon“, a court in Naples sent a summons to Tweety, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck ordering them to appear Friday at a copyright infringement trial. This AP story made my day.

Just when you thought the era of ugly Popeye merchandise was over…

In a universe of bad ideas, we may have winner! Or this may be genius. You decide. Limited edition rubber duck incarnations of famous people and cartoon characters called Celebriducks. This is the brainstorm of entrepreneur Craig Wolfe, and his product is now showing up at retail outlets like Virgin Megastore, and even at Disney World.

Check out the animated characters including Betty Boop, Pink Panther and Felix The Cat. Even more outrageous are the movie stars (The Lone Ranger, Mae West and Mr. T) and religious figures - which includes rubber duck versions of Moses, Satan and Jesus Christ!

(Thanks, Steve Moore)

Bill Stewart of Frantic Films posted a precious family heirloom on flickr: Treasure Chest’s Hobby Craft - Points on Cartooning and How To Draw Funny Pictures by George Carlson (Jingle Jangle Comics).

(Thanks, Bill Stewart)

They say one picture is worth a thousand words. This one is worth fifty bucks - on ebay. Click here to view at full size.

Our buddy Oscar Grillo (above) writes about his latest exhibit of drawings and paintings inspired by a certain spinach eating sailor-man. Drawing The Sailor was part of Animacor ‘07, an international animation festival in Cordoba, Spain held last week. Grillo has posted a photo report on his blog.

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Click on this image at right to see a full-size newspaper ad from March 16th 1934 (a Friday), promoting the the first-run release of George White’s Scandals. This Fox film shared the bill with the latest Paramount Popeye cartoon, The Man On the Flying Trapeze, which was released the same day. This rare original newspaper ad demonstrates that block booking was not always in practice during the golden age - that a cartoon from one studio could (and often did) play with a feature from another studio.

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While we’re at it, here’s one more plug for Bob Jaques’ excellent new blog which studies the great Popeye animators from the Fleischer era. He’s updating it regularly and posting a lot of good information - go here often: Popeye Animator ID.

Bernie Shine is one of the biggest private collectors of classic American animation memoribilia. You can see a small part of Bernie’s Disney collection on the DVD Mickey Mouse In Black and White Volume 2 (Disc one, on the bonus segment Mickey Mania: Collecting Mickey Merchandise).

In addition to his cartoon collection, Bernie has a fascination with novelty products from the early-mid 20th century. He’s collected thousands of unique items from dusty warehouses, closed factories and old stores, in mint condition and never used. For years he’s been selling off some of his excess items on his website.

He’s just opened a cool new retail store at the Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles. It’s located along the Third Avenue side, next door to Pinkberry. It’s an absolute must-visit destination for any cartoon buff or pop culture historian. One of the unique items I picked up on my first visit there last night was this ornate Popeye coaster (above, click it for a larger look) for $3. (He’s got dozens of them!)

If you are in L.A. or planning a visit, do check out the new Shine Gallery at the Farmer’s Market. It’ll be well worth your time, and Bernie himself is frequently there at the shop to answer questions. In addition to Shine’s complete line of authentic novelties, the store (and his website) has incredible one of a kind merchandise for sale (check out this Flip The Frog figurine).

“Bazooka Joe is my new Mickey Mouse.” - Michael Eisner

Story at USA Today, analysis at Mayerson on Animation.

(via The Beat)

The You Thought We Wouldn’t Notice blog noticed this. An LA-based limited edition “lifestyle brand” company, The Hundreds, is ripping off the character of Holli Would from Ralph Bakshi’s Cool World for part of their upcoming winter collection. (The image above is on their site only on the initial screen if you refresh a few times.)