"Daffy's Rhapsody" talkback
"The Snow Queen" trailer
"Arrietty" Will Be Ghibli's Biggest US Release Yet
Ricky Garduno, RIP
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TAG FOR “Cartoon Culture”Cartoon Brew's home for up-to-the-minute, unedited announcements and press releases direct from industry sources.
September 18, 2008 12:05 am
We may have a Felix Chevrolet dealer in Southern California, but Ben at the Japanese Nostalgic Car blog reports on a new chain of Speed Racer themed gas stations in Japan. Here’s the Official Web Site. (Thanks, Doran Gaston) 4 Comments » posted in Anime, Cartoon Culture 
September 15, 2008 8:30 am
Cynthia Petrovic of Red Tango spotted this package (above) in a local supermarket: Maybe I’m just getting more perverted in my old age, but I could not resist this packaging by Vons, who has it’s own “eating right” selection of foods, and they are now enlisting Warner Brothers characters to help hock the goods. What stopped me in my tracks was this insane pic of Daffy, coated gleefully in pudding, having a gay old time. What pudding has to do with eating well I don’t know, but the image of Daffy reveling in being splattered with goop on the front of a food product certainly made my day! These products, exclusive to Safeway, Vons and Pavilions supermarkets, are part of an initiative announced several months ago by Warner Bros. to begin linking their characters to healthier food choices for kids. For more information on this, here’s an intereview (below) with Brad Globe, President of Warner’s Consumer Products, shot earlier this year at the Licensing Expo in New York. 9 Comments » posted in Cartoon Culture
September 12, 2008 10:18 pm
Just how bad is Sarah Palin’s candidacy for vice-president? It’s like a really bad Disney movie. I’ve replayed Matt Damon’s Disney comment a dozen times and I’m still laughing. It comes at about 40 seconds into the video clip. 143 Comments » posted in Cartoon Culture, Disney
September 10, 2008 10:30 am
To commemorate the 100th birthday of composer Raymond Scott (1908-1994), the folks at his official website, RaymondScott.com, have commissioned one of my favorite caricaturists, Drew Friedman, to create a limted edition portrait of Scott and his Quintette. Scott is, of course, best known for his jazz compositions (such as Powerhouse) which were heard in numereous Warner Bros. cartoons, George Pal Puppetoons, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Animaniacs and other cartoon series. Scott was a band leader, composer, inventor and electronic music pioneer. Though he personally never wrote music for cartoons, his compositions work perfectly in the medium – and continue to do so today. For more information on Raymond Scott click here. 6 Comments » posted in Cartoon Culture
September 10, 2008 12:05 am
Anyone been to the post office lately? Anyone still use snail mail? The postage stamps have gotten a lot better — even if I have no one to mail a letter to I couldn’t resist some of these new commemoratives. This one (above) devoted to Latin Jazz, with the distinctive artwork of Michael Bartalos, really caught my eye. Bartalos’ art is best known (to me) for Nickelodeon and Nick-at-Nite promotional materials, but here it evokes a cool Jim Flora feel. I also stocked up on the new Art of Disney Imagination set which includes this neat Steamboat Willie, and the Vintage Black Cinema set with several attractive old movie posters. These are pretty nice – too nice to use only for paying my cable and internet bills.
8 Comments » posted in Cartoon Culture
September 5, 2008 12:00 pm
Jon Stewart made a very funny comparison of some of our current politicians to a pair of cartoon favorites on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show this week. You Tube pulled down the clip we had embed. You can catch the video over at TheDailyShow.com (John McCain: The Person He Is). Skip ahead to the three-minute mark. (Thanks Aaron H. Bynum) 46 Comments » posted in Cartoon Culture
September 3, 2008 4:00 pm
 Bill Melendez, the Mexican-born American character animator, film director, and film producer, best known for his animation for Warner Bros, UPA and the Peanuts specials and feature films, has passed away. In 1938, Melendez was hired by Walt Disney to work on animated short films and feature-length films such as Bambi, Fantasia and Dumbo. Three years later, he joined Leon Schlesinger’s team at Warner Bros. studios, where, as a member of the Bob Clampett and Art Davis units, he animated on a number of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck shorts. Among the classic Warner Bros. shorts he animated on are Book Revue, The Great Piggy Bank Robbery, Baby Bottleneck, and The Big Snooze. UPA put him on their payroll in 1948 to work on many television commercials, as well as the Gerald McBoing Boing and Madeline shorts. After a decade working on commercial and industrial films at studios like John Sutherland Productions and Playhouse Pictures, Melendez founded his own production company in 1964. Bill Melendez Productions helped produce the annually broadcast Christmas special A Charlie Brown Christmas, for which he won an Emmy Award and the George Foster Peabody Award despite having to work on short notice and with a tight budget. Melendez has gone on to do over 75 half-hour Peanuts specials, including the 1989 miniseries, all with partner Lee Mendelson. In 1979, he directed a made-for-TV animated version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
An 8-minute interview with Melendez posted on YouTube: 63 Comments » posted in Animators, Cartoon Culture
September 3, 2008 1:01 pm
British department store Harvey Nichols has concocted a brilliant advertising campaign starring Wallace and Gromit. It heralds the company’s expansion into Bristol, England, the hometown of Aardman Animations. The typically casual Wallace now sports Alexander McQueen and Paul Smith suits, Dolce and Gabbana shirt and Giorgio Armani tie, while the undressed Gromit is decked out in a Paul Smith scarf and Ray-Bans. Wallace’s love interest, Lady Campanula Tottington, also appears in the print ads. The Daily Mail has an article including a nice “making of” video with Nick Park and company explaining how the ads were photographed. Kudos to Aardman for understanding their characters, and making tasteful and witty choices about how they license their characters for advertising. Compare this to the utterly clueless dopes at Warner Bros. who recently licensed Bugs Bunny to advertise ketchup. The quizzical expression on Bugs’ face says it all. |
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