The 2008 AFI Fest starts on Friday (Oct. 31st) and runs through November 9th at several venues (but mainly at the Arclight Hollywood) in Los Angeles. There are several animation events of interest - all of them highly recommended.

On November 4th and 5th, there is a screening of Adults Only Cartoon Shorts which includes Mike Roush’s The Hidden Life of the Burrowing Owl (pictured above), Clemens Kolger’s CuteCuteCute and various episodes of Signe Baumane’s Teat Beat of Sex.

Bill Plympton will be here in person November 5th and 6th showing his latest feature Idiots and Angels; there will a retrospective showing of Yellow Submarine at the Cinerama Dome (on November 5th), and premiere screenings of Waltz With Bashir (on Nov. 1st and 7th).

I’m also intrigued by the documentary Imaginadores which explores the history of Argentinean comic books with new animation of some of the country’s classic comic characters. Check the trailer here. It’s being screened on November 5th and 6th.

If you’re in Norway this week, I hope to see you at the Fredrikstad Animation Festival, which takes place this Wednesday through Sunday. Among the events at the festival is a day-long seminar on Friday, October 24, entitled “American Masters of Animation: American Animation from Disney to PES.”

At the seminar, Andreas Deja will be talking about Disney’s Nine Old Men and PES will offer a masterclass on his approach to directing stop-motion animation. They’ve also wrangled me into being part of the program, and while I don’t exactly qualify as a master in anything (unless you ask my mom, in which case I’m a master in everything), I’ll be doing a lecture about the works of Fifties design masters like Bobe Cannon, Ward Kimball, Tom Oreb, Ed Benedict and John Hubley. Even more exciting, I’ll be interviewing Gene Deitch, an honest-to-goodness animation legend, live on-stage.

I’m going to pick Gene’s brain about everything he’s done, from creating the classic TV series Tom Terrific…

…to making mind-bendingly trippy political allegories like The Giants…

…and who knows, maybe we’ll even talk about these:

In other words, this Friday will be damn awesome if you’re in Norway! There are also plenty of other fine screenings and presentations planned throughout the week. See you in Fredrikstad!

(PS - If Brew readers have any suggestions for things to see in Oslo and Fredrikstad, please drop a line in the comments.)

Take your pick: yours truly, Jerry Beck, will appear on stage, on screen and in print tomorrow, Tuesday October 21st.

In Print: Tuesday is the official publication date for my latest book - a tie-in to Dreamworks latest box office blockbuster, The Art of MADAGASCAR: Back 2 Africa. As usual with these books, the behind the scenes art - pre-viz material in pencil, ink, and conceptual paintings - is incredibly gorgeous. Craig Kellman was the chief character designer and the book is loaded with his sketches and paintings. Whatever your opinion of the Madagascar films, this art is worthy of collecting and keeping in book form - and I’m proud to have been a part of it.

On Screen: I appear both on screen and in voice-over on the indispensable Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6. Over 60 restored, digitally remastered Warner Bros. cartoons from the golden age of animation. A Mel Blanc documentary, Christmas Party blooper reels, and uncut World War Two era cartoons including Russian Rhapsody, The Ducktators and Herr Meets Mare. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, The Three Bears, The Goofy Gophers, Tweety, Sylvester, The Road Runner and Coyote. Here are 28 reasons to buy it today!

On Stage: Live and in person Tuesday night at 8pm I’ll be screening a selection of strange and creepy Halloween related animated cartoons at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood. The vintage prints will be in 16mm and 35mm and special guest animators will show their films and discuss their ghastly influences. To buy tickets for this Animated Spook-tacular - click here.

This Saturday and Sunday, Julian’s Auctions is having a Bob Hope estate sale in Beverly Hills, California.

A friend of mine who once interviewed Hope asked him if he’d ever seen DC’s Bob Hope comic books. Hope replied he had — and that he saved every issue. It was in his contract to have copies of each issue sent to him as published. (I wonder what he thought of Super Hip?). Alas, those rare personal copies are not among the voluminous material being offered. Can you imagine owning Hope’s personal bound volumes of those beauties?

The only “cartoon” stuff in the catalogue (which can be viewed completely online) are some caricatures by Mort Walker, Milton Caniff, Russell Patterson and others (click on thumbnail below to see this lot). No Techincolor prints of any of the Paramount cartoons he was parodied in (like Popeye’s 20th Anniversary, pictured above), nor any autographed Frank Tashlin scripts. Oh well… thanks for the memories, Bob.

The Canterbury Animation Festival ‘08 has several seminars and exhibitions running now through the end of the month. Run Wrake (Rabbit) will speak on October 30th. On November 1st, the festival has a full day of activities including lectures by Barry Purves and Aardman Animation, as well as a competition screening and a Bob Godfrey retrospective. An exhibition on the birth of cartoons for British television will run through December 13th at the Sidney Cooper Gallery. If you are in the UK, check it out.

(Thanks, Jim Walker)

Gene Deitch will be the Guest of Honor at the 3rd annual San Francisco International Animation Festival (SFIAF), a four-day event from November 13th through 16th at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema.

Deitch will discuss his career in animation and show highlights of his work on Saturday morning Nov. 15th at 10:30am. Another highlight of the festival is the opening night event, Sita Sings The Blues Thursday, November 13 at 6:45 pm, with Nina Paley in person.

On Friday and Saturday, the festival will screen The Best of Annecy 2008 and several other retrospectives including a screening and discussion with Bay Area animation collective Encyclopedia Pictura. Bill Plympton will be there in person with his latest feature, Idiots and Angels and there will be an advance screening of Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir.

Go! Get the ticket information online or call (925) 866-9559.

Prankster/graffiti artist Banksy opened the Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill in NYC yesterday. The tiny storefront installation, which is his first show in NY, runs through October 31. An article in the UK Independent offers more details about the show, including this statement from the artist: “I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing.”

Though the only animation-related piece is the “aged Tweety” animatronic (picture above), the entire show should strike a chord with anybody who loves animation. The animatronics (including chicken nuggets, hot dogs, fish sticks, a make-up applying rabbit and a horny monkey) move in funny and unexpected ways that bring to mind an animator’s eye for detail. It’s also worth noting that the mechanics and the fabrication of the animatronics are top-notch Hollywood quality. (During my visit, I overheard from an insider that a large team of modelmakers and technicians was employed in producing the animatronics).

It’s located at 89 7th Avenue (between West 4th and Bleeker) in Greenwich Village. If you can’t make it, videos of the animatronics can be seen on the show’s website.

In conjunction with the release of the new book, The Alchemy of Animation, Woodbury University and ASIFA-Hollywood will hold a book signing and panel discussion hosted by author/producer Don Hahn. The panel will include several of the best animators working today, including James Baxter (Beauty and the Beast, Enchanted), Mike Belzer (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Bolt) and Nik Ranieri (Hercules, The Princess and the Frog). They plan to share their insights into process of making animated films across a variety of mediums - traditional, computer and stop-motion animation.

Monday, October 20, 2008, 7:00 p.m
Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium
Woodbury University
7500 Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91510

Proceeds from the sale of books at this event to benefit the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. To RSVP please email alchemy@asifa-hollywood.org. The deadline to RSVP is October 17, 2008.