ASIFA-Hollywood has announced its Call for Entries for this year’s 37th Annual Annie Awards.

Annie Awards will be presented in 25 categories including best animated feature, home entertainment, television production, television commercial, short subject, video game, as well as individual achievements. Entries can be submitted for consideration from productions released in the United States between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. The deadline to receive entries is Friday, October 16, 2009.

Some big changes to the voting rules have been instituted this year, most significantly that ASIFA-Hollywood members will vote only on the Production categories, and that a final election committee of animation professionals will determine the award recipients for all of the Individual Achievement categories.

This year’s ceremony will be held on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA. The updated ‘Rules and Categories’ list, entry forms and more information can be found online at www.annieawards.org.

Once again, a plug for my monthly comedy-and-cartoons craptacular: Cartoon Dump! MST3K’s Frank Conniff (TV’s Frank) and J. Elvis Weinstein (Dr. Erhardt & the original Tom Servo), Erica Doering and special guest star comedian/trickster Michael Rayner join me at the Steve Allen Theatre Tuesday September 22nd at 8pm. Comedy! Songs! Puppets! Magic! And God-awful cartoons from the wasteland of 50s and 60s Saturday morning television! Advanced tickets click here.

And on Friday September 25th, it’s Fleischer-palooza on Hollywood Boulevard! I’ll be introducing a double feature Max Fleischer’s two great animated features, Gulliver’s Travels (1939) and Mr. Bug Goes To Town (1941) at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Both will be presented in 35mm, with uncut IB Technicolor prints projected on the large screen, just as they were meant to be seen. And psssst! Surprise short subjects will be shown! More info here.

Too Art for TV, the annual exhibit of fine art by animation artists, returns to Brooklyn tonight for its 4th edition. Masterminded by Liz Artinian, the color supervisor on The Venture Bros., the show offers a solid line-up of animation artists displaying their personal art—most of them from the New York area, but from other parts of the world as well. Opening reception is from 6-9:30pm at Erebuni (158 Roebling St. Williamsburg, NY). The show will remain up through October 17.

Anyone who has been to the Shine Gallery at L.A.’s Farmer’s Market or has seen Shine’s collection showcased on the Walt Disney Treasures DVD know that Bernie Shine is one of the world’s biggest collectors of original Disney memorabilia.

Former LA County District Attorney Gil Garcetti has recruited Shine to host a party in his home for a very worthwhile charity, Wells Bring Hope. That’s Willie Ito’s art on the poster (above). Rarely does Shine allow anyone but his closest friends into his home see his entire collection. Please click this link for full details of a unique evening of cartoon fun for a good cause - a must for Disney fans who think they’ve seen it all. It’s happening on Friday October 16th at 7:00pm. If you are in L.A. that evening, it will be well-worth attending.

Tomorrow evening, ASIFA-East is presenting the panel Animation Development: From Pitch to Production. It’s moderated by David Levy, whose excellent new book of the same name was released last week. Panelists are Carl W. Adams (co-creator, Assy McGee), Janice Burgess (creator of The Backyardigans), Fran Krause (creator), Debra Solomon (creator) and yours truly. Frankly, I think the only reason I’m on the panel is because I think the pitching and development process nowadays is wasteful, misguided, and total BS. And now that I’ve made my position clear, I don’t think I even need to show up. The fun starts at 7pm in the 3rd floor theater of the School of Visual Arts (209 E. 23rd Street).

Forget D23.

A genuine animation expo is shaping up for this November in Burbank - and even Cartoon Brew will have a presence at the event. Tina Price (former Disney character designer and an animator herself) is putting together the CTN Expo at the Burbank Marriott Convention Center - conveniently located across the street from the Burbank Airport and an Amtrak Station - on Friday November 20th through Sunday, November 22nd.
My advice: Be there.

This may be the only place where you’ll be able to meet so many international animation industry professionals under one roof. Among those already committed to speak at this event: illustrator Peter de Sève, director Don Bluth, comics artist Mike Mignola, art director Andy Gaskill, character designer Harald Siepermann, Dreamworks animtors Dave Burgess and Jason Ryan, production designers Alex McDowell and Kathy Altieri and on and on. Some of the artist exhibitors will include Damon Bard, Brittney Lee, Ben Balistreri, David Colman, Robin Joseph and Kathy Zielinski.

Disney, Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, Digital Domain, Exodus Filmgroup and other companies will have recruiters there to look at portfolios. Cartoon Brew will host an artists-only VIP lounge area. There is much, much more to this event and we’ll be posting updates in the upcoming weeks. Consider this an advance head’s up.

Early bird tickets are $25 for the exhibit floor only, $50 for a day pass and $125 for a 3-day pass. Early bird deadline is Sept. 30, 2009. Discounted rates are available to students, active military and professional industry organizations. Space is strictly limited at this groundbreaking event. Click here for more information or to register or call (800) 604-2238 and mention the special member discount code (BeckX09) to obtain an extra 10% off any 1-day or 3-day professional/general passport.

Spark Animation ‘09 is taking place next week in Vancouver. I wasn’t blown away by the line-up for the event’s first year, but this second time around they’ve brought together an exciting and diverse group of industry bigshots including DreamWorks director Conrad Vernon, David Fine of Bob and Margaret fame, Blue Sky art director Michael Knapp, Pixar production designer Ricky Nierva, The Secret of Kells co-director Tomm Moore, and feature animators like Dave Burgess and Chris Wiliams. There are also discussion panels and film screenings including $9.99, Mary and Max, The Secret of Kells, and Azur and Asmar. The event is industry-centric—no surprise because it’s being put on by SIGGRAPH—but there is a definite need for an event like this on the West Coast, and Vancouver is a lovely place to host it. The schedule and single-ticket/full pass info can be found on the SIGGRAPH Vancouver website. If any reader wants to send some notes about how it goes next week, I’d be interested in hearing about it.

Join me at the Silent Movie Theatre on Tuesday (September 1st) for an entire orgy of 35mm Technicolor cartoons from the 30s, 40s and 50s. We’ve dug up a whole program of diverse classic cartoons with only one thing in common - each is a vintage film print struck in the original three strip Tech process.

Not to go all film geek on you, but this is going to be one helluva show, with Color Rhapsodies, Terrytoons and Noveltoons galore - projected as they were originally intended on the big screen. Forget digital, Technicolor was the cream-of-the-crop chemical film process which required three separate negatives to create its vivid images - and unlike other film stocks, the color never faded. Sadly, Technicolor’s dye-transfer process, used during the golden age of Hollywood, stopped due to costs in 1974.

Luckily, prints still exist - but they are getting scarce. Our big show starts at 8pm and advance tickets are on sale now. Check the CineFamily website for more information. Click the thumbnails below to see frame enlargements from a few of the actual prints we will be showing.