In two weeks, the Platform International Animation Festival will commence in Portland Oregon. Amid and I will both be there, and I urge you to attend as well. We’ve both been asked to host several panels and screenings, and we are happy to do it. I’ll even be a juror for the television animation competition.

The festival will have four venues with separate tracks of programming - all of it worthwhile. We will be posting several times in the next ten days about some the incredible events planned (or you can explore the programming grids now). First up, here are the two panels I’ll be moderating:

On Friday, June 29 from 2:30pm to 4 pm at Winningstad Theatre, I’ll be hosting a tribute to cartoonist extraordinaire Basil Wolverton. I’ll be discussing his influence on cartooning and animation with panelists Marv Newland, Kenny Scharf and Basil’s son, Monte Wolverton. Rare film and video will be screened.

On Saturday, June 30 from 4 pm to 5: 30pm at the Northwest Film Center: Whitsell Auditorium / Portland Art Museum, I will moderating a panel in tribute to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. We will taking a good look at some of the earliest of their TV cartoons and talking about what made them so much fun. Animator Ward Jenkins (Laika), exec Michael Ouweleen (Cartoon Network) and again, artist Kenny Scharf will join me to discuss their life and work.

For more info, visit PlatformFestival.com.

Andreas Deja is not only one of the best of the current generation of Disney animators, he’s one of the most passionate voices on the subject of drawn character animation and an enthusiastic spokesperson on the history of the art.

Andreas will be speaking at the Van Eaton Galleries Thursday June 21st, a benefit lecture for Asifa Hollywood’s Animation Archive. If you haven’t heard Andreas speak, you are in for a real treat. If you’ve ever been to the Van Eaton Gallery space in Sherman Oaks, you know seating is extremely limited. To purchase tickets and for more information, call 818-788-2357 or visit vegalleries.com

You read about it in Flip, and now you can see it in person. Thursday night, Jerry Beck and his 16mm projector are the opening act for Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys at the Steve Allen Theatre in Hollywood.

Janet and her boys play authentic 20s jazz music live, and I start the proceedings by providing about 45 minutes of vintage musical shorts and cartoons in glorious monophonic, non-digital 16mm movie projection. It’s a lot of fun - and if you’re in the area, I highly recommend you join the crowd. Janet and her band are pretty amazing! Here’s that fun clip again, of Janet teaching you how to play Tonight You Belong To Me on the Ukulele.

Thursday, June 7th, 8:00 pm
The Steve Allen Theatre
4773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
(West of Vermont, across from Barnsdale Park)
$15 323-666-4268 for reservations
More info at JanetKlein.com

Opening on Sunday, June 24, 2007, The Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons will fill the Allentown Art Museum’s Kress and Rodale galleries through September 16, 2007. This exhibit is an expanded version of the 1985 Museum of Modern Art retrospective, curated by Steve Schneider (author, That’s All Folks, The Art Of Warner Bros. Animation), consisting of over 150 drawings, paintings, cels, and animated films of Warner’s classic cartoons from the 1930s through 1960.

If you are anywhere near the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia area this summer, you gotta go. The exhibit’s opening will be celebrated with a public preview party on Saturday, June 23, 2007, from 6 to 8 PM. For more info, go to the museum website.

It’s less than two months away.

Tom Spurgeon has posted a definitive guide to attending the Comic-Con on his Comics Reporter blog. It’s a must-read if you are planning to attend.

See you there.

(picture via Old Man Musings)

I don’t normally endorse corporate animation contests, but the one my friend Rita Street has been co-producing (with Frederator, the fourth year in a row) for the Nicktoons Network is a fair, well run and ultimately, an entertaining showcase for animators working in all techniques and media.

The top prize is ten grand and nominees are telecast on the Nicktoon channel in August. The deadline to enter this year’s contest is next week (June 1st). Calling all filmmakers: Go to the website and check the rules and requirements.

The last surviving member of Disney’s Nine Old Men, Ollie Johnston, has moved to Oregon, and this past weekend, there was a quietly advertised estate sale at his La Canada home. I didn’t attend, but animator Mark Kausler (It’s the Cat) has a lengthy report on his blog (yes, he’s finally blogging!!) along with photos from the sale. DreamWorks animator Donnachada Daly also checked it out and shares a few of his purchases on his blog. Other folks on message boards—here and here—are also posting items they purchased.

Attention L.A. area artists. This one’s for you: on Saturday, June 9th, from 10 am to 1 pm, at Otis College of Art and Design on their campus near LAX, arts instructor Michael Dooley will moderate “Good Business is the Best Art: How to Succeed in Fine Art without Really Starving” with panelists Amy Kim Ganter, Camille Rose Garcia, Anthony Ausgang (art above), Coop, Mark Todd, and Esther Pearl Watson.

This three-hour presentation/discussion will cover a wide variety of art-related topics, including how they mix and blend their animation and cartooning work with their fine art careers.

Join these celebrated artists for three hours of revealing conversation, as they present their work, divulge behind-the-scenes secrets of their art entrepreneurship, and discuss artistic strategies for successful marketing and building name brand recognition. The artists will also be signing books and selling items immediately after the event.

Tickets are available online at ticketweb.com or call 866.468.3399.