A bit of a curious trend worth noting is the growing number of MySpace pages dedicated to legendary animation artists. While the pages are often tacky and annoying (just like so many other MySpace pages), it’s nice to see classic artists being remembered and introduced to new generations in such a contemporary tech-savvy setting. Below are the classic animators I’ve found on MySpace. Feel free to point out others in the comments.

Tex Avery
Chuck Jones
Ward Kimball
Bob Clampett
Tom Oreb
Freddy Moore
Disney/WB composer Carl Stalling (here and here)

Brewmaster Jerry Beck will be broadcasting again, live on Shokus Internet Radio today, Wednesday August 22nd from 4pm to 6pm Pacific time (that’s 7pm to 9pm for you in the Eastern Time Zone).

Stu Shostak and I will be discussing the Popeye DVD, Terrytoons, Harveytoons and upcoming DVD releases of classic animation. If you have a specific question you want answered, call in during the broadcast toll free (888) 746-5875. If you miss the show, it’ll be rerun for the next seven days at the same time. Tune in!

It’s rare to find a studio whose work truly excites like that of Amautalab, a young outfit based out of LA, Buenos Aires and Lima, and headed by Carlos Battilana, Martin Jalfen and Julian Montesano. They’re employing a wide range of animation techniques, and across the board their work has an incredibly fresh and funky aesthetic. A few of my favorite pieces: this stop-motion spot for Tokyo.Now about how Japan remade its image following WWII, super-lo-fi music vid for Anne Laplantine and a tripped-out CG/live combo for Resfest: Buenos Aires. Their stop-mo website Amautalab.com is a good bit of fun as well.

(via Motion Design blog)

August 1st, and like clockwork animator Steve Moore has produced another issue of his online animation magazine, Flip. Lots of great stuff, including Fred Cline writing about Lee and Mary Blair. Check it out here.

A quick plug for Stu’s Show, the internet radio program devoted to nostalgic pop culture. I’ll be on later this month (August 22) to discuss the recent classic cartoon DVD collections (and will answer your questions via listener phone calls). This week (tomorrow Wednesday August 1st 7-9pm East Coast/4pm-6pm West Coast) Stu interviews Eddie Carroll (pictured above at right, next to actor Alan Young, the voice of Uncle Scrooge). Carroll, best known for his tribute shows to Jack Benny, has been the voice of Jiminy Cricket since 1973.

The show is not archived so you’ll have to tune it tomorrow for the live show or tune in at the same time the next seven days if you want to hear a repeat broadcast. Stu’s show is great fun and very informative. Highly recommended.

In early-2005, I declared that 2004 had been the year of the animation blog. It was a good year no doubt, but the same could likely be said for every year since then. In fact, the animation blogging community has evolved in leaps and bounds since its nascent rise in ‘04. Today, the conversation on animation blogs is as vibrant and exciting as ever. What makes the community so dynamic is that it’s not just artists and critics posting random opinions, but actively engaging in back-and-forth conversations with one another.

To offer just one example, when Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi recently posted about his distaste for the stock designs of Disney villains, character designer Harald Siepermann responded with a lengthy post on his own blog that discussed his process for designing the villain Clayton in Tarzan. I can’t imagine a conversation between two such disparate artistic personalities happening prior to blogs but these types of spirited dialogues take place on an increasingly frequent basis nowadays.

Granted, it can be difficult to keep track of all these conversations or even know where to look to find such discourse. But there is no denying that it’s happening, and students and professionals alike now have a tool unlike any other to help develop and inspire their craft. How are we each taking advantage of the possibilities and what can we do to improve the animation blogging community?

Three good artist blogs you can’t go wrong with…

Alberto Mielgo is among those animation artists today whose work really excites me. He works in the London commercial scene, both on live-action and animated spots, such as this recent Guitar Hero piece. The kitchen illo above is a concept for a cereal commercial. He’s also working on a graphic novel called The Asparagus Seeker which looks stunning.

New York director/animator Pat Smith has launched a blog with the goal of giving people “a glimpse into the life of an independent animator in New York.” Pat’s one of those people who’s not afraid to speak his mind so I expect we’ll be seeing plenty of interesting entries from him. He has an eloquent opening missive in which he discusses his passion for the art form:

I love animation, but I’m not the biggest fan of the type of animation that is ingested in mass, supplied by the majors in this industry. I like animation to be a bit more personal, have some gravel in the gut and spit in the eye. On a technical level, I like to see animation with texture and soul. I never think about CG, don’t desire to work with those techno puppets. I like to draw, I like to create a real drawing with a pencil on paper. artwork that exists when the power is out, that exists as more than 1’s and 0’s. I like smudges, I like the bottom of my hand to get graphite on it.

I’m not sure why I’ve never written about David Gemmill’s blog because he certainly deserves a link. His voluminous “hipster studies” posted throughout his blog provide as accurate a portrait of contemporary LA types as anything I’ve seen. Plus he does story posts with lively sequential drawings (like this or this), as well as producing the occasional piece of Flash animation exclusively for his blog. Good stuff all around.

A few months ago, I posted about the “Women in Animation” symposium taking place in Columbus, Ohio. If you were unable to attend the event (and I assume that would be most Brew readers), Nick Burkard has posted the event’s lectures online as downloadable MP3s. I haven’t listened to any of them yet, but plan to do so. Among other things, there are roundtable discussions between all the guests, a lecture by British animator Joanna Quinn, and a talk by Rebecca Allen about pioneering computer animation. More details about the talks and presenters can be found on the event blog.