Brew reader “George” has just informed me of the publication of a Presto! Little Golden Book. With art by Teddy Newton, George says “it’s obviously fantastic!” If it’s as good as all previous Pixar Little Golden Books, I’m sold. It’s available on amazon here.

Stop-motion legend Ray Harryhausen doesn’t animate much himself nowadays, but he has a new production banner “Ray Harryhausen Presents” designed to promote talented filmmakers. The first short made under this banner, an adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum, was completed a couple years ago and will be released onto DVD this week. The film was directed by stop-motion veteran Marc Lougee, who has also directed episodes of MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch and the BBC/Discovery series Dinosapien.

The DVD release also includes behind-the-scenes video depicting the production of the film, storyboards and concept art gallery, and interviews with director Lougee, writer Matt Taylor, composer Philip Stanger, and animator Mike Weiss.

The DVD will debut this week at the Festival of Fear in Toronto (booth #1216). For more info about the film including how to order the DVD, visit the film’s official website. There’s also a ‘making of’ article at CGSociety.org.

There’s no use even attempting to explain this 1979 Russian animated short—A Very Blue Beard (below in two parts). Just enjoy it…or be afraid of it.

Meet Doctor Finklestar: Space Urologist. Sophisticated humor this is not, but it does deliver the funny. It’s from C.H. Greenblatt, creator of the upcoming CN series CHOWDER which looks rather promising.

Here’s a recent AWN interview where a Disney exec producer explains his credentials that qualify him to work in the animation industry:

As exec producer of Disney’s newest animated shows for tweens, what exactly do you do? How is an exec producer different from a producer?

JT: As the exec producer I am the “show runner.” The ultimate responsibility for all creative decisions rests with me. Having said that, my background is comedy writing, so my style is to delegate a lot. Heather Martinez, my director, who is a great artist, is in charge of most “art decisions.” I only weigh in on what I feel are the most crucial ones and I concentrate more on writing, acting and editing.

How long have you been interested in animation? You originally came to Los Angeles with the goal of becoming a lawyer. At what time did that switch for you and how did you transition into animation?

JT: Actually, I came to L.A. as a stand-up comedian. I had quit the law to do comedy. My transition to animation was pretty abrupt. I had been writing for American Movie Classics and Fox Sports when Steve Marmel suggested I freelance a script for the Fairly Oddparents. (He was the story editor.) I wrote a script in February and in June, I was a staff writer.

If you’ve ever wondered why mainstream studio cartoons are so intolerably awful, just ask the former lawyer and stand-up comic who’s responsible for all the artistic decisions on a Disney TV series. There’s hundreds of people like him in this business; it’s just that most of them don’t go on the record talking about their lack of knowledge about the art form. Then again, a lot of them do go on the record. To better understand how they’re collectively screwing the animation industry, be sure to read John Kricfalusi’s fearlessly honest blog post “Crackpot Executive Beliefs.”

Tomorrow afternoon, Saturday February 3rd, the Animation Guild, ASIFA-Hollywood and Women In Animation will present an AFTERNOON OF REMEMBRANCE, the annual memorial to honor those in the animation community who passed away in 2006. This year tributes will be paid to Joe Barbera, Ed Benedict, Brad Case, Chris Hayward, Norm McCabe, Sid Raymond, Joe Simon, Alex Toth, Myron Waldman, Robert “Tiger” West and Berny Wolf, among many others. This event happens at the Hollywood Heritage Museum (Lasky-DeMille Barn) at 2100 N. Highland Ave., across from the Hollywood Bowl. Doors open for food and refreshments at 1 pm, Memorials begin at 2 pm. The Afternoon is free of charge and is open to all; no RSVP necessary.

One of the pleasures of my monthly cartoon screening gig with Janet Klein at the Steve Allen Theatre (first Thursday of every month at 8pm, next one on March 1st) is meeting many actors, comedians, artists and animators who attend each month to bask in 1920s-30s movies and music nirvana. Last night I met Noir Nouar, an illustrator and painter just finishing a stint on Nickelodeon’s Catscratch. Nouar has her own following as a fine artist and painter, and a website full of fun artwork. I love this piece (above) inspired by the Betty Boop cartoon MORE PEP - or at least by a line in Sammy Timburg’s song in that cartoon.

Brew readers with a keen eye and a vast knowledge of Disney TV and movies, here’s a question for you. These cels (above) were recently acquired by self-admitted animation addict Rob Richards, House Organist at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre (If you’ve been to the El Cap, chances are you’ve heard Rob. He’s played over 4000 performances since the organ debuted in 1999). These are Disneyland Art Corner setups. Rob is completely stumped. I don’t know what they are either - but I suspect they are from a Wonderful World of Color episode.UPDATE: Rudy Agresta and Darrell Van Citters wrote in to identify the cels, both will get a free copy of Rob’s El Capitan Theatre CD, Mighty Wurlitzer! Darrell says:

Those cels were from a project done for Latin America. All I can with certainty is that John Lounsbery animated the opening stuff up to the point where the pigs become the Disney version of the Three Pigs. I saw the scenes in the old morgue (as we called it). The drawings are awesome - I loved them so much I photocopied some of them. There’s even some of the Big Bad Wolf. They were done with lots of blue colored pencil under-drawing and the extremes were tied down quite loosely, along the same lines as John’s drawings of the Colonel in 101 Dalmatians. The sheets indicated that the tracks were in Spanish so I don’t think it was ever shown here. If someone on the inside wants to do more research or get better quality scans, the production number is 5954, Los Tres Cochinitos.

Rudy adds:

The cels in question on your site are from the film titled Cri-Cri el Grillito Cantor (Chi-Chi, the Singing Cricket). This was a Spanish made live action film that the producer (Carlos Amadour, S.A.) made in 1963. The Disney studio was contracted to produce the animated segment. This was left in the capable hands of Bill Justice and X. Atencio. It featured the 3 Little Pigs, their mother and the wolf.

Lino Corio, a Brew reader in Mexico adds this:

The movie is a biopic of Francisco Gabilondo Soler, a Mexican that wrote dozens of songs intended for children. However, his music was not simple… it is the kind of music that both children and adults can enjoy: funny, touching and, sometimes, very sad. One of his most popular songs is called “Cochinitos Dormilones” (Sleeping Pigs) and is some sort of lullaby that talks about the three little pigs going to bed and what kind of dreams they have (one dreams of becoming a king, another one dreams of sailing on a boat and the third one dreams of helping his mom). When the movie was made, Disney animated the song and then, some extra stuff was added… like the three little pigs breaking a piñata.

Rudy also tells us that Didier Ghez posted the sequence on You Tube back on November. Click here for the poster. Thanks to all who’ve responded.