Today on Cartoon Brew TV we’re offering an exclusive excerpt from an animated feature that we’ve praised frequently over the past year: Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues. The film, which won the best feature prize at Annecy as well as a special mention at the Berlin Film Festival, is an exquisitely assembled mix of Indian mythology, contemporary heartbreak and 1920s American jazz. Watch the Sita Sings the Blues excerpt only on Cartoon Brew TV.

We’re pleased to report that last weekend the Cartoon Brew community on Facebook surpassed 1500 members. Thanks to everybody who has joined. It’s big fun being able to finally put faces to our readers. We’ll try to use our Facebook group more in 2009. We tried a ticket giveaway on there last year which worked out well so expect more giveaways and contests this year. It’s also a fine place to share your animated projects with the Cartoon Brew community. In fact, we’ve picked up at least a couple news items for the Brew from tidbits that people have posted on the Facebook group. Or use it as a forum to start discussions about animation topics that aren’t covered on this site.

Cartoon Brew TV is back from the holidays and we’re ready for action—19th century style! This week’s offering, Love on the Line (2008) by G. Melissa Graziano, offers the tale of a pair of star-crossed lovers who yearn to communicate with one another in a time before texting, IMing and the Internet. A combination of stop-motion cutouts and 2D computer animation, the short was made at the UCLA Animation Workshop and has won multiple awards since. Watch Love on the Line only on Cartoon Brew TV.

Our Christmas present to you: episode 15 of Cartoon Brew TV. Jerry Beck is back this week with a brand-new commentary edition of “Brew Vaults.” He takes a look at a rare episode of A Few Quick Facts. This cartoon was originally shown to servicemen during World War II as part of the Army/Navy Screen Magazine, a newsreel program produced under the supervision of director Frank Capra. This three-part episode honors the Navy’s latest battleships; praises the American soldier’s brain; and explains the cost and care of a G.I’s shoes. Jerry is joined on the commentary by animator and historian Mark Kausler. Head on over to hear Jerry and Mark’s thoughts about A Few Quick Facts only on Cartoon Brew TV!

We’re a few days late with the new episode of Cartoon Brew TV but this week’s film is worth the wait. Like Me, Only Better by Martin Pickles is a film we’ve been seeing at animation festivals all year long and it makes us laugh each and every time. We’re delighted that Martin is doing the online premiere of the film here on the Brew. Watch Like Me, Only Better on Cartoon Brew TV.

It’s our 13th episode and we’ve got Adventures in Broccoli, a 2008 Pratt graduation film created by Dan Mountain. It’s a surreal mindtrip of a film that follows the adventures of a boy who wakes up in a broccoli world where anything can happen. Watch Adventures in Broccoli on Cartoon Brew TV.

On a sidenote, we have also re-uploaded an earlier Brew TV short The Shoebox that fixes the encoding problems which were affecting picture quality.

Jerry Beck is back with a brand-new commentary edition of “Brew Vaults.” This week he takes a look at three vintage trailers for old-school anime features—Jack and the Beanstalk, Princess Knight and Little Prince and the 8-Headed Dragon. Head on over to hear Jerry’s thoughts on vintage anime only on Cartoon Brew TV!

Today we offer The Shoebox (de Kijkdoos), a 2006 Dutch graduation film from the animation team of Joost van den Bosch and Erik Verkerk. In this dialogue-less short, a real-life girl experiencing difficulties at the hairdresser finds a solution by watching an unconventional retelling of “Rapunzel” that takes places in a shoebox. Watch Shoebox on Cartoon Brew TV.