Hargrove Entertainment is currently soliciting films for the GW Bush Animation Festival. The selected shorts will be screened theatrically this fall as well as released onto DVD. According to the organizers: “It doesn’t matter if you’re pro-Bush or anti-Bush, we want to see your work. Toons will be chosen based on the quality of the work, not the political affiliation of the animator.” VHS and DVD screeners can be submitted to:
GW Bush Animation Festival
c/o Hargrove Entertainment Inc.
PO Box 750338
Forest Hills, NY 11375-0338

Frank Thomas, the second-to-last surviving member of Disney’s “Nine Old Men” group of supervising animators, passed away on September 8, three days after his ninety-second birthday.The following is excerpted from the official Disney announcement:

Frank Thomas, one of the most talented, inventive and influential animators in the history of the art form, a member of Walt Disney’s elite “Nine Old Men,” and a pioneering animator who worked on many classic shorts and features during his 43-year career at the Disney Studios, passed away on Wednesday (9/8) at his home in Flintridge, California. He was 92 years old. Thomas had been in declining health following a cerebral hemorrhage earlier this year.In addition to his achievements as an animator and directing animator, Thomas (in collaboration with his lifelong friend and colleague Ollie Johnston) authored four landmark books: Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, Too Funny for Words, Bambi: The Story and the Film, and The Disney Villain. Thomas and Johnston were also the title subjects of a heartfelt 1995 feature-length documentary entitled “Frank and Ollie,” written and directed by Frank’s son, Theodore (Ted) Thomas.In a career filled with milestones, Thomas’ remarkable animation included such indelible moments as the first date and spaghetti dinner in “Lady and the Tramp,” Thumper teaching Bambi how to ice-skate, Baloo the bear telling the man-cub Mowgli that he can’t stay in the jungle in “The Jungle Book,” Pinocchio trapped in the birdcage by the evil puppeteer Stromboli, the lovesick squirrel whose heart is broken in “Sword in the Stone,” Captain Hook playing the piano in “Peter Pan,” the dancing penguins in “Mary Poppins,” among others. He also animated several of Mickey Mouse’s most impressive scenes in such films as “The Pointer,” and “Brave Little Tailor.” Noted animation historian/author/filmmaker John Canemaker, described Thomas’ special talents in his book, Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men. “Thomas is particularly known and admired for his ability to animate emotionally sensitive material; the saddest scenes, the most romantic, most deeply felt sequences, the sincerest heart-tuggers usually found their way to his drawing board.” John Lasseter (head of creative for Pixar Animation Studios and director of the “Toy Story” films and “A Bug’s Life”) said, “Frank was a giant in our field and he meant everything to me and to all of us who love the art of animation. Besides being one of the key guys to help elevate animation from a novelty to an incredible art form, he was so generous in passing along his knowledge and experiences to the generations that followed. The books that he wrote with Ollie had a big impact on so many of us working in animation today. Frank was one of my main mentors and a tremendous influence on me. I feel very privileged to have known him.” Leonard Maltin, animation historian, film critic, and author, observed, “Frank helped to invent animation as an art form and took it to incredible new heights through his work at Disney over four and a half decades. He and his lifelong friend and colleague, Ollie Johnston, had a remarkable gift for explaining and articulating how they did what they did. That’s a rare quality in an artist. Even in his nineties, Frank retained a youthful spirit and indomitable sense of humor.”Thomas retired from animation in January, 1978. Over the next five years, Thomas and Johnston devoted full time to researching and writing the definitive book on their craft, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. The book distilled forty years of knowledge and experience into what many consider the finest book ever written about animation. Too Funny for Words was published six years later and explored the gags, humor and story elements that went into the features and shorts. Walt Disney’s Bambi: The Story and the Film (1990) told the behind the scenes story of the creation of one of the greatest animated films of all-time. Their final collaboration, The Disney Villain (1993), explored the richest and most colorful rogue’s gallery in film history.In addition to his career as a top animator, Thomas also expressed his musical talents as the piano player in the popular jazz group, The Firehouse Five Plus Two. Formed in 1940s, the group consisted of other Disney employees, and achieved success with their numerous Dixieland jazz recordings and personal appearances. They officially disbanded in 1971. In 1995, Thomas was the subject of a feature length documentary, “Frank and Ollie,” released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written, produced, and directed by Frank’s son, Theodore (Ted) Thomas, and produced by Ted’s wife, Kuniko Okubo, the film played film festivals around the world and received acclaim for its insightful look at the lives, careers and extraordinary friendship of the two legendary animators.No funeral is planned but details regarding a life celebration will be announced shortly. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made in Frank’s name to the Character Animation Program at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) in Santa Clarita, California.

I’m still hungover from two mind-blowing nights of classic cartoons with John K. at the Egyptian theatre. So while I recover, here’s an unrelated guest report from Brew reader Chris Sobieniak:

A couple days ago, I went off to mail some videos at the post office, afterwards, I decided to check out the Korean import mart close by to see what goodies they got this time, and I found a couple things of interest you might like to see…First off, is a package with a familiar figure on it, Popeye, pimping for Samyang Food’s own “Star Popeye Snack”! Though a typical non-spinich gig for our one-eyed sailor, he still gets to show it in his hand anyway (though the packaging mmicks a rather uncanny look of generic soda cups from the drive-in). More info on this (though in Korean) can be accessed hereAnd finally, a package of the Korean version of Frito-Lay’s “Chee-tos” (notice I still use the hyphen), produced by Orion Frito-Lay (a joint venture between a Korean confectionary and PepsiCo supposibly). Oddly, this version of Chee-tos isn’t the cheesy type we’ve come to know and love in the US, but now is barbacue flavored! Somehow I couldn’t get halfway through the bag before I threw the rest away (just don’t have a taste for it). Featured on the front of the package is none other than the recently released (and horridly adapted) “Astro Boy” character, with a freebie surprise inside (you don’t expect that anymore)! Not really a nifty item, looks to be some kind of spinner, though I kept thinking of it as the milkcap or “pogs” of a decade ago.

Artist/creator Seth MacFarlane speaking about the difficulty of creating new episodes of FAMILY GUY:

“I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh! We used up all the funny lines last week! What are we going to do?’ But that’s good. It pushes me to do better work.”

Poor guy. Now with the simultaneous production of FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD, he must be running out of funny lines twice as fast.

Very busy time for me this week.I’m hosting the John K. Classic Cartoon night, tonight, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Don’t miss your last chance to see the 35mm restored POPEYE MEETS SINDBAD print everyone (especially me) is raving about – also 35mm prints of THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ROBBERY (Daffy Duck), SOLID IVORY (Woody Woodpecker), BLIND DATE (Heckle & Jeckle, Jim Tyer), MINNIE’S YOO HOO (Mickey Mouse), and many others, with live commentary by John K. (and sometimes me). Don’t miss it – it starts at 8pm!Thursday night I’m the opening act, showing several musical shorts (and cartoons) at the Steve Allen Theatre in Los Feliz. This is an event for Janet Klein and her Parlour Boys who are having a CD release party at 8pm. Janet sings and plays 1920s jazz – she’s got quite a cult following in both Los Angeles and Japan. Her new album is called Living In Sin – and I recommend it (the album, that is). Check out her nifty website.

An IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW with John Kricfalusi has been posted at AWN where he talks about the films that he’ll be screening tonight and tomorrow evening at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.

Jaime J. Weinman is a fine writer who discusses cartoons intelligently on his blog Something Old, Nothing New alongside a variety of thoughtful posts about live-action sitcoms, musical theater and other avenues of American pop culture. I don’t always agree with him, especially when he sings the praises of witless Spielberg product like ANIMANIACS and PINKY & THE BRAIN, but he really hits the mark in one of his recent posts – “Why I Hate FAMILY GUY” – in which he offers ten well-reasoned arguments why Seth MacFarlane’s show is an abominable example of modern TV animation. Weinman however doesn’t mention the reward for such utter incompetence: a greenlight for Seth’s second Fox series, the currently in-production AMERICAN DAD. On to a less painful topic, be sure to read Jaime’s recent entry about Friz Freleng’s WB short LUMBER JERKS and why it was a better environmentally-themed cartoon than all the CAPTAIN PLANET episodes combined.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 (Part II)
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I know it’s going to be a crazy adventure. And a TON of work. My first day here I was up for 30.5 hours (a new personal record!). After my grueling plane ride I got two hours of sleep before I was driven to the studio, given a quick tour by Creative Consultant Mark Valenti, and plopped in front of a video monitor where I watched every episode of LAZYTOWN that had been produced to date. If you’ve seen the show you can imagine what kind of a sensory overload that was.

The studio is the type of creative madhouse those of you familiar with that sort of environment might imagine, but for various reasons it’s even more so. The place embodies the spirit of country, where the capricious climate has given birth to the phrase, “If you don’t like the weather in Iceland, wait five minutes and it will change.” The production is driven by a mercurial genius named Magnus Scheving, and he is, as far as I can tell, the personification of this unpredictable island. Magnus is such an incredible character that I’ll have to devote a separate entry just to describe his dynamic persona, and even then, words won’t do the man justice. He’s one of the most energetic and amusing fellows I’ve ever met, and sharp as a damn whip.

I can’t talk about Magnus without mentioning his co-star: Stefan Karl, who plays Robbie Rotten in the show. For those of you who know what I’m talking about, Stefan is the Icelandic version of Rob Paulsen. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, that means that he’s a very funny, very shmoozy, very ambitious actor. We get along famously. More on him later.

The final member of the live action cast is Julianna Rose Mauriello, a remarkable thirteen year-old who is absolutely incandescent on the screen. She’s a triple threat (singing, dancing and acting), and she’s also smarter than the average kid her age. Her mother, Kahlua O’Callahan, promises to be a breath of straightforward American air during future late night bull sessions. I look forward to them in smoky dark clubs with endless coffees.

I’ve met a lot of people in a (very long) day, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of my experience. A good writer leaves his audience wanting more, though, so I’m going to sign off for now. Tomorrow morning I’m going to take a walk and see what kind of place I’ve landed in. One more image follows, just to amuse and clarify the “Land of the Midnight Sun” concept. The picture below was taken at midnight, outside of the flat where I’m crashing.

One final, disconcerting thing: as I’m falling asleep tonight I keep hearing the voices of women, speaking fragments of trivial sentences in English, clear as a bell and right in my ear. When I wake with a start they stop. Is the place I’m staying haunted, or are the walls just thin?

Good night to all
Ken Pontac, Iceland

Gordan Calma has updated his POPEYE website with a work-in-progress gallery of vintage Fleischer POPEYE cartoon posters. Go here and enjoy!

I’m away this weekend attending the marathon screenings at the Egyptian Theatre (aka Cinecon), so I’ll have little time to blog the next few days.I wanted to quickly plug my local comics shop, GOLDEN APPLE, because they’ve got a few upcoming events I want you to know about. First off, on Saturday 9/11 at 3PM they are hosting a “Petition signing Party” for John K. and the Spumco Crew. Come down and add your voice to the plea to get Ren & Stimpy back on the air with new shows. Then on Saturday November 20th at 3pm, the IRON GIANT DVD SPECIAL EDITION release celebration and animation crew reunion:

A chance to meet and interact with over a dozen members of the creative team responsible for this milestone animated project. A reunion of the animators (and special guests) who conceived and created this much-loved movie. Autographs, lively Q&A and presentations, pre-production and test drawings, stories, surprises and lots more. Discussions will be moderated by Ramin Zahed, Editor of Animation Magazine who is co-sponsoring the Event. Admission to the Event is FREE with the purchase of the Special Edition DVD at any Golden Apple location. Pre orders will be available Oct. 1, 2004. Contact: Bill Liebowitz at Golden Apple (323) 658-6047 or billL@goldenapplecomics.com

Mark your calenders now.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004
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Holy Christ! I’m in Iceland!

The sun shines all the time here, and the hot water from the tap smells like a fart from a sourstomached old man who’s eaten too many pickled eggs. The signage is incomprehensible, people’s names are unpronounceable, and the money looks like panels from a comic book regaling tales of stern, bearded men wearing odd hats and holding ponderous tomes.

That being said, the weather is fabulous (that’ll change), the food is delicious (I’m gonna get fat), and the women are giant blond goddesses (I can’t touch ‘em).

How did I get to this strange place? What happened? Oh, yeah… the story’s starting to emerge from my sleep deprived brain.

A week ago I got a call from my pal, Mark Zaslove, who’s the Story Consultant for a series called LAZYTOWN. The show is being produced for Nick Jr., and can be seen on Nickelodeon weekdays at 10:30 and 11:00 AM. LAZYTOWN is described as “a fresh new television series designed to engage and motivate kids to make healthier choices in their everyday lives. The show is action-adventure on a small scale, encompassing movement, music, and comedy in an entertaining story.” A writing spot had just opened and Mark had thrown my name into the hat as a potential scribbler. He described the show to me and it sounded like a hoot. I told him I was interested.

After discussing the offer with my lovely wife Susan, we decided that it was worth biting the bullet and dealing with an extended separation. After all, how often do you get a chance to travel to Iceland? Resumes got sent, agents got called, and a week later my plane was setting down on a volcanic island on the top of the world!

This day isn’t over yet! To be continued…

We’re excited to announce the return of guest blogging here at Cartoon Brew. It’s a fairly straightforward concept. Jerry and I don’t want this site to become purely an outlet for our own thoughts and opinions, so we’re asking friends from around the animation biz to join us on the Brew and share their unique perspectives on cartoons and the industry. There’s some terrific folks who’ve agreed to contribute over the course of the next few months, including artists, historians and critics. Our first contributor this month is animation director Ken Pontac. Ken is the co-creator of the highly inventive and entertaining stop motion TV series BUMP IN THE NIGHT, among numerous other achievements. He will be treating us to a journal he kept from a couple months ago while working on a show in that hub of animation production known as Reykjavik, Iceland. Here’s a bit more about him:

Ken Pontac has over twenty years experience in the animation industry, creating content for television, video games, and computer applications. A few of the cultural icons he has been involved with include the enduring green clayboy Gumby, the irascible green monster Mr. Bumpy, and the transmogrifying green gladiator the Blob from the hit videogame CLAYFIGHTER. Pontac has written scripts for animated television episodes that have been translated into a dozen languages and shown around the world. He directed the UPN prime time animated program GARY & MIKE, for which his episode “Phish Phry” won an Emmy for Best Art Direction. Pontac lives in Sausalito, California with a beautiful redheaded nurse and five adorable rats.

If you happen to be wandering near Walt Disney’s hometown – Marceline, Missouri – on Saturday September 18th, you might stop in on the annual TOONFEST. Pixar’s Pete Docter (Monsters Inc.) will be there, as well as Michael Broggie, the Walt Disney railroad historian and family friend. Also appearing will be newspaper cartoonists Tom Wilson (Ziggy), Mike Peters (Mother Goose & Grimm), Greg Evans (Luann) and Brad Anderson (Marmaduke). It all starts 12:30pm at the Uptown Theatre, 104 N. Main St. USA, on the 18th. More information is posted here.

Oh boy, this is neat! A complete guide (with frame grabs) to all the classic cartoon clips used on the openings on FUTURAMA. Click on over to What Else? Futurama and enjoy!

Or certainly the most painful to watch.Richard Rich (The Swan Princess) is at it again. Hoping to cash in on the release of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST on dvd this week, Anchor Bay Video has produced this ANIMATED PASSION (“for the whole family”)! This could be the worst animated video since the child-friendly TITANIC animated musical I wrote about a few years ago. If watching the crucifixion in “bright colors and kid-friendly language” isn’t enough for you, the bonus materials include “sing-along activities”.At least the lead characters aren’t mice this time around.