One week after giving his blog a nice plug, Jason Anders interviewed me on his Fulle Circle Productions website. Even if you’ve already read everything about me posted online, I’m sure I say something new in Jason’s interview.
Toy designer Mike Mozart of JeepersMedia has posted a series of You Tube videos examining the current crop of of cartoon related toys and products. He’s a bit obnoxious, but his observations are sometimes quite funny. Take this one about Talkin’ Bobbin’ Mickey:
And don’t miss his review of the Dora The Explorer Aqua Pet.
(Thanks, Matthew Hunter)
Today on Cartoon Brew TV: Will eating a hamburger give AIDS to a schoolboy? It’s the funny and thought-provoking film From Burger It Came (2008) directed by Dominic Bisignano. Watch From Burger It Came on Cartoon Brew TV.
Attention New Yorkers! This Saturday, November 1st, master film collector Serge Bromberg returns to the Big Apple, and will present rare prints of animated shorts that he has discovered and restored, accompanying them with anecdotes and piano music, in a program created especially for the French Institute Alliance Francaise. Bromberg, the Annecy Animation Festival creative director and archivist behind Lobster Films, is one of the great champions of classic animation, silent films and world cinema. I highly recommend attending this screening to meet and greet Serge in person.
Some program highlights will include:
• Fantasmagorie, Emile Cohl, which first screened in France 100 years ago.
• Cartoon Factory (Koko the Clown) by Dave and Max Fleischer, 1924.
• The Sinking of the Lusitania, Winsor McCay, 1918.
• Egged On, Charley Bowers and H.L. Muller, 1926.
• Tulips Shall Grow, A George Pal Puppetoon, 1942.
• and more!
This special screening will be held at Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, New York, NY at 7pm. Admission: $10 ($7 for Students with ID). For more information please go to the French Institute Alliance Francaise (fiaf) website.
Fred Seibert has posted 30 (of 39) of the title cards for his new series of Random Cartoons. The show, starting December 6th on Nicktoons Network, contains new shorts by Bill Plympton, Doug TenNapel, Pen Ward, John Dilworth, Pat Ventura among others – including my very own Hornswiggle cartoon. Check out the title card gallery here.
In case you were wondering “Whatever happened to Klasky-Csupo?” — Here’s your answer:
This trailer says Immigrants (L.A. Dolce Vita) opens next week, but I think that’s the Hungarian release date. The film still has no U.S. distributor that I’m aware of, but it will screen at the American Film Market in Santa Monica on November 5th and 6th.
(Thanks, Lev Polyakov)
As many of you know, every month (on the fourth Tuesday evening) I co-produce a comedy/cartoon show, Cartoon Dump, at the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood. If you are in the area, this month will be a great one to drop in on. It’s our annual Halloween show and our “treat” is special comedy guest is Patton Oswalt (see Update below). The “trick” is a bunch of really horrible cartoons like Mighty Mr. Titan, Super President and an appearence by a certain friendly ghost.
UPDATE: Due to a changed shooting schedule, Patton Oswalt will not be in tonight’s Cartoon Dump show. Patton sends his regrets and promises to return in a future Cartoon Dump show. Filling in for Patton tonight will be a comedian so awesome that he can only be described right now as “Special Surprise Guest!
Join us this Tuesday, October 28th, at 8pm. The Steve Allen Theater is located at 4773 Hollywood Blvd (two blocks west of Vermont Ave.). You can buy advanced tickets here!
The 2008 AFI Fest starts on Friday (Oct. 31st) and runs through November 9th at several venues (but mainly at the Arclight Hollywood) in Los Angeles. There are several animation events of interest – all of them highly recommended.
On November 4th and 5th, there is a screening of Adults Only Cartoon Shorts which includes Mike Roush’s The Hidden Life of the Burrowing Owl (pictured above), Clemens Kolger’s CuteCuteCute and various episodes of Signe Baumane’s Teat Beat of Sex.
Bill Plympton will be here in person November 5th and 6th showing his latest feature Idiots and Angels; there will a retrospective showing of Yellow Submarine at the Cinerama Dome (on November 5th), and premiere screenings of Waltz With Bashir (on Nov. 1st and 7th).
I’m also intrigued by the documentary Imaginadores which explores the history of Argentinean comic books with new animation of some of the country’s classic comic characters. Check the trailer here. It’s being screened on November 5th and 6th.
This almost escaped our notice… but not quite! Disney has quietly opened Roadside Romeo today (we posted the trailer back in May). It’s “Absolutely ‘howl’arious!” says the India Times in a four-star review.
Should you wish to see this flick, it’s playing at the NAZ 8 Cinemas in Artesia, with English subtitles. The theatre is located at 6440 E. South Street, in Lakewood, CA. It’s playing all week at 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 and 11:00pm.
Move over Wall•E – Roadside Romeo is now qualifed for for an Oscar nomination!
It’s hard to avoid political humor during campaign season – especially in these last days of the presidential race. Animator and caricaturist Andrew Arnold has been doing some very funny – and very unique – stuff on his HeadAState.com website. In the interest of fairness, here’s his latest animated political cartoon that highlights Senator McCain:
Target Women is a recurring segment on infoMania, a weekly television show on Al Gore’s Current TV cable channel. In each episode, Sarah Haskins takes a look at the ridiculous ways the media reaches out to women.
Since May, Jason Anders has been interviewing some the best artists working in animation on his Fulle Circle Productions blog. Bookmark this one. He’s just posted a chat with Bob Camp, and Bob was nice enough to recall the crazy days (circa 1989-90) when he shared an office space with me, John K. and Carl Macek. Imagine that! (Strange, but true – Lynne Naylor and Jim Smith were also crammed in there with us). Check out the interview here. And check out Camp’s own blog, loaded with his amazing artwork.
There’s suddenly a flurry of last minute 2008 theatrical releases of animated features. Check out these two I’ve just added to the checklist:
Fear(s) of the Dark, which we mentioned here back in February ’06 and October ’07 is finally receiving an art house release through IFC Films. It’ll play for one week at the Nuart Theatre in West L.A. begining October 31st.
Freestyle Releasing has announced a Dec. 12 release date for its computer-animated fantasy movie Delgo. We first mentioned this film back in December ’07. A new trailer has been posted online.
Could we possibly hit the magic number needed (15) in order to nominate five animated films for Academy Award consideration?
The Girls have announced that Michelle Valigura’s solo show, Creation Mutation will open at M Modern Gallery in Palm Springs this Saturday, October 25th. In addition to her one of a kind sculptures Michelle will offer for sale a limited edition metal figure. You can see the proto now on Vinyl Pulse.
Hey Laaady…
We usually have a problem when Hollywood takes a classic animated property and creates a CG update. I’m not sure what to make of The Weinstein Company’s new Nutty Professor direct-to-DVD CG animated feature (on sale November 25th from Genius Products) but it features the voice and participation of Jerry Lewis himself, recreating his iconic role as Julius Kelp!
Drake Bell (Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh) is cast as his grandson Harold. The plot goes like this:
When Harold gets his hands on the recipe for his grandfather’s secret elixir, he creates a potion that drastically transforms his personality to be more confident and suave. Unfortunately his alter ego is also obnoxious and destructive. Much like his grandfather before him, Harold must face his insecurities and fears while learning to believe in himself without the help of any special concoctions.
I love Jerry Lewis (heck, I even enjoy Drake Bell) so I’m hoping its a decent film. Maybe they’ll send me a review copy (hint, hint)?
