Last week at an animation screening in New York, the MC of the event, Bill Plympton, invited a member of the audience to take the stage and introduced him as a New York animation legend. The suspender-wearing pot-bellied gentleman looked about the farthest thing from a legend. I’d seen him at screenings before and never knew who he was, but I was certainly familiar with his famous work-in-progress animated film. It was none other than Michael Sullivan, who’s been working for over a decade on a stop-motion robot porno epic The Sex Life of Robots.

Michael has had a long career in animation, working on sets and puppets for projects like Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Joe’s Apartment, and Bear in the Big Blue House,, but it’s the exquisitely crafted robot porn that he’s been making in his apartment that has captured the most attention. Now he’s about to become a lot more famous thanks to a short documentary—Meaning of Robots—that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this week. The trailer is above, and it’s directed by Matt Lenski who describes it as such:

In the Spring of 2011, after years of hiring him to build miniature sets for my films I asked Mike Sullivan for his help on an art project – A doll-sized protest kit. During the process I got a peek into his world and discovered that it was anything but miniature.

What I found was a man dedicated, overwhelmed, slightly lost and happy to share it with honesty and a little humor. I also found thousands of Robots with wieners. This is a character exploration, a documentary, a Henry Darger-esque allegory set in one studio apartment on 27th street in New York City.

Sullivan has been profiled on multiple occasions in the past. Click after the jump for more videos about his animation work, with plenty of NSFW clips from his work-in-progress film.
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Looking for something to do after all the presents have been opened and all the parties are over? On Monday, December 26th at 2 & 7 pm, The Alex Film Society (of which I am a part of) will be presenting the 2nd annual Greatest Cartoons Ever event at The Alex Theatre in Glendale California (216 N. Brand Boulevard).

Each year we select eight great cartoon shorts from the golden age of animation, then project rare 35mm film prints (some of them in original Technicolor; all of the from the studio vaults) on the large Alex Theatre screen. Great characters, great films and an incredible movie-going experience. This year’s program includes:

Duck Amuck (Daffy Duck, 1953, Warner Bros.)
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Mouse (Tom & Jerry, 1947, MGM)
Mother Goose’s Birthday Party (Mighty Mouse, 1950, 20th Century Fox)
Popeye Meets Ali Baba (with Olive Oyl & Bluto, 1937, Paramount)
Gerald McBoing-Boing (1951, UPA, Columbia)
Lonesome Ghosts (Mickey, Donald & Goofy, 1937, Disney)
Woody Woodpecker (1941, Universal)
What’s Opera, Doc? (Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd, 1957, Warner Bros.)

Tickets on sale now online or at the box office. Hope to see you there!

The holidays are upon us – but that’s no excuse to stop watching cartoons on the big screen in Los Angeles! Ye olde Brewmaster (Jerry Beck) is involved in two theatrical animation events – one this weekend, the other next weekend – that will be a lot of fun to see and participate in.

Next weekend, the day after Christmas (Monday December 26th) the Alex Film Society will present the 2nd annual Greatest Cartoons Ever. Frank Gladstone and I will host this big screen event that presents some of the most acclaimed, beautifully realized and funniest animated films from Hollywood’s Golden Age on the huge screen of the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA.

All films screened will be 35mm vault prints (several in Technicolor) direct from the studios, and will feature Bugs Bunny, Popeye, Mickey Mouse, Tom & Jerry, Gerald McBoing Boing, Woody Woodpecker and Mighty Mouse among others (I’ll announce the specific titles in my reminder post next week – or you can sneak a peek here). If you love these films or characters you’ll really enjoy this experience. On-line tickets are available now for two shows, at 2pm and 7pm, and will also be available at the door – at the historic Alex Theatre, 216 North Brand Blvd. in Glendale. If you happen to be in Southern California for the holidays, join us there!

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As you know, I run an animation night each month at The Cinefamily (at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax). The Cinefamily is a non-profit organization of extreme film fanatics that run the greatest repertory cinema in Los Angeles. This weekend they are staging what they’re calling “The Craziest Thing We’ve Ever Done!”, Cinefamily’s Fantastic Elastic 24-hour Fundraiser Telethon.

This marathon event – which is FREE to attend and will be live streaming on the internet – will feature film screenings hosted by filmmaker Spike Jonze, actors Michael Cera and Benicio Del Toro, as well as on-stage interviews with actors Elliot Gould and Robert Forster. I will be screening semi-obscure Saturday Morning Cartoons on Sunday Morning sometime between 8am-11am (Pacific Time) on Sunday Dec. 18th, sharing the time with DJ Lance Rock (from Yo Gabba Gabba) and my hero, actor/puppeteer and classic kiddie show host, Chuck McCann! For more information, visit Cinefamily.org – and join me Sunday morning live or online.

The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, has announced the nominations for its 39th Annual Annie Awards, recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation.

The slate of nominations for Best Animated Features tops 10 this year and include: A Cat in Paris (Folimage), Arthur Christmas (Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations), Arrugas (Wrinkles) (Perro Verde Films, S.L.), Cars 2 (Pixar Animation Studios), Chico & Rita (Chico & Rita Distribution), Kung Fu Panda 2 (DreamWorks Animation), Puss In Boots (DreamWorks Animation), Rango (Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies), Rio (Blue Sky Studios) and The Adventures of Tintin (Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall). The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement goes to color stylist and background painter Walt Peregoy, animator Borge Ring and artist Ronald Searle; and the June Foray Award will be given to animator Art Leonardi for his “significant and charitable impact on the art and industry of animation”.

The 2011 Annie Award winners will be announced at the Annie Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 4th, 2012, at UCLA’s Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, CA. A pre-reception begins at 5:00 pm with the awards ceremony following at 7:00 pm. A post-show celebration immediately follows the ceremony. For ticket and event information, please visit annieawards.org.

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

#1 – Best Animated Feature

A Cat in Paris – Folimage
Arrugas (Wrinkles) – Perro Verde Films, S.L.
Arthur Christmas – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Cars 2 – Pixar Animation Studios
Chico & Rita – Chico & Rita Distribution Limited
Kung Fu Panda 2 – DreamWorks Animation
Puss In Boots – DreamWorks Animation
Rango – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies; A Blind Wink/GK Films Production
Rio – Blue Sky Studios
The Adventures of Tintin – Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall

#2 – Annie Award for Best Animated Special Production

Adventure Time: Thank You – Cartoon Network Studios
Batman: Year One – Warner Bros. Animation
Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas – Blue Sky Studios
Kung Fu Panda – Secrets of the Masters – DreamWorks Animation
Prey 2 –Blur Studio
Star Tours – Industrial Light & Magic

# 3 – Best Animated Short Subject
Adam and Dog – Lodge Films
I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat – Warner Bros. Animation
La Luna – Pixar Animation Studios
(Notes on) Biology – Ornana Films
Paths of Hate – Platige Image
Sunday – National Film Board of Canada
The Ballad of Nessie –Walt Disney Animation Studios
The Girl and the Fox – Base14
Wild Life – National Film Board of Canada and Studio GDS

Complete list of nominees follows the jump.
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The Cinefamily’s Animation Breakdown festival (co-sponsored by Cartoon Brew) – going on right now in L.A. at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax – has turned out to be a huge success. Sunday brings Animation Block Party’s Brunch with animators (including Adventure Time’s Tom Herpich premiering the new AT short Thank You, creator Steve Dildarian (The Life and Times of Tim), and a sneak peek of Titmouse’s new Disney show Motorcity), a screening of mind-blowing Polish animated children’s films, and clay-animation genius Bruce Bickford in person.

Tuesday night at 8pm I will be presenting a special program of rare Walt Disney silent films. Direct from The Museum of Modern Art, I’ll be showing brand-new 35mm restorations of previously “lost” Disney Laugh-O-Gram cartoons (his very first series of animated shorts, produced in Kansas City during 1922). These include Jack The Giant Killer, Goldie Locks and The Three Bears, The Four Musicians of Bremen and Little Red Riding Hood. In addition to these early updates/parodies of classic fairy tales, we also have Disney’s original Puss In Boots (1922) and several other 35mm rareties: two of Disney’s live action/animation “Alice Comedies”, one of the rarest “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit” cartoons ever made, and live musical accompaniment to all the films.

Several of these shorts were thought lost for many years, and thanks to animation archaeologists David Gerstein and Cole Johnson, MoMA restored several of these cartoons they had long held in their archives, previously misidentified under alternate titles. For more background information on the discovery of these incredible finds, check David Gerstein’s blog; Tickets to the Laugh-O-Grams screening are available here. Disney fans – this is a must-see!

Cartoon Brew at Animation Breakdown, currently going on this week at The Cinefamily, is incredibly proud to present a special advance screening of Pixar’s newest Oscar ’short-listed’ short film La Luna, a full six months before it hits the mainstream movie audiences! After the screening there will be a Q&A and a “Making of La Luna” presentation by its director, Enrico Casarosa. Casarosa will discuss the journey that led him to create the short and illustrate the roots, influences, and inspirations that led him to tell this very personal story. Join us at 2pm on Saturday (12/3) – Advance tickets available now.

Tweety made the cut! So did Pixar, William Joyce, Wendy Tilby and the NFB. Here’s the official short-list of the ten qualified animated shorts that will be whittled down to five final nominees for this year’s Academy Award. Congratulations – and best of luck – to all!

A Morning Stroll by Grant Orchard (Studio AKA)
Read Cartoon Brew’s post about A Morning Stroll.

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Dimanche / Sunday by Patrick Doyon (NFB)

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I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat by Matt O’Callaghan (Warner Bros.)

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La Luna by Enrico Casarosa (Pixar)
Read Cartoon Brew’s coverage of La Luna.

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Luminaris by Juan Pablo Zaramella (JPZaramella Studios)
Read Cartoon Brew’s coverage of Juan Pablo Zaramella.

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Paths of Hate by Damien Nenow (Platige Image) Poland
Read Cartoon Brew’s post about Paths of Hate.

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Specky Four-Eyes by Jean Claude Rozec (Vivement Lundi)

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The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg (Moonbot Studios)
Read Cartoon Brew’s post about The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

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The Magic Piano by Martin Clapp (BreakThru Films) Poland

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Wild Life by Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby (NFB)
Read Cartoon Brew’s post about Wild Life.

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting in screenings held in New York and Los Angeles. Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in January 2012.

Cartoon Brew is co-presenting Animation Breakdown at the Cinefamily this weekend. It kicks off Thursday night with Don Hertzfeldt in person with his brand new short (first two screenings sold out – but a 12:35am show has just been added). Tomorrow night is an opening reception for the gallery show at Synchronicity Space being done in conjunction with the fest – it’s also how we’re kicking the whole thing off. The show features artwork from animators, including Bruce Bickford (in his first L.A. gallery appearance), Adam Beckett, Andy Ristaino (of Adventure Time), Jim Tozzi (of Xavier: Renegade Angel), David O’Reilly, Amy Lockhart and more. So join us at Synchronicity Space (713 N. Heliotrope, LA, CA, 90029) Wednesday, November 30th for our opening night reception!

Clay-animation madman Bruce Bickford will also be on hand Sunday night (12/4) at 8:30 to present, in person, a rare evening of shorts, experiments, and brand-new works highlighting his vastly underseen and equally remarkable hand-drawn animation — plus, the world premiere of Bickford’s finally-finished, twenty-plus-years-in-the-making magnum opus Cas’l. A trailer for Bickford’s show is above.