First off: In case you haven’t bought your tickets yet – the CTN Expo is two and a half weeks away. What are you waiting for? This is our “Comic Con” and it is going to sell out. Anyone who’s attended the previous CTN shows know that this event is the closest thing we have to an animation artist and creators convention in the United States – and its a helluva lot of fun. (That’s Peter De Seve above, addressing the appreciative crowd in 2009).

This year’s CTNX is set for November 18-20, and organizer Tina Price is planning bigger and better panels, seminars and exhibits. Like what? Like this:

On stage interviews with Oscar Grillo, Bill Plympton, Eric Goldberg, Andreas Deja, Florian Satzinger, and Carlos Grangel; Panels and special events including a “one on one” with French graphic novel artist Régis Loisel moderated by Christophe Lautrette (Dreamwoks); sneak preview of Aardman’s latest feature Arthur Christmas; a creature creators panel with Terryl Whitlatch, William Stout, Greg Baldwin and David Thomas Guertin; and a seminar on DIY Self Publishing with David Colman, Sean “Cheeks” Galloway and Stephen Silver.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s over 150 planned sessions, a sold-out exhibit floor, book signings, gallery shows, live demonstrations, sneak peak screenings, networking at night …and, of course, The Cartoon Brew Over-Flow Lounge (a place to hang in case you can’t get into your favorite panel – or just wanna grab a drink!). I’ll be there. I’ll be in the exhibit room. I’ll be moderating panels.

You’ve been warned… Register Now (Cartoon Brew discount code: CBREWX11). For even more info on the CTN Expo, click here. See you there.

Creators of Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing, United Productions of America (UPA) was the most significant animation studio of the 1950s. Ushering in a whole new way of making cartoons, combining modern art with slapstick comedy, UPA challenged the way Disney made toons and dominated the Academy Awards during that decade. There’s no doubt of their inspiration on international and independent animators for decades to come.

Charles Solomon (who did a great job hosting the Mary Blair tribute last night at the Academy) recorded an audio editorial championing UPA that will run on L.A.’s public radio station KPCC (89.3 FM), Off Ramp, Saturday at noon and Sunday at 7pm. Solomon points out that a current local art show cooperative – Pacific Standard Time, which celebrates southern California’s contributions to pop culture – omits the UPA studio’s significant influence on art and animation. KPCC has just posted his piece online, in advance of its broadcast: Download or listen to stream here.

Meanwhile, I will be doing my part by mounting a tribute to UPA at my next Animation Tuesday screening, on Tuesday November 1st at 8pm. I will be introducing rare 35mm prints of the studio’s undeniable classics on the big screen — including their acclaimed adaptation Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, Oscar winner When Magoo Flew (in wide screen CinemaScope), and rarely shown The Jaywalker, Willie The Kid and Fudget’s Budget and more — along with a selection of rare commercials, industrial films and TV films not seen in public for over 50 years. More info and tickets: click here.

On Monday October 24th Cartoon Brewmaster Jerry Beck will once again be hosting Cartoon Dump, his monthly live comedy and worst cartoons showcase, in Hollywood. Join him, Frank Conniff (MST3K), Erica Doering and special guest comedian Andy Kindler for their our annual Halloween special. There’s nothing spookier than Mighty Mr. Titan… except maybe Moodsy, the Clinically Depressed Owl, Compost Brite, and Dumpster Diver Dan.

Join them Monday (10/24) at 8 PM, for an evening of hilarious comedy, demented songs, and really, really crappy cartoons. It’s again at the Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Blvd. (two blocks west of Vermont). Map here, see you there!

Tonight in Manhattan: a FREE retrospective screening of work produced by J. J. Sedelmaier Productions. Among the projects that’ll be screened are episodes of “The Ambiguously Gay Duo” from Saturday Night Live and “Tek Jansen” from The Colbert Report, as well as animation from The Daily Show and the Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law pilot.

The outdoor screening, projected onto a beautiful HD-format LED screen, begins at 7pm at 851 6th Avenue (between 29th and 30th St., behind the Eventi Hotel). The screening is part of the Big Screen Plaza, where Cartoon Brew had a screening earlier this month too. There’s a fancy food court and bar connected to the screening area so come hungry!

This one is for New Yorkers: “Infinite Jest” is an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of caricature and satire through the ages. It sounds like a great introduction to early cartoonists, and features all the heavyweights including Rowlandson, Gillray, Daumier and Goya. The show runs through March 4, 2012. The video preview and description below should whet your appetite:

The exhibition explores caricature and satire in its many forms from the Italian Renaissance to the present, drawn primarily from the rich collection of this material in the Museum’s Department of Drawings and Prints. The show includes drawings and prints by Leonardo da Vinci, Eugène Delacroix, Francisco de Goya, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Enrique Chagoya alongside works by artists more often associated with humor, such as James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson, Honoré Daumier, Al Hirschfeld, and David Levine. Many of these engaging caricatures and satires have never been exhibited and are little known except to specialists.

In its purest form, caricature—from the Italian carico and caricare, “to load” and “to exaggerate”—distorts human physical characteristics and can be combined with various kinds of satire to convey personal, social, or political meaning. Although caricature has probably existed since artists began to draw (ancient examples are known), the form took shape in Europe when Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of grotesque heads were copied by followers and distributed as prints.

Tonight at 7pm in midtown Manhattan: a FREE outdoor screening of all the films in this year’s Cartoon Brew’s Student Animation Festival. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, there’s an indoor cafe where you can watch animation in comfort. Location is 851 6th Avenue (between 29th and 30th St., behind the Eventi Hotel).

SEE YOU THERE!

For the fourth year in a row, Brewmaster Jerry Beck will be programming a selection of strange and creepy Halloween related animated cartoons on the big screen at the Cinefamily/Silent Movie Theatre in Hollywood. Using rare 35mm and 16mm film prints that range from ghoulishly red Eastmancolor or gorgeously garish Technicolor! We will also be running a small selection of creepy, fantastic independent films, including Marv Newland’s Sing Beast Sing (1980) and Ian Emes’ The Beard (1978). Be prepared, foolish mortals! This years’ Cartoon Monster Mash will screen next Tuesday, October 4th at 8pm. Milton the Monster, Casper, and all the famous monsters of filmland will be here. For more information and to order advance tickets, click here.

The term “surrealism” is frequently overused nowadays (for starters, the whole “pop surrealism” movement), but it is a perfectly suitable term for describing the dreamlike, stream of conscious paintings of Austin, Texas-based artist Dax Norman. He’s having a show tonight, from 5-8pm in San Francisco at Gallery Four Forty Four (444 Post Street). Yesterday, he was animating live at the gallery because he also happens to be an animator who does mind-bending pieces like this:

Back in 2008, his CG student film The Last Temptation of Crust was one of the earliest shorts we featured on Cartoon Brew TV. For more info about tonight’s gallery show, go to Gallery444.com.