Zurich29 is a Paris-based motion graphics studio founded in 2005 by Philippe Constantinesco and Dorian Gourg. They caught my attention with their latest piece, a visually striking three-minute spot for Amnesty International that encourages people to make their voices heard by signing petitions. The highest quality version of the commercial, titled “Ink”, can be found on Zurich29’s blog (be patient, it takes a moment to load). They’ve also been doing a lot of animated visual identity work for MTV France. The work can be viewed on their site Zurich29.com. It’s standard contemporary-looking mo-graph work, but tasteful and well done. There’s also an interview with the studio founders on Partfaliaz.

If you miss Eric Goldberg’s signing at the San Diego Comic Con Thursday Friday – at Stuart Ng’s booth (Booths #5012 and #5022) between 2-4 (and again Saturday 11-12 noon) – he’ll be signing his book one more time in Los Angeles. On Wednesday night, August 6th, between 7-9pm at the Samuel French Bookshop in Studio City, Eric will be autographing copies of his Character Animation Crash Course at an event hosted by the Creative Talent Network. Buy the book, meet Eric and shmooze with hotshot animation folk. Now you have two opportunities.

If you haven’t heard, Brooklyn-based publisher PictureBox is putting out some of the most innovative and interesting comic and art books nowadays, including the gorgeous two-volume retrospective of Gary Panter’s work. Next year, they’re releasing what is shaping up to be one of the must-have animation books of the year. And I’m not just saying this because I’m the editor of the project. This book is about one of the most influential figures in contemporary animation, and everybody involved is working hard to ensure that it turns out properly. If you want to hear more about the project, drop by the PictureBox booth (#1630) in San Diego and chat with publisher Dan Nadel. He’ll be glad to fill you in, and he may even have a few pieces of artwork from the book on display.

Rummaging through my archives last night, I came across this inter-office memo (click thumbnail below to see full size) distributed throughout Walt Disney studios on January 17th 1939:

Attention has been called to the rather gross language that is being used by some members of the IBT (Inbetween) Department in the presence of some of our female employees.

It has always been Walt’s hope that the studio could be a place where girls can be employed without fear of embarassment or humiliation. Your cooperation in this matter will be appreciated.

Leon Schlesinger died on Christmas Day, 1949. He sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944 and spent his last years in an executive job at the studio, the first one dedicated to merchandising the cartoon characters. While he wasn’t technically “Bugs Bunny’s Creator” (as his obituaries claimed) he was a significant figure in the creation of a dozen pop culture icons that will literally live forever.

His obituaries from the Los Angeles Times (below left) and Los Angeles Examiner (below right) are fitting tributes. Click on each thumbnail for larger images:

Disney exec Howard Green informs us that there will be an official Life Celebration for Ollie at the El Capitan Theatre on Tuesday evening August 19th. Please note that, though this is a free event, tickets are required. Leonard Maltin is hosting and participants will include John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Andy Gaskill, Roy Disney, John Musker, Ron Clements, Charles Solomon, the Johnston family, Jeanette and Ted Thomas, and Mark Kirkland, among others.

Thanks to the courtesy of Disney, Cartoon Brew is exclusively offering 100 readers the opportunity to attend this event in Hollywood. UPDATE: No more tickets! We’ve given away our allotment. I have posted a complete list of Brew reader names who will be on the list in the comments below. If your name isn’t on this list, we cannot guarantee your admittance to this event.

To answer the many inquires they received at the time, Warner Bros. produced a three page pamphlet, in comic strip style, to explain the production of animation cartoons. Clearly the work of a lower level assistant artist, the artwork isn’t so good, but the information in this 1956 handout is essentially accurate.

Click the thumbnails below to see the pages full size. According to this piece, Fifteen months and fifteen thousand drawings are required to create a Warner Bros. cartoon. Note the caricature of Eddie Selzer (the producer) in panel #1 and Beaky Buzzard in panel #7. Adding fuel to the ongoing script versus storyboard controversy, Bugs is shown typing a story in panel #2, while Daffy is sketching the storyboard in panel #3.

It’s the one year anniversary of Cartoon Dump, our monthly live comedy and cartoons showcase in Hollywood. As a special anniversary show treat, we will have two guest comedians performing within our show on Tuesday night: Maria Bamford (above left) and Blaine Capatch (above right). So this Tuesday, July 22 at 8 PM, please come along and join Maria, Blaine, Moodsy, Compost Brite, Officer Pete, Dumpster Diver Dan, Cue Card Goddess and me, Jerry Beck, for an evening of hilarious comedy, demented songs, and really, really crappy cartoons.

It’s at the Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Blvd. (two blocks west of Vermont). Map here, see you there!