Here’s some interesting news that I hadn’t heard before. Nickelodeon Animation is giving up their Burbank studio at 231 W. Olive Avenue. Sale price: $19.5 million. This is the studio where they’ve produced most of their recent shows including SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT, THE X’S, and AVATAR. Nick will continue leasing the space until January 2008, but after that, they’re moving to an as-yet unannounced location and the company that owns the building (apparently not Viacom) has put it on the market.

The Burbank studio has been in operation only since spring 1998. The building was originally priced at $20.5 million, but it’s been reduced by $1 million, according to the website for Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services. The studio specs and sale offer can be found in this downloadable PDF. What isn’t clear yet is the exact reason for the move, though it’s reasonable to assume they’re leaving because they need a larger pad. As it is, Nick is currently leasing several other buildings in the Burbank area to house their entire staff. If anybody has more details, let us know. And remember, if you work in the studio, it’s never too early to begin dismantling the building fixtures and starting your own Nick studio memorabilia collection.

Update: I’ve received a couple emails that imply that Nick isn’t leaving the building, but that ownership of it is changing hands. For example, one reader writes:

In re-reading the Nick Building sale information, I conclude this offer doesn’t mean NICKELODEON is giving up the space. It seems the owner of the building (apparently NOT Nickelodeon or Viacom) is selling it and touting the fact that Nick has a long term lease. The property may change hands (ownership) and maybe Viacom will buy it. They can afford it. I’m surprised they didn’t own it to begin with. So the offer to sell the building, in theory, does not mean Nick is going anywhere.

Another person writes:

Here’s my best guess. I don’t believe that Nickelodeon or Viacom ever OWNED the building, they just had a 10 year lease (until 2007 or 08). Probably it’s the owner that’s selling it, ALONG WITH THE NICKTOONS LEASE. No change afoot.”

To continue what we started in the “Animation Blog Season” post, here’s a handful more animation artist blogs that I’ve been enjoying recently. Also, a quick note: please bear in mind that, though I’d very much like to, it’s impossible for me to list every new animation blog out there.

Uwe Heidschoetter has a rather unpronouncable name, but that hasn’t prevented me from enjoying all the elegant drawings on his blog. From the bio on his site: “I have an education in Design and 2d Animation. Now I work as a 3d Animator in Hanover.”

Jeremy Bernstein is an animator at DreamWorks and does terrific caricatures, among other things. He even drew some eerily accurate impressions of me a few months back. Check them out HERE.

Robin Joseph is a designer/story artist at House of Cool. Jerry had plugged his work way back in June ‘04 when Robin had a website, but he’s since shut the site down and started his own blog. His work shows a strong Ronald Searle-influence, and that’s never a bad thing.

Enrico Casarosa, founder of SketchCrawl and a storyboard artist at Pixar, has a revamped WordPress blog where he’s posting a lot of good stuff.

What’s better than independent American animation? How about independent American animation commissioned by a propaganda arm of the US government. Brew reader Joel Schlosberg directs us to this campy mid-70s short posted on Archive.org:

Vincent Collins’s 200 (aka BICENTENNIAL) is an odd mix of patriotic Americana and post-Sixties psychedelic imagery, produced by the American government to commemorate the bicentennial.

Celebrate America HERE.

CARTOON BREW is heading for Ottawa.The world premiere of my two new books will be on Saturday September 24th, 5pm, at the CHAPTERS Book Store. Come by, meet me, buy a book and lets discuss cartoons! To warm you up, here’s an interview with yours truly from today’s OTTAWA XPRESS.

Tim Burton was a Disney animatoranimation artist and has been long associated with animated films including FAMILY DOG and THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Not counting student films made before 1982, CORPSE BRIDE is only the second animated film which Burton recieves director credit on. What was the first?Contest Over!The winners were B. Baker, Brendon Connelly and Joe Queen. They were the first correct answers.The answer I was aiming for was VINCENT (1982). In response to some of the other entries, Tim did not recieve a director credit on NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS - and FRANKENWEENIE was a live action film. Several readers noted THE WORLD OF STAINBOY - an internet cartoon - which I would have accepted as a correct answer. However, our winners were the first three entrants and regardless, they answered VINCENT. A lovely rolled one sheet poster of CORPSE BRIDE is being mailed to them from Warner Bros.Thanks to everyone who entered - now go out and support the film!

Tim Burton shares his thoughts about Hollywood’s misguided attitude of favoring technique over story and content:

In Hollywood, they think drawn animation doesn’t work anymore, computers are the way. They forget that the reason computers are the way is that Pixar makes good movies. So everybody tries to copy Pixar. They’re relying too much on the technology and not enough on the artists. The fact that Disney closed down its cel animation division is frightening to me. Someday soon, somebody will come along and do a drawn-animated film, and it’ll be beautiful and connect with people, and they’ll all go, ‘Oh, we’ve got to do that!’ It’s ridiculous.

(Thanks, Josh Moshier)

Tim Burton’s CORPSE BRIDE opens on Friday in selected cities - and next week it opens everywhere else. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m certainly looking forward to it. We’ve got several posters to give away - courtesy of Warner Bros. - so tomorrow morning, bright and early, 8am PST (11am on the East Coast) we will have one of our quickie trivia contests. First three people to submit the correct answer to the question posted at that time wins the prize.

Hayao Miyazaki offers a terrific new method for dealing with pesky Hollywood movie executives: threatening them with samurai swords. An excerpt from an interview that appeared in today’s GUARDIAN paper:

Miyazaki taps a cigarette from a silver case. The Disney deal suits him, he explains, because he has stuck to his guns. His refusal to grant merchandising rights means that there is no chance of any Nausicaa happy meals or Spirited Away video games. Furthermore, Disney wields no creative control. There is a rumour that when Harvey Weinstein was charged with handling the US release of Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki sent him a samurai sword in the post. Attached to the blade was a stark message: “No cuts.”

The director chortles. “Actually, my producer did that. Although I did go to New York to meet this man, this Harvey Weinstein, and I was bombarded with this aggressive attack, all these demands for cuts.” He smiles. “I defeated him.”