Tonight from 7-10pm is the opening of the new and bigger Super7 store, right next door to the old store at 1628 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. Among the festivities is a group signing by Pixar artists of their new edition of AFTERWORKS, an impressive collection of short comic stories. Plus, security at the event will be provided by the 501st Stormtrooper Legion. Sounds like a night out to me.

As promised, here are the RESULTS from the Cartoon Brew reader survey that we ran a month or so ago. We ran the survey for our new ad reps, Federated Media, who will be helping bring quality (hopefully) advertising to the site. I thought there were some notable figures that stood out in the results. For example, it was interesting to learn that a whopping 82% of our readers are male, though that percentage certainly isn’t as skewed as a site like Digg.com, which has a 94% male readership.

Other noteworthy numbers: one out of every three of Brew readers makes $75,000 or more a year (who said animation doesn’t pay), 64% of our readers are in the coveted 18-39 age demo, 75% of our readers view the site at least once a day, and 39% have their own blog. That last figure sounds a bit high, but that’s to be expected when the survey sample is in the hundreds and our readership is in the thousands. In general, the survey results look pretty solid so thanks again to everybody who participated.

Here is something to look forward to… high definition LOONEY TUNES! The first ones will debut on the ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD ultra-rez edition on sale September 26th (HD-DVD format only at this time. Blu-Ray format to follow in 2007 at some point). Bonus cartoons KATNIP KOLLEGE, RABBIT HOOD, and ROBIN HOOD DAFFY have been converted to true Hi Def from brand new HD 1080p transfers. (Image posted above is NOT from the Hi-Def version). This marks the debut for not only WB cartoons, but for any classic animation on High Def DVD. I’ve had a peek… and the quality is mind blowing!

And don’t download this Weird Al video animated by Bill Plympton.

Tonight, I’m showing cartoons at the Janet Klein show at the Steve Allen Theatre. Join us in Hollywood at 8pm!Tomorrow night, Friday September 8th, I’ll be at the opening night festivities for the World 3-D Expo at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. A restored print of POPEYE THE ACE OF SPACE will be screened in 3-D tomorrow night for the first time in 52 years! That film, along with ALL the other Hollywood cartoons released in 3-D (Disney’s Melody, Donald Duck, Casper, Bugs Bunny and Woody Woodpecker, and others), will be presented next Saturday afternoon, September 16th, in one special program (hosted by yours truly). If you are anywhere near Los Angeles, I urge you to attend this once-in-a-lifetime – never to appear on DVD – show.

You can hear Charles Solomon discuss Oskar Fischinger – and download Fischinger video clips – on the NPR website.(Thanks, Brian Kolm)

J.J. Sedelmaier sends us this sad news:

I just wanted to let you and others know that Jan Svochak passed away yesterday afternoon. He was 80 years old. Most people know Jan’s work from the years he put in on the Hawaiian Punch campaign. He was the head animator from the 60’s up to the early 90’s. His hand also steered the design consistency.Jan Svochak was born in Czechoslovakia, moved to the U.S. in the 30’s and then returned to Europe to fight in WWII (he was in the tank corps that liberated Dachau). After the war, he worked at Famous Studios in NYC and assisted Marty Taras on series like Baby Huey, Little Audrey, and Herman & Katnip. He also freelanced for Pelican Films, Byron Rabbitt, Zanders, Perpetual Motion Pictures, Buzzco, Ink Tank, Jumbo, and here at JJSP. While at Perpetual Motion Pictures, Jan, Candy Kugel, (i think Vinnie Caffarelli) and Russel Calabrese did the “Mr. Hipp” series of cartoons for NBC’s Saturday evening “Weekend” program in the early 1970’s, a precursor to SNL. He, his wife Cheryl and their two sons had recently moved to Florida. He’ll be terribly missed. . .

Addendum from Buzz Potamkin:

I was very saddened to read of Jan’s passing; he was truly a prince among animators.It was more than 30 years ago when I first brought Jan to Perpetual, at the time BBDO took over the Hawaiian Punch account and brought Punchie back to life. Jack Zander had always touted his talents to me, but didn’t prepare me for the wisdom and wit that came along with Jan.His belief in his art and craft were such that soon I got to know Punchie as a real live entity; the agency creative group soon got tired to me saying “Punchie wouldn’t do that” when Jan grumbled about some piece of business or another. And that belief in his characters went beyond commercials.Mr. Hipp grew out of a joke from Reuven Frank at NBC News. He was brought to life by Hal Silvermintz’s design and direction – and also by Jan’s ready identification with the character. For nearly 5 years, and 26 or so shorts, Jan breathed life into the character – true animation (“bringing to life”). Hal and I may have written them (with help from Reuven), and David Morris, Vinnie Caf, or others may have had input, but I always knew that Jan would straighten it out and make it work for Mr. Hipp.Jan was one of the true princes, and I for one will miss him.

Candy Kugel (of Buzzco) sent in these memories:

May I add a couple of words about Jan Svochak? Jan Svochak came to Perpetual Motion Pictures around the time it was expanding its offices on E. 48th Street. By the time the office space and personnel doubled, he was put on permanent staff, and he and I were placed in adjacent cubicles behind the ink and paint department. We had to share a telephone, so there was a little window cut into the plasterboard where we could pass the receiver from desk to desk. I was the youngest (and only female) animator there – Jan was a veteran. To say we had different outlooks on life would be an understatement. His favorite story, usually repeated when I brought tour groups of young students around, was his beginning at the inbetween department of Famous Studios. He said that on that first day, he started with another young man. They sat next to each other and, sweating bullets, attempted to make the inbetweens of a seemingly endless folder of extreme drawings. Came lunch time, this other young man adjusted his necktie, put on his jacket, wiped his brow and said, “I’m leaving”. Jan imagined that he became a great success in some other field. And he would end with this piece of advice: “Get out of this racket!”But despite his gruff manner, we became good friends. He taught me about physics (watch the weight!) and through his listening to Danny Stiles (we also shared the radio) I was introduced to standards of the 40’s and 50’s, including our favorite, Spike Jones. We were both working on the Weekend pieces – Buzz was right, I generally did not work on the Mr. Hipps (there were a couple of exceptions when deadlines were tight) but was responsible for the “other” one-minute piece for the month – but as we both had the same rhythm of work due, found camaraderie in that.
After Perpetual was no longer “perpetual” and we formed Buzzco Associates, Jan continued to work with us until poor health made that impossible. After that, he and I found ourselves on the Annuity and Welfare Board of Local 644 (who took over the the animation union after Screen Cartoonists 841 folded). No matter how frail, Jan was always in there kicking– his keen mind never losing focus. His memory never failed him. He came to many of our Christmas parties and continued to talk to Vinny and me by telephone. I find it hard to believe that these calls won’t happen again. My heart goes out to Cherie and the kids.

Check out one of the first HAWAIIAN PUNCH commercials from 1961 (though this one was animated by Rod Scribner).

Apparently one of the negative side effects of Communism is that it destroys your ability to discern between good and bad animation. How else to explain this bizarro-world story? The Animation Guild blog found an article in the HINDU TIMES that says GARFIELD: A TALE OF 2 KITTIES has become the highest-grossing animated feature of all-time in China with $5.8 million (US) in its first three weeks. THE LION KING had been the box office champ for the past twelve years with a gross of $5.12 mil (US). Pixar’s new film CARS opened recently with $1.35 million in China which means it’s unlikely to overtake GARFIELD at the box office.