Just for fun – and thanks to Chuck Howell, the Archivist at University of Maryland’s Special Collections in Mass Media & Culture – we are happy to show off these cool 1957 Bert and Harry Piel bar coasters. The characters were created in 1953 for a TV ad campaign by UPA New York, under Gene Deitch’s supervision. Jack Sidebotham designed the characters for the Cunningham and Walsh agency – and of, course Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding provided the voices. For more about this (and to see one more of these coasters), read Gene Deitch’s account on his blog.

Pink Panther FAIL!

I have no idea what they are selling, what they are doing or who made this insanity – and maybe its better not to know. This spot for what methinks is a Russian casino is so strange I had to share. Perhaps a reader can translate and explain. Oh, and is that the co-star of Cow and Chicken at the 13-second mark?

Oh Willy… is a short film about a porky guy who goes to care for his sick mother who lives in a nudist colony. It’s directed by Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels, and debuts later this month at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. I enjoyed the cozy-looking knitted animation of Emma’s earlier film, Soft Plants, and I’m really looking forward to checking this one out, too.

An elegant sense of symmetry and order forms the world of Boris Labbé’s Kyrielle. The repeating rhythms and cycles have a hypnotic quality, and encourage the viewer’s eye to wander playfully and explore different figures. Labbé accomplished all this with just 285 watercolor drawings which he later composited digitally and projected as a video installation. Kyrielle was made at the French animation school EMCA (Ecole des Métiers du Cinéma d’Animation).

Way back in 1992, Ted Turner paid to colorized a batch of black and white Merrie Melodies from 1931-33. This was back before computers were employed to add colors, so the cartoons were shipped to South Korea, traced frame-by-frame (well, almost), new cels were inked and painted and shot under the camera – creating a “color” cartoon from a “worthless” black & white print. For more information on 1967-1992 colorized cartoons, click here. To see how well they did (or just to enjoy the tune Smile Darn Ya, Smile), check out the comparison below:

(via Golden Age Cartoons)

Stop-mo animator Joel Fletcher just posted the behind the scenes tale of a long forgotten Mickey’s Parade frozen treats commercial from 1991. The advertisement was one of the most complex stop-motion spots of the era, due to the sheer number of animated puppets and props. It is also a nostalgic flashback to a Disney licensed food product that is no more. Read all about it and see the commercial on Joel Fletcher’s blog.

Unexpectedly thought-provoking and beautiful in its own way, In the Pig, Everything is Good (Dans le cochon, tout est bon) takes advantage of the unconventional narrative possibilities available to the animated filmmaker. Made by Iris Alexandre as a graduation film at the Belgian school La Cambre: Ecole nationale supérieure des Arts visuels.

Oh Good Lord. This would be funnier if it weren’t so true…

(Thanks J.J. Sedelmaier)