This is pretty neat: a caricature of the layout, story and assorted production crew on the staff of Tiny Toon Adventures drawn by Bruce Timm (circa 1990). Among the notable names and faces are future Spumco bigshots Jim Smith, Bob Camp, Chris Riccardi, Eddie Fitzgerald, Mike Fontenelli, Charlie Bean and Rich Pursel, veteran animators Norm McCabe, Art Leonardi, Gerard Baldwin, Tom Ray and Art Vitello, Pixar’s Jeff Pidgeon and future Simpsons, Pixar, Disney writer Jim Reardon as well as friends Paul Dini, Mike Kazaleh, Jenny Lerew, Rich Arons, Tom Minton, Ken Boyer, Kent Butterworth and on and on…

Click on thumbnail at left below to see the drawing at full size; at right below for a key to identifying this incredible group of artists. (And if anyone can I.D. #28, please let us know)

Here is the new improved trailer for Happy Feet 2. Visually beautiful, yes! Story? We’ll wait and see. In the meantime:

If my diet of computer animation existed solely of the work being produced by mainstream commercial studios, I might come to the conclusion that CG is a graphically stagnant, artistic dead end. Thankfully, I know better than that. I know that there’s plenty of amazing, forward-thinking pieces of computer animation being produced around the world. A lot of it exists on the fringes and doesn’t garner as much attention as commercial CG, but the animation points towards a truly original form of expression that is unique to the toolset and not reliant on mimicking earlier forms of graphic art. Below are four such pieces that explore the possibilities and potential of computer animation:

Topologies—Tiepolo (Excerpt) by Quayola (UK)

Pico by Takcom (Japan)

Prismatic Planes by Alex McLeod (Canada)

Chiral by Robert Seidel (Germany)

Familiar imagery is reassembled into a strange and otherworldly environment in this video for Renart’s “Voyage Chromatique.” It was directed by French animators Ugo Bienvenu and Kevin Manach through Miyu Productions.

Warner Home Video has launched a Facebook page that is worth a look – and a “Like”. WB Classic Animation went live late yesterday and the first thing posted is a simple comparison video showing two steps in the restoration process for upcoming Tom & Jerry Golden Collection Blu-Ray DVD set. But coming in the next few days and weeks will be direct input from Senior VP George Feltenstein, including new product information direct from the source, with accurate on-sale dates and content information on new releases.

I’m always asked how one can communicate directly with Warner Home Video. At last, I have an answer. You can now voice your opinions, ask your questions and send your comments to the powers that be – and they will actually read it. George Feltenstein himself will be doing a once-a-month live Q&A; their will be clips, previews and contests. Note that this Facebook page is solely for information on their classic theatrical cartoon library – Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry titles for now; hopefully Popeye, Tex Avery, Censored 11 in the future. Other classic properties owned by the studio (Hanna Barbera TV cartooons, animated features and TV specials, etc.) are not being covered on this page.

So go on over there and “like” ‘em. And keep checking in to see what’s up… doc.

Interesting hand-drawn (on Cintiq, using TVPaint) film by Erick Oh (Student Academy Award finalist, Heart). Oh is a Korean animation artist based in California, currently at Pixar. His independent films have been screened at Annecy, Hiroshima, Zagreb, SIGGRAPH and Anima Mundi.

(Thanks, David Nethery)

Ben Cady’s graduation film from University of Wales, Newport (UK) The Goat and The Well won both the NFB Public Prize and Best Undergraduate Animation at the Ottawa Animation Festival last month. Cady is currently a student at the Royal College of Art in London.

It’s rare to see Steve Jobs speak about his company Pixar. Here’s an interview where he does that with John Lasseter and Charlie Rose in 1995 following the completion of Toy Story. Jobs gets the release date of Snow White wrong by nine years, but nobody’s perfect.

(Thanks, Chris Padilla)