Cartoon Brew: 4 Years Old! | Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation

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JERRY BECK bio & contact view posts by jerry		AMID AMIDI bio & contact view posts by amid

Cartoon Brew: 4 Years Old!

March 29, 2008 1:00 pm

Cartoon Brew was launched four years ago this month - and my, how we’ve grown. Below are some thoughts on the anniversary from the Brewmasters:

Jerry Beck
Back in 2003, Amid was updating his Animation Blast website with commentary and news; likewise, I was posting a stream of information and reviews on my Cartoon Research page. I recall a conversation we had at the time, both of us enthused about the potential of the Internet to expand our writing about animation. We were eager to communicate our thoughts, comments and criticism and saw a huge opportunity to expose new talent. This discussion led to our decision to “team up”, and create a new blog to share our ideas on one dedicated site that could lead to something more valuable to us - and our readers. We launched Cartoon Brew on March 15, 2004.

It’s turned out to be the most exciting, fulfilling, pleasurable and yes, time consuming, project we’ve ever taken on. For me, Cartoon Brew is a natural extension of what I’ve always done: communicating with fellow animation buffs and sharing my views, as well as trivia and souvenirs, from a lifetime of cartoon research. I love it.

We’ve watched our humble blog grow from several thousand readers a week to several thousand each day. A little over a year ago we opened our posts to comments from our readers, expanding the conversation to include the entire animation community. I’ve considered all Brew readers to be my friends, as we all share a love for an art form which, despite all its commercial success, is still not completely understood and fully explored by the mainstream public.

And that’s why Cartoon Brew is important to me. If I can enlighten someone to the latest film by Miyazaki, alert you to specific classic animation on DVD, or point even one person towards a Spongebob Squarepants Musical Rectal Thermometer, then I can rest a little easier, knowing I’ve done my job.

Amid Amidi
Wake up, brush teeth, wash face, put on coffee, log onto the Brew. Working on the site has become second-nature to me. I’m always amazed at how many people tell me that Cartoon Brew is one of their essential daily reads, but what I always forget to reply is that it’s exactly the same for me on the other end. The Brew is such an essential part of my daily life. Even on days when I have nothing to say (obviously, those are pretty rare days), I still check into the site to see what Jerry is writing and what readers are discussing.

As we begin our fifth year, we have big plans for the website. We are currently hard at work on a relaunch of CartoonBrewFilms. The idea continues to grow and morph but our goal remains the same: making quality animation available to a wide audience while making filmmakers money for their work. We’re also looking at numerous ways to extend the Cartoon Brew community, both through real world events and through online sites. Along those lines, we recently started a Cartoon Brew Facebook community (for Facebook members only) that allows readers to interact with one another through the discussion boards, and share links to films and articles with one another. Whereas the comments section on the Brew is for specifically responding to items that we post, the Facebook community is an opportunity for any reader to initiate a discussion or post interesting items.

This is also a good time to thank a few of our friends without whom we couldn’t be doing this site: the fine design team at Also Design who redesigned our website and logo, the sales team at Federated Media who help bring us corporate advertisers that we could otherwise never get on our own, and Leslie Cabarga who came up with the original set of Brew logos…remember these?

Cartoon Brew logos

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55 comments posted in Site News

« « Vintage Cartoon Buttons | Jerry Beck meets Joan Rivers » »

03/29/08 1:23pm	Larry Levine says:
	Happy Birthday Cartoon Brew!
03/29/08 1:28pm	Tommy Day says:
	Happy Birthday Brewmasters!
03/29/08 1:53pm	Tee says:
	Happy Birthday guys! I too wake up each morning to the Brew … healthier than coffee, but more addictive.
03/29/08 1:54pm	Chuck R. says:
	Congratulations, Jerry and Amid, and thanks for all the hard work. My favorite Brew memory (actually this may be an Animation Blast memory) is seeing for the first time, the promotional artwork for Triplettes of Belleville. When I followed your link to the trailer, I was simply dumbfounded: crones, frogs, potato mashers! gypsy jazz, really huge ocean liners, and thugs shaped like coffins! Thus began the longest wait for an independent film I could ever imagine. I must’ve returned to that trailer a thousand times, but I heard about it first from you —Thanks!
03/29/08 1:54pm	chuckfiala says:
	Why it only seems like yesterday! This is a great site, one of the first things I read every day.
03/29/08 1:57pm	Todd Jacobsen says:
	Happy Birthday!
03/29/08 2:47pm	Sasha M. says:
	For the curmudgeoness I bring here, this is one of my daily reads. It’s pretty much the internet’s animation hub. I hope you guys can keep it going.
03/29/08 2:49pm	John says:
	Happy 4 Years and many many more to come! Thanks Jerry and Amid for my daily read.
03/29/08 2:55pm	Nick says:
	Congrats guys! Been reading this site the day it debuted and have really enjoyed it.
03/29/08 3:14pm	Art Binninger says:
	Four years? No way! Four years in the Air Force didn’t go by this fast. Now as long as you two stay with it and don’t try to substitute Shemp for Jerry and Dick Sargent for Amid, everything will be swell. So, are you going out for dinner and dancing and a cartoon?
03/29/08 3:31pm	Steve Segal says:
	This is essential daily reading for me, too. It has been a wealth of information, as well as a connection for friends, collectors, and fellow enthusiasts. It has even helped me find some long sought after videos. Thanks and many happy returns.
03/29/08 4:33pm	Hannah says:
	Congrats, congrats, congrats! I came upon this gem of a blog probably around 2 years ago, and it is definitely one of my daily visits along with Facebook, so bravo! As a young artist who hopes to break into the animation industry after college, this website has allowed me to see what the community is like and how it may be. And for that I thank you too! Here’s to more happy years
03/29/08 4:43pm	Julian Carter says:
	A great Happy Birthday from me too! Although I’m relatively new to Cartoon Brew (why didn’t I discover the site earlier!? GRRR!) I’ve still seen enough stuff and hard work to truly declare this site unique in its range and depth of coverage. It’s co-managed by Jerry Beck! It has to be cool if there’s Mr. Beck! By the way Jerry, you totally cracked me up when you again mentioned the Spongebob Rectal Thermometer! You’ve got a subtle but effective sense of humour. Seriously, I loved listening to the commentary on the WD Treasures Oswald disc because of your voice. Don’t know why, but I’ve strangely come to really like you. :) Oh my gosh, that was off-topic. Hope it doesn’t look too pathetic. And I’ve forgotten all about poor Amid!
03/29/08 4:57pm	Jonathan Sloman says:
	Happy anniversary from yet another long-time daily reader.
03/29/08 5:39pm	uncle wayne says:
	You have GOT to be kidding me! It’s sorta like phones & tv….i couldn’t imagine any day withOUT them! Oh how it makes my day begin much brighter daily!! A hearty H-B to our beloved C-B!!
03/29/08 6:24pm	Pedro Nakama says:
	Happy Birthday. You do have the best blog about animation out there.
03/29/08 6:44pm	Marc Deckter says:
	Happy Birthday to the Brew! I didn’t realize it had been 4 years, wow. I visit the site daily as well - many thanks Amid and Jerry!
03/29/08 7:11pm	mick says:
	Thanks for the efforts I also check it out every day. Good stuff, entertaining and informative. all the best for the future
03/29/08 7:18pm	Drew Smith says:
	How very strange. Only today I was trying to remember what the Brew used to look like back when I started reading. Long may you both continue!
03/29/08 7:29pm	lamartherevenger says:
	congrats gentlemen! i should’ve been on this site a lot sooner than i did. keep up the great work!
03/29/08 7:36pm	Chris Sobieniak says:
	Happy 4th from me too!
03/29/08 8:40pm	Danny R. Santos says:
	Happy Birthday! thank you for the Brew.– no pun intended.
03/29/08 9:15pm	John Paul Cassidy says:
	Here’s to 4 years of Cartoon Brew. Congrats, guys!
03/29/08 9:43pm	Jay Sabicer says:
	Congrats, as it has been said many times before. I’ve been frequenting both Jerry and Amid’s separate sites for many years prior to your joint venture. It has been a near-perfect marriage of opinion, history, culture (pop and high), commerce, trivia, and even politics, but Cartoon Brew has never deviated from it’s main purpose - the animated art form. Many other blogs have suffered from weeks or months without any type of new contribution. The “tag-team” approach should be an example to all others who have a passion, but lack the adequate time to maintain it on a daily basis solo. On behalf of all of those who check several times a day for their cartoon fix, thank you, with our deepest appreciation.
03/29/08 9:55pm	Emmett Goodman says:
	Happy anniversary, Cartoon Brew. You remain one of the most important animation sites ever.
03/29/08 11:02pm	Gavin Freitas says:
	Happy B-Day Cartoon Brewsters! I am on here at least three times a day so you guys got me hooked. Random quote of the day: “Your four!” —- Louie & Heathcliff
03/30/08 12:48am	Koldo Barroso says:
	Congratulations and thanks for these 4 years! when I was four I was already adicted to cartoons, so you are ;-)
03/30/08 1:34am	mark webster says:
	Joyeux Anniversaire ! Merci beaucoup pour votre soutien et passion ! à très bientôt
03/30/08 1:49am	Adam says:
	Cartoon Brew is my favorite website, and I check it everyday, as it always has interesting,funny and informative articles.I hope you continue with CB far into the future.
03/30/08 5:57am	Michael Sporn says:
	My addiction. Thanks for keeping it at such a high quality.
03/30/08 6:43am	Mark Kennedy says:
	Congrats on four great years!
03/30/08 8:23am	Aleksandar Vujovic says:
	My favorite site is four years old…17 years and it’ll be able to drive! Merry birthday Cartoon Brew! Many happy returns! Don’t die! KIT!
03/30/08 9:35am	amid says:
	THANKS EVERYBODY!!! Knowing that we have so many great readers is what keeps us going and makes us want to continue sharing our finds!
03/30/08 9:51am	Richard Krauss says:
	Congrats guys - love reading your new items with the morning brew! Keep those anniversaries coming!
03/30/08 9:53am	Andrew says:
	Happy anniversary and congrats guys, keep up the great work!
03/30/08 10:23am	Tim Drage says:
	CongratS!!! Keep up the good work.
03/30/08 10:27am	joost says:
	hello Jerry and Amid! Concrats from the fezzed heads of Ka-ching Cartoons.
03/30/08 12:14pm	kate yarberry says:
	four more years! four more years!
03/30/08 12:16pm	Bugsmer says:
	Long live Cartoon Brew! Even if your site was discontinued tomorrow, the amount of people you have reached, informed and entertained is considerable indeed. In another decade, it may be one of the most read blogs in the world (if blogs are still around then). Keep up the good work, guys, and thanks!
03/30/08 12:24pm	Tom Sito says:
	I don’t go through a day without checking THE BREW. Thanks Amid & Jerry for creating another great Hollywood Tradition! Hail, Vivat, and Long May you Wave!
03/30/08 2:22pm	RODAN says:
	~HAPPY BIRTHDAY BREW!!~ I get a lot of inspiration from you guys. And, I just wanted to say how glad I am that your there spreading the joy of such an “animated” art form. You deserve all the best any masters can possibly reap from such a deserving venture. ~may the peg bar of life forever keep all your holes in line!~ R O D A N
03/30/08 3:37pm	Bruce Laing says:
	Blimey! Four years and still going strong. Congratulations on the fourth anniversary of the brew, Jerry and Amid.
03/30/08 4:52pm	Ken Priebe says:
	Thanks and Happie Brew Birthdae Jerry & Amid! I love Cartoon Brew and am very glad to know both of you and be able to share a love for animation with so many.
03/30/08 5:07pm	Fred Boot says:
	Happy Birthday ! (But where are the winky tiki girls and the gogo dancers ???)
03/30/08 5:22pm	Richard Bailey says:
	WOW!!!! Four years already… Happy Birthday!! There’s nothing better to start my day with than logging onto my computer and getting my daily fix of the ‘Brew Keep up the great work Jerry and Amid!
03/30/08 6:20pm	robcat2007 says:
	Oh, if only the rest of the world had been as compelling and interesting for the last four years .
03/30/08 7:19pm	Mat says:
	Happy Birthday and congratulations on four great years.
03/30/08 8:21pm	colawarmonger says:
	Jesus, has it really been that long? I suddenly feel old.
03/30/08 9:06pm	Keith Paynter says:
	Congratulations to both of you! CB is a daily requirement in my short list of preferred websites, and it’s a pleasure to hear from and “speak” with such a passionate and enlightened bunch of people. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!…
03/30/08 9:39pm	Dock Miles says:
	Congrats. This place sets the standards for reading, watching, thinking and talking online about those enchanting will-o-the-wisps, cartoons.
03/31/08 1:21am	Kevin Kidney says:
	Gee, and only six months ago you were only three and a half years old. Many more!
03/31/08 10:20am	red pill junkie says:
	Feliz Cumpleaños Cartoon Brew!! :-D
03/31/08 11:03pm	Marci Cameron says:
	Congrats on 4 years of Cartoon Brew! This is among the first sites I check for the latest in cartoon news. From Looney Tunes to Popeye to Disney, you definitely got the scoop. …and I’m not talking ice cream. So, here’s to the next 4 years and beyond!
03/31/08 11:29pm	dan yu says:
	Wow! Happy Birthday Cartoon Brew!!! Thanks for all the great posts. Long live Cartoon Brew!
04/1/08 7:43am	Lee says:
	wow! Happy birthday Cartoon Brew.

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