Cartoon Culture

How Garfield Got His Groove Back: The ‘Garfield’ Remix Phenomenon

Poor Garfield. In his heyday, he was amongst the most beloved characters on the funny pages, his plush likenesses fastened to car windows and his sarcastic barbs adorning office walls around the globe. Then, somewhere along the line, he underwent a pop-cultural re-evaluation. Jim Davis’ strip is now something of a pariah: just look at how "The Simpsons" paired it with "Love Is" as the kind of strip that Milhouse reads. What a comedown for a character once hip enough to be quoted in “Two Tribes” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. But yet, the orange cat has been saved from cultural oblivion by a peculiar trend: the remixed "Garfield" strip.

Tech

Animake It Software Allows Anyone to Make Animation—In One Minute

The world of animation software is dominated by a handful of industry-standard titles. However, the margins are dotted with more specialized pieces of software, often designed for animators who prefer to work outside the demands of studio production. One such program is Animake It, a piece of software that aims to provide an accessible animation experience that ties in with current trends in online content.

TV

Watch 2 New CN Pilots By ‘Regular Show’ Staffers

Tonight, Cartoon Network quietly released two new pilots that were produced in 2013: "AJ's Infinite Summer" created by Toby Jones and "Long Live the Royals" by Sean Szeles. Both Jones and Szeles work on "Regular Show"—Jones as a writer/storyboard artist and Szeles as a supervising director/writer/storyboard artist.

Business

Patreon Offers a New Way to Crowdfund Animation

There are countless crowdfunding sites nowadays, but none have offered a viable alternative that challenges Kickstarter and Indiegogo's dominance. Patreon may change that though. The crowdfunding site offers a twist on the crowdfunding model that may prove attractive to filmmakers who want to produce content regularly.

Artist of the Day

Artist of the Day: Milos Rajkovic

Milos "Sholim" Rajkovic is a Serbian artist who has found a unique way to express his anti-war and anti-corrupt corporation/government/religion sentiments: with animated GIFs.

Anime

Everything You Need to Know about Fanime

Pioneered by children, legitimized by people looking up weird stuff on YouTube, vitalized by online hoaxes, and existing entirely outside any kind of aesthetic considerations, fanime is something that could only have developed on the web.

Stef Choi
Artist of the Day

Artist of the Day: Stef Choi

Stef Choi is an artist living in Portland, Oregon. She creates illustrations, videos and other multimedia projects as part of her collaborative enterprise Belly & Bones that she runs with Tony Candelaria.

Ideas/Commentary

“Turmoil in the Toy Box” Revisited

Author Phil Phillips spent the 1980s warning parents about the occult forces in children's TV animation. While his notoriety has passed, fear of the messages in cartoons still exists today.

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