Practicing my faces

And this was Scott & Ange's
cute little house-warming gift to us.

If you feel like vomiting, watch this:

Paris Hilton on Larry King Live - First interview out of prison.

EXTRAS - Absolutely Hilarious - You Must Watch These!

Ben Stiller


Daniel Radcliffe


Orlando Bloom


Sir Ian McKellen


Sam Jackson


Kate Winslet

Persepolis Trailer - Amazing Stuff!

In addition, here's some scenes:
Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3.

A 1954 interview with Ward Kimball

The delightful cartoons of Mike Herrod

Check out the blog of Dan Bob

The Cool Style of Mike Bertino

See the sculptures of Alvaro Puro

Dragon Girl

For those of you keeping up with Sarah Mensinga’s sketchblog, you’ll know that she’s just finished the first draft of her children’s book, Dragon Girl, complete with rough illustrations. For everyone else though, you really should head over to her website and give it a read. It’s fantastic.

Turtles

Pearl's Back!

Dramatic!

Charles has a licking problem

One more Simpsons Movie Trailer...

Wild Things

Here's the only sneak peak so far at the creatures in Spike Jonze's big-screen adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, but they also announced who will be providing the voices of the beasts:

A diverse group of vocal talents, including Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Michael Berry Jr., Paul Dano, Tom Noonan, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker and Michelle Williams, has been recruited to provide the voices of the titular characters in writer-director Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book "Where the Wild Things Are."

I can't wait!!!

Info provided by iwatchstuff.

New Animation Bookstore in Toronto

If this would have been around when I visited Toronto a short while a go, I think I might still be paying off my credit card from the fun I would have had in this shop.

Toronto-area folks now have their own local alternative to Bud Plant and Stuart Ng’s. The Labyrinth is a brand new bookstore specializing in animation, illustration, artist sketchbooks, graphic novels and manga. The store, open seven days a week, is located at 386 Bloor Street West (2 blocks west of Spadina Subway station). The shop also has a small gallery space which owner Dan Merisanu says will be used for monthly artist shows starting in July. A website with basic details is over here and there’s also a blog which lists new books in stock.

Thanks to CartoonBrew for the info!

YouTubery: Worst Movies Ever

Christmas Comes Early for Dorks

It hurts so good!

Alright nerds, I've got a present for you: 75 new Harry Potter pictures. I do have a newfound respect for Daniel Radcliffe. He turned in one of the funniest guest appearances I've ever scene in Ricky Gervais' HBO show, Extras. Check it out!

Info provided by iwatchstuff.

The Simpsons Handbook- Secret Tips from the Pros

Ever wonder how they draw the Simpsons? The Simpsons Handbook: Secret Tips from the Pros is the perfect book to learn the secrets of the top running cartoon of all time.

Hey Ugly! Postcard Box

Hey Ugly! How about taking it old school and sending an "Ugly" postcard instead of an e-mail. Let the snail-man carry these cool postcards to your favorite friends

Animation Magazine launches AniMag TV, interviews Coraline animator

Animation Magazine has launched a new broadband video channel called AniMag TV centred on “new animated shorts, classic cartoons, behind-the-scenes documentaries, clips, trailers and original content that brings the world of animation and visual effects to your computer screen.” Work so far available to browse includes a couple of new pilots from Atomic Cartoons (creators of Atomic Betty), Mythunderstood and Big City Birds, as well as Once Upon a Christmas Village by Dream Balloon Productions, an award-winning CG-animated short which is showing at the Cannes Film Festival.

(scene from Michael Attardi’s Once Upon a Christmas Village; yes, I know it is May, but it is a lovely little animation of a Christmas village diaroma brought to life and can be viewed on AniMag TV)

Elsewhere on Animation Magazine there is an interview with Travis Knight of LAIKA, the animation studio who created the California Raisins adverts. Travis and LAIKA (presumably named for the first dog the Russians shot into space?) are now working on animating a feature-film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s quite wonderful tale for younger readers (and highly enjoyable to older readers too!), Coraline. Since Coraline takes place in both our world and a parallel fantasy world which she travels to (where she meets the disturbing Other Mother with her button eyes) Travis and his team considered using a mix of CG and stop-motion for the different realities, but finally decided to go fully stop-motion:

“We were trying to figure out how best to do the two different worlds, kind of going for that Wizard of Oz-type moment where she goes into this whole new world and we were toying with the idea of having one side of the world be stop-motion and the other side CG. We did some tests and ultimately decided that this story is perhaps better suited to stop-motion. I’m glad we went that way. We were going to have some fairly extensive CG effects but again we decided this film would benefit from having a more hand-crafted look. There are obviously some digital elements in pretty much any stop-motion film you’ll see these days, but it’s almost entirely stop-motion.”

(Coraline with the very disturbing Other Mother from LAIKA’s site entry on the animated film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel)

I’m relieved to read that since I think a CG/stop motion split would have been intrusive to the feel of the story and quite jarring. Besides, Neil’s tale has a delightfully dark fairy tale feel to it which I feel would be much more suited to traditional stop-motion animation than CG, in much the way as Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride is. I’m really looking forward to that one.

The Dark Knight Rides on a Bike

The guns on the batbike can by operated by speaking the magic words "Pew pew pew!"

The L.A. Times has two new pictures from The Dark Knight of the bat bike, or "Batpod" as it's referred to in the movie. I've managed to combine the two pictures here for easy browsing, utilizing Photoshop skills the likes of which the world has never seen.

It's hard to see from the picture, but the Batpod actually has a chain link steering wheel and a rack for mounting a boombox from which to blast Cypress Hill while cruising through East L.A. Odelay, guey!

Kevin Smith Interviews Bruce Willis

Click on the image to see the short but sweet interview.

Also, here's the famous Kevin Smith Giant Spider Story,
definitely worth watching here.

Jack Black...

Jack Black backstage at the Tony Awards

Jack Black will be teaming up with Todd Phillips on the upcoming comedy Man-Witch.

Black will play a schoolteacher who suddenly discovers he has witchlike abilities. Taken in by a coven, he is persuaded to attend a school for witches, only to discover that his classmates are all girls.

Subway!

Bean!

Why isn't there a Mr. Bean movie every year? Click image to watch the trailer.

Peter and the Wolf

Piotruś i Wilk (Pierre et le Loup)
Directed by: Suzie TEMPLETON
Designed by: Marek SKROBECKI
Country: United-Kingdom, Poland
Year: 2006

PART 1


PART 2


PART 3

Animated T-Shirts

With sites like Threadless and Bountee proving that t-shirts make the perfect canvas for illustrations, this video for Justice’s D.A.N.C.E. asks, why not animation too?

Psst!

The trailer above offers an overview of an amazing project finished last March. PSST! is comprised of nine individual films produced by 27 teams. All of the films are viewable on PsstPassItOn.com.

Clever Comedy Central Ads

This batch of print ads for Comedy Central shows some brilliant examples of keeping it simple.

Mythunderstood

Atomic Cartoons doesn’t want to be misunderstood with their new show. The animation studio who gave us both Atomic Betty and Big City Birds, are working on a new series. It’s called Mythunderstood and this YouTube clip directed by Tyler Schroeder will give you a glimpse into this exciting new offering. I'm glad to see how shows

Mouse Guard Volume One

Mouse Guard Volume One: Fall 1152

David Peterson is the author and illustrator of Mouse Guard, the hottest comic series in the past year. Mouse Guard has gone under the radar. This is going to be the next Bone, and make waves with young kids all over the world. If you missed earlier issues, not to fret, they have been collected in one capacious 192 page book. This is a real book that you can feel secure your kids will enjoy and learn something about human values through the personification of mouse culture. Never mind Flushed Away which has merits, Mouse Guard will make you want to read it over and over again.

Thanks to Sandbox World for the info.

Showcase Presents- The Flash

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Over 500 pages of classic adventures are included in this value-priced volume! The Fastest Man Alive stars in these fantastic tales from late 1950s and into the 1960s — the Silver Age of Comics! A strange accident transformed police scientist Barry Allen into the super-speedster known as The Flash — but it was no accident that made him a hero! This value-priced title features The Flash in battle against the Mirror Master, the Trickster, Captain Cold and many other villains.

Borat

The 10 Best Borat Skits of All-Time:

Batman's New Suit

Jim Henson's Fantastic World is Coming to Arizona Museum for Youth

Fans of all ages will be able to get a firsthand look into the imagination and creative genius of Jim Henson with the debut of “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World,” a new Smithsonian traveling exhibition coming to the Arizona Museum for Youth (AMY) in downtown Mesa from June 15, 2007 through March 9, 2008.

AMY is the only museum in the Southwest – and only the second in the nation – to host this unique exhibit that documents Henson’s remarkable process of visual thinking.

This may be your only chance to catch a glimpse of Henson’s legacy before it heads east of the Rockies, says Executive Director Sunnee Spencer. “We are truly honored to have been chosen as one of only a few venues in the nation to host this exhibit, as it ties directly with our mission of presenting accessible, innovative and interactive art museum experiences to children and families. We hope that Henson’s work will inspire children to become future artists.”
Items on display include:

· Several of Henson’s Muppets and Creatures (including characters from “The Muppet Show,” “Sesame Street,” “Fraggle Rock,” “The Dark Crystal” and other productions)
· Over 100 framed works of art (including paintings, sketches, cartoons and storyboards)
· A large collection of rare photographs
· Unique production documents
· Additional artifacts and film props
· Over 30-minutes of special video presentations
· An illustrated timeline of Henson’s life and career

Organized by The Jim Henson Legacy and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in cooperation with the Henson family, The Jim Henson Company, The Muppets Studio, LLC, and Sesame Workshop, “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World” is made possible by The Biography Channel. Additional support has been provided by The Jane Henson Foundation and Cheryl Henson. The Signature Sponsors of the exhibit are The Arizona Republic, Dee and John Whiteman and the Arizona Museum for Youth Friends, Inc. The Silver Paintbrush Sponsor is M& I Bank. Additional programming support provided by the Maricopa County Library District.

The incredibly prolific mind of Jim Henson (1936-90) was a veritable celebration of ideas for wondrous creatures and characters, stories, songs, and imagery. From the earliest age, Henson drew pictures, wrote jokes, built mobiles, and planned whole worlds. He thought in three dimensions and experimented in a huge variety of media, both with still and moving images. He was fascinated with how ideas are formed, how they interconnect in the mind, and how they can be shared through the visual and performing arts.

Jim Henson's rough marker-on-paper drawings of Ernie and Bert in 1969 were all that master puppet builder Don Sahlin needed to create this unforgettable pair.

Organized with The Jim Henson Legacy, Jim Henson's Fantastic World offers audiences a rare peek into the imagination of this brilliant innovator and creator of Kermit, Big Bird, and other beloved characters. The exhibition documents Henson’s process of “visual thinking” through works of art, photographs, documents, puppets and other 3-D objects, and film and video clips. Museums may create a separate activity center with the educational and interactive resources provided.

Plumpers!

Robot Chicken Star Wars Special

Looks hilarious! Check out some trailers and TV spots here.

Bill Melendez Interview

What else can you say about Bill Melendez the man who animated Charlie Brown. In his own words we get a glimpse of his world as he tells of his first meeting at Disney as he applied for a job. Bill has worked for the big animation studios before he landed the Peanuts gig.

Dr. Finklestein Figure

As usual, JUN Planning did an incredible job with this toy, complete with rolling wheelchair and cloth costume! But the true crowning touch is...

...an opening head, filled with the two separate halves of the good doctor's brain! Now that's toymaking!

Triumph at the Tonys!

Vincent Price and The Purple Monster

Beaker Sings

The Ten

Bill Presing's New Blog!

Creature Comforts Figurine- Pickles The Dog

The sculpts are strong, the paint work is simple but tight, and there's a nice variety of materials - check out the metal harness handle!

The bad news you won't find these in any stores except eBay. The good news is you can order them from the UK - there's a site called The Prezzy Shop that sells this figurine (along with others from the show). You can buy Pickles for about $14.00 U.S. + shipping. If that doesn't work, try aadrmarket.com's Creature Comforts shop, which has it for $10.00 + shipping.

AMAZING MOVIE TRAILERS

Rocket Science

3:10 to Yuma
Wall-E
No Country For Old Men

Crazy Cloud Formations

Click on image to see many more.

Gunshop

MTV has a new spot for their recently returned televison show called "Say What? Karaoke 2.0". Gunshop did the work on this vector animated clip.

Fake Makes Breaks

In Finland they use a "jatkuu" (Finnish for "pause" or "to be continued") to signal the start or end of a TV commercial break. Here is a whole string of short and off-the-wall jatkuu made for the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki by Fake Graphics and aired on Channel 4 in Finland.

HOTTER AND FACTORY ROLL OUT ANKLE INJURY

Here's an intricate take on pixelation from London-based director Wade Shotter, formerly a freelance illustrator and agency AD now repped by Factory Films in the UK and Fish 'n' Clips downunder. The track is "Ankle Injury" by Fujiya & Miyagi and the animation comes courtesy of Aukland's versatile Yukfoo. The band's previous video by Brighton animation studio Blunt74 was posted on Feed here. And how, you may ask, did I find that previous post so fast? Check out the new "Search FEED" function in the right column.

Zune 2.0

Here's the first of the brand new wave of Zune virals/spots.