Own a Pal!

re-blogged from Cartoon Brew post today:

Auctioneers Profiles In History are currently having an incredible entertainment memorabilia sale which is including a Lot of 100 puppets and pieces-of-puppets from the George Pal’s Jasper Puppetoons. The bids start at $1,000 (and go much, much higher.) Here’s the link.

There are also separate lots for puppets from individual non-Jasper films such as The Gay Knighties, Rhythm In The Ranks, Two-Gun Rusty, John Henry, Tubby The Tuba and on and on! This lot was part of the estate of William Nassour who, with his brother, produced several Hollywood movies and experimented in stop motion animation. Apparently they took over the Puppetoon shop when Pal moved on into feature production - and held onto these puppets until now!

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

OPENING SOON! Watch the TRAILER!

This trailer includes a "behind the scenes" look at the production.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox is a fantastic creature, but his food foraging forays tangle him up with some of the the "meanest, ugliest, nastiest" farmers, and that's the root of Mr. Fox's trials. And what makes it a tangibly tantalizing tidbit is that it's stop-motion puppetry!

The Fantastic Mr. Fox is directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, Royal Tennenbaums, Aquatic Life) and was looking to sign on Henry Selick (Coraline, James and the Giant Peach, Nightmare Before Christmas) as a co-director. But, Selick was pulled away when his own project' Coraline" was given the green light by the studios. Anderson tapped Mark Gustafson, another Oregon / Will Vinton Studio stop-motion director to join him instead.

Too Art for TV

In January of 2006 [Stay Gold Gallery, Williamsburg], Too Art for TV opened as New York's first large scale fine art exhibition for the artists who work in the animation industry. Drawing in an excited, elbow-to-elbow crowd of artists, illustrators, filmmakers, animators, gallery goers, and fans of the animation genre, Too Art for TV, was the beginning of what became an annual event started by animation painter Liz Artinian, Too Art for TV's mission is simple: to foster, promote, encourage, and organize the talented many whose collective efforts bring television cartoons alive.

Too Art for TV, due to its multi faceted and pop origins, is an umbrella movement inviting pop surrealism, geek-core, graffiti, low-brow, and the finer arts into its shade.

Featuring the artists who brought you; Venture Bros. (Adult Swim), Superjail! (Adult Swim), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Fox Network), Ice Age (Blue Sky Studios), A Scanner Darkly (directed by Richard Linklater), SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon), Fairly Odd Parents (Nickelodeon), Samurai Jack (Cartoon Network), Star Wars: Clone Wars (Lucasfilm Animation), Metalocolypse (Adult Swim), Powerpuff Girls (Cartoon Network), Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends (Cartoon Network), TV Funhouse (SNL/NBC), Beavis and Butthead (MTV Animation), Home Movies (Adult Swim), Daria (MTV Animation), Pale Force (Conan O'Brien/NBC), Code Name: Kids Next Door (Cartoon Network), Stanley (Disney TV), Daria (MTV Animation), Blue's Clues (Nick JR), and more.

Ralph Bakshi: Surviving in Tough Times

Ralph Bakshi made his name in the 70s and 80s by coming up with his own frisky and controversial features like "Fritz the Cat" and "Wizards," to name only 2 out of many. He appeared at the San Diego ComiCon this summer, and answered the question: what advice can you give to the animators trying to survive in this awful economy?