Talk to the Snail

Salerno, Italy, that is.

Random! Cartoons’ “Samsquatch” (which Nickelodeon still hasn’t aired, yet *cough*) will be featured in Cartoon on the Bay’s International Showcase screening in April. The showcase “gives a picture of the latest cultural, technological and industrial trends in the field all over the planet, giving special attention to those that seem most innovative. “

Congratulations to Mr Adam Muto and his cast and crew on a job well-done.

– Eric

The boys from Ghostbot - Brad Rau, Roque Ballesteros, and Alan Lau - are down in L.A. from S.F. this week and were nice enough to stop by the Frederator compound this afternoon. You’ve all seen their Flash work, mostly through their Esurance ads. They’re also famous for their past and future contributions to Channel Frederator. Thanks for visiting, guys.

– Eric

After our catching up with Jun last night, I ran into Ms Anne Marie Walker this morning. As you recall (from so many years ago), Anne’s the creator of one and a half Random! Cartoons. After a good long stint at Renegade on the Mr Men project, she’s back on a Frederator show, this time storyboarding on Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, produced out of Film Roman. Hopefully, we’ll get another round of shorts soon, with Anne back making her very own cartoons again.

– Eric

Fred and I met with Jun Falkenstein tonight to figure out life for Kyle + Rosemary beyond her terrific seven-minute short which hasn’t aired even yet. Since Random! Cartoons, Juns’ been journeywomaning for a variety of cartoon projects around town including AstroBoy, 9, and a couple of features at Starz. Right now she’s directing a feature animated film about which I can’t tell you. Best of luck, Jun.

– Eric

Morning KidScreen highlight: meeting producers Peter Lewis and Anne Sweeney from Ireland’s Boulder Media. If you’ve seen El Tigre! or Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, you’ve seen their fantastic animation work.

– Eric

Day #1 at KidScreen (”the ultimate kids industry experience of the year”) in dreary NYC. Luckily, Walden’s here to point me where I need to go.

– Eric

Tomorrow (Saturday) night’s the opening reception of “A Band of Bugs”, an eight-artist exhibition of “insect paintings, plush, sculptures, and installations.” Held at Nucleus in Alhambra, the event features work from Anna Chambers, Lou Romano, Don Shank, Megan Brain, Chris Rabilwongse, Michelle Valigura, Amanda Visell, and Alex Kirwan (that’s Alex’s stag beetle above). It’s free, the artists will be there, and the festivities begin at 7:00 p.m. If you can’t make it tomorrow night, you can still see the exhibition until March 3.

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Click here to see a Washington Post review of the recently published book, Not just Cartoons: Nicktoons! by the ubiquitous Jerry Beck. The article mentions a couple of what Scott Moore calls the book’s highlights, including “A history of Oh Yeah, Cartoons! The series’ 120 shorts included the first appearances of future hits Chalk Zone, Fairly OddParents and My Life as a Teenage Robot” and “title pages of the first five years of Fairly OddParents.” It’s a Washington Post Book of the Week!

(Scott, Scott, Scott. They’re called title cards, not title pages. Sheesh.)

– Eric