The poster designer has died at the age of 67. Read his New York Times obituary here not only to learn more about Kelley and his life, but also to see how the Times, per house rules, refers to Kelley’s partner, Stanley Mouse, straight-faced, as Mr. Mouse.
– Eric
This Thursday night, 6/5, watch the premiere of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack on Cartoon Network. It’s the brainchild of Mr Thurop Van Orman, and, because he’s such a good guy, I’d want the show to do great even if it were terrible, which it’s not at all. Far from it. Too occupy your time until the premiere, you can watch some previews online and read Jeaux’s interview with Thurop here. I’ve looked forward to this show for, what, five years (I’m not exaggerating) and everything I’ve seen tells me it’ll be worth the wait. Hats off to Thurop and his terrific crew on a job well done.
– Eric
If you’ve been waiting for merchandise based on Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! (and we know you have), your wait is almost over. By the end of this summer, you’ll see loads of toys, games, dolls, and books from licensees that include Fisher-Price, Hasbro, Scholastic, and Simon & Schuster. The Wubbster’s first DVD in the U.S., A Tale of Tails, will be released on September 23. The 92-minute set is available for pre-order on Amazon right now for the low, low price of just $11.99. Cheap!
– Eric
Lincoln Peirce, creator of the Random! Cartoon “Super John Doe, Jr”, has a brand new book out starring his comic strip character, Nate Wright, AKA Big Nate. I Smell a Pop Quiz! is available through Lulu.com. Please buy a copy to keep Lincoln distracted until “Super John Doe, Jr” airs on Nick and makes him super famous. The book is 128 pages, so maybe we’ll finally get to see Jenny come around.
– Eric
Congratulations to Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! creator and executive producer Bob Boyle for winning his first Emmy in the category of Individual Achievement in Animation. Bob, pictured above with sk8rgurl Michelle Kwan, will be honored at the June 13th Emmy Awards ceremony. Congratulations, again, Bob. You deserve this one.
Congratulations to Nicole Mitchell. Her CalArts hand-drawn cartoon, “Zoologic”, is one of eight films nominated in the animation category in this year’s Student Academy Awards. Frederator knows the film real well; it won Grand Prize in the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival last year (that’s Nicole with NNAF host Hal Sparks above). Winners of the Student Academy Awards are announced at a ceremony in Beverly Hills on June 7. Nicole, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for you.
– Eric
My name suggestion of Wubbzy and the Pippettes didn’t fly.
– Eric
Watch the premiere of The Mighty B on Nickelodeon Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. or else! I’ve seen a couple of episodes, and the best of the many compliments I can pay it is I think it’s funny just looking at the video, and I think it’s funny just listening to the audio. (But you should do both.)
For you Angelenos out there, an animated verison of Felix Figueroa (aka Freddy Martin) and his Orchestra’s “Pico & Sepulveda” by SlushoSteve.
– Eric
A big congratulations to John Dilworth. His contribution to Random! Cartoons, “Garlic Boy”, is going to be screened at the Newport Beach Film Festival in Newport Beach, California. If you want to see the boy of garlic with his tonic that’s “good for what ails ya”, you need to go to the Shorts for Shorties screening at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, 4/26.
Oh, and you may also want to attend An Evening of Disney Animation Rarities with Roy E. Disney and Don Hahn, part of the festival on Wednesday night, April 30. From the festival website:
“Join noted filmmakers and Academy Award nominees Roy E. Disney and Don Hahn as they present an unforgettable evening of rarely seen Disney animated shorts and experimental films. Roy and Don will screen a collection of short animated films that had limited theatrical presentations, many of which are not available for viewing on DVD.”
– Eric
