I probably should’ve brought this up earlier in the week, but we had other things to talk about. So now that it’s old news and everyone is completely over the Oscars, I’m going to talk about it anyway, because that’s just how I am. Also because I’m still annoyed.

No, I don’t want to talk about the dresses and the hair. I want to talk about Happy Feet winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

You might remember when I told you about the Annie Awards I linked to an article that mentioned that the Annie winner has gone on to nab the Oscar every year since the Academy started honoring feature-length animation. The assumption was that the Annie winner would also take the Oscar.

Now, this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, for sure. But generally you can count on some consistency across major award shows; the Golden Globe recipients, for example, tend not to differ too much from the Oscar winners, either.

So let’s recap: This year, Cars won the Annie. Cars also won the Golden Globe. But Cars did not win the Oscar; Happy Feet did. And congratulations to Happy Feet! But I’m feeling confused.

Part of me—the part that likes to root for the little guy—is pleased when someone comes from behind to take the win, truly. On the other hand, I remember Happy Feet’s less-than-virtuous foray into medical sales and feel a little miffed that they brought home an Oscar.

I’m also wondering if the Arthur and the Invisibles disqualification from Animated Feature status had any effect on the outcome, as we had only three nominees this year instead of five (per the award guidelines). But I suppose there’s really no way to know.

(Cartoon Brew wrote an interesting piece on what this may mean for feature-length cartoons vs. motion capture, and it’s worth reading.)

Mostly I think I’m just sad that Monster House didn’t win. That was my favorite movie of the three nominees. Hmph.

Hopefully you tuned in yesterday for part 1 in our adventure in getting to know The Wumblers and its creator, Laura J. Wellington. Rarely is there such a heart-warming story behind the creation of a new show, and as such it seemed fitting to devote an entire piece to the backstory before moving on to the property itself and where it’s going.

Just as Laura Wellington is not your ordinary businesswoman, The Wumblers is not your typical cartoon. As discussed in yesterday’s installment, Ms. Wellington is firmly ensconced at the development helm. “Nothing that is developed for Wumblers I don’t know about or I haven’t approved,” she says. “I’m very hands-on as far as the creation of the show, because it’s very important to me. Because I’ve seen it… productions where people didn’t take it as seriously. The quality has to go in, first, and everything else will be built around it.” (more…)

Have you heard of The Wumblers yet? If not, you will. The Wumblers is a brand new inspirational children’s cartoon slated for network debut later this year—and I’ll tell you more about the show itself tomorrow—but whether you have preschoolers or not, whether the show interests you or not, the story behind this project is one that will amaze and inspire you.

Pictured to the side here is Laura J. Wellington (with a couple of stuffed Wumblers), age 40, creator of the multi-colored creatures. I think she looks remarkable for a woman who never sleeps, don’t you? And despite her protestations to the contrary, I’m pretty sure she never does sleep. It just doesn’t seem mathematically possible, given her life. Here; see for yourself: (more…)

If you’re not a hardcore animation buff, you might not know that last Sunday was John Polson’s Tropfest. Proudly proclaiming itself to be the world’s largest short film festival, Tropfest draws in filmmakers from all over the world to present their original works. (The fact that it’s held in Australia is just a bonus.)

Anyway, Tropfest is a big deal. And this year the big winner was one Steve Baker. Right now Baker should be basking in the glory of his win, but instead, he’s been under fire. Now, before you click on that link? Let’s see if you, brilliant reader, can figure out why.

Baker’s winning short is entitled An Imaginary Life. (A lot of people are fans of a little show called Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.)

Baker’s protagonist, pictured above, is imaginary. And his name is Andrew. He’s blue. (Fosters’ protagonist is imaginary, named Bloo, and blue.)

Baker’s piece is Flash-style animation. (Foster’s is Flash-style animation.)

It certainly sounds… coincidental… but I think film ick got it right:

There are plenty of differences between the stories, notably that Imaginary Life adopts a pseudo-documentary aesthetic (well, as far as an animated film can) which is very different to the graphic, classical stylings in Foster’s Home.

As much as I’d hate to see Craig McCracken getting ripped off, I think Baker has done so only by accident, if at all.

Tropfest officials seem to agree; their released statement said:

During the initial pre-selection period, the possibility of perceived similarities was identified by the festival but, after subsequent checks with the filmmaker, we were satisfied that An Imaginary Life was an original work that met all entry requirements.

Steve Baker, the director of the winning film, is a three-time finalist of Tropfest and a filmmaker whose integrity and body of work is respected by John Polson and the entire Tropfest team.

Congratulations, Mr. Baker. When you have some time, you might want to check out Foster’s Home. I think you’d enjoy it.

February is almost over. You know what that means: Good-bye to what is arguably the most depressing month of the year. (So short! So dark!) And afterwards, we greet March. Right? Well, yes. But we’ll also be greeting a month of Turtle Mania in preparation for the March 23rd release of the CGI Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie:

“The impressive lineup of promotional partners supporting TMNT reflects the quality of the movie,” said Alfred R. Kahn, chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, which is the licensing agent for the Turtles franchise. “This is a movie for everybody — from today’s kids to adults who were fans of the original television series almost 20 years ago.”

I’m not sure if this will truly be a movie for everyone. After all, now that I’ve read that blurb, I’m feeling rather old as I remember that I not only remember the original series, but that I was too old for it even back then. I am not feeling the Turtles love right at this very moment, people. Ahem.

Regardless, you have to admire the mammoth marketing push behind this thing. Check it out: (more…)

First, the game: We have recently discovered the Avatar Escape from the Spirit World Game. (You need a login nickname, and also the secret passwords—refer to Avatar Spirit for the list—but it’s worth it, I promise.)

My son even lets me play, occasionally. He’s so good to me.

Next: even better was finding the new Avatar Cartoon Short (use KOH as the password to acces it), “School Time Shipping.” Avatar Spirit told me it’s done in the “chibi animation style,” and because I’m not an animation buff so much as I’m just a sucker for a good story, I had no idea what that meant. It turns out that chibi is that super-cutesy bigheaded thing.

Can you think of anything more incongruous for a series like Avatar? Because I can’t. But you have to watch the short, because it’s as hilarious as it is just plain weird.

Of course, Nicktoons Network is showing Escape from the Spirit World episodes all this week at 6:30 p.m. eastern, and it all culminates in a little Spirit World marathon this Saturday, February 25th, from 4-7. I guess I know what I’ll be doing this Saturday….

Need more things Avatar-related to keep you going this week? (Geez, you’re a little greedy, you know.) Remember when I told you that Avatar will be a live-action movie? I was wandering around the internet wondering if anyone had any additional information on the project, and discovered that when I post about it, nobody says anything… but when they post about it over at TV.com, they end up with 19 pages of comments. I tried to decide if this makes me feel neglected and unloved, but then decided that people who have 19 pages of opinions on a cartoon scare me just a little, so it’s all fine.

I happened across this piece at Blogging Baby, yesterday, titled Collect them all! (or not), and of course I had to stop and read it, because I suffer from PTPD (Post- Traumatic Pokemon Disorder). I know that phrase, and so I wanted to see what it was all about.

Turns out, it wasn’t about Pokemon at all. No, it was an article about research on how children perceive advertising, and boy, was it ever informative. The Blogging Baby writer, for example, felt compelled to highlight this bit:

A task force of the American Psychological Association (APA) has recommended restrictions on advertising that targets children under the age of eight, based on research showing that children under this age are unable to critically comprehend televised advertising messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as truthful, accurate and unbiased.

Children under the age of eight are unable to critically comprehend advertising? Really? I have a child under the age of eight. He’s still working on always putting his underwear on frontwards.

Point being, I seriously doubt that any parent of a child under the age of eight was astounded to discover that said child might not be up on all the latest deconstructive reasoning techniques when it comes to commercials.

Both articles go on to discuss what I suspect is also not news: Children will ask repeatedly for coveted items, and they do so because about half the kids report that their nagging results in the parents giving in eventually. Giving in gets the kids to stop begging, which puts an end to your bleeding eardrums. People advertise to children not because children have buying power, but because they have nagging power with those who do have the money.

I don’t know; call me crazy, but rather than complaining about the state of capitalism and its inherent trappings, we as parents can take charge: Exert some control over what our children are exposed to (in our house, for example, I often make the kids mute the television during commercials… and I hear some parents ban TV altogether, but let’s not get crazy); lay down some rules and enforce them (if I hear you ask for that toy one more time, I will make sure you never, ever receive it from me or anyone else); and only spend our hard-earned dollars on toys which foster creativity and important ideals, such as alien experimentation.

You’re welcome.

Sometimes you just need a break from it all; some time to just kick back, relax, and take a vacation from the real world for a little bit. A quick jaunt to a tropical locale would be ideal, but these kids who live here seem to think I should stick around and make their food and do their laundry and stuff. Hmph.

No, it was really the kids who needed a break this weekend. Their lives are just so demanding, you know. The daily grind of elementary school is really getting to them. They needed some down time, you know, so we had a movie weekend.

We kicked it off with the Naked Brothers Band movie, which I’d taped a few weeks back when it premiered. Do you think creator Polly Draper would find it odd if I sent her email asking her to be my friend? The movie delivered in every possible way; the kids loved it, I loved it, and it was a perfect mix of humor and drama. We’ll be recording the series weekly, at the kids’ request.

(Though I have to say two things about how old this makes me feel. First, I had to keep explaining to the kids who the famous people in the movie were, and why I found their appearances funny. Second, this blog is for grown-ups, yet my previous post about the movie continues to accumulate comments from kids whose parents may or may not know their little groupies are surfing the internet. Parents, please pay attention to what your kids are doing. And explain to them that it is not appropriate to leave comments that say things like “NAT U R SO HOT! CALL ME!” on a public site. Thanks.)

Next, the children were sucked into the Camp Lazlo marathon that was on yesterday, and we may or may not have seen part of the new Where’s Lazlo? movie. I don’t know; it’s all very hazy to me. I’m mostly distracted, whenever Lazlo is on, by the flies that circle Chip and Skip all of the time. I just find that very perplexing.

Finally, we caught Bridge to Terabithia yesterday, and it rocked my socks off. The kids enjoyed it, too. And only one of us cried. (I’m not saying who. But please remind me to put some extra kleenex in my purse.) If you’ve been wondering whether or not to see it, my assessment is that it’s quite true to the book. This is both good (in terms of the relationship development and special effects) and bad (I don’t want to ruin it if you haven’t read the book, but it’s not an altogether happy story). Overall, I’d say it’s a great family film. I wouldn’t take a child under 6 to see it, personally, or a really sensitive kid who might find the sad parts too hard to take, but we give it all our thumbs up.

And now I have to go eat some celery or something, to counteract all the popcorn I ate this weekend….

I’ve been meaning to do a round-up of a few items relating to stuff that’s been posted previously, so today seems as good a day as any to do that. Don’t you always want to read the answers to all of your burning questions before you head into the weekend? Of course you do!

We have a winnah… actually, three of them

Waaaaay back in October I brought your attention to the Design Your Destiny Yu-Gi-Oh! Contest over at 4Kids Entertainment. Remember that? Since then, people keep wandering over to that entry and leaving plaintive comments asking about the results. Well, it turns out that the folks at 4Kids have finally announced the winners and put up the winning drawings. (My son and I agree that Tongue Twister is the most deliciously disgusting of the creatures.)

More Cartoon Network Upfront announcements

The announcements about upcoming plans for Ben 10 were just a slice of all the exciting Cartoon Network plans that were revealed in New York City this week. Both Newsarama and ToonZone have been awesome with their coverage. My favorite news (besides the Ben 10 movie news, that is)? Plans for the upcoming Cartoon Network Invaded:

Foster’s Bloo will send a message out to space causing the Cartoon Network universe to be invaded by all manner of aliens. Every Friday in May, an alien will arrive in a new episode of one of that block’s group of programs to raise havoc or something else, culminating with an all-out alien invasion on Memorial Day.

(I’ve never looked forward to Memorial Day quite so much….)

Some actual animation, finally

Remember my ambivalence over Jerry’s Seinfeld’s Bee Movie? I’m warming up to it. The latest trailer may have helped; the animation is clean and I think i can now say I much prefer Seinfeld in his animated form.

Sometimes they get it right

Today is the much-anticipated opening of Bridge to Terabithia, and I peeked through my fingers while looking up the reviews. Have they done it? Did they manage to take a great book and turn it into a great movie, or did they take a great book and turn it into pulp?

I’m breathing a sigh of relief, and buying us tickets online right now. I can’t wait to see it.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Apparently Cartoon Network isn’t content to just wander around Toy Fair in New York City this week; nope, they’ve been busy launching something called Cartoon Network Upfront, which will serve as a portal for all sorts of informational goodness. I’m guessing that you’ll be seeing me go there for exciting news on your favorite shows a lot, in the coming months.

But today, today, I’m so excited I can barely type. Thank goodness for the good people at Toon Zone; they’ve been gathering announcements on the scene in NYC and posting updates for those of us here at home. And those Upfront people have been busy.

First up—you guessed it—hold on for Ben 10 the movie. Except that it gets even better, because it’s actually two movies:

Cartoon Network will produce two movies based on its series Ben 10, the network says.

In the first, an animated film, Ben accidentally sets the Omnitrix on self-destruct and must find its creator to shut it down.

Meanwhile, the network says it is also preparing a live-action film version of the series. [UPDATE: The film will be directed by Alex Winter, star of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and voice actor in Saul of the Mole Men and will premiere in December. Casting is still underway.]

Live-action Ben 10? If you want to audition for Heatblast, do you suppose at the casting call they set your hair on fire? Okay, needless to say, I’m guessing there will be some phenemonenal special effects on board for this one.

And in the meantime, if you just can’t get enough Ben 10 on the small screen? Double your pleasure with a second Ben 10 television series:

Cartoon Network will be launching a sequel series to its hit action cartoon Ben 10, which will be entitled Ben 10: Hero Generation.

This new series will focus on a slightly older Ben and Gwen as they team up and mentor a group of children who have similar powers to Ben. The age shift will introduce new, more mature issues, but the target demographic will be the same as the original Ben 10.

No premiere date was given, but Cartoon Network says that it will premiere sometime before Spring 2008.

That’s an awful lot of Ben 10 coming down the pike. I am going to have to give my children plenty of extra chores to offset the extreme joy they’ll be experiencing, I think.