Channel Frederator Blog

You’re just in time for the secret password, and it’s not Swordfish! Tomorrow night (Tuesday, February 3rd) Danny Fingeroth will be interviewing the fascinating and fearless cartoonist and writer Jules Feiffer at YIVO at 7 PM (15 West 16th Street, between 5th and 6th.) $10 tickets are available at the door if you whisper the word “Explainers”. Actually, I think you can say it in a normal tone of voice, if you so choose. This is quite a deal, as advance tickets are $25.

Learn how an angst-ridden, impoverished Jewish guy from the Bronx became an acclaimed cartoonist, playwright, animator, screenwriter, novelist, and author of children’s books, earning himself a Pulitzer Prize, an Obie, and an Oscar along the way. With pop culture critic and historian Danny Fingeroth. Q&A to follow.

For more info, go to the YIVO events page.

—Anne D. Bernstein

New York Comicon (February 6-9 at The Javits Center) has posted most of its schedule and here are some top events for animation addicts. (Just my own personal picks. Complete schedule here.)

Friday 3:15-4:15: WILDBRAIN: Head of Creative Bob Higgins, CMO Mike Polis, and some artists showcase W!LDBRAIN’s animation work, including Yo Gabba Gabba!

Friday 4:45-5:45: SUPERJAIL: Christy Karacas and Stephen Warbrick, the creators and executive producers “speak about the most intense, violent, and complicated jail in the universe.”

Friday 8:39-10:30: WONDER WOMAN: Big screen premiere. Panel with Bruce Timm and some stars after the film.

Saturday 1:45-2:45: MARVEL ANIMATION: Iconic heroes; you know the drill. Wolverine and Iron Man become Nicktoons. A Black Panther show for BET. Thor is awarded his own animated series. Get yer hype here!

Saturday 1:45-2:45: ROBOT CHICKEN: Can you believe this is up against the Marvel event? The weird folk (I mean, cool people) will be in attendance.

Saturday 4:00-5:00: J.J. SEDELMAIER: With Howard [Read more…]

The 8th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest kicks off on January 15th. This year there are some animation-related events sure to please. You can see the complete schedule and buy tickets to all the laugh-inducing festivities here.

January 15th at 8 PM: Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Tour 2009: $25

January 16th at 8 PM: TV Funhouse Live with Robert Smigel, Dino Stamatopoulos and Doug Dale featuring the Anipals and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog: $30

January 18th at 2 PM: Sunday with Moral Orel Panel with Dino Stamatopoulos and Scott Adsit: $15

January 31 at 8 PM: Cartoon Dump with Frank Conniff and special guests Andy Kindler and Mary Lynn Rajskub $20

If only I had deep pockets and a plane ticket in hand because there are lots of other incredibly rare ocassions that I would hate to miss, include a performance by The State (and, on another night, an interview with the group hosted [Read more…]

Group Shows! Group Shows! I can’t get enough of them. Luke Temby, the creator of a toy-centric universe called CUPCO, creates one-of-a-kind hand-stitched dolls. He’s part of the “Cutting Edge Plush” contingent in collectible toyland. He’s made soldiers, Jesus, The Dalai Lama, Gandhi, L.Ron Hubbard, Kali, and (most controversial) a female suicide bomber.

His latest project is “The United Nations of Cupco”, an upcoming exhibit at the Damien Minton Gallery in Redfern (Sydney), Australia. The show runs December 10-22. 100 international artists received felt templates of CUPCO dolls. The artists painted or otherwise decorated the templates and returned them to be stuffed and stitched. You can see all the dolls and a list of artists here. There’s an interview with Luke here.

“What are the 5 main ingredients to world peace?”
“Sewing. Stuffing. Sexing. Eating. Drawing. In that order”

This one is by Diego Medina:

After the jump, a group show with over 1000 pieces of arwork! [Read more…]

NYC-centric, I admit. It’s a busy time of year, this holiday season. Extra special good wishes and encouragement to the now-ex-Viacom folks out there. (And to my fellow peeps from the 2001 Viacom mass holiday firings as well!) Now onto this week’s festivities:

FRIDAY, DEC. 5: “Too Art For TV 3” opens TONIGHT! It’s New York’s 3rd Annual Fine Art Exhibit for the Animation Industry! Artists include Patrick Smith, Christy Karacas, Jared Deal, Dave Levy, and many, many more. 6pm-9pm at Erebuni, 158 Roebling Street, Brooklyn. (The show runs December 5th through December 15th.)

SATURDAY, DEC 6: UGLY CON will be celebrated at the Giant Robot NY store at 437 E. 9th Street (between 1st Ave and Ave A) starting at 12 noon. Meet the creators! There will be a costume contest! More info on David Horvath’s blog.

Make it a social double header and scoot on over to the Kramers Ergot signing from 4-8 [Read more…]

The reviews are in (well, one is!)

Family Guy Sings! was performed on November 24th and 25th at Carnegie Hall. It featured the core cast of Seth MacFarlane’s animated series, backed by a 40-piece orchestra. The program consisted of an unedited live reading of two episodes, plus a selection of popular songs from the series. An earlier and less elaborate version of the shindig, Family Guy Live, was performed at the “Just For Laughs” festival in Montreal and later traveled to LA, Chicago, and New York City. But the Carnegie Hall night was far more fancy schmancy.

Broadway World has a review and a set of photos of the evening’s entertainment.

Here’s a New York Post article written in advance of the performance, with some Seth Green quotes.

After the jump, one of many YouTube shaky-shaky, from-the-audience clips of a Family Guy Live show. [Read more…]

There are a whole bunch of interesting events coming up in New York City this week and next:

Kim Deitch interviewed by Bill Kartalopoulos at MOCCA tonight at 7 PM. Free! 594 Broadway, Suite 401. More info.

Also tonight: Launch party for All the Art That’s Fit to Print (And Some That Wasn’t): Inside The New York Times Op-Ed Page (by Jerelle Kraus) at 7 PM at the Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway. Jerelle Kraus website.

Saturday, November 15: Opening party for the MF Gallery Toy Show from 7 to 11 PM at Live Fast NYC, 57 Clinton St. (Rivington & Stanton). Free beer! Handmade toys start as low as $20! Watch video!

Tuesday, November 18: Art Directing and Illustrating panel with Nicolas Blechman (New York Times Book Review) and Max Bode (The New Yorker). 6:30 PM at The Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd St. $10 members, $15 non-members. To RSVP.

Wednesday, November 19: David Mazzucchelli interviews European comic book artists at The School of Visual Arts at 6:30 PM. Free! Artists: David B., Nicolas de Crecy, Isabel Kreitz, Igort, Max, Jaroslav Rudis, Jaromir 99. This event is part of a celebration of the publication of the book Graphic Novels From Europe. Info on all related events here.

Also November 19: New York Stereoscopic Society 3D Comics Night. 7 PM at Haft Auditorium, Fashion Institute of Technology (Enter C Building Lobby on 27th street between 7th and 8th Avenues). Featuring Michael Kupperman, Kim Deitch, R. Sikoryak, Jason Little, Mick Andreano, Jerry Marks, and Joe Pedoto. Sponsored by Nickelodeon Magazine. Free! More here.

Thursday, November 20: ASIFA EAST Used Animation Auction (please note: no dealers!) at 7 PM. Hosted, as usual, by the always entertaining Tom Warburton. Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway.

Thursday, November 20 (6 PM) and Saturday, November 22 (3 PM): Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley, screenings at MOMA.

INSANITY! LET’S CLONE OURSELVES!!! [Read more…]

The stage version of Monkey: Journey to the West is currently being performed in London at the O2 Arena—actually, in a custom tent, featuring a restaurant, bar, and Chinese foot massage parlor. (Last spring, the show had a less extravagant run in the U.S. at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.)

This Chinese Opera adaptation of a 16th century novel is chock full of acrobatics, circus acts, and animated sequences by Jamie Hewlett (of Gorillaz fame).

Reviewer Adam Sweeting of The Telegraph says it’s “a kind of Cirque du Soleil with added layers of Buddhist karma and philosophical self-improvement.”

The music is by Damon Albarn (the other half of Gorillaz.) Jamie Hewlett is credited with design and animation.

Check out the official Monkey site for deep dish on various incarnations: performances, CDs, videos, etc.

Tix are on sale here. Interview with Albarn here. And there’s a MySpace page, of course!

You can a view a beautiful trailer for the show here.

After the jump, the opening sequence for a Monkey-inspired pop culture product of the past: the cult 1970s TV show Monkey Magic. And after that, the theme song from the 1990s animated series. [Read more…]

There’s an interesting lecture coming up at The Society of Illustrators (128 East 63rd Street) on Wednesday, November 5th from 6:30-8:30 PM. It’s called “Character Design, Animation and Toy Design”. The speakers are Paul Budnitz from Kidrobot and Mark Graham from ilovedust.

Kidrobot is famous for manufacturing and distributing high-end collectible toys and other consumer goods. They ‘re also in the animation business; Wild Brain studio in San Francisco now owns a major chunk of the company. Nickelodeon recently announced that they plan to turn Kidrobot properties into a series of feature films that blend animation and live action.

ilovedust is an English “design boutique” that has developed toys for Kidrobot–keeping it all in the family! This Zulu Dunny would fit in among his fellow premium plastic pals in any designer toy collection:

On the jump…how to order tickets…

[Read more…]

Today is the last day to catch Brad Benedict’s Side Show exhibit at Wal Art (1639 South La Cienega Blvd in Los Angeles). Includes animation peeps like Chris Reccardi, Dave Wasson, Ric Heitzman, and Everett Peck. La La Landers have about an hour to run over. Otherwise, see the artwork online. (Artwork above by Wasson.)

“Game Over” (Art of the Gamer Generation) is a group show that runs through October 29th at Giant Robot in San Francisco (622 Shrader Street). (Artwork above by Justin “Scrappers” Morrison.)

And…the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York City just announced two upcoming Kim Deitch events:

Cartoon Movie Night (October 30, 7 pm)
Kim Deitch will host a Cartoon Movie Night featuring rarely seen animated cartoons from the 1920s and 1930s hand-picked for the occasion from Deitch’s own personal collection. MoCCA will also display for one night only selected specimens from Deitch and spouse Pam Butler’s extensive collection of antique toy cats.

Deitch Q & A (November 13, 7 pm)
Q & A session with Deitch and exhibit curator Bill Kartalopoulos. Deitch will present examples of recent work and will also preview images from his current works in progress.

Also at MOCCA, a one-day only preview of Heritage Auction Galleries’ November 2008 Vintage Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction, to be more specific…

MAD Contemporary Art Treasures: The Most Classic Original Art from MAD Magazine (October 29, 10-5)

More info after the jump… [Read more…]