Pink Panther & Pals Premiere

There was a post on this blog speaking of a new Pink Panther animated series back in 2008 and now Cartoon Network has premiered the first episode as of March the 7th.
http://pinkpanther.mgm.com/
Thanks to YouTube, you can watch the first episode here. Better make it quick before it gets yanked. I really like the fact that the show's creators rethought their original "baby-versions" of the Pink Panther gang, but instead, redesigned the characters with a "modern" take. I do not care much for Pink's design but The Ant and The Aardvark make up for it. I don't know why, but their first cartoon really reminded me of watching Disney's Shnookums & Meat for the first time. Can't wait to see more of these shorts, they might just get better over time.



I hope Cartoon Network continues this classic cartoon resurgence with "Looney Tunes: Laff Riot" soon. They may be on their way to bringing funny cartoons to television again...

Official Fleischer Superman Hits DVD

Warner Home Video has officially announced a 2 disc set featuring all 17 of the original Max Fleischer Superman theatrical shorts to be released in April 2009!
http://www.dvdactive.com/max-fleischers-superman.html

PVP The Series Hits DVD

The online animated series based on Scott Kurtz's PVP webcomic has been pressed to DVD form and will be ready to ship in January.
http://www.pvponline.com/pvp-the-series-dvd-pre-order
The DVD will contain all 12 webisodes plus audio commentaries and plenty of behind-the-scenes stuff!

Gabe Swarr Shorts

Check out Gabe Swarr's awesome blog for a couple of great animated shorts he made featuring classic Nintendo characters!
http://www.gabeswarr.blogspot.com/
What the Shell? and A Really Really Brief History of Donkey Kong are cleverly designed and animated!

Goofy's Back in Theatres

Walt Disney Animation has returned to theatrical shorts at last!
I was fortunate to view the new Goofy short "How to Hook up Your Home Theatre" today before "National Treasure: Book of Secrets".
The short was very amusing, capturing the look and feel of the classic Goofy cartoons from the 50's.
In the tradition of the "How to" series, Goofy is determined to see the big game on a brand new home theatre system and this cartoon walks him through the steps of buying and setting up.
Here is an article talking with the people who are responsible for the new short and it even features a brief clip if you click on the first picture!
http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=3454&page=1
I hope Disney continues their short subject campaign and audiences can enjoy new animated fun before features once again!

Le Building

We watched a great little short this morning in Flash class...
"Le Building" is a 2005 production that was created by 5 students attending the Gobelins, an animation school in Paris, France.
The short uses 3D, Flash and traditional animation.

You can download the Quicktime and learn more about the production of "Le Building" at their official website.
http://www.le-building.com/index.htm

Goofy Pairs Up With Nicholas Cage

The brand new traditionally animated Goofy short, "How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre", is being released with "National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets"on Dec 21st!
http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=21514
The short has already been nominated for an Academy Award after being screen at recent film festivals.
I was going to wait to see this film on DVD, but I guess I'm going to the movies now!

Pixar Short Films Collection

A new DVD collection of 13 Pixar Animation's past shorts is presented in a first volume DVD to be released on November the 6th!
The shorts appear on the DVD in order of their release year. (1984 - 2007)
Ultimate Disney has an early review posted here:
http://ultimatedisney.com/pixarshorts-vol1-667.html