Modern Toss Splits Opinion

Those of you over 18 ;-) will no doubt have heard of Modern Toss or perhaps of 'Mr Tourette, the French Master Signwriter'.

The humor is distinctly adult in tone, but usually extremely childish in nature (which is probably why I like it so much). If you haven't seen or heard about it, then this little description sums it up rather well I think:

What's it all about eh? It's the stink of excellence in a world gone tits up. It's flies and sneezing and illegal alphabets and astronauts and drive by abusing ducks and a bloke who turns into a giant red monster when he sees Alan Titchmarsh and swearing. Lots and lots of swearing...

It's a 'love it' or 'hate it' kind of show, so check it out on Channel 4 when it's next on and make your own mind up.

Spumco and Tenacious D

As the title suggests (we're clever like that), we found this blog whilst surfing the old Blogosphere for the MIGHTY (and we don't use that word lightly around here, I assure you) Spumco!!!!

Most famous for Ren and Stimpy, Spumco basically ROCK. If you loved R&S, then you'll love this. Some awesome production drawings and roughs featuring JB and KG, otherwise known as Tenacious D

Go and have a look NOW. We mean it, it's too good to miss. But then come back ;-) We promise to tell you about more great stuff!

all kinds of stuff

Hi Hi Puffy Blog

We love you coming over and reading all our ramblings, but occasionally we know that you stray from our path and onto other peoples Blogs. Don't deny it...we know you do it! Well anyway, we figured, if you're gonna do it, at least go to the right places. Here's a cool blog by the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi crew.

Hi Hi Puffy Blog: "Randomness from the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi crew

You will come back though? Promise?

The force is strong in Snoopy

We could spend all day showing you Star Wars fan films, but there are other blogs out there for THAT. What we do is select the best one and save you all the time wasting.

Yes, the title sums it up pretty well, it's Snoopy meets Star Wars. What else could you possibly want?

Our Beady Eye - Part 1

Welcome to 'Our Beady Eye', the first in (hopefully) a long list of articles where WE tell YOU who to watch in the world of Animation and Illustration.

This week we're focusing on an Illustrator called Zebitz , a UK based artist who has caught our eye, not to mention a few major brands who have been banging down his door to sign him up.

We invite you to visit his website and take a look at his work yourself.

Everyone here at Lollipop loves it, as there's more depth to his work than first meets the eye - a little twist or dark humour intertwined with great visuals.

We'd also like to give props to the website build itself, great job! We can't wait to see what's coming next. After a bit of digging we found that it was built by Dan Robertson Graphic Design or DRGD as they are better known.

We're always looking for new articles, so if you've got someone or something that you think our readers would like to hear about, we want to hear from you.

Tell us who YOU think WE should focus 'Our Beady Eye' on next week.

Lollipop invites you to The Big Draw

For those of you who have not heard of The Big Draw, shame on you! But it's OK, because we're here (as always) to tell you more, and best of all, to show you how to GET INVOLVED!

'The Big Draw', summed up, is "Drawing events for all ages and abilities across the U.K."

There's loads of stuff happening ALL over. Too much info to cram in here. Your first point of call will be to visit The Big Draw website . From there you'll find lots of info about an event in your area.

If you're interested in this, then also check out this little gem 'The Campaign for Drawing'. If you don't believe us, then maybe the fact that Quentin Blake, David Hockney, Sir Richard MacCormac, Andrew Marr, Sir Roger Penrose, Gerald Scarfe and Posy Simmonds are all Patrons, will persuade you to pay it some attention...I thought so!

Here at Lollipop Animation we think that it's a great idea and we're going to do all we can to support this years activities - with yours truly guest speaking at one of the local events. More news to follow on this so stay tooned!

Plymton's All Star Feature is this year's 'highlight'

Hair High, the latest animated feature from indie legend Bill Plympton, will play at the Two Boots Pioneer theater in New York as part of the venue’s “Month of Horror” festivities. Plympton and cast members will be on hand for the screening and every guest will receive an original Plympton drawing. (Where's our ticket, Bill?)

Blending ’50s nostalgia and campy zombie action, Hair High tells the story of a small town terrorized by the corpses of a teenage couple who were murdered on prom night one year prior. The movie’s star-studded voice cast includes Dermot Mulroney (The Family Stone), Sarah Silverman (Jesus is Magic), David Carradine (Kill Bill Vol. 2) , Keith Carradine, Justin Long (Accepted), Beverly D'Angelo (TV’s Entourage), Ed Begley Jr.(Arrestd Development), Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer), Craig Bierko (Scary Movie 4) Eric Gilliland, Zak Orth (Prime), Tom Noonan (Manhunter), Simpsons creator Matt Groening and animator Don Hertzfeldt (Rejected).

Plympton wrote, directed, produced and self-financed the film, which is co-produced by his friend and distant cousin, actress Martha Plimpton (TV’s 7th Heaven), who also provides a voice in the movie. Hair High had its world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival and enjoyed a successful run on the festival circuit last year.

If you're unfamiliar with Mr Plymton's work, we highly recommend you visit his website, or better still, get hold of one of his glorious DVDs.

To find out more about Hair High, check out it's own offical site here .

Today's Poll is...

What was your favourite animated film this Summer?
	Over the Hedge
	Cars
	The Wild
	Monster House
	Barnyard
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Animation Ads

Animation in advertising has long been seen as a way to stand out from the crowd. From ad only creations like Captain Crunch, Tony the Tiger and The Jolly Green Giant, to specifically licensed characters brought in to do a job, The Simpsons (Domino Pizza, Mastercard etc), Wallace and Gromit (Renault Kangoo), the list is endless. Anyway, we'll keep digging out more of our favourites and yours too if you let us know.

Here are a few to get us started. Different decades, different styles. Starting with the controversial Flinstones and Winstone Cigerettes - then moving on to the silly but excellent Chewits ad (1986!) - through to present day and Becks. We had to include this one on here, what with the nod to the different animation techniques. Subscribe to the Lollipop Blog to see more in coming weeks.

If Ofcom have a problem with Tom and Jerry smoking, just imagine what they'd say about this one:

The Cartoons that never made it...

Sometimes a real gem of a show never gets that all important Second Series. Just ask Alan Partidge! But wait, what's he got to complain about. At least he had one shot. These little cartoon capers we're about to show you, didn't even get that. And everyone here at Lollipop Animation, thinks that's a crime. Let's hear it for the little guys. Here are some cartoons that just didn't (quite) make it ;-)










We hope you found those as funny as we did. Make sure you let us know. We can always show you more!

Too Hot for TV

This great little short was banned from TV for a little while for a couple of silly reasons, but now we can show you it, in all its glory. Made even more famous by the film Mask starring Jim Carey, which paid homage to this short in a BIG way. We hope you enjoy it.

Painfully Good Animation

Here are two great shorts from RG Studios a Korean Animation Studio who are really making waves. We've been watching them for a while now and after you see these two 'painful' films below, you'll see why.


Get ready to feel the burn.

Wallpaper fast as Lightning

We've had some requests for some FREE cars downloads, and as we always listen to our customers, here's a Wallpaper featuring Lightning McQueen. If you like this one, let us know and we may just help you get your hands on some more!

Aren't we good to you? Just click on the image to enlarge it, and then save it to your desktop!

Tom and Jerry Up in Smoke

Under pressure from regulators and the U.K. anti-smoking lobby, Turner Broadcasting will edit out scenes of cartoon characters smoking in U.K. versions of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including THE FLINTSTONES, TOM AND JERRY and SCOOBY-DOO, according to various news outlets.

In all, more than 1,700 episodes will be re-edited after the Office of Communications (Ofcom) received a complaint about two TOM AND JERRY toons — "Texas Tom" and "Tennis Chumps" — which aired on Turner-owned Boomerang.


In a statement, the company said, "Turner recognizes that it is not suitable for cartoons aimed at children to portray smoking in a cool context and has additionally pledged to review the entire Hanna-Barbera catalog to remove scenes that appear to glamorize or encourage smoking."


Ofcom ruled that the two episodes of TOM AND JERRY were inappropriate for a children's show. Currently, Ofcom is viewing 160 other TOM AND JERRY episodes for additional offensive material.


Ofcom's rules do not allow smoking in children’s programs unless there is strong editorial justification and it must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorized before 9:00 pm.

Source: www.AWN.com


So what do we think of all this hulabaloo? Well quite honestly we think it's nonsense and also a bit worrying. The moment you start banning one subject i.e. smoking, next they'll be saying that you can't show, hitting over the head with a saucepan, being crushed by an anvil or even slamming hands, feet and tails in various devices, and then where will we be? Everyone at Lollipop Animation says "leave our cartoons alone!" Especially Fred Quimby's Tom and Jerry masterpieces.

Daffy Duck Direct to DVD

The ghosts of Christmas past, present and future are back, Looney Tunes style, when Warner Home Video (WHV) releases BAH, HUMDUCK! A LOONEY TUNES CHRISTMAS on Nov. 14 on DVD for $19.98.

Daffy Duck stars as the "Scrooge-like" proprietor of the "Lucky Duck" mega-mart in this all new, first ever Looney Tunes made-for-DVD movie based on the classic holiday tale, A CHRISTMAS CAROL. To take financial advantage of last minute shoppers, Daffy demands that his employees, including his long-suffering manager, Porky Pig, work on Christmas Day instead of spending the holiday with their families. It's up to Bugs Bunny and the ghosts of Christmas past (Tweety and Granny), present (Yosemite Sam) and future (Taz) to make sure that Daffy realizes the error of his ways and save Christmas for the Looney Tunes gang.

"The Looney Tunes characters have been revered by generations. We think both kids and adults will love this hilarious adaptation of the timeless Dickens story. It's the kind of film which families will want to make part of their holiday traditions," commented Dorinda Marticorena, WHV vp, kids and sports marketing. "The first three volumes of LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTION have been enormous hits amongst consumers, and we anticipate this new title to be well received by both new and existing Looney Tunes fans."

BAH, HUMDUCK! A LOONEY TUNES CHRISTMAS will feature a score by Grammy Award-winning and three-time Emmy Award-winning composer Gordon Goodwin. Goodwin most recently earned a Grammy Award in the "Best Instrumental Arrangement" category for his work on THE INCREDIBLES soundtrack.

An on-air broadcast of BAH, HUMDUCK! A LOONEY TUNES CHRISTMAS is planned for winter 2006 on the Cartoon Network.

With operations in 90 international territories Warner Home Video (www. Warnerhomevideo.com), commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Ent., Castle Rock Ent., HBO Video and New Line Home Ent.

Source: www.AWN.com

Pixar: Coming soon to a town near YOU

Staying on the Pixar theme, for those of you who have not visited their current exhibition, celebrating their 20 years of animation (yes really, 20 YEARS!), it's currently showing at Mori Arts Center gallery in Tokyo, Japan until the end of the month. It returns to the UK in March 2007 and hits Australia this time next year.

We can't recommend this exhibition highly enough. So many great pieces of original art and the 3D Zoetrope will blow your mind! Just trust us on that.

To find out more dates and more locations, visit www.Pixar.com

Best of Pixar's Short Films

Pixar have always been very generous with their DVD extras. Not just content to wow us with the main feature, they also like to include a short to really show off ;-) We've had so many requests for these short films, we simply could not put it off any longer. So here goes. First up:


For the birds


Geri's Game


Jack-Jack Attack


One Man Band


Boundin'


PS: Don't forget to tell us which of these is your favourite. We'll publish the results sometime next week.

Ratatouille (rat-a-too-ee) Trailer

If you think the guys at Pixar are sat congratulating themselves over the success of 'Cars', think again. They're working their socks off on their next movie, Ratatouille, which judging by this trailer, is not going to disappoint.

Halas & Batchelor Tribute

Southbank Publishing has released a richly illustrated book - a part-history, part-tribute, part-critical analysis of the Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Studio, Britain’s leading and most influential animation company between 1940-1995. It draws on the archives of the Halas & Batchelor Collection and looks at the key works of the studio, including ANIMAL FARM, Britain’s first full length animated feature; THE TALES OF HOFFNUNG, with the legendary Peter Sellers; AUTOBAHN, featuring the music of Kraftwerk; and BUTTERFLY BALL, with the work of Beatles illustrator, Alan Aldridge.


Established writers, including Giannalberto Bendazzi and John Canemaker, have contributed to the book, which includes a forward by Oscar-winning creator of WALLACE & GROMIT Nick Park, where he comments: 'Halas & Batchelor are my earliest memory of British animation making a mark on the world stage, and having a distinctively British style. Their work has lasted and remains impressive and important.'
Nick Park - Wallace & Gromit - Aardman Animation


The book also features an autobiographical account by Vivien Halas - daughter of John Halas and Joy Batchelor, director of The Halas & Batchelor Collection — as well as critical insights by Loughborough University professor of animation Paul Wells, Richard Holliss and Jim Walker.


The 224-page book is selling for £19.99. For more information, visit Southbank Publishing

Shout out to 'Pes'

Fans of Lollipop Animation will know that we've been singing the praises of 'Pes' for a long time now. You may recognise his work form the current Coke ads that are running, but if you are unfamiliar, then his website www.eatpes.com is a must visit. It has loads of his amazing stop motion short movies on display, including my personal favourite 'CoinStar' which can also be seen below.

Sony Animation Announcment(s)

The folks at Sony Pictures Animation are getting ready to send off their debut feature, Open Season, in grand style. At a special press event held at the studio’s Culver City space on the Sony lot yesterday, attendees were treated to clips of the studio’s next four features and had the chance to meet and greet many of the upcoming features’ noted directors and producers.


One piece of news that came out of the event was that the studio has started to work on the CG-adaptation of Judi and Ron Barrett’s children’s book, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Teased as “Coming to theaters Septober 32, 200F,” the film will be directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (creators of MTV’s much-loved Clone High series) and produced by Pam Marsden (Disney’s Dinosaur, Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas). The off-beat project will answer time-honored questions such as what would happen if food (i.e. meatballs, pancakes, spaghetti, hamburgers, peanut butter and jelly sandwich) dropped like rain from the sky? What if you didn’t like the menu? What would it be like to be squashed by a pancake? Who would clean up the mess?


Besides Open Season, which premieres on Sept. 29, the studio has set the marketing wheels in motion for its 2007 summer release, Surf’s Up. Directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck, and produced by Chris Jenkins, the film will feature a voice cast that includes Jeff Bridges, James Woods, Zooey Deschanel and Shia LaBeouf. Also in the busy CG production pipeline is Hotel Transylvania, to be directed by David Feiss (Open Season, Cow and Chicken) and Anthony Stacchi (Open Season, Antz), and produced by Michelle Murdocca (Open Season, Stuart Little 1 and 2).


Hotel Transylvania will visit Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolf Man and other classic creeps, who all hang out together and try to cope with the notion that they are no longer relevant in modern times. The script is being written by Surf’s Up scribe Don Rhymer, whose credits also include Big Mama’s House. The ghoul-fest is slated for a 2008 release.


Source: Animation Magazine

Even More Cartoon Network

Great news for young animation viewers here in the U.K. You will have a new daily destination when Cartoon Network Too launches its new preschool block, Cartoonito. Anchored by such established favorites as Cookie Jar’s Caillou, Warner Bros.’ Baby Looney Tunes and HIT Ent’s Barney, the 6 a.m. to 3 p.m block will debut on Monday, Sept. 4, with programs in English and French.

Other shows scheduled to air during Catoonito include Animal Stories from Collingwood O’Hare and Foothill Ent., Blanche from VGI Ent., Hi-5 from Southern Star,Big Foot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks from CCI Ent., Ellen’s Acres from Cartoon Network U.S. and Animation Collective, Fluffy Gardens from Monster Animation, Pororo the Little Penguin from Iconix Ent. and Roobarb and Custard Too from Celador.

Source: Animation Magazine

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12

Those of you of a certain age will remember this one. The Sesame Street Pinball cartoon is an absolute classic. Catchy tune, great effects. SUCH NOSTALGIA! This was one of my favourite cartoons when I was a little boy, and watching it now brings the emotions flooding back. I hope it does for you too. Not that it effected me too much, but yes I do own a Pinball machine ;-)


By the way, this is the super-doopa extended version...in case you were interested. We're so good to you! Enjoy the flash back.

David Shrigley Part 1

Sticking with the 'Blur' theme (see previous post), although this time it's the band Blur, here's a very different piece of animation. You may recognise the style of David Shrigley the Glasgow artist. Lollipop Animation are big fans of his and this music video is no exception. We hope to showcase much more of his work, but only if YOU want us to. Let us know what you think of this one. If you're familiar with his work then you'll know what to expect. If you're not and you're overly sensitive, then (a) what are you doing here? and (b) give this one a miss!

Gopher Broke - Blur Studios

If you haven't seem this little animated short yet, then make yourself comfortable as for the next 4 minutes and 18 seconds, you're in for an absolute treat. There's nothing better in my opinion than a really good short film and if it's animated, well heck, that just makes it even better.


As the title suggests this film is called 'Gopher Broke' and has been made by the talented guys at Blur Studios

Keep an eye out for more stuff from them V.Soon!

Happy Feet dances its way into our hearts

While we're on the subject of trailers. There are a number of new animated films headed our way, including a number of sequels: Fox and Hound II, Brother Bear II and Cinderella III? Anyway, there's one film that's caught our eye, and that's Warner Bros. Happy Feet which is scheduled for release in Novembuurrrr (sorry!). Anyway, it's based on the story that every penguin has a heart song to attract their soul mate. Unfortunatley our hero 'Mumble' cannot sing. A cute enough storyline, sure, but just check out the trailer below, as this one looks like it could be something special! We can't wait.

Getting revved-up over Cars

With Cars hitting the Cinemas last week to rave reviews, Disney-Pixar have done it yet again. The latest 'Cars' prints are now available in our GALLERY


If you haven't seen it yet, our advice is to get down to your local movie theatre NOW! But if you still need convincing then check out the trailer below.

Advertising, The Simpsons way

Just about everything that can be said about The Simpsons, HAS been said about The Simpsons. So, all we're gonna say IS... if you love them, then we reckon you're gonna love these four little gems too.

Best. Titles. Ever!

This week, the hot topic at Lollipop Animation has been "Best Ever Cartoon Intro Credits". The debate got pretty heated at some points, but the final votes have been cast and in no particular order (THAT debate would have lasted FOREVER), here is our top 10. Let us know who we've missed and why on earth we should add them to our blog and maybe we'll do a top 20! Enjoy.


The Flintstones



Banana Man



Superted



Ulysees 31



Dungeons & Dragons



Teen Titans



The Simpsons (with a twist)



Mighty Mouse



Looney Tunes



He-Man

Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood

Great song, great video. We felt the Gorillaz gang desevered a place on the Lollipop Blog. If you want to see more, then let us know! Oh, and we've just heard today that there's a new set of Vinyl toys available v.soon, from Kid Robot. Brand new sculpts, brand new molds, available October time. Let us know if this is something you're interested in and we'll get them in for you! Now sit back and enjoy this blast from the bast.

Cribs - Gorillaz Style

You've all heard of the show 'Cribs' on MTV? Where we get to see how celebs spend their big bucks and take a tour around their luxury homes? Well this is what happened when the Cribs crew went around to see the home of our favourite virtual band, The Gorillaz. To find out more about the Gorillaz visit their WEBSITE

It's a great site. To hear one of their classic songs look no further than the next post ;-)