Maybe he’s tired of waiting for the cake cutting to start.

Everything’s back up and working.

If you’re coming here directly from the portfolio, don’t laugh.  It looks a bit weird right now.

Hopefully, it’ll all be better soon.

I found it interesting that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences thought it unnecessary to advance France’s entry, “Persepolis,” for further voting in the Foreign Language Film category for this year’s Oscar run. I’d say if past nominees and winners in this category are any proof that the Academy means to honor great films that transcend language, they really blew it this time.

But the biggest hurt? France could only submit one film of three excellent films this year, and “Persepolis” was chosen over “La Vie en Rose” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” I’d like to think that maybe France made their choice in realizing that a film about free thinking in the face of oppressive governments could make a difference for future generations. But perhaps “drawing someone a picture” about that particular topic didn’t help.

The argument whether an animated project even has a place in a category such as “Best Foreign Language Film” (or even as “Best Picture”) is one that’s currently being taken up on Cartoon Brew in two spots, here and here. Like some, I’m happy that at least there’s a category for feature animation, but also agree that some really great stuff will probably get ignored just because it’s animated. So goes the film business.

(And don’t get me started on why the producers of the Oscar telecast still insist that the orchestra conductor play some old-timey Carl Stalling-type piece of music whenever the category is presented on television. Makes me sick. Nothing against Carl Stalling.)

I’m by no means a scholar when it comes to animation, but I can list a few animated things I’ve seen that speak on a broad social level about the human condition. These are the projects that inspired me to get into and stay in this wacky business in the first place. And “Persepolis” is most definitely near the top of the list. Big, big kudos to Marjane Satrapi for making such a touching work of art.

(If you’re interested in seeing some of the more socially relevant animated things that still inspire me , I urge you to check out “When the Wind Blows,” “Allegro non Troppo” [especially the “Bolero” section], “Technological Threat,” “Balance,” “The Point,” and “The Man Who Planted Trees.”)

For the two (or three) of you that have rss feeds to this blog, I wanted to let you know that the website is almost finished. At some point in the not-too-distant future, your bookmarks will have to change as typing in www_dot_toddjacobsen_dot_com will take you to the root of the new website, thereby making this blog inaccessible from that address.

However, there will be a radio button labeled “blog” (original, huh?) on the website’s menu that will take you to this very place, where you can continue to read all the blather that’s fit to digest. Just be sure to take a Rolaids first.

Found this over on Cartoon Brew this morning. Way too good to pass up.

The woman who reads the London Underground “next stop” announcements has been fired for keeping a blog where she records and posts her own funny fake announcements, like “We’d like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loud,” and “Would the passenger in the red shirt pretending to read a paper, but is actually staring at that woman’s chest, please stop. You are not fooling anyone. You filthy pervert,” and “Residents of London are reminded that there are other places in Britain outside your stinking shithole of a city, and if you removed your heads from your arses for just a couple of minutes, you may realise that the M25 is not the edge of the Earth,” and “Here we are again, crammed into a sweaty tube carriage. And today’s Wednesday - only two more days until you can binge drink yourself into a state of denial about the mediocrity of you life. Oh, for Goodness sake, if you’re female smile at the bloke next to you and make his day. He probably hasn’t had sex for months.” (Link via boingboing.net)

I’ve long been a fan of Pete Emslie’s work. I first noticed him about six years ago when he posted a caricature of his on a message board, and was knocked out by his understanding of personal features and how he conveyed them with a single, thick and thin line. There was a very pronounced Hirschfeld-like technique to his style, but one that was uniquely his.

There’s an instructional video in three parts here in which he narrates his thought processes while he’s drawing. All very useful to the aspiring and professional artist.

I had noticed on his blog last August that he championed the use of soft pencils (rather than mechanical pencils) to get that nice thick and thin line that the old Disney artists used to get on their cleanup drawings. I would agree in principle that using a softer lead has a more desirable effect when doing a cleanup drawing, but respectfully disagree that mechanical pencils can’t achieve the same results. I’ve used an arsenal of mechanical pencils (from .03 to .09) with a variety of leads on my cleanup drawings for years, and have had great success. It’s all in how you apply pressure on the pencil and how you turn your wrist.

From “Cats Don’t Dance,” using .03 and .05 mechanical pencils with HB leads

In any case, go to his blog and watch a master at work!

UPDATE: Due to the amount of traffic to this page generated by searches for “Cats Don’t Dance” artwork, I’ve decided to link to the corresponding page in my portfolio. You can find more of my “CDD” production artwork here. Thanks for looking!

The list of animated films submitted for consideration and approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been released. The twelve are:

• Alvin and the Chipmunks
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
• Bee Movie
• Beowulf
• Meet the Robinsons
• Persepolis
• Ratatouille
• Shrek the Third
• The Simpsons Movie
• Surf’s Up
• Tekkonkinkreet
• TMNT

The result of having only twelve films submitted is that only three will be nominated. I’ll go out on a limb and predict that “Persepolis,” “Ratatouille” and “The Simpsons Movie” will be nominated, and that “Persepolis” will win.

There’s been speculation that “Ratatouille” will be nominated for Best Picture, but I really don’t see that happening. Of course, I’ll most likely be way off the mark on all my predictions.

(Full disclosure: I worked on “The Simpsons Movie,” but I’m not choosing it for that reason. I think the Academy will recognize James L. Brooks and Matt Groening for their collective body of work.)

When I was a young(er) shaver, I had the honor of working with Brad Bird on the “Krusty Gets Busted” episode of “The Simpsons.” And after I left that show, he was gracious enough to meet me for lunch at the Farmer’s Market to discuss the situation and advise me on what I should do next. I believe he made a phone call or two that ultimately led to my stint on “FernGully.” A top-notch guy, talented beyond belief. I’ve always held him in the highest esteem.

Now I guess the cat’s officially out of the bag…there’s an interview here that tells of Brad’s new live-action (!) project, Warner Bros. “1906″ about the San Francisco earthquake.

If there’s anyone that can pull off a period piece about an earthquake, it would be Brad. And anything’s gotta be better than this.