Cartoons

Much loved indie band Wilco is back with a new video—their first in 12 years—which doubles as a new Popeye cartoon. Directed by Darren Romanelli and art directed by Frank Caruso, the video recalls the classic Fleischer Bros. animation.

Another cool free thing on the internet! A downloadable book collecting the best storyboard spots featured on the Adventure Time tumblr. SInce Adventure Time is just one big indie comic come to life, by presenting these comics like storyboards, now we've come full circle.

Don't have time to watch the whole two-movie HOBBIT from Peter Jackson, or even the Rankin Bass version? Well then maybe this 1968 "limited animation" version which clocks in at under 12 minutes is more your speed. It's actually a recently unearthed version of the Hobbit written by the legendary Gene Deitch (Tom and Jerry) and based on drawings by Czech illustrator Adolf Born. When we tell you you have never seen the Hobbit like this, we mean, You have never seen the Hobbit like this.

From the moment Disney purchased Marvel, people were drawing a line between their Disney XD channel -- an attempt to lure more of the lucrative audience of young boys -- and the Marvel characters. Marvel animation has been running non-stop on the cable channel ever since, but in April, the Marvel Universe programming block will roll out with the new Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon as the tentpole. Produced by Man of Action — Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven Seagle—the creators behind Ben 10 and Generator Rex, with input from Jeph Loeb,joe Quesada and Brian Michael Bendis, the show does not lack for comic book bonafides. Plus, it's got JK Simmons reprising his lifetime role as J. Jonah Jameson. Soundboard that.

Cartoonist/writer/editor Dave Roman has created a Christmas Classic:

"The Book Job," the sixth episode of the 23rd season of The Simpsons, co-stars Neil Gaiman. Not in a cameo, but as the main storyline.

We meant to post this yesterday but somehow it got lost in the shuffle. This fall Robot Chicken — the toy-motion animation satire that uses lookalikes of your favorite childhood toys to enact grisly jokes — is doing an entire 15-minute episode devoted to DC comics. Recently, Geoff Johns, a past contributor to the show, linked to the trailer — which is NSFW, we might add. Robot Chicken is animated in the super bad style, and it's ugly all the way, but with its laser-cutting, bloody wrist stumps and cock ring humor, this is one of the most disturbing things we've ever seen. And to think that DC used to burn books just because it was suggested that Superman might drink a beer.

It's Mary Blair's birthday and if Google can celebrate her, so can we. And so should we all. As an animator and designer, Blair is among the most influential artistic figures of the mid-century era, an icon and the creator of some of the loveliest art you'll ever see.

French cartoonist Joann Sfar is making the interview rounds this week to promote his directing debut: GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE, a French language film which has already won two Cesar awards (the French Oscar), including best debut film. With a lyrical portrait of the skinny pants icon of a zillion emo hipsters, this film should quickly become a classic from Williamsburg to Portlandia. Sfar was previously know here for his vibrant, humanist comics, like The Rabbi's Cat and Little Vampire, but like his fellow L"Association alums Marjane Satrapi and Riad Sattouf, he's made the jump to film direction with distinction.

Anyone in the LA area who is bummed over the postponed Wizard World LA show scheduled for September 24-25 should be aware that Power-Con is still on for those dates. This small two-day fan show is focused on Thundercats, He-Man and She-Ra. It's a small show but sounds like a swell afternoon if you're into 80 animation. More info:

An oddball story that has only been seen on comics sites because it contains the word "cartoonist" or "cartoon" and keeps showing up on everyone's google news dump, is still fairly incredible in its own right. However to really get all the excitement you probably need to live in Renton, WA., a quiet Seattle suburb that was rocked by a scandal involving cartoon mockery of the police department.

Mostly the work of Tom Kenny (Spongebob), Andy Suriano (Clone Wars) and Stephen DeStefano (Venture Bros.), the PLASTIC MAN cartoon pilot was created in 2006 for Cartoon Network but didn't get picked up, alas. It seems to have been much inspired by Kyle Baker's take on the character. And it turns out that more is on the way!