Naked People

PETE PANSE is a talented and popular high school art teacher in Middletown, NY who uses traditional techniques to to train his students. In December 2005 Mr. Panse was suspended from his job for recommending that some of his advanced students consider taking figure drawing courses that included nude figure drawings.

-Art Renewal Center

Wow. That's ridiculous. You can grab more information at this link. Drawing your first naked person is one of those magical moments in the life of an artist. It's like getting a driver's license, buying a house, or eating a sirloin steak. Why, I remember my first drawing of a naked person. What an unforgettable day it was when Jerry let go of his towel and let it tumble to the platform. That was fun.

My special moment aside, I'm gonna say that the art teacher is in no place to get suspended. If he asked one of his students to undress and model nude for the class, then I could see him facing some pretty harsh punishment. But he was just trying to help his students mature as artists.

Take this little bit of information with it, too:

...the ninth grade art history survey course includes dozens of images of nudes. Mr. Panse's students had completed that unit previously, and are now upperclassmen.

Where was the school board and upset parents during this course? Well, take from it what you will, but I'm gonna guess that this New York high school is a little on the looney side.

Animation Trailers

Okay, everyone. It's time to get excited about cartoons. I've got links to some animated movie trailers...some of which you may not have known about. It's looking like 2006 is going to be packed with animation, and some of it actually looks pretty good. In the order of expected release...

The Wild - April 14 (Disney)



Over The Hedge - May 19 (Dreamworks)


Cars - June 9 (Pixar)


Monster House - July 21 (Sony Pictures Imageworks)


Barnyard - October 6 (Nickelodeon)


Flushed Away - November 3 (Dreamworks)

Hurray for Videos!

Let's watch some videos, okay? Here's a collection of videos that I find amusing:

Toy Story 2/Requiem For A Dream MOVIE MASHUP! Audio from Requiem for a Dream is put to scenes from Toy Story 2. The result is fantastic because so much of the lip syncing is so good.

The Shining (Alternative Trailer) ANOTHER MASHUP! Scenes from The Shining are edited together into a movie trailer, but the trailer makes the movie look like a wholesome family film.

Awesome Juggling Finale One of the coolest juggling routines I've seen. A great three-ball routine done to The Beatles' Abbey Road Trio. Definitely worth watching.

Andy Milonakis Does Foreign Accents I know this guy isn't for everyone, but I think this is hilarious.

New Cars Poster

Since most every animation blog around posted the new Cars poster, I think I'd better post it here. I mean, the poster is wicked sweet, so I have no reason not to. Click on the thumbnail to take a better look at this bad boy:

Magic in the Media

Wow. There's gonna be a ton of magic in the public eye pretty soon. Forget David Blaine and Criss Angel, magic's gonna hit America in a new way. Take a look at what I'm talking about:

The Prestige is a movie wherein "[Christian] Bale and [Hugh] Jackman will play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. The rivalry is so intense that it turns them into murderers. Expected release date: Oct. 20th

The Illusionist tells the story of "a magician in turn-of-the-century Vienna who falls in love with a woman well above his social standing. When she becomes engaged to a prince, the magician uses his powers to win her back and undermine the stability of the royal house of Vienna." Release date TBA.

Smokin' Aces - "A dying mob boss takes out a $1 million contract on the life of his former protégé, a Vegas magician turned gangster who has agreed to testify against the mob. The FBI attempts to protect their key witness as an array of hit men and women descend on Lake Tahoe in a race to take the magician out." Release TBA.

Scoop is Woody Allen's latest, and in it he plays a low-rent vaudevillian stand-up and magician

"Even American Idol crankster Simon Cowell is getting into the act. He just announced plans to hold a TV talent search for Vegas entertainers, especially magicians, this summer on NBC. "Personally, I hope to find the next Siegfried and Roy," he says."

Crazy. Crazy Awesome.

No More STELLA on Comedy Central

You all know I love STELLA. For those who aren't aware, STELLA is a three-member comedy team that used to perform a weekly nightclub act in New York. All three were once members of MTV's now-gone sketch show, "The State." They were picked up by Comedy Central and a ten-episode season of the show "Stella" aired on the channel last summer. It was great. One of the greatest shows ever.

Unfortunately, though, after a long time of waiting Stella fans, Comedy Central announced that they would not renew the show for a second season. This is terrible. Why do all of the good shows get the axe while awful shows continue (see Drawn Together). Arrested Development faced the cruel, murderous hands of the FOX network when it was taken off the air after a 2-hour series finale. So many great shows dead. I'll quote that guy that once sung that thing, "Only the good die young." It shouldn't be that way, but it is...and we're all a little more depressed because of it.

Good news is the Stella Season 1 (a.k.a. Complete Series) DVD is due out this fall, and the guys promise that it'll be full of cool extras. Also...possible tour this fall? I'm game for seeing Stella live.

The Oscars and Animation

Congratulations to Nick Park and Steve Box for their Oscar win last night. As most expected, Wallace and Gromit grabbed the award for "Best Animated Feature." I'm sure you're all aware that this was a fantastic movie. Let's not forget about Corpse Bride which turned out to be a great movie and Howl's Moving Castle which I have yet to see (unfortunately).

It's weird, though, that none of the nominees were computer-animated movies. Two stop-motion films and a traditionally (mostly) animated movie? Crazy! Robots, Madagascar, Valiant, Chicken Little...all were contenders for a nomination, but none attracted the Academy.

Consider also that the winner of the Best Animated Short was The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation by director, animator, and all-around cool guy John Canemaker. That's another traditionally animated short. What are we to make of this? A rise in non-computer animation? We can certainly hope so. With this and the recent Pixar-Disney where many have pointed out John Lasseter's desire to start up Disney's traditional animation again, I think there's a chance for some more classic cartoon movies. Curious George was a generally well-reviewed movie animated with traditional techniques, so there's definitely interest.

Think about that, friends. Think about it hard

Arrested Development Continues?

Rumors have been circulating about Showtime's desire to grab the now-cancelled Arrested Development. For those unaware, Arrested Development is the best show ever. Check this out:

The New York Post's Page Six gossip column reports that cable network Showtime has picked up 26 episodes of the canceled cult sitcom Arrested Development.

Get more information at TV.com. This could be the best thing that's happened to television shows since the Gilligan's Island pilot episode.