Man, I do love Wikipedia. I mean, there is literally no where else where that combination of words could possibly come together - makes you wonder if the editor who tagged this for deletion has dealt with many fictional cats of little import lately.

(And sorry, tough luck Lucifer.)

( I also renewed my love for Threadless: )

And let it be known... today's the first day I used the heater. It's going to be an interesting winter...

I was listening to the soundtrack from Animal Crossing, as I'm apt to do, when all of sudden, this tune popped up:

Boomp3.com

It's an Okinawan folk song that I vividly remember hearing when I lived on the island. Granted, it's Nintendo, but nonetheless I was surprised to hear it again in this form.

Oh, and you see what else got the Okinawa treatment this month?

By the look of it, Stitch seems to have become something of a mainstay of Disney Japan.



(Lilo didn't make the cut.)

No kidding, Jobs.

By now, you've probably heard about the $7.4 billion Disney buyout of Pixar. Let's try to figure out exactly what's actually going on though:

Ed Catmull - President and co-founder of Pixar Animation will become the new president of the combined Pixar and Disney Animation Studios
John Lasseter - Founding member of Pixar who started at Disney Feature (and something of a living legend) becomes the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Disney and Principal Creative Advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering (the theme park development division)
Steve Jobs - The largest shareholder of Pixar and CEO of Apple becomes the largest individual shareholder and member of Disney Board of Directors, but he is not interested in becoming chairman.

Meaning? Well, speculatively, a revival of traditional feature animation, possibly from their dismantled studio in Florida, an end of the silly Eisner-inspired feud (including the cancellation of a Disney Studios' Toy Story 3), and with any luck, an end to the reign of mediocrity which has become the trademark of Disney Animation of late.

And, on the other side of the fence, a fatter content pipe for the iTunes Music Store. Yes, as a member of the board, he technically cannot jerk the publicly-owned conglomerate to do his bidding, but come-on... it's inevitable.
It really should be intersecting to see how Jobs' newfound influence will affect the company.
And if the past is any indication, Bog Iger is a very brave (or naive) sole to think to admit Jobs on the board.

Of course, who would know better about the possible effects of this transition than the actual employees?



With a few exceptions, those who commented seemed pleased... but only time will tell exactly how this all will unfold.

Industry Sites of Interest!
http://www.animated-news.com/
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/

Disney PR Links of Interest!
You can grab the presentation deck and an MP3 of the 46-minute conference call with Bob Iger, Steve Jobs and more on Disney's PR site through 'til next month.

Suggested Reading!
Don't know what I'm talking about? Check out James B. Stewart's DisneyWar - a fantastic look at the history (and the drama) behind the scenes.
iCon: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business by Young and Simon is another fairly good read focused on Steve Jobs' whirlwind career.

Miscellaneous!

Buy a share of Pixar before they're assimilated! (The transaction costs for a stock certificate are pretty outrageous, but come Summer you probably won't have another chance...)

(Pictures shamelessly swiped from Presentation Zen and Cartoon Brew.)

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I did three of the six self-portrait contour drawings (two blind, one semi-blind) I need done by Friday, and let me just say... they are absolutely abysmal. I am most certainly not looking forward to the critique. But on the other hand, hey, that's why I'm taking the course. I certainly can't get any worse.

I could comment on Chicken Little, the most recent movie I trudged an entire block down to the theater to see since... 40-Year Old Virgin (a good flick, by the way) for a relatively sparsely attended matinee showing on it's opening day Friday, November 4th, but you know what? This guy has almost exactly the same take on the matter, and he's written it in a way that's a bit more eloquent then what you're probably used to reading here. So, what he said.



To surmise, ignore the critics; it's a great (though not mind-blowing) flick, and a promising start for Disney.
It's DVD certainly will be found on my "To Buy" list, (which, I might add, Ep.III failed to make).

(And the observant not reading this post through a parsed feed may notice the relavent background... it took me a while, but I finally figured out this simple graphic trick.)

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And speaking of animation, the Animation Podcast is quite possibly the best podcast I have ever listented to; one I really feel like I should have to pay for. If you think it might strike your fancy, don't miss it. The story behind the scenes is utterly engrossing.