Apr 30, 2025
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Cohen’s Cartoon Corner Apr ‘25
by Karl Cohen
Scene from John Dilworth’s 'Howl If You Love Me'.. illo: J. DilworthPLEASE support our GoFundMe campaign to cover research expenses for our articles and rebuilding the cineSOURCE site.
Dilworth's Adventurous New Piece
If you dare, see here the trailer for John Dilworth’s ‘”Howl If You Love Me”. Spoiler Alert: Jim, who loves Julie, turns out to be a werewolf!
In the Loop with Leo (Our New Feature by Leonel Cortes)
The Pokémon Resort Reopens Their Doors This September. Netflix announces a second season of Pokemon Concierge coming out in September of 2025. The stop-motion animated series follows Haru and her fellow coworkers working together to make the resort an inviting and comfortable environment for all visitors. The series avoids Pokémon battles and instead focuses on the bonds and friendships formed with trainers and their Pokémon.
Scene from 'Pokémon Concierge' coming to Netflix in September. illo: TitmouseWhat’s In the Box? The animation studio Titmouse recently announced that they are working on a subscription-based service called Churp.tv. This mystery box provides subscribers with animation goodies from collectables, apparel, and even codes to a secret website that hosts cartoons for subscribers only. Founder Chris Prynoski describes the service: “It’s like Sanrio for stoners,” go here. Prynoski talks with Animation Magazine over Titmouse’s 25th anniversary and how the studio grew from its humble beginnings.
Daffy and Porky Work Together to Save the World! ”The Day the Earth Blew Up” is Looney Tunes' first fully animated film to be released in theaters. The movie follows Daffy and Porky and their attempts to save their home from condemnation while also saving the world from an alien invasion. Running on a meager $15 million budget, this fully 2d animated movie is great for Looney Tunes fans of all ages. You can read an interview involving the voice actors here. As well as an interview with the director here.
Looney Tunes Are for Kids Streaming service Max has removed all Looney Tunes related content from its platform. According to Deadline, the service places Looney Tunes under children’s content which Max states doesn’t fair well compared to adult and family-oriented programs. This decision follows others with Cartoon Network shutting down its website and the shutdown of Boomerang.
Can Wily T. Coyote get a fair trial, see the new Warner Bros movie. illo: Warner BrosWill Coyote See His Day in Court as well as Theaters? After a decent opening weekend with “The Day the Earth Blew Up”, Ketchup Entertainment is looking to purchase the rights to Coyote Vs Acme. If negotiations go smoothly then it is expected that Ketchup Entertainment will release the film in theaters sometime in 2026. According to a WB insider, Warner Brothers is looking to sell the rights of Looney Tunes entirely. WB has not made an official statement on the matter. Why Warner Brothers thinks this is a good decision is beyond me.
Chinese Success Inspires Asian Animation Industry to Join the Global Stage Ne Zha 2’s success has inspired not only China but Southeast Asian countries to invest in their animation industry. Pearl Studios, producers of Ne Zha 2, is already set to release another animated film in 2026. Indonesian studio Visinema Group is releasing their own animated feature Jumbo at the end of March. The rise of streaming has produced a demand in animation and Southeast Asian studios are benefiting from it. It’s likely that the rest of the world will start seeing a lot of animated features or shows from these locations in the near future.
Disney Announces Some Future Projects In a case of very early news, Jon Favreau is writing and producing an Oswald series for Disney+. All we know is that it will be an animated/live action hybrid show starring the rabbit. Continuing with early news, Bob Iger announces Coco 2 during The Walt Disney Company’s annual shareholder meeting. The movie is currently in its initial stages, but it is set to be released in theaters sometime in 2029.
Seth McFarlane's secondary show, after 'Family Guy', is still pretty popular, hence is coming back for its 20th season. illo: S. McFarlane Good Morning Fox After spending over a decade on TBS, Seth McFarlane's “American Dad” is returning to Fox once its 19th season concludes. TBS and Adult Swim will continue to air reruns of the series until 2030 but first run episodes will come from Fox. The hilarious series already has 400 episodes and personally I’m happy to know that the series is not ending any time soon.
Disney Veteran Talks Tech and Revolution Bill Kroyer, director of FernGully and pioneer CG animator on the movie Tron, recently released his book Mr. InBetween: My Life in the Middle of the Animation Revolution. Kroyer’s book follows his experiences from being an inbetweener to directing his own film all the while the industry shifting from hand-drawn animation to computer animation. As mentioned in an interview, Kroyer wants to show how the industry was prior to the transition of digital animation. The interview can be found here. Kroyer's book can be found on his website mrinbetween.org along with a discount code.
Box Office Hit Production Studio is Closing its Doors Jellyfish Pictures, a British VFX company known for its work in both live action and animated films is closing its doors. Despite being the studio behind the animation for this year's first animated hit Dog Man, the studio is unable to afford to keep its lights on. The official statement from the studio pits the blame on Covid hardships and struggles with not keeping up with demands after writer and actor strikes. The company has already laid off the majority of its staff with only a few staying around to help with the sale of its assets. It is unfortunate to hear more studios shutting down due to economic stress even though they produce successful works.
Scooby Doo 'Going Rive on Retfrix' Netflix in its never-ending quest to bring animated series to the live-action format introduces Scooby-Doo into the fold. According to the press release the series will bring together the teens and the Great Dane onto a summer camp setting. Netflix hasn’t confirmed an air date for the show but has confirmed that it will be an eight episode season.
China's super popular animated fantasy, ‘Ne Zha 2’, confounds critics. illo: JiaoziNow Back to Karl Cohen with “Ne Zha 2 Triumphs with Two Billion”
It seems the cinema press doesn’t know how to relate to this film, a Chinese animated fantasy adventure film written and directed by Jiaozi. They seem to be shocked that a country not well-known for animation has a hit that has made more money than Pixar’s most successful work. China’s "Ne Zha 2" has grossed about $2 billion worldwide. (The numbers differ in every article I’ve seen.) It has also broken the world record for IMax theaters and at the end of March it was the fifth highest grossing film of all time.
I had to go Wikipedia to find out what the film is about. Certainly not a Hollywood script, adapted from Chinese mythology stories and the 16th-century Chinese novel “Investiture of the Gods” (Fengshen Yanyi). The story begins with. “After Ne Zah and Ao Bing are struck by heavenly lightning together, their physical bodies are destroyed. To prevent their souls from dissipating, Master Taiyi Zhenren exhausts his Seven-Colored Sacred Lotus to regenerate their physical bodies, though they are still fragile. Ao Bing's father, Ao GFuasg, the Dragon King of the East Sea, believing his son is dead, orders Master Shen Gongbao attack Chentang Pass with the monsters imprisoned under his palace and the other three Dragon Kings of the Four Seas…” Indeed, Wikipedia’s story summary continues for SEVEN more paragraphs.
Fiore Update
Mark Fiore is is running a daily update of the disturbing thing spewing out of the mouth of you know who. It is called “Your Daily Firehose”.
A scene from Disney’s new 'Snow White', starring Rachel Zegler. illo: DisneySnow White’s First Review
Variety praised Disney’s new “Snow White”, which opened in theaters March 21, as a “visual feast” and one of the conglomerate’s “best live-action remakes in years.” The writer who saw it at the Hollywood premier went on to say, “It recaptures the magic of the 1937 movie,” and people are “calling it a dazzling hit for the House of Mouse.“ Other comments say Rachel Zegler performance is excellent, it has show-stopping musical numbers and that at the opening, “Zegler was one of the fairest of them all,” see Harper's Bazaar article.
Disney Courted Disaster Releasing ‘Snow White’
Will people enjoy the new film for what it is or will they attack it for not being whatever their problems they have with it? Does it matter if it is or isn't politically correct, if it is or isn't true to the original story or....?
Rachel Zegler, the woman who plays Snow White, has said things in interviews that express her contemporary views on the story. Gosh, everybody knows Zegler doesn't have skin as pure as snow. It seems Disney press people somehow woke up and freaked out, realizing that promoting a modern version of a true classic that contains dated content isn't the same as releasing a sequel. They were also upset that Zegler stated a political opinion in public when she posted on the website X “always remember, free Palestine.”
Disney, probably fearing some sort of anti-“Snow White” campaign, delayed having a major all-out publicity campaign for it. There was no red-carpet Hollywood opening and it wasn't shown to the press before the first screening in LA. The result of a low-key promotion is that advance ticket sales projections were lackluster.
Fox s headline was “Snow White' has brutal box office opening weekend.” The movie grossed $43 million in the US and Canada and $44 million overseas for a total global debut of $87 million.” That is about what was expected. Will it turn out in the long run to be successful if word of mouth comments from parents and their kids are favorable?
As I write this “Snow White” has been out for less than a week and it is already the sixth highest box office success of 2025, a possible indication that the industry is in a slump and the film is actually doing well. The New York Times ran “Snow White and the Seven Kajillion Controversies”, an excellent two full pages+ story on the production’s rough history, on Sunday March 23. It covers a lot of ground including the studio originally planning to use little people for the dwarfs, but opted for computer generated characters instead. That decision has upset Hollywood’s small but vocal community of little actor.
The sad loss of the East Bay Media Center that many of us used. illo: Sasha Slaughter courtesy Berkeley ScannerBay Area Archive Burns
Sad news. I wasn’t familiar with this group but "It's still there with this burned out hole, it's so sad," posted Bay City News, on April 15, 2025, 7:51 am. “Just two weeks after the passing of its co-founder Mel Vapour, the East Bay Media Center [1939 Addison St. in Berkeley] was destroyed in a massive fire in the predawn hours of Monday… The building was unoccupied at the time and no one was hurt, but a 40-year-old film cultural center was lost.”
The Center provided equipment, training and more since the ‘80s. "Today, I've just been in shock and trying to recover and get my feet on the ground," said the center's owner Paul Blake. "To think of the media center and the loss that we have, I mean, we had all sorts of hardware, intellectual properties, archives, etc”
For 34 years, it also hosted the Berkeley Video/Film Festival, showed films and more. It will be missed.
The poster for the Drop Your Shorts Show. illo: CineloungeShorts at Cinelounge
DROP YOUR SHORTS! A fabulous night of fun, of your short films projected on the BIG SCREEN at Cinelounge, is coming. There will be a submission fee of $20. The screening dates are May 15th 2025 and June 19th 2025, from 6:30 to 8PM. Nancy Phelps film will be shown at their next event, see their site.
Sotheby’s Auctions Animation for Burned Out LA Artists
NOTE: image Character design by Tim Burton and Carlos Grangel for Corpse Bride
AnimAID is doing fundraising for animation artists impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires, with bidding online from April 23– 30 through Sotheby’s. There will be rare pieces of animation history including original drawings, paintings, animation cels and maquette figures tied to animated films and series like “Snow White”, “The Simpsons”, “Beauty and the Beast” and more. They were donated by Warner Bros, Disney, DreamWorks and more.
The auction will also include prizes like getting to voice a minor character in Sony Pictures Animation’s upcoming theatrical feature “Goat”, receiving an original drawing by Nico Marlet, the award-winning designer who did DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Kung Fu Panda”, or touring an animation studio.
ASIFA-SF Needs Help!
ASIFA-SF needs a person to help restore our crashed website because our webmaster seems to have vanished. Can somebody get it up and running again? We need to fix it or kill it. We also need to replace our former web person.
We also need to find volunteers to develop live and/or online programs to keep our chapter alive. We are offering: free memberships, free issues of newsletter and free admission to whatever screenings ASIFA-SF members get invited to.
For web repair or free membership, please contact .
Miguel Rivera, the 12-year-old musician voiced by Anthony Gonzalez, stars in a second 'Coco'. illo: PixarUnkrich to Direct ‘Coco 2’
Director Lee Unkrich and co-director Adrian Molina have reteamed at Pixar to develop “Coco 2”, a sequel to their Oscar-winning 2017 hit animated feature, “Coco”. The film is scheduled to open in hit theaters in 2029.
Oswald Down the Rabbit Hole
There is an awful trailer for an independent film project that defies my explaining—it uses Disney public domain footage—is it horror, noisy crap or ??? Somebody called it “’Screamboat Willie’, a ‘splatstick’ parody”, see IMDb.
It’s a big mystery. It might be connected with the live action horror film “Screamboat” that opens in NYC on April 2nd. There, the evil monster’s costume suggests he has Mickey Mouse ears.
Disney Accepts Unionizing
Disney animation production management workers ratified their first union contract, after an intense organizing effort that saw a supermajority of production workers vote to unionize in February 2023. The agreement was overwhelmingly ratified by the unit with 96% voter participation and ratified with 93% support.
The ruling affirmed the eligibility of full-time production coordinators, production supervisors, and production managers to unionize with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839. Wages will rise from 24% to 35%. The fight for fair treatment and pay is often not seen by the public. It has included signing petitions, marching to deliver signatures, staging courageous silent protests in front of executives. This fight for their fair treatment has gone on for several years. A similar fight is still ongoing at DreamWorks Animation for their first contract.
Disney Did Not Plagarize
A jury has decided that Disney did not plagiarize the material in “Moana” from Hawaiian stories. The long-running copyright infringement lawsuit against Disney for “Moana” material as finally come to an end, with the company cleared of plagiarism allegations. The suit was a five-year legal battle that ended up in a two-week long trial in a federal court.
It took a Los Angele jury less than three hours to rule unanimously in Disney's favor. The panel determined that the “Moana” team did not have access to Woodall's script or his project outlines, and therefore did not need to address the supposed similarities between the two works.
Adventures in Indie Animated Feature Funding
Writer/Director Signe Baumane traveled to Bordeaux, France in March to attend Cartoon Movie, a big animation forum where producers and directors presented their feature film projects to sales agents, distributors, financiers and producers for possible co-productions and sales deals. 30 projects gave presentations. Signe was there with two of her producers, and they presented a 90 slide powerpoint show of “Karmic Knot” and explored potential co-production deals. Some of the slides can be seen here.
Animator Kath Dudek passes at 69. illo: K. Dudek In Memory of Kath Dudek
One of ASIFA-SF’s first members, Kath Dudek, has died at 69. Kath was a delightful friend who livened up many ASIFA-SF events by singing well-rehearsed close harmonies songs with her partner Litz Plummer, “The Opera Lady.” She had studied animation at SF State and was proud that she once animating human cells for a medical film using Jello (probably in the early 1980s).
ASIFA Kicks of Year-Long Anniversary Celebration by President Deanna Morse
The International Animated Film Association, ASIFA (Association International du film d’Animation), is celebrating their 65th anniversary with a variety of exciting initiatives throughout the year. ASIFA’s mission has always been to connect animators worldwide and promote the art of animation. As a global umbrella organization, ASIFA supports unique regional groups and chapters across the world.
Chapters are hosting a range of vibrant local and national activities, including film festivals, workshops, screenings, and celebratory events. The spring celebration has already kicked of with retrospective screenings, awards, and seminars at notable festivals, including the Cairo Animatex Festival (Egypt), and the Monstra Animation Festival (Portugal). Summer brings the Zagreb International Animation Festival (Croatia), and the Annecy International Animation
Festival (France), with even more activities planned for the rest of the year.
A Few Highlights:
• International Animation Day: ASIFA has issued a call for very short films about peace
to be streamed on October 28, 2025, in celebration of the birthday of animation.
https://asifa.net/asifa-peace-for-the-planet/
• Special Anniversary Cash Award: ASIFA will sponsor a special cash award at select
festivals to recognize the anniversary.
• ASIFA Student Award and ASIFA Member’s Postcard Gallery: These popular
initiatives are underway, celebrating the talent and creativity of the animation community.
• ASIFA Prize Retrospective Screenings: Curated screenings of ASIFA Prize winners will
be showcased at several major festivals.
• Zagreb Animation Festival: ASIFA will host a General Assembly meeting, and animator
Sayoko Kinoshita will be honored with the prestigious ASIFA Prize for Lifetime
Achievement.
• Annecy Animation Festival: A major gathering is being organized by ASIFA Hellas,
Hollywood, China, and others to celebrate the milestone anniversary.
In addition, ASIFA Magazine and the ASIFA Academic Journal will highlight the
organization’s history, achievements, and future directions.
For the past 65 years, ASIFA has worked tirelessly to connect animators around the globe,
celebrate the art of animation, and foster cultural exchange, all while upholding the values of
peace, love, and tolerance.
For more details on these activities, visit our site, thanks, Deanna Morse, President.
Cartoon Brew Goes Daffy and Porky
In honor of the release of “The Day the Earth Blew Up”, seventeen delightful moments were posted on Cartoon Brew on March 25. Just click on Porky Pig And Daffy Duck's Greatest Moments.
Scene from Martha Gorzycki’s amazing 'Voices from Kaw Thoo Lei' about the Karen people of Myanmar. illo: M. Gorzycki Amazing Animated Documentary About Myanmar
The Karen people in Martha Gorzycki’s amazing “Voices from Kaw Thoo Lei” (2016), fled Burma. But friends and family members who remained are helping rescue people enslaved at scam call centers. In Gorzycki’s innovative animated documentary several people from Burma (now Myanmar) speak about surviving terrorism and genocide inflicted by the corrupt Burmese military government. While her voices have escaped the horrendous horrors they witnessed, others who still live in eastern Burma near the border with Thailand are being mentioned in the world news for helping rescue people trapped and forced to work and lived in scam call centers.
Newspaper accounts claim that possibly 10,000 people have been freed, but thousands more are being held captive. The press reports are not clear about how large the problem is. One news story on the BBC in March placed the number of people around 250,000.
The centers are said to be run by gangsters who are from China and other countries. They advertise high paying jobs in China and they work with small “airlines” to bring the potential workers from different countries to their future jobs. In the story I read the writer said her plane had to make an “unscheduled” stop. She was then escorted to the remote jungle compound where she lived for over a year until she was rescued. She said that those who resist doing the work are beaten.
There are numerous call centers in other lawless countries in that region of Asia. I read that in rural Cambodia they have the audacity to set off fireworks displays whenever they make a major killing (rip-off). To see her film go here, or for more information Google “scam call centers Burma.”
Karl F. Cohen—who added his middle initial to distinguish himself from the Russian Karl Cohen, who tried to assassinate the Czar in the mid-19th century—is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached .
Posted on Apr 17, 2025 - 04:11 PM
by Karl Cohen
Scene from John Dilworth’s 'Howl If You Love Me'.. illo: J. DilworthDilworth's Adventurous New Piece
If you dare, see here the trailer for John Dilworth’s ‘”Howl If You Love Me”. Spoiler Alert: Jim, who loves Julie, turns out to be a werewolf!
In the Loop with Leo (Our New Feature by Leonel Cortes)
The Pokémon Resort Reopens Their Doors This September. Netflix announces a second season of Pokemon Concierge coming out in September of 2025. The stop-motion animated series follows Haru and her fellow coworkers working together to make the resort an inviting and comfortable environment for all visitors. The series avoids Pokémon battles and instead focuses on the bonds and friendships formed with trainers and their Pokémon.
Scene from 'Pokémon Concierge' coming to Netflix in September. illo: TitmouseDaffy and Porky Work Together to Save the World! ”The Day the Earth Blew Up” is Looney Tunes' first fully animated film to be released in theaters. The movie follows Daffy and Porky and their attempts to save their home from condemnation while also saving the world from an alien invasion. Running on a meager $15 million budget, this fully 2d animated movie is great for Looney Tunes fans of all ages. You can read an interview involving the voice actors here. As well as an interview with the director here.
Looney Tunes Are for Kids Streaming service Max has removed all Looney Tunes related content from its platform. According to Deadline, the service places Looney Tunes under children’s content which Max states doesn’t fair well compared to adult and family-oriented programs. This decision follows others with Cartoon Network shutting down its website and the shutdown of Boomerang.
Can Wily T. Coyote get a fair trial, see the new Warner Bros movie. illo: Warner BrosChinese Success Inspires Asian Animation Industry to Join the Global Stage Ne Zha 2’s success has inspired not only China but Southeast Asian countries to invest in their animation industry. Pearl Studios, producers of Ne Zha 2, is already set to release another animated film in 2026. Indonesian studio Visinema Group is releasing their own animated feature Jumbo at the end of March. The rise of streaming has produced a demand in animation and Southeast Asian studios are benefiting from it. It’s likely that the rest of the world will start seeing a lot of animated features or shows from these locations in the near future.
Disney Announces Some Future Projects In a case of very early news, Jon Favreau is writing and producing an Oswald series for Disney+. All we know is that it will be an animated/live action hybrid show starring the rabbit. Continuing with early news, Bob Iger announces Coco 2 during The Walt Disney Company’s annual shareholder meeting. The movie is currently in its initial stages, but it is set to be released in theaters sometime in 2029.
Seth McFarlane's secondary show, after 'Family Guy', is still pretty popular, hence is coming back for its 20th season. illo: S. McFarlaneDisney Veteran Talks Tech and Revolution Bill Kroyer, director of FernGully and pioneer CG animator on the movie Tron, recently released his book Mr. InBetween: My Life in the Middle of the Animation Revolution. Kroyer’s book follows his experiences from being an inbetweener to directing his own film all the while the industry shifting from hand-drawn animation to computer animation. As mentioned in an interview, Kroyer wants to show how the industry was prior to the transition of digital animation. The interview can be found here. Kroyer's book can be found on his website mrinbetween.org along with a discount code.
Box Office Hit Production Studio is Closing its Doors Jellyfish Pictures, a British VFX company known for its work in both live action and animated films is closing its doors. Despite being the studio behind the animation for this year's first animated hit Dog Man, the studio is unable to afford to keep its lights on. The official statement from the studio pits the blame on Covid hardships and struggles with not keeping up with demands after writer and actor strikes. The company has already laid off the majority of its staff with only a few staying around to help with the sale of its assets. It is unfortunate to hear more studios shutting down due to economic stress even though they produce successful works.
Scooby Doo 'Going Rive on Retfrix' Netflix in its never-ending quest to bring animated series to the live-action format introduces Scooby-Doo into the fold. According to the press release the series will bring together the teens and the Great Dane onto a summer camp setting. Netflix hasn’t confirmed an air date for the show but has confirmed that it will be an eight episode season.
China's super popular animated fantasy, ‘Ne Zha 2’, confounds critics. illo: JiaoziIt seems the cinema press doesn’t know how to relate to this film, a Chinese animated fantasy adventure film written and directed by Jiaozi. They seem to be shocked that a country not well-known for animation has a hit that has made more money than Pixar’s most successful work. China’s "Ne Zha 2" has grossed about $2 billion worldwide. (The numbers differ in every article I’ve seen.) It has also broken the world record for IMax theaters and at the end of March it was the fifth highest grossing film of all time.
I had to go Wikipedia to find out what the film is about. Certainly not a Hollywood script, adapted from Chinese mythology stories and the 16th-century Chinese novel “Investiture of the Gods” (Fengshen Yanyi). The story begins with. “After Ne Zah and Ao Bing are struck by heavenly lightning together, their physical bodies are destroyed. To prevent their souls from dissipating, Master Taiyi Zhenren exhausts his Seven-Colored Sacred Lotus to regenerate their physical bodies, though they are still fragile. Ao Bing's father, Ao GFuasg, the Dragon King of the East Sea, believing his son is dead, orders Master Shen Gongbao attack Chentang Pass with the monsters imprisoned under his palace and the other three Dragon Kings of the Four Seas…” Indeed, Wikipedia’s story summary continues for SEVEN more paragraphs.
Fiore Update
Mark Fiore is is running a daily update of the disturbing thing spewing out of the mouth of you know who. It is called “Your Daily Firehose”.
A scene from Disney’s new 'Snow White', starring Rachel Zegler. illo: DisneyVariety praised Disney’s new “Snow White”, which opened in theaters March 21, as a “visual feast” and one of the conglomerate’s “best live-action remakes in years.” The writer who saw it at the Hollywood premier went on to say, “It recaptures the magic of the 1937 movie,” and people are “calling it a dazzling hit for the House of Mouse.“ Other comments say Rachel Zegler performance is excellent, it has show-stopping musical numbers and that at the opening, “Zegler was one of the fairest of them all,” see Harper's Bazaar article.
Disney Courted Disaster Releasing ‘Snow White’
Will people enjoy the new film for what it is or will they attack it for not being whatever their problems they have with it? Does it matter if it is or isn't politically correct, if it is or isn't true to the original story or....?
Rachel Zegler, the woman who plays Snow White, has said things in interviews that express her contemporary views on the story. Gosh, everybody knows Zegler doesn't have skin as pure as snow. It seems Disney press people somehow woke up and freaked out, realizing that promoting a modern version of a true classic that contains dated content isn't the same as releasing a sequel. They were also upset that Zegler stated a political opinion in public when she posted on the website X “always remember, free Palestine.”
Disney, probably fearing some sort of anti-“Snow White” campaign, delayed having a major all-out publicity campaign for it. There was no red-carpet Hollywood opening and it wasn't shown to the press before the first screening in LA. The result of a low-key promotion is that advance ticket sales projections were lackluster.
Fox s headline was “Snow White' has brutal box office opening weekend.” The movie grossed $43 million in the US and Canada and $44 million overseas for a total global debut of $87 million.” That is about what was expected. Will it turn out in the long run to be successful if word of mouth comments from parents and their kids are favorable?
As I write this “Snow White” has been out for less than a week and it is already the sixth highest box office success of 2025, a possible indication that the industry is in a slump and the film is actually doing well. The New York Times ran “Snow White and the Seven Kajillion Controversies”, an excellent two full pages+ story on the production’s rough history, on Sunday March 23. It covers a lot of ground including the studio originally planning to use little people for the dwarfs, but opted for computer generated characters instead. That decision has upset Hollywood’s small but vocal community of little actor.
The sad loss of the East Bay Media Center that many of us used. illo: Sasha Slaughter courtesy Berkeley ScannerSad news. I wasn’t familiar with this group but "It's still there with this burned out hole, it's so sad," posted Bay City News, on April 15, 2025, 7:51 am. “Just two weeks after the passing of its co-founder Mel Vapour, the East Bay Media Center [1939 Addison St. in Berkeley] was destroyed in a massive fire in the predawn hours of Monday… The building was unoccupied at the time and no one was hurt, but a 40-year-old film cultural center was lost.”
The Center provided equipment, training and more since the ‘80s. "Today, I've just been in shock and trying to recover and get my feet on the ground," said the center's owner Paul Blake. "To think of the media center and the loss that we have, I mean, we had all sorts of hardware, intellectual properties, archives, etc”
For 34 years, it also hosted the Berkeley Video/Film Festival, showed films and more. It will be missed.
The poster for the Drop Your Shorts Show. illo: CineloungeDROP YOUR SHORTS! A fabulous night of fun, of your short films projected on the BIG SCREEN at Cinelounge, is coming. There will be a submission fee of $20. The screening dates are May 15th 2025 and June 19th 2025, from 6:30 to 8PM. Nancy Phelps film will be shown at their next event, see their site.
Sotheby’s Auctions Animation for Burned Out LA Artists
NOTE: image Character design by Tim Burton and Carlos Grangel for Corpse Bride
AnimAID is doing fundraising for animation artists impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires, with bidding online from April 23– 30 through Sotheby’s. There will be rare pieces of animation history including original drawings, paintings, animation cels and maquette figures tied to animated films and series like “Snow White”, “The Simpsons”, “Beauty and the Beast” and more. They were donated by Warner Bros, Disney, DreamWorks and more.
The auction will also include prizes like getting to voice a minor character in Sony Pictures Animation’s upcoming theatrical feature “Goat”, receiving an original drawing by Nico Marlet, the award-winning designer who did DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Kung Fu Panda”, or touring an animation studio.
ASIFA-SF Needs Help!
ASIFA-SF needs a person to help restore our crashed website because our webmaster seems to have vanished. Can somebody get it up and running again? We need to fix it or kill it. We also need to replace our former web person.
We also need to find volunteers to develop live and/or online programs to keep our chapter alive. We are offering: free memberships, free issues of newsletter and free admission to whatever screenings ASIFA-SF members get invited to.
For web repair or free membership, please contact .
Miguel Rivera, the 12-year-old musician voiced by Anthony Gonzalez, stars in a second 'Coco'. illo: PixarDirector Lee Unkrich and co-director Adrian Molina have reteamed at Pixar to develop “Coco 2”, a sequel to their Oscar-winning 2017 hit animated feature, “Coco”. The film is scheduled to open in hit theaters in 2029.
Oswald Down the Rabbit Hole
There is an awful trailer for an independent film project that defies my explaining—it uses Disney public domain footage—is it horror, noisy crap or ??? Somebody called it “’Screamboat Willie’, a ‘splatstick’ parody”, see IMDb.
It’s a big mystery. It might be connected with the live action horror film “Screamboat” that opens in NYC on April 2nd. There, the evil monster’s costume suggests he has Mickey Mouse ears.
Disney Accepts Unionizing
Disney animation production management workers ratified their first union contract, after an intense organizing effort that saw a supermajority of production workers vote to unionize in February 2023. The agreement was overwhelmingly ratified by the unit with 96% voter participation and ratified with 93% support.
The ruling affirmed the eligibility of full-time production coordinators, production supervisors, and production managers to unionize with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839. Wages will rise from 24% to 35%. The fight for fair treatment and pay is often not seen by the public. It has included signing petitions, marching to deliver signatures, staging courageous silent protests in front of executives. This fight for their fair treatment has gone on for several years. A similar fight is still ongoing at DreamWorks Animation for their first contract.
Disney Did Not Plagarize
A jury has decided that Disney did not plagiarize the material in “Moana” from Hawaiian stories. The long-running copyright infringement lawsuit against Disney for “Moana” material as finally come to an end, with the company cleared of plagiarism allegations. The suit was a five-year legal battle that ended up in a two-week long trial in a federal court.
It took a Los Angele jury less than three hours to rule unanimously in Disney's favor. The panel determined that the “Moana” team did not have access to Woodall's script or his project outlines, and therefore did not need to address the supposed similarities between the two works.
Adventures in Indie Animated Feature Funding
Writer/Director Signe Baumane traveled to Bordeaux, France in March to attend Cartoon Movie, a big animation forum where producers and directors presented their feature film projects to sales agents, distributors, financiers and producers for possible co-productions and sales deals. 30 projects gave presentations. Signe was there with two of her producers, and they presented a 90 slide powerpoint show of “Karmic Knot” and explored potential co-production deals. Some of the slides can be seen here.
Animator Kath Dudek passes at 69. illo: K. Dudek One of ASIFA-SF’s first members, Kath Dudek, has died at 69. Kath was a delightful friend who livened up many ASIFA-SF events by singing well-rehearsed close harmonies songs with her partner Litz Plummer, “The Opera Lady.” She had studied animation at SF State and was proud that she once animating human cells for a medical film using Jello (probably in the early 1980s).
ASIFA Kicks of Year-Long Anniversary Celebration by President Deanna Morse
The International Animated Film Association, ASIFA (Association International du film d’Animation), is celebrating their 65th anniversary with a variety of exciting initiatives throughout the year. ASIFA’s mission has always been to connect animators worldwide and promote the art of animation. As a global umbrella organization, ASIFA supports unique regional groups and chapters across the world.
Chapters are hosting a range of vibrant local and national activities, including film festivals, workshops, screenings, and celebratory events. The spring celebration has already kicked of with retrospective screenings, awards, and seminars at notable festivals, including the Cairo Animatex Festival (Egypt), and the Monstra Animation Festival (Portugal). Summer brings the Zagreb International Animation Festival (Croatia), and the Annecy International Animation
Festival (France), with even more activities planned for the rest of the year.
A Few Highlights:
• International Animation Day: ASIFA has issued a call for very short films about peace
to be streamed on October 28, 2025, in celebration of the birthday of animation.
https://asifa.net/asifa-peace-for-the-planet/
• Special Anniversary Cash Award: ASIFA will sponsor a special cash award at select
festivals to recognize the anniversary.
• ASIFA Student Award and ASIFA Member’s Postcard Gallery: These popular
initiatives are underway, celebrating the talent and creativity of the animation community.
• ASIFA Prize Retrospective Screenings: Curated screenings of ASIFA Prize winners will
be showcased at several major festivals.
• Zagreb Animation Festival: ASIFA will host a General Assembly meeting, and animator
Sayoko Kinoshita will be honored with the prestigious ASIFA Prize for Lifetime
Achievement.
• Annecy Animation Festival: A major gathering is being organized by ASIFA Hellas,
Hollywood, China, and others to celebrate the milestone anniversary.
In addition, ASIFA Magazine and the ASIFA Academic Journal will highlight the
organization’s history, achievements, and future directions.
For the past 65 years, ASIFA has worked tirelessly to connect animators around the globe,
celebrate the art of animation, and foster cultural exchange, all while upholding the values of
peace, love, and tolerance.
For more details on these activities, visit our site, thanks, Deanna Morse, President.
Cartoon Brew Goes Daffy and Porky
In honor of the release of “The Day the Earth Blew Up”, seventeen delightful moments were posted on Cartoon Brew on March 25. Just click on Porky Pig And Daffy Duck's Greatest Moments.
Scene from Martha Gorzycki’s amazing 'Voices from Kaw Thoo Lei' about the Karen people of Myanmar. illo: M. Gorzycki The Karen people in Martha Gorzycki’s amazing “Voices from Kaw Thoo Lei” (2016), fled Burma. But friends and family members who remained are helping rescue people enslaved at scam call centers. In Gorzycki’s innovative animated documentary several people from Burma (now Myanmar) speak about surviving terrorism and genocide inflicted by the corrupt Burmese military government. While her voices have escaped the horrendous horrors they witnessed, others who still live in eastern Burma near the border with Thailand are being mentioned in the world news for helping rescue people trapped and forced to work and lived in scam call centers.
Newspaper accounts claim that possibly 10,000 people have been freed, but thousands more are being held captive. The press reports are not clear about how large the problem is. One news story on the BBC in March placed the number of people around 250,000.
The centers are said to be run by gangsters who are from China and other countries. They advertise high paying jobs in China and they work with small “airlines” to bring the potential workers from different countries to their future jobs. In the story I read the writer said her plane had to make an “unscheduled” stop. She was then escorted to the remote jungle compound where she lived for over a year until she was rescued. She said that those who resist doing the work are beaten.
There are numerous call centers in other lawless countries in that region of Asia. I read that in rural Cambodia they have the audacity to set off fireworks displays whenever they make a major killing (rip-off). To see her film go here, or for more information Google “scam call centers Burma.”
Karl F. Cohen—who added his middle initial to distinguish himself from the Russian Karl Cohen, who tried to assassinate the Czar in the mid-19th century—is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached .
Posted on Apr 17, 2025 - 04:11 PM
