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The new "Powerpuff Girls" revival gets its first Emmy nod, and so does the last episode of "Phineas and Ferb."

The post 2016 Emmy Nominations: Just the Animation Categories, Please appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

This week we honor the work of Boston based cartoonist/animator Bob Flynn, who illustrated a variant cover for the latest issue of Kaboom’s Over the Garden Wall. Flynn has been contributing comics and covers to titles like SpongeBob Comics, ARGH!, Nickelodeon Magazine, and Heeby Jeeby Comix, which he co-created. I really like his bubbly, liquid-y, cartoon drawings; they really ooze to life on the page!

In addition to comics, Flynn has worked as a character designer for the animated series Bravest Warriors and he is the Director of Art & Animation at FableVision Studios.

You can read one of his self-published comics Brain #1 for free on his website here, and you can check out more of his art there while you’re at it!

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates

'The SpongeBob Musical' will debut in Chicago next year before heading to Broadway.

Viacom, the parent company of Nick, MTV, and Comedy Central, insists it's still relevant. No one else thinks so.

Nickelodeon and Norwegian Cruise Lines are breaking up.

C.H. Greenblatt, creator of the animated series "Chowder," is back with a new series, "Harvey Beaks," that premieres this Sunday on Nickelodeon.

DreamWorks Animation needed some good news and they got it this weekend.

A yellow sponge makes his bid for the bright lights of Broadway.

Tom Kenny, voice of SpongeBob, recalls growing up at a time without the Internet.

Bit by bit, overtly gay characters are making inroads into animation targeted primarily at children, but the fear of gay cartoon characters has existed for years.

A new trailer and poster was released today for "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water."

Here's a heartwarming moment of corporate cooperation as cartoon characters owned by four different entertainment conglomerates—Mickey Mouse (Disney), Bugs Bunny (Warner Bros.), Scrat (20th Century Fox), and SpongeBob (Viacom)—team up to beat the living crap out of a real-life human being.

To the average cartoon viewer, SpongeBob is SpongeBob and Bart Simpson is Bart Simpson, but cartoon connoisseurs recognize that characters evolve over the years, not just personality-wise but graphically.

While we've known for quite a while that the new "SpongeBob" film would have computer-animation in it, the first image from "SpongeBob: Sponge Out of Water" was revealed today.

Promotional Product Marketing for Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore. Mood Magnets.

A friend of mine suggested I re-write a previous post I made here on my blog.  We had much dialogue about marketing and publicizing a book.  He told me that very few people understand that, while a major a coup, publishing a book is winning only half the battle.  He suggested I write about what I have been doing, specifically, to get the word out about my picture book app, Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore, particularly since I’ve taken a somewhat unique, albeit varied approach, in such a short time.  Given my almost twenty years of marketing experience, owning at running a promotional marketing company, Tagsource, perhaps I do have something to contribute in helping others on marketing and brand messaging a children’s picture book.  I don’t know.  But believe me, even with my professional background in marketing, even I’m still feeling my way.  All that said, in just three months, I do feel I’ve made significant progress, and hopefully you can benefit from my experiences.  So what did I do?

I hired a Publicity Agency:

I knew that I needed to get the word out exponentially, and to the masses, and the best way to do that was for me to hire a publicity agency, right off the bat.   After thorough research, I selected Smith Publicity, a global publicity firm, and contracted with them on an initial, six-week publicity campaign.  Special thanks to Lauren Covello, Publicist, at Smith Publicity for her work on publicizing, Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore.  With the help of Smith Publicity, I’m happy to announce we are off to a great start!  During and even after the campaign, Smith delivered some interesting results.  The most notable:  InformationWeek asked me to be a contributing, bi-monthly writer covering the educational and mobility segments on their online digital publication.  As a busy executive, I have to look at the investment of time and weigh the ROI on the writing obligation.  For me, this was a no-brainer.  InformationWeek is one of the world’s largest information technology publications.  They have over 220,000 subscribers and receive something like 2.4 unique visitors to their website each month.  My profile picture and bio will be positioned on their website with each article I write, which will link back to my businesses and my book.  Publicity turned marketing.  I like it.  Not to mention, this “writing gig” is a major bio booster.

In addition, Smith Publicity lined-up numerous radio and print article interviews for me.  iMedia interviewed me about approaching technology use for children.  Recently, I wrote a bi-line article for Today’s Parent, “Coming Soon to an Electronic Device Near You.” Today’s Parent boasts a readership of over 100,000 site visitors a month, and the article included a blurb about me and the book.  I have also enjoyed being on various talk radio programs. I really enjoyed this particular radio interview on Tots and Technology on IMI Tech Talk with Tom D’Auria. (Move ahead to about the twelve-minute mark to bypass all the tech news at the start of the show.) I am in the process of putting all my radio interviews up on SoundCloud, so stay tuned for links to all of those. This interview with Derrell Connor on 620 WTMJ Wisconsin Talks was another one of my favorites, if you haven’t heard it yet.   In addition, I’ve been interviewed on the Kim Pagano Show, Manchester University’s radio program, and several other programs throughout the country and Canada.  The goal is, with each interview, people will act and download my book.

I Collaborated with Connected and Celebritized People Who Helped Me Produce My Book:

Aristo Media, the publicity agency who represents Robby Armstrong, the Nashville star who wrote and produced my book app’s original Americana-style musical score, pressed news about Robby’s involvement with Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore. That press release went out to many country radio news outlets, and the release has cropped up all over the web!  It was pretty neat to see Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore mentioned on a CMT site! Country Pulse also wrote up a nice story called, “Catch a Rising Star,” about Robby and mentioned his collaboration on my book.  You can read about Robby on his website, here.  In addition to Robby Armstrong, I selected Mr. Steve McCoy, a renowned radio broadcaster to narrate the book.  Steve boasts a huge fan base and has a lot of clout in the world of broadcasting.  Mr. Doug Lawrence and Mark Ceccarelli, both notorious, original storyboard directors for SpongeBob SquarePants, co-illustrated my book.  When I produced my book, I knew that each of these unique collaborators would have vast networks of their own.  I wanted to cast my personal net out as far as it reached through my own network, but I knew that having networked, connected people working on my book would do nothing but bring more recognition to my project.

Something Interesting Happened, I Became Perceived as a Bit of an Expert:

All the above results made me considered to be somewhat of a tech expert. Recently, I was asked to write a bi-line article on app development :  http://www.beginningiosdev.com/app-case-studies/children-book-app.  Circle back to the radio interview on Tots and Technology, being interviewed for the iMedia article on kids and technology and how much is too much, and then being asked to write on mobility topics for InformationWeek.  It’s all connected, and an outcome I wasn’t expecting.

I Put My Experiences to Work:

I’m a marketing entrepreneur, a conversationalist and a networker, and I put all that experience to work for me.  I set up a Facebook page where I dialogue with my fans, and tweet about my book and experiences via @toniaallengould. I converted my existing blog to an author’s page and changed the domain to www.toniaallengould.com.  There, I continuously press new articles about my road to publishing and authorship.

I’m in the throes of being scheduled to speak at an elementary school that has recently moved to an iPad only curriculum, and really do hope to start working with children on writing and going after their dreams, and will invite the press to be there whenever I have a speaking engagement.  I can’t wait to spend more time in the classroom with kids engaging them about reading!

Through marketing efforts, the book made it to the 2nd Best App in the App of the Week Contest at iHeartThisApp. This is a parent/teacher/peer voting opportunity and you can help by voting anytime for the book by clicking the link above. Sam also reached the Top 100 Books in the App Store list for iPad, which in my elated and humble opinion is a major feat, given the legions of books out there! Today we are #100! Oh what it would be like to reach #1!

Even better, Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore just got a 5-Star Video Review at Give Me Apps where also the reviewer mentions the great functionality and the collaborative efforts that went into the book. At one point in the review, he describes the animation as “something that almost looks like a Hollywood movie!” Here’s their Blog Review as well. Right after the review, Best Preschool Books, put Sam on their list! That’s some really great news and hopefully will continue to help me reach my target demographic, children ages 4-8.

Hard Work:

As you can see, I have a lot of great things in the works after just three months since my book app went live in the App Store on iTunes. Writing a book is one thing, getting it published is another, and marketing and publicizing a book is still another. I can honestly say—it’s all hard work.  I can’t tell you if I’m doing it right.  I can only firmly say, at this juncture, that I’m laying down some important groundwork.

P.S. I’m Still Marketing: 

If you don’t have an iPad, and want to hear the book, you can download the full, narrated book with music here.  If you do have an iPad, you can download my book in the App Store at iTunes.  Next up?  I hope to have a hard copy, conventionally printed book published in 2014.

Created by marine biologist-turned-animator Stephen Hillenburg in 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants is one of Nickelodeon’s most popular and longest running television shows. The upcoming group art show, “Nautical Nonsense: A Tribute to SpongeBob SquarePants,” will feature artistic interpretations from an eclectic roster of animation artists, illustrators, and cartoonists.

The show’s opening reception will be tomorrow night—Saturday, July 27—from 7-11pm at Gallery Nucleus in the LA suburb of Alhambra (210 East Main St). Admission is $5, and the event will include costumed characters from the show, a scavenger hunt and raffle prizes.

“Plankton Scream” by Peter Bennett (Acrylic on canvas)

“Jellyfishin’ with Gary” by Cuddly Rigor Mortis (Acrylic on panel)

“Sponges” by Oliver Akuin (Gouache)

(Artwork at top of post: “Nautical Nonsense” by Joey Chou, digital illustration)

Here’s the SpongeBob XXX parody no one asked for…but everyone will probably watch: SpongeKnob SquareNuts. The Brew likes to keep things classy so we’re only linking to the SFW trailer. You perverts who want to see a sponge and a squirrel go at it will have to find the whole thing on your own.

When was the last time a prime-time TV Christmas Special was really special? I’ve seen this one – and it really is. Nickelodeon’s first full-length stop-motion animated special, It’s A SpongeBob Christmas! will premiere on CBS on Friday Nov. 23th, then begin airing about two weeks later on Nickelodeon, starting Sunday Dec. 9th. Inspired by the classic Rankin/Bass specials of the past, and featuring John Goodman and the voice of Santa Claus, the show was animated by Mark Cabellero and Seamus Walsh at Screen Novelties in Los Angeles. The special is available for purchase on DVD starting today.

Production on the show began in October 2011. Sixty pounds of baking soda, 42 pounds of glitter, 22 pounds of wood chips and 20 boxes of breakfast cereal were used to create the film’s sets. I made a quick visit to Screen Novelties studio a few weeks ago to get a first hand look at some of the props and puppets and talk to the guys. Join me by clicking the video below…

This looks insanely cool to me. Coming this winter – a new, unique Spongebob Squarepants Christmas special animated in stop motion. The production was supervised by our pals Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh of Screen Novelties. Here’s the first look:

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Screen Novelties, SpongeBob Squarepants

We shouldn’t be surprised that 37% of teens video chat (with friends and family using Skype, iChat, and Googletalk, according to a new study. It seems like a lot of kids using the Jetson-age technology, but it makes sense with the ubiquity of... Read the rest of this post

We just got an eyeful of the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award nominees (and we think these awards will be harder to call than the Grammys — who will win best movie: Muppets, Smurfs, Harry Potter, or Alvin & The Chipmunks?! We’ll... Read the rest of this post

Mathematician and video-maker Vi Hart exposes the mathematical impossibility of SpongeBob Squarepants pineapple:

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: nickelodeon, SpongeBob Squarepants

SCANDALOUS!

Open Letter to Nickelodeon, Re: SpongeBob’s Pineapple under the Sea (by Vihart)

For a while, it looked like cell phones were going to put watchmakers out of business (but Gen Y is developing a retro fondness for timepieces…though the analog versions are treated as accessories, and wearers most often check their phones for... Read the rest of this post

The economy is rough in the United States—even for cartoon characters. Above is surveillance footage from earlier this week in San Diego when Gumby attempted to rob a 7-Eleven. Gumby didn’t get away with any money, but that’s not the saddest detail of the story: the clerk didn’t recognize Art Clokey’s classic stop motion creation and described him to the police as a “green SpongeBob SquarePants.” With such a lack of name recognition amongst the general public, no wonder he’s hard up for cash. Police are currently offering a $1,000 reward, which means Gumby may be spending some time in the pokey.

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | One comment | Post tags: Art Clokey, Gumby, SpongeBob Squarepants