Australia’s Nectarine recently produced a series of animated shorts for the WebDU 2007 Conference in Sydney. They all spoof a particular software or code, and this first one below introduces the first Flash-based breakfast cereal - FlashO’s.

And this second one takes on the popular web application framework Ruby on Rails.

Tropfest, Australia’s largest film festival, has awarded Steve Baker’s film An Imaginary Life (IE only) the top prize. Baker has faired well at two previous Tropfest events, and this latest film is heartwarming and beautiful. His efforts landed him US$27,600 in Tropfest prize money, but Baker’s live-action/animation composited film was subsequently enveloped in controversy. Variety recently ran a piece announcing that lawyers from Cartoon Network, the home of Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, are investigating the similarities between the two projects.

Baker explains that he had never heard of Foster’s until the Tropfest founder mentioned it to him, and I’ve got a feeling the guy is telling the truth. Baker would immediately realize that if he borrowed the concept from Craig McCracken’s immensely popular show, there would be almost no way to avoid comparisons. So why would a guy who has created clever, unique films like Confessions of an Animation steal someone else’s idea? It sounds unlikely.

According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, An Imaginary Life, like Foster’s, utilized Flash in the film making process.

Arj and Poopy are back! In this 10th episode, Congo Windfall, Arj finds himself in receipt of an incredible offer from a mysterious source. We also get to meet the latest edition to the Arj and Poopy cast - Bouncy the Dog. Bouncy is a neighbor in Arj’s building, and his voice might just sound familiar. Bouncy is played by Johnny Brennan, one half of The Jerky Boys, who has also worked his way into the cast of Family Guy.

But hold onto your hats - there’s a musical surprise in Congo Windfall that contains some of the most likable animation I’ve seen in a long time. Bernard Derriman, the animator and co-creator of the series, displays the animation skills that landed him a gig at Disneytoon Studios Australia many years back.

Derriman has been logging the production on the Arj and Poopy blog, where you’ll find his write-ups on storyboarding, backgrounds and the voice records. For more on Derriman and his illustrious career, head over to the 2-part CHF interview.

Bogan Entertainment Solutions, an animation duo out of Carlton, Australia, have released a short holiday piece. Maurice Argiro, the Director of Animation, has worked on a bunch of Flash-animated projects, and is also developing a series titled Hoons. The star of Hoons takes the lead roll in their holiday card, which can be seen in the CHF message boards.

Also, don’t miss the growing collection of animated Holiday cards in the message boards.

Australian animator Mark Osberg recently showed off his singing vikings here, and now he’s back with a quick road-rage short.

Australian animator Mark Osberg dropped this little Gilbert and Sullivan homage into the Flash Animators Unite Youtube group the other day. The audio slipage is a Youtube bug.

Enjoy some of Mark’s Flash animation tips over at the Queensland Animators Group website.

Let’s give it up to the next generation of Flash animators. They’re starting younger and younger these days, and I felt like the ‘tweens who tween’ deserved a little shout out as they head back into the second half of the school year. Keep your eyes on guys like Dave Logan, the ‘Bloodmobile’ animator, and Hye-Min Kim…

He’s an animator focusing on Flash up at Vancouver Film School. His short, ‘101 Chickies’ is full of that wacky pop-culture insanity that tends to become viral. Hye-Min has a bizarre yet simple concept: draw 101 different types of chicks (the bird-type) and end on a self-portrait. VFS has been turning out some of the latest Flash animators on major series, including Benjamin Meinhardt and Nathan Keane, who both worked on ‘The Buzz on Maggie.’

Moving to the other hemisphere, Flash Classroom, an Australian education hub aimed at students P-12, recently held their Flash Classroom Awards. Taking first place in the ‘Best Flash Animation’ category was Tanya Pernase, a 10th year student at Innisfail State High School. Her award winning submission is titled ‘Spirit of Nature’ and according to the site, she used “guide layers, nested animations and traditional animation techniques.”

Congrats to Tanya, and the rest of the winners and participants in the awards. It’s great to see students of all ages getting exposed to the power of Flash animation.

The Flash Classroom site also hosts a variety of animation tutorials that any Flash beginner should take advantage of.