Fort Lauderdale-based comedian Lisa Corrao went searching for an animator to bring one of her comedy routines to life. What are the odds that she’d partner up with an animator who shares her same last name - Joe Corrao? Lisa, who was runner up in the Nick at Nite Funniest Mom in America contest, isn’t related to Joe - scout’s honor.
As part of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, The Sundance Channel is hosting an online animation competition called Greenimation, which challenged artists to use environmental issues in their work. The winner of the competition is awarded a series, so vote early and often (you can vote once a day).
Animax Entertainment submitted a Flash-animated short titled Meet the Banes, who aren’t exactly the poster-family for environmental conciousness. If you listen closely, you’ll hear the vocal stylings of Dave Thomas, and actor your might recall from Strange Brew, SCTV and Arrested Development. Thomas is also a founder of Animax Entertainment.
Joe Corrao, a Flash-animator who has been hard at work since the dawn of the medium, has released his 2006 holiday card.
Joe’s been featured here recently for his new series Lil Ratskulz, for which he released a pilot episode.
Joe Corrao, 
a pioneer in online animation, became known for his ‘Sluggy and Poppo‘ series by way of Wired.com’s Animation Express (R.I.P.). An illustrator by trade, Corrao has worked out of both San Francisco and Brooklyn while continuing to develop his original series. Through his 4 Eyed Animation company, he recently released a new project called ‘Lil Ratskulz.’ The pilot is available on his website, and he’s already put another in the pipeline.
Last month in Spain was the Festival de Cine Fantástico de Bilbao 2006. CHF covered last year’s festival, 
in which Mr. Coo took 3rd place in the Nontzeflash Animated Film competition.
This year, ‘Bendito Machine’ took the first prize. This short by Jossie Malis is also up for an award at Annecy.
Several other Flash-animated films in the competition are worth a watch, including:
El naufragio del A4 by Javier Encinas
El provocador by Gabriel Ignacio Cortina
PLOK-The final David Berlioz
The NU adventures by Nacho Rodriguez
Fuggy Fuggy by the Brothers McLeod
Just Say I Didn´t Know by Joe Corrao
But don’t take my word for it - go and watch all of the 174 submissions at the competition’s website.
Hotwired’s Animation Express, 
which launched in October 1998, was one of the first (if not the first) web animation portals. The site, sadly, is no more.
Animation Express jumped on the Flash animation bandwagon early and offered a place for artists from around the world to display their work. It wasn’t a Flash-only site, but it often looked that way. Artists like Joe Corrao, Kirk Millett, Xeth Feinberg, Steve Whitehouse, Craig McCracken and Naoki Mitsuse showcased their shorts on the site, and it’s sad to see it go. The editors of the site were obviously seeking unique material, often hosting work that could even be labeled ‘arty,’ but that’s not to say they didn’t highlight work that was just plain good. One of my shorts, ‘Snail Detective,’ (which wasn’t particularly ‘arty’ nor that ‘good’) was amongst the first posted on the site way back in 1998, and it was one of the milestones in my career that gave me the confidence to keep pushing.
Thanks to Cartoon Monkey for spotting this story. If you haven’t checked out the Cartoon Monkey website yet, make haste. They’re posting pencil tests from the upcoming Cartoon Network show ‘Camp Lazlo.’
****UPDATE****
It’s not dead! It’s just hibernating. Reader ‘pcdoctor01′ spotted a new link to the Animation Express archive.
