Last night’s One Plus Hub Flash Animation event was a huge success. Thanks to all who came out, the Formosa for hosting us, and the biggest thanks to Jill Gilbert, who organized and brought us all together.

We estimated around 175 people made it to the rooftop bar in West Hollywood to hear us celebrate the advances Flash has made in the animation industry in recent years. The speakers included the chiefs of the five major Digital 2D shops in Los Angeles:

• Tim Jones from Animax Entertainment
• Christopher Hamilton from Oddbot
• Ashley Postlewaite from Renegade Animation
• Brendan Burch from Six Point Harness
• Chris P from Titmouse Inc

Some of the themes that were touched upon included that while we all love what Flash can do, that it’s just a tool, and it shouldn’t define our world, or our budgets and expectations. Ashley wished that anyone on the hunt for the right studio approach the 5 Digital 2D shops listed above with an open mind, and let us suggest a solution. We all work with a variety of software options, production designs, artists and budget ranges, so nearly every conceivable look you may be after should be achievable. As Brendan pointed out - we Flash folk often find ourselves fighting off pre-conceived notions of what is achievable in the software. The best answer is - it’s whatever you want it to be, and for those in attendance in West Hollywood, it was a topic that helped get us all together for an amazing night.

Thanks to Heath Corson and Marianne Hayden for the photos.

What British book series that has sold over 100 million books has been turned into an animated TV series? For all I know Harry Potter may be headed to TV, but today we’re talking about Mr. Men and Little Miss. This children’s book series was created by Charles Roger Hargreaves, and had already spawned 3 animated series efforts - in 1975, 1983 and again in 1995. Now Cartoon Network and Chorion Ltd. have co-produced 52 11-minute episodes that begin airing in the US on February 4th at 9am ET.

This Flash-animated series is being physically produced by Renegade Animation, based in Glendale, California. Below you can see a clip from the series that is formated as “the first animated program to bring sketch comedy to young children.” More videos are available at the official website.

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Darin McGowan, a talented animation director and series creator, has premiered his latest cartoon at theIllinois International Film Festival. Sausage Party was animated at Renegade Animation, and, according to an article at digitalartsonline.co.uk, the short is the first effort to emerge from the studio’s new development department.

I recently confirmed the production method behind the animated Prego TV commercial featuring Olive Oyl. Renegade Animation utilized Flash for clean-up, but as you’ll plainly see the spot was animated traditionally. According to a recent story on Cartoon Brew, director Darrell Van Citters referenced the Fleischer Popeye character model for the spot, and he and Scott O’Brien then brought her to life. Cathlin Hidalgo Polvani and Randy Sanchez joined the crew as assistant animators.

If you hadn’t already noticed, a new Popeye DVD has been released. Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Vol. 1 came out at the end of July, and this 4-disc set includes 58 shorts. The collection features Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936), a theatrical short which was nominated for an academy award.

As mentioned late last month, Renegade Animation and Cartoon Network have teamed up for a live-action/animated project called Re-animated. It’s set to premiere on Friday, December 8th, and I just spotted the trailer announcement on Cartoon Brew.

Renegade Animation, based in Glendale, California, is loading up on feature-length projects. They’ve got two in pipe, both of which are being produced in their proprietary paperless 2D method, which was developed for their ‘Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi’ production for Cartoon Network.

First is ‘Re-animated,’ a feature-length mixture of live-action and animation. The project marks Cartoon Network’s much discussed foray into original live-action work. ‘Re-animated’ is “about a 12-year-old boy whose life is turned upside down after an accident at an amusement park.” The film features voice work by Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) and Tom Kenny, who voices Spongebob.

Second is ‘Christmas is Here Again,’ which was formerly named ‘Who Stole Santa’s Sack?’ According to an article at Digitalproducer.com, the 9-month long project is currently in post production. Kathy Bates and Ed Asner provide voices, and Jay Leno delivers the voice over. In the same article, Ashley Postlewaite, Executive Producer at Renegade, offers the perfect quote:

“By applying our traditional training and employing the latest animation tools, we have streamlined animation process and made it more affordable… We believe it is the future of 2D animation.”

Many, including myself, think you’re dead-on, Ashley.

Back in September, CHF ran a story about Renegade Animation’s work for CBS’ Innertube. This broadband network is pushing a new Flash-animated series called ‘Animate This!,’ which features CBS stars telling stories which are subsequently brought to life with animation.

Renegade’s latest stars Jennifer Love Hewitt fondly remembering her singing debut at a state fair.

Notice how the series is sponsored by the Flash-animated commercial series from Esurance. These spots are beautifully animated by the gang at Ghostbot, and produced by Wildbrain. On that same topic, check out their latest work, a spot called ‘Basher-Bowl,’ which the Ghostbot gang call “arguably (the) most action packed Esurance spot we’ve done…” You can see it over at the Ghostbot site now, and on their blog, they’ve posted some thoughts on the production.