If you've been checking out web videos in the past two years, it's a good bet that you've seen Simon's Cat, a video series by animator Simon Tofield featuring the adventures of a man and his cat. Tofield does all the animation and sounds (including the meows) himself. I'd seen the original video (called "Cat Man Do"), but was surprised at how many other videos Tofield has done over the years (and apparently he even has a book). So tonight, for your viewing pleasure, I collect all the Simon's Cat videos... READ ON

So how's this for awesome: in 1933, animator Roland Crandall singlehandedly animated a seven-minute Betty Boop cartoon (a version of Snow White) in only six months. In 1994, animators voted the piece #19 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time. Wikipedia says (emphasis added): Crandall received the opportunity to make Snow White on his own as a reward for his several years of devotion to the Fleischer studio, and the resulting film is considered both his masterwork and an important milestone of The... READ ON

Like all Pixar films, Toy Story 3 features a short film before the feature. The new short is called Day & Night. The short is hard to describe -- it's the first Pixar film to include any hand-drawn 2D animation, though in this case there are two 2D characters with 3D worlds inside them. There's a visual explanation in the clip below: Have you seen Day & Night? What did you think? I haven't seen the whole thing yet, and frankly the clips above seem a little baffling, though I've heard rave... READ ON

Today in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was born. As a poet of the macabre, Poe has left a lasting mark on American letters, most famously with The Raven, one poem which most of us know, despite most of us not being huge poetry fans. Today marks a sad end to a mysterious tradition. For 60 years, on Poe's birthday, an unknown person has left three roses and a half-bottle of cognac on Poe's grave in Baltimore. Today: nevermore. Some speculate that the ritual ended on Poe's 200th birthday (last year), but... READ ON