“It wouldn’t be the first time a labor of love arrived stillborn.” That was the closing line to a 1980s Film Comment article about animator Richard Williams’ ongoing quest to complete his long-gestating animated feature The Thief and the Cobbler.

The author of that article was close; what ultimately (and briefly) made it into the theaters as Arabian Knight wasn’t just stillborn; it was an abortion.

A fellow named Kevin Schreck has made a spot-on doc documenting Williams’ personal heart of darkness, aptly titled Persistence of Vision. It’s been popping up here and there (evidently he’s been working on it a few years himself) and I was fortunate enough to catch it at a recent Manhattan screening.

There they are, lined up left to right – the dream team, the creative powerhouse behind DreamWorks’ latest, ‘let’s leave out the snark this time’ animated feature Rise of the Guardians. They’re bookended on one side by executive producer Guillermo del Toro and on the other by William Joyce, the creative genius/illustrator whose Guardians of Childhood book series serve as the movie’s foundation.

The Javits Convention Center was bustling but navigable Thursday; Friday's edition was massively attended. (Calling the packed crowd milling about the main concourse ‘a sea of people’ wouldn’t begin to do it justice; a better comparison would be to Times Square on New Year’s Eve.) Come the weekend I suspect everyone who bought a ticket to the completely sold-out event will be here today.

“What the hell was that?!”

Krusty the Klown didn’t know what to make of Worker and Parasite, “Eastern Europe’s favorite cat and mouse team” when their indecipherable Cold War-era cartoon briefly subbed for Itchy and Scratchy.

Dental hygiene, Zombie-style. Photo by LAIKA – © 2012 - LAIKA-Focus Features.

“It’s John Carpenter meets John Hughes.” 

 That’s how Chris Butler describes Paranorman, the spooky, shot in 3D stop-motion film co-directed by himself and Sam Fell (Flushed Away). And that’s just for starters; there’s no shortage of pop culture markers in the film, everything from The Goonies to Ghostbusters and even the random Scooby-Doo episode. “It’s a grab bag of anything from the 1980s.”

Image ©2012 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Brave is a generational tale, the story of a young princess, a kick-ass Celt and wild child named Merida (voiced by Kellie Macdonald) who couldn’t be less interested in the life her royal mom Elinor (Emma Thompson) has mapped out for her.

This may be Pixar’s first female protagonist but Disney’s had no shortage of fairy tale heroines, from the demure Snow White to the determined Rapunzel in Tangled. It’s interesting how these gals become more assertive as the decades roll by, and they don’t come more headstrong than Merida.

Overall, Brave is an entertaining and even groundbreaking piece of work, both for its gutsy heroine and Pixar’s new ‘Presto’ animation system, responsible for Merida’s fiery red flowing locks.

A Monster in Paris. All film images © 2011 EuropaCorp, Bibo Films, France 3 Cinema, Walking the Dog.

It’s baa-ack! The days are getting longer and warmer, but the real sign of spring’s incipient arrival is of the return of the New York International Children’s Film Festival. A Monster in Paris was the opening night feature, which festival director Eric Beckman first saw at  last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Seems there’s a monster loose in Belle Époque Paris (duh) – but is he really a monster? The 3D CGI film is a charming piece of work with stylish character design and a sharp eye for getting its period details just right. (And be careful with those 3D glasses; bust them and the festival’s out $25.) It’s well-worth seeing for the mid-film fantasy dance number alone.

Pictured: Fátima Ptacek voices Dora in DORA THE EXPLORER on NICKELODEON. Photo: Nickelodeon ©2012 Viacom, International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Why do I always start salivating when I’m invited to an event in the Viacom building? Oh yeah, it’s because they always put out the nicest spreads - and whatever they’re promoting is usually pretty interesting too.

Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me (2005)

Well, I finally got to speak to Bernard Derriman.

Speak as in actually talk to him, as opposed to our Email ‘conversation’ back in 2005 when I wrote about animated music videos (http://tinyurl.com/75a9fuk) - and his now justly famous Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me.

Our paths crossed again when I wrote about Fox’s new Sunday night cartoon Allen Gregory (http://tinyurl.com/6roxld5).

Derriman directed two out of the show’s seven initial episodes; if the series gets renewed (which all depends on how much America takes an arrogant pipsqueak to their hearts) he’ll be doing more of them. At the moment he’s busy with Fox’s other Sunday night backup toon Bob’s Burgers.

When I saw Derriman’s director’s credit on the Allen Gregory screener it was a chance for me to return to the subject of that video and its impact on his career. Our conversation was an actual spoken one this time around, via the magic of coast-to-coast telephony. (It’s an actual word, look it up.)