It’s a neat trick for a small Irish studio to snag an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature and go head to head with Pixar, Disney, Henry Selick and Wes Anderson, not to mention beat out Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo for a slot.

It’s even more impressive when it’s the first time you’ve directed anything longer than a few commercials or TV segments. But that’s what Tomm Moore of Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon has done with Secret of the Kells - and on a budget that’s probably less than what any of the other films spent promoting themselves.

You know the tingles, that feeling running up and down your spine when you experience something awesome. Last month the Disney folks were kind enough to invite me to a preview of Ponyo – and I swear a day and half later the tingles were still with me.

Miyazaki’s not just concern for, but identification with the environment is once again an integral part of the story. (The once-human scientist “had to leave that all behind to serve the Earth.”) Unlike several other Miyazaki films, Ponyo’s rooting in Japanese culture and myth didn’t leave the Miscweant mystified. (Will someone please explain the endings of Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke to me?) Disney asked us not to review the film, so I won’t talk about the well-known stars who provide the English voices or describe its plot in any detail. I’ll just say that after I left the screening I walked 25 blocks home rather than be de-tingled on the subway. I didn’t even feel like turning on the TV for the next 36 hours or so, until the tingles faded away on their own; I wanted to hold onto that magic as long as I could.

If you take the J train over the Williamsburg Bridge, get off at Kosciusko Street and walk a few blocks west, you’ll come to a storefront that looks like it’s home to a going out of business sale, with benches and various other effluvia out on the sidewalk. Inside is a bar and club called “Goodbye Blue Monday” that’s most definitely in business: the place is decorated not unlike Pee-wee’s playhouse or the home of some mad collector of antique TV sets, mountains of action figures and bizarro furniture. (The rocking chair made out of two motorcycle gas tanks was pretty impressive.)

I’m there because way in the back – as a matter of fact out the back door and through a tiny backyard into a huge, high-ceiling shed – Tom Stathes is holding his first Cartoon Carnival

“Spin-off!"  Is there any word more thrilling to the human soul?”

Or so The Simpsons’ Troy McClure would have you believe. Evidently DreamWorks does too, with DreamWorks’ Puss in Boots about to hit theaters tomorrow. (Or last week, or last month when you might come across this review.)

Heathcliff, Garfield, and now Puss; orange tabbies seem to be at the front of the line when it comes to getting their own movie. it’s about time too, after years of Si and Am (Lady and the Tramp), Mr. Tinkles (Cats and Dogs) and Kitty Galore (Cats and Dogs redux) depicting cats as villains.

Can a former supporting player (Shreks II, II and IV) carry his own film? The answer is yes, especially if it sets up his backstory, introduces a female rival/love interest, provides plenty of entertaining set-pieces and a despicable villain or two.

“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.

It’s Friday, October 12 and the Javits Center is beginning to burst at the seams. Banes abound, Lokis lurk and there are Doctors by the dozens. David Tennants and Matt Smiths predominate, although a Peter Davison Doctor shows up at Peter Davison’s session. Speaking of which, You Can’t Make this Stuff Up Department: Davison’s daughter Georgia is married to Tennant; they met when she played the title role in the Dr. Who episode… “The Doctor’s Daughter.” (Yeah, I can’t believe it either but it’s true.)

Hey kids! Play the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Drinking Game!

It’s easy! It’s fun! You’ll get boozed out of your mind! Here’s how to play…

1) Every time someone refers to how old Indy looks, have a drink;

This alone will get you off to a smashing – and smashed – start. Shia LaBeouf delivers the best line here: “what are you, 80 or something?” Interestingly, Ford looks in pretty good shape in the action sequences, but noticeably older – wrinkled and white-haired – when he’s teaching his classes.

2) ...

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.