Festivals

February 22nd has been declared a local holiday by the animation legend’s hometown of Taylor, Texas. Celebrating the creator of Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters, Tex was born in Taylor in 1908.

Last week, the city honored him with a Texas State Historical Marker, screened some of his cartoons and unveiled a portrait. The special event took place at the Howard Theater that was built in 1914.

Frederick Bean Avery, called “Tex”, “Fred” or “Texas”, was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation.

CTN Animation Expo (CTNx) is an annual 3-day animation convention that focuses on putting “the talent” center stage. The event will take place November 15 through 17, 2013 at the Burbank Marriott Hotel.

Early bird pricing for the Expo discontinues on August 31. ASIFA member discount code is ASIFAX13.

Visit the site by clicking here for more information and to register for this year’s Expo. For more information on CTN Animation Expo click here.

Pioneering animation producer and director John Wilson, who worked on everything from “Lady & the Tramp,” an Igor Stravinsky ballet film and “Grease,” and whose animated films featuring popular music paved the way for music videos, died June 20 in a nursing home in Blackpool, England. He was 93. 

Wilson was a decorated veteran of the British African campaign during WWII, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and a founding member of ASIFA Hollywood (the home of the Annie Awards), He was also a painter in oils, watercolors and pastels whose work has hung in the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

All of us at ASIFA-Hollywood send our condolences to his family.