On my whirlwind return from the Oscars, I barely had time to recuperate. I was supposed to go to Iran for the Tehran Animation Festival- I was very excited, since I've never been to the Middle East- I questioned whether I should grow a beard and wear a Burhka and refrain from bringing my sexy books into the country - but alas, I never had to make this decision, since my Visa was refused by the Iranian government. And I believe it wasn't just me, since three travelers from the Smithsonian museum were also refused entry VISAs. Perhaps next year when the politics are not so touchy?

On the fortunate side of the coin, I was now in town for the celebrated judging of the ASIFA-East animation festival—this is a wonderful yearly gathering of animators to watch and score the best films from around the east coast. The best part is getting together later at a local bar where we discuss and criticize each film. I entered 2 films in the competition, so I was anxious to see how they scored when the awards came around on May 1st.

On March 11th, I went to the Cinema Village Theatre to present the Animation Show—which contained my short "Guard Dog" among other outstanding films. Now, I hadn't seen much publicity on the program, so I wasn't expecting much of a crowd. I figured they put my name in the newspaper as making an appearance, so I couldn't let the handful of people down. BUT to my surprise as I entered the cinema, it was standing room only. The friendly folks at the Animation Show are very clever; they know they can’t compete with Disney and DreamWorks in terms of spreading the cashola for advertising, so they use volunteers and viral advertising to spread the word AND IT WORKS! I did two shows a night Friday and Saturday, and they were packed and great fun! So when the program comes to your town, don't miss it! You'll have a great time.

March 17th — We booked a sound session for the narration of "The Fan and the Flower" (my new short). On a drunken dare, I was able to introduce myself to Paul Giamatti at the Governor's Ball on Oscar night. And I found out he, at one point, considered opening up an animation studio in Seattle. We had a great talk about animation, and I boldly asked if he'd like to do the voice for my new animated short. He said yes immediately! So here we are: the producer/writer Dan O'Shannon, yours truly, the animator and director, and Paul Giamatti, the "voice". His professionalism was evident immediately. He nailed the character in only two takes and was very agreeable for call-backs if we needed and retakes, which we didn't! Watch for the film, as soon it will be making the rounds on the festival circuit.

My next trip was to Lille, a charming French city in the north of France, near the Belgian border, where I served on the jury at the Lille Festival. Not only did they show animation, but they also showed live-action and student films. After not much deliberation, we gave the award to "Overtime", a wonderful student film from Supinfocom. It's a parody of how the puppets react to the death of a Jim Henson-type character. A jewel of a film!

I then hopped the train down to Paris, where for three days, I did interviews with as much French press as we could gather. E.D. was releasing "Hair High" in 20 cinemas in late April, so we needed to spread the word. They stuck me in a small room in the back where I entertained the French press. I called it my "Chambre de Plympton". At night we were able to have great French dinners, joined one night by Didier Carmier, who did a lot of music for "Eat", "Hair High", and "The Fan and the Flower." One day, I was able to sneak away and view the Miyazaki and Moebius exhibition—2 of my favorites!

Upon my return to NY, I jumped another plane to Colorado for the celebrated Aspen Short Fest. The screenings were held in the Wheeler Opera House, a wonderful turn of the century theatre/cinema, and the programming was the best ever—each film was a gem! It took a while to adapt to the altitude, but after the first day, I was drinking with the best of them. "Guard Dog" didn't win any prizes, but it got a fantastic audience response, and to me that's the best. After getting trapped in an early spring blizzard, I had to spend the night in the Denver airport. A bicycle airport cop took pity on me and found me a spare blanket and pillow so I could sleep on the floor.

It was about this time that I happened upon an idea for my new feature. It would be about a sleazy, creepy guy (my favorite type) who one day starts growing wings. How would he and his friends deal with it and how would it change his philosophy of life? I had already written an outline for another feature about a mad ruler who's a cross between Saddam Hussein and Groucho Marx in "Duck Soup", but that film would cost too much money and I'm still in debt from "Hair High". This new idea is a lot more personal, poetic, and dark; and I feel I can make it much more quickly and cheaper. So I decided to get going on the script. And I don't know why, but it feels so good and so much fun to write. I don't think it will be a big money maker, but it should win a bunch of prizes. I decided to use the Plympton ani-cam again, so watch my site for the beginning of the production.

On April 12th, Jimmy Picker, Oscar winner, threw a wonderful party for me to celebrate my Oscar nomination for "Guard Dog". The food was great and everyone was there. The Crème de la Crème of NY animation! And to top it off, Jimmy showed the clip of me losing the Oscar to Chris Landreth. "LOSER!" "LOSER!" And then he showed his winning speech at the Oscars for "Sundae in New York", spinning tie and all.

The next big trip was to Argentina for the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival. A great, beautiful city filled with gorgeous Art Nouveau architecture. All my shows were sold out, which made me very happy and I got to visit with some of my cartoon heroes. I was invited to a wonderful Barbeque dinner party at Carlos and Maria’s wonderful house, and Oscar Grillo was in top form. I also got to meet Carlos Nine, one of the best illustrators alive today. His drawings made me drool - check out his books, if you get a chance. One of the cool things about Buenos Aires is the massive popularity of the Ford Falcon - I owned one for about four years before I moved to New York, which is ironic because it was the favorite car of the secret police that kidnapped thousands of people during the General Junta. In fact, they became known as the "death cars". I have recently imagined that my Falcon Futura was sold to the military and it became a death car—too bad, because I loved that car.

As soon as I returned, I was thrust into the Tribeca Film Festival, which is a wonderful event. Lots of money, publicity, viewers, and star power, but they selected very few animated films, which is sad, because NY and Tribeca have some world-class animators. And to ignore all this talent and excitement is a tragedy. I hope that next year they will throw a spotlight on the exploding downtown animation scene.

Speaking of which, I met with Pat Smith and Signe Baumane to do the commentary track for our new edition of "Avoid Eye Contact". It rocks! It's got some amazing animation in it. Two of my films, "Eat" and "Push Comes to Shove", Signe's film "Dentist", Pat Smith's "Handshake", Chris Conforti's celebrated "Frog", Christy Kuraka's two shorts that are mind-blowing—and many other great films. The program will be screened at the Two Boots Cinema on May 19th at 7:00 PM and I believe that all the filmmakers will be in attendance.

May 1st—the "big night of the year", "The Oscars of NY", it’s the ASIFA-East awards show! All the NY Glitterati were there. It was a packed house, standing-room only crowd in the famed Tischman Auditorium at the New School. Even though everyone was nervous about the awards, there was a great spirit of camaraderie. David Levy was the master of ceremonies, and many of the awards usually go to Ron Diamond of ACME Filmworks. When the prestigious Independent prizes came up, the winners were Candy Kugel's "Command Z", Nina Paley, Fran Krause for "Moonraker, Pat Smith's "Handshake", I won a prize for "The Fan and the Flower", and the grand prize went to John Dilworth for "Life in Transition", a great weird film. We all retired to the foyer for food, wine, and gossip. It was hard to chat with everyone, because there were so many people and we were all so sloshed.

My next big trip was to the Czech Republic, a legendary animation country. The Anifest Trebon is in its 5th year and takes place in a beautiful palace nestled in the lovely Bohemian countryside. The level of films is very good and the hospitality is excellent. I got a trip to the spa where I sat in warm swamp water and received a full body massage (but no happy ending). At the closing ceremonies, I had one of the best award evenings ever. "Guard Dog" won a special mention and "Hair High" won two coveted Bohemian glass storks—for Audience Award and Jury Award. I was having so much fun, I stayed an extra day to check out Prague—what a city! The architecture is so beautiful—if New York buildings are giant penises, then Prague, or Praha, is made up of beautiful decorative vaginas. I spent the whole day with my lovely tour guide, Gabrielle, viewing the Art Deco and Art Nouveau buildings of Prague.

Today's cartoon is "The Giant Parking Lots of America". I figured if they can have tours of the Grand Canyon, or the Empire State Building, why not the greatest parking lots? Of course, at this time my apartment faced a parking lot and I spent a lot of time looking out on this lovely, desolate parking lot. This comic is moderated by my alter ego, Al Murton.

See you next time!