Okay…time to come clean!

Although I’ve been keeping up with this ol’ Tooning In column better than usual, one of the reasons I still haven’t managed to get to that long promised (or should that be rumored!?) site update to some of our lower page sections is because Animated News & Views isn’t the only side project I have going along with my “real world” job! As a resident of the town that was once known as Britain’s Hollywood, I’m very much into keeping the local legacy of film history alive in the area. We once had no less than six studios here, churning out a number of classic movies that many would expect to have been made on locations or in the US (I’ll let you do searches on our three biggest: Elstree Studios, MGM British and ATV).

Now things are quite different with only two of those facilities left and even then mostly full of TV work rather than the major film productions of old. As a founding member of Elstree Screen Heritage, we’re endeavoring to keep track on the studios as they are now, and provide a boost in recalling the past. One of my initiatives as part of this group was to hold an annual week of screenings of classic, Elstree-made features. Last year’s one off, big screen showings of Star Wars: A New Hope, Ice Cold In Alex, Night Of The Demon and 2001: A Space Odyssey were enough of a success for us to repeat the idea again this summer with Elstree Film Festival II, which ties in with the 80th Anniversary of filmmaking in the town, and today’s post is nothing but a blatant plug to push the event to our UK readers!

Here’s what’s showing:

• On The Buses will prove just the ticket to get the Festival off into high gear on Monday 25 June, with lots of local locations on show.

• The Railway Children chugs in on Tuesday 26 June for a fondly-remembered period family outing based on the classic book.

• Summer Holiday on Wednesday 27 June will provide lots of kitschy, musical fun with Cliff Richard and The Shadows.

• Hammer Horror’s 50th Anniversary is celebrated on Thursday 28 June with a Fright Night Double Feature of Scars Of Dracula and The Devil Rides Out.

• Raiders Of The Lost Ark bursts back onto the big screen on Friday 29 June with the only authorized screening this year of the original Indiana Jones adventure.

We have confirmed production personnel guests for some of the shows; each film will be presented with an introduction and a Q&A session after the screening, where appropriate. Tickets for Elstree Film Festival II are now on sale, and if you do manage to get along be sure to get one of the Heritage people to point you in my direction and say hi!

In regular site news, we’ve got some Surf’s Up goodness for you: Josh has dropped in with his latest interview, extensively talking to the directors of the Sony Animation feature, Chris Buck and Ash Brannon. It’s yet another good read, with some fun insights into the making of the film. Did they succeed with their intentions? James was one of the many who helped the movie rack up an $18 million opening over the weekend, so check back later today as he jumps on his board for our Toon Review.

Going back in time a bit, and Randall has clocked in with his latest DVD coverage (hey, we all came into work today!), for the Hanna-Barbera Wait Till Your Father Gets Home set that just came out. And speaking of TV animation, we’ve also got a new giveaway up, for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s third volume of Animaniacs. This show built on the resurgence of classic animation following the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, harking back to the great Looney Tunes of old, and arguably provided the most original cartoon characters of that variety in recent years. Look for our take on both this and its companion release Pinky And The Brain Volume 3 in the coming weeks, but don’t miss the chance to win a copy now!

Just before I sign off, I should point out that the poster image above right is something I put together for the Film Festival…follow the “More” link below for a bigger version, and spread the word!

– Ben.