I saw this several years ago at Joe Ranft’s memorial at Pixar after his tragic and early death. Joe was not only an amazing artist and storyteller, he left a legacy of generosity and, as I saw first hand at his memorial, his life touch so many people. He is credited by many of pioneering the Pixar culture that is so unique today.

I only met Joe once (well, actually twice—on the same day) and I dreamed of one day working with him. I’ll never forget his passion and gentle, almost childlike, sense of humor. This film, done in story sketch, was a tribute to Joe by his friend, animation director, John Musker. It’s great to see it again and it still brings a tear to my eyes!

Today would have been Joe’s 50th birthday.

My friend David Nethery shared the link to this video with me recently and I found it very intriguing. Posted also on Cartoon Brew, where, as usual, sparked a heated debate.

As you watch the first 2:08 minutes, substitute the word “music’ with “comic strips”, “comic books”, “animation”, “film” or your media of choice. Makes ya think.

Here’s the Ustream broadcast from Sunday night with a glimpse at the coloring process on the Chapter One teaser.

It seems most of the artists I know have really cool stuff; original art, collectibles and swag that they have collected through out the years. As a matter of fact, when you visit an artist in their studio, the first fifteen to twenty minutes is spent getting a tour of their cool stuff.

I’m not really one of those guys. I don’t own a lot of cool stuff and the stuff I do own is rather shabby and without much more than sentimental value. So, when the call was put out to donate cool stuff for the Help the Hodges auctions on eBay, my wife, Beth, and I were convinced that we had only one item that could bring a substantial bid for the cause.

But, after finding out that our signed bottles of limited edition Pixar Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc. wine (given to Beth by John Lasseter himself) were against the eBay rules for selling alcohol, we were very disappointed and at a loss for any alternative ideas. But then we were reminded of some items, packed away and forgotten, that just might be equally as cool. In fact, they are a couple of the coolest things that I have ever owned and they will soon be found at the Help the Hodges charity auction on eBay later today.

The first is my crew gift from Disney’s Tarzan. The studio gave us a reproduction of the Tarzan maquette, slightly smaller than the actual working maquette that the animators used but equally as cool. The original was sculpted by master sculptor Kent Melton based on drawings by Tarzan’s Supervising Animator Glen Keane. This was one of my favorite things from my days at Disney. I guess they pop up on eBay from time to time, but to make this auction sweeter, Chad Frye got the maestro himself, Glen Keane, to autograph the base with a black Sharpie.

Second is a super cool find an old friend of mine made on Disney property and it was essentially found in the bargain bin! Two of Walt Disney’s famed Nine Old Men, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (responsible for characters such as Captain Hook, Smee, Doc, Pongo, Bambi, Baloo, Tramp, Pinocchio, Alice, Prince John, Mowgli, and many more) wrote the essential bible of animation: The Illusion of Life. Hyperion Publishing reprinted their book in 1995 and to celebrate their first edition, they produced 3,500 copies specially bound with a fold out of sixteen of Frank & Ollie’s favorite drawings, and both men hand-signed each of these individually numbered books! Before the auctions were interrupted on a couple of weeks ago, the bids on this book were rapidly climbing!

So, if you like really cool stuff, why are you still here? Both of these items go up on the auction today, so be sure to get your bid in!

It was announced today that I have joined forces with Tom Dell’Aringa and Steve Ogden and their Wishtales publishing imprint. Wishtales is just getting started and I think you are going to see some really awesome things happening there. I can’t tell you how stoked I am to be a part of it!

Tom is the creator of one of my favorite webcomics, Marooned, which he bills as a space opera in the wrong key. It’s a great mix of humor and adventure. Steve is the prolific creator of Croker’s Gorge, Cubicle Pigs and recently won Best New Webcomic 2009 for his beautiful work on Moon Town. Both of these guys really work hard at their craft and that’s why I know that Wishtales is going to be be something special. Plus they have the coolest logo!

So stay tuned for more news on what’s to come from Red’s Planet and Wishtales!