The news from TV-land is that Fox has picked up 2 more seasons of the longest running cartoon on tv, and soon to be the longest running show of all time, THE SIMPSONS.  According to The Live Feed:

“Gunsmoke” has held the record as the longest-running series and was on the air for 20 years (airing on CBS from 1955 to 1975 with 635 episodes). “The Simpsons” and NBC’s “Law & Order” have been closing in on the Western classic, with Fox’s comedy tying “Gunsmoke” this year and “Order” currently airing its 19th season.

After gracing the screen for 20 years, THE SIMPSONS has won not only oodles of awards, but a spot in America’s top shelf of pop-culture fame. AWN claims:

THE SIMPSONS holds the Guinness Book of World Records titles for Longest-Running Primetime Animated Television Series and Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series. Recognized as a pop culture icon, Homer Simpson’s annoyed grunt — “D’oh!” — is an official word in the Oxford English Dictionary, and THE SIMPSONS has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

January 14, 2010 will mark the the 20th anniversary of the show’s debut on prime-time, after a three-season run on The Tracey Ullman Show.  To celebrate  THE SIMPSONS are dedicating 2009 to the series and the “Best. 20 Years. Ever.”

Variety reports that Danish film company Zentropa is reopening their animation department.  In 2006 Zentropa released its first and only animated feature PRINCESS, about a missionary priest forced to raise the child of his deceased, porn star sister.  The new animation devision

has set up Rambuk that will be headed by Stefabn Fjeldmark who previously worked with Denmark’s Fine and Mellow Prods.

The bow comes as the next step for Zentropa, following recent initiatives including opening an office in Norway and launching a company concentrating on developing computer and video games.

It is still unclear if Zentropa will continue its raw and gritty sensibilities in animation, or soften its edges for a larger market.

Warner Brothers is definitely dog-friendly this year picking up two animation pitches featuring pooches.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, DOG SHOW is an idea from Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons already fitted with the voice talents of Tina Fey, Robert Downey Jr., and returning to animation, Ellen DeGeneres.

With “Show,” writer John Glenn (”Eagle Eye”) and producer David Manpearl developed the idea with Schoolcraft and Simons before approaching DeGeneres, who stamped it with her unique sensibilities. The team took the project around town, with Warners beating several suitors to take best in show.

And Variety reports that WB has also grabbed the rights to THE LONELY DOG, an idea hatched by Ivan Clark and Richard Taylor from the book of paintings by Clark.  WB is planning a GC treatment for this film to be produced by Kerry Foster and Akiva Goldsman.  There is still no news on the plot.

According to the good people at Cartoon Brew, the premiere animation art gallery Van Eaton is hosting a special tribute show honoring the Hanna-Barbara and Disney animator Iwao Takamoto.

The event will also serve as a publication party for the new biography, Iwao Takamoto My Life with a Thousand Characters, copies of the book be on hand and will be signed by the author (Michael Mallory), as well as Willie Ito and Barbara Takamoto. You can check out the exhibit’s artwork online and pre-order books beginning March 5, 2009.

The show will be open March 14th to an RSVP crowd, so contact the Van Eaton Galleries for more information.

For those of you who didn’t tune into the Oscars yesterday, here is the run-down on the winners.  SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE swept the Oscars this year, winning Best Pictures and every category it was nominated for, except for Achievement in Sound Editing which went to THE DARK KNIGHT.

WALL-E fills up it’s award cabinet with the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, beating out both KUNG-FU PANDA, and BOLT.  For Best Animated Short, LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES trumped PRESTO, OCTAPODI, THIS WAY UP, and LAVATORY - LOVESTORY.

Taking home the statuette for Achievement in Visual Effects was THE CURIOUS CAS OF BENJAMIN BUTTON.  However Best Foreign Language Film of the Year did not go to the film the animation industry was rooting for WALTZ WITH BASHIR but to DEPARTURES.

For the whole list of winners go to Variety’s Award Central.

AWN reports that CORALINE director Henry Selick will be a keynote speaker an NAB this year.  The Vegas event will run from April 18th though the 23rd, and tends to be the launching pad for many ideas and products for entertainment.

Speaking in an afternoon keynote on Monday, April 20, Selick will offer NAB Show attendees his thoughts on how digital technology has helped to revitalize the handcrafted approach of stop-motion animation.

Check out www.nabshow.com for further info.

On January 24th we reported that Warner Bros. had entered a deal with Eidos to revive the TOMB RAIDER franchise.  The bad news for WB is that Eidos has just been bought out by Square Enix, making WB’s plan to bring Lara Croft back to the big screen null and void.  Variety reports that Square Enix, makers of FINAL FANTASY, is buying Eidos for $120 million.

Small sum will significantly hurt Warner Bros., which owned 20% of Eidos, and is now expected to lose $93 million should the deal be approved by investors. It had invested $30 million in Eidos last year on top of the initial $87 million it put into the company in 2006.

Square Enix is buying out WB’s stake for $24 million.

There is no news at this time what Square Enix plans to do with the TOMB RAIDER franchise or if they will open it back up for feature film.

One word sums up the animation news today, toys.  With the American International Toy Fair in full swing, the studios have lined up to unveil the new play things for 2009.  The Disney Co. is taking full advantage in releasing the newest character in the Princess franchise with Disney Animation Studios return to 2D animation, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG.  According to the Hollywood Reporter:

It is expected to inject new excitement into the 10-year-old Disney Princess franchise, which brought in $4 billion in retail sales last year, said Kathy Franklin, vp global studio franchise development at Disney Consumer Products.

 Nickelodeon is also a big player in the Toy Fair.  DORA THE EXPLORER; GO, DIEGO, GO!; NI HAO, KAI LAN; and SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS will have new toy incarnations to hit the marketplace.  Also Nickelodeon is returning to it’s slimy, YOU CAN’T DO THAT ON TELEVISION roots according to AWN:

Finally, JAKKS also teams up with Nickelodeon’s iconic SLIME! line to debut more new interactive toys that will ooze, drip, and splat all over retail shelves throughout the year comprised of an expanded assortment of activity-filled SLIME! items including Illum — a new thick gooey compound in a rainbow of colors, and Flek — a new textured and moldable compound collection. In fall of 2009, kids can look forward to the introduction of cool, new, non-toxic, washable slime products including an Ultimate Slime machine, a Slime Horn, and more.

All this hype is proof that the big studios are putting a lot of faith in toy sales this year.  However, with all the movie and show tie-ins, they might have more than faith behind their master plan.

WALL-E continues to bring in the awards, but this time the movie has received an award not seen in the animation industry.  The ACE Eddie Awards is a show to honor an integral yet often overlooked area of film making, editing.  Stephan Schaffer was awarded an ACE award for the outstanding work of editing in the Comedy or Musical category.  Winning for Best Editing in the Dramatic category was SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE edited by Chris Dickens. For an entire list of the winners go to AWN.

In international television, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS has taken over the CCTV’s Kids Channel in China.  The sponge has rocketed to the top on the ratings becoming the No. 1 show for kids 4 to 14.  Variety reports:

The success of “SpongeBob SquarePants” comes despite the fact the toon is not shown until 9 p.m. (In an effort to boost the domestic animation industry, the Chinese government has banned foreign product to the period after peak viewing times.)

We know kids love Bikini Bottom, but ratings say that women 25 to 44 in China are also in to nautical nonsense.

The good people at Pixar have released the title and director of their new upcoming short, but not much else. According to DISNEY A to Z: THE OFFICIAL ENCYCLOPEDIA, PARTLY CLOUDY will be directed by Peter Sohn (story artist and voice of Emile in RATATOUILLE) and be shown with Pixar’s next feature, UP.  There is no news on the premise and if the short will be a stand-alone like PRESTO, or a side story like BURN-E.  We will keep you posted.