Since Thursday, WNET in New York has made Nina Paley's independent Flash feature Sita Sings The Blues available in its entirety online. The primary story arc is a retelling of the Ramayana from the point of view of Sita.

The film will also air on WNET on March 7 for those who want to gather around the television.

(via Mark Mayerson, Brent Smith, and Matt Forsythe.)

Labels: features, Flash animation, Internet, New York, Nina Paley

Via MangaBlog, we have news of the Anime Almanac going a month without fansubs. Thanks to Netflix, FUNimations YouTube channel, and iTunes, the writer has a stress-free, very cheap month that includes 97 episodes of anime total, with an average of three episodes a day at sixty cents an episode.

So in my month without fansubs, I found out that I was able to watch over 90 episodes of anime using only completely legal methods, and I didn’t even end up poor because of it. With so many free and affordable options available, I never felt the need to go back to downloading fansubs. In fact, I found the experience to be personally liberating by relieving myself of the stresses created by the fansubbing community and exploring so many great shows of years past.

But most of all, I was no longer being hypocritical by saying I was going to make up for downloading a fansub by buying the DVD, and then never following through on that promise. By always making my initial viewing supported by either micro-paying DVD rentals, paying less for legal downloads, or simply watching an ad-supported free video over the internet, I was always supporting the artists and the industry even without buying an expensive DVD at full price.

It's not terribly surprising that there's so much white market material out there, at good prices, but the return to simple pleasures is the part of post that I really appreciate. The chance to watch on a big, flat screen (from a couch! not a task chair!) and the opportunity to rediscover "older" shows without the stress of having to appear fashionable, are something that's easy to forget in the rush to find new titles. But the truth is that there's now more legitimate anime out there than there has ever been before, and if we want to see that trend continue then we have to vote with our dollars (or, in this case, our sixty cents) and support that.

Labels: anime, Internet

Fleischer Studio expert Ray Pointer and Bernie Fleischer, nephew of Popeye animator Max Fleischer will be guests on the internet radio program, Stu's Show on July 2nd at 7PM est (4PM pst). The pair will be appearing to promote the recent release of WB's Popeye The Sailor - Volume 2: 1938-1940 dvd box-set by discussing...

"... Max's invention of the rotoscope, the Helen Kane/Betty Boop lawsuit, the animator's strike in 1937, the move of the studio from New York to Miami, and the eventual takeover by Paramout Pictures in the early 1940s."

Animation aficionados are encouraged to call into Shokusradio.com, ask questions and chat with these two Fleischer Studio experts!

Labels: Betty Boop, Fleischer Studios, Internet, interviews, Popeye, radio

I final look back at the year that was, courtesy of JibJab.

Let's hope we do a little better in 2008. If we don't, at least we'll get another great year in review from the Spiridellis brothers.

Labels: Internet, shorts