June Foray

"Bolt," "Kung Fu Panda," "Wall-E," "Waltz With Bashir" and "9.99" were nominated Monday by the International Animated Film Society for best animated feature for the 36th annual Annie Awards. The awards honor the year's best animated features, TV productions, commercials, video games and short subjects. DreamWorks Animation's' "Kung Fu Panda" received 17 nominations, more than any other film.

Hilarious and poignant, "The King of Cartoons: Tex Avery," John Needham's hourlong documentary (airing Sunday at 8 p.m. on KCET Channel 28), pays tribute to one of the great directors of American animation--and American film. The work of Frederick (Tex) Avery (1908-1980) profoundly affected the development of animation and helped establish the Hollywood cartoon.

"Of Moose and Men: The Rocky and Bullwinkle Story," which airs at 8:45 tonight on KCET Channel 28, pays gleeful tribute to the most beloved and imaginative cartoon show of the baby-boom era. Director Marino Amoruso and producer Benjamin Magliano (who also co-wrote the special) have assembled a collage of clips from various adventures and interviews with writers Allan Burns and Chris Hayward, director Bill Hurtz, voice actors June Foray and William Conrad, and publicist Howard Brandy.

With a shy smile and a tug at his cane, Academy Award-winning animator Chuck Jones, 84, confided he was surprised by the 30th anniversary party staged to celebrate "Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas," a film he produced and directed. "Did I think, 62 years ago, when I started at Warner Bros., that I would ever attend something like this? No, I didn't," said Jones, as he mingled Saturday with hundreds of fans in the ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach.

The best thing about "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" is that Rocky and Bullwinkle are the best thing about it. Despite the presence of name actors like Robert De Niro, Rene Russo and Jason Alexander, all eyes are on a chatty animated squirrel and a 6-foot, 7-inch animated talking moose. Which, as the many admirers of the much-loved Jay Ward-Bill Scott TV series will attest, is as it should be.

A new Looney Tunes short starring Tweety and Sylvester will debut Friday before showings of the Warner Bros. animated feature "Happy Feet Two. " But while the short "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" is computer animated and in 3-D, the soundtrack dates back to 1951 and a novelty song recorded by voice-over artist Mel Blanc. The song, which has the same title as the short, features Blanc, the actor who created the voices for all the Looney Tune classics characters, including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Pepe Le Pew. The song was written by Alan Livingston, Billy May and Warren Foster, and was highly popular when it was released.

Next week Sharp is coming out with six new microwave models, each with CompuCook (pictured), a digital display on the oven face that gives cooking and reheating hints. If you want to cook vegetables, program that in. "Add one tablespoon water per cup," CompuCook advises and also tells the cooking time. If you want to reheat a pasta casserole, the oven will tell you, "Cover, stir during heating."