I don’t seek out opera tickets all that often, but here’s a production I’m dying to see. The Nose, an opera composed by Dmitri Shostakovich, opened last Friday at the Metropolitan Opera (six performances only) in New York City, and it features giant animated projections throughout the show. William Kentridge, the South African artist, is the director and set designer on the production, and he’s also a very accomplished animator. The Nose is based on Russian Nikolai Gogol’s short story, thus the heavy influence of Soviet avant-garde constructivist artwork. Here’s some clips from the production, and below that an interview with Kentridge.

A new Archer episode, titled Job Offer, hits FX tonight at 10pm. Archer is watched by a little less than a million viewers each night, but that’s enough for it to get a second season pick-up. I’ve heard it’s relatively inexpensive, so I’d expect to see many seasons of this show on FX.

One of the funnier pieces to come out of Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade Of Cartoon Comedy was Die, Sweet Roadrunner, Die – an almost existential look at an animation classic. The short was re-released on YouTube recently, and a new, :30 second, animated Priceline bumper was bolted to the front. It’s worth another look.

Tokyo Mater is the latest episode of Cars Toons, an animated short series from the world of Cars directed by John Lasseter, Rob Gibbs and Victor Navone. It actually premiered theatrically in 2008 in front of Bolt, but now it’s coming to Disney Channel on March 12th at 8:55 p.m., ET/PT. Here’s a clip:

The new Comedy Central animated series Ugly Americans is lurching toward your television. The Flash-animated series, which is being produced by Augenblick Studios (Superjail) and Cuppa Coffee, was created by David M. Stern and Devin Clark. The series premieres March 17th at 10:30pm/9:30c, and below are few new clips:

Christ Angel

Fun Bags

Passion Pictures director Dan Sumich helmed this new PSA for Action for Children, “a source for early learning, parent resources, school readiness, and professional development for the childcare workforce.”

Over at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd, I met up with 3 of the clever people behind the Oscar-winning film Logorama yesterday – (inset: left to right) co-director Hervé de Crécy, producer Nicolas Schmerkin and co-director Francois Alaux. They all had a look in their eyes that I think only Oscar winners get, and I heard quick mentions of partying with Madonna the night before and an upcoming CNN interview – all while their cell phones endlessly rang.

Next up for Autour de Minuit founder Schmerkin is a series of CG/live-action shorts called Babioles. I’ve seen the first episode, and it’s wonderful. Here’s a teaser from the project, which is being directed by Matray: