Animation Anecdotes #301
Casper, Richie Rich, Little Audrey and others appeared in the very first giveaway comic book for an airline. Twenty-one issues of Astrocomics were released to passengers from 1968-1979.
Two (Funny) Faces have I – and Popeye / Betty Boop ‘Special’ set
Oddly, there are two versions of Funny Face. The one still extant in 35mm is a ‘second’ version of the film, with closeups of the Betty Boop-esqe character redrawn, changing her hair style.
Robert McKimson’s “The Turn-Tale Wolf” (1952)
Here’s another fairy-tale spoof from Bob McKimson, this one in which the Big Bad Wolf tells his version of ‘The Three Little Pigs’.
Disneyland’s “Lady and the Tramp” Storyteller Records
Accomplished Hollywood voice actors and studio singers recreate the story and music from Walt Disney’s 1955 animated classic in beloved book and record sets.
A Chat with Bill Melendez and Bill Littlejohn
Producer-director Bill Meléndez and animator Bill Littlejohn are the subject of this previously lost 1998 interview by Martha and Sol Sigall done for the Animation Guild.
Forgotten Anime #56: Osamu Tezuka’s “Adachi-ga Hara” and “Akuemon”
After his death in 1989, Tezuka Productions animated two manga novels as 25-minute film festival releases; “Adachi-ga Hara”, based on a 1971 manga, and “Akuemon”.
Huck and Jim (Crow)
To be sure, television was a democratizing force in animation. It allowed African Americans to see cartoons in their homes, in contrast to being restricted to balcony seats at theaters.
Animation Anecdotes #300
For my special 300th column: The Secret Origin of ‘Animation Anecdotes’ – and I tell of a time I was in a Filmation production… and actually got paid for it!
Flip the Frog Update: Sometimes a little piece of music goes a long way…
Here are three openings from my new transfers with rare music cues – and projection notes, to make sure they sync the film to the sound disc.
