Christmasy Cartoonz, Part 3: TV Cartoon Specials (from 1980)
Continuing our survey of Television Christmas Specials with an overview of various shows from 1980 to present day. If I’ve forgotten your favorite from this era, let me know in…
Category Archives: FUNNY ANIMALS AND MORE
Christmasy Cartoonz, Part 2: TV Cartoon Specials (to 1979)
Starting about 1950, Christmas animation began to be made for television. An early example is the first animation of the Frosty the Snowman song (above), 3 minutes by UPA in…
Christmasy Cartoonz, Part 1
It’s that time of year to think of Christmas animation. Why this early? Ask the major animation companies. Thanksgiving week is when they have taken to releasing their big Christmas…
Indian Animation Update
I am doing another column on Indian animation much sooner than I expected. It has been a busier time than usual for animation, according to Animation Xpress, the Indian industry…
Anime and the Horrors of World War Two
Ever since Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II, the Japanese have been conflicted about the amount of blame they bear for the war. The Japanese military, of…
Anime – The Game Influence
TV anime was and is made primarily for children and adolescents. Everybody knew this. By the 1990s children and adolescents were also getting increasingly — “addicted” is not too strong…
Super Sentai Shows
WARNING! This week my column is not about animation! However, all the super sentai (aka super-team) programs I discuss here have a “cartoony” aura about them. When the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization…
Magical Little Girls
The first Japanese animation was theatrical, and meant for all audiences. The first TV animation was for adults (Otogi Manga Calender, 1962) and men and boys (Astro Boy, Hermit Village,…
The 2013 Animation Show of Shows
Every year Ron Diamond, the founder of Hollywood’s Acme Filmworks animation studio (specializing in animated television commercials), puts together an Animation Show of Shows, consisting of his pick of about…
More Indian Animation
Ho hum. Remember my report of the Indian CGI feature Koochie Koochie Hota Hai, about a romance between three anthropomorphized dogs (actually a funny-animal remake of the 1998 Indian live-action…
