The third issue of Fleischer’s Animated News is great. Highlights include Bill Turner’s essay on the “old days” of animation, the silent era of Felix The Cat and the primitive methods of making a cartoon; A bio of Izzy Sparber; gag drawings by Dave Tendlar; a clever piece by Jack Mercer, tying in every staffer’s name into a humorous story; and Ted Vosk’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek gossip column includes such goodies as: “Lillian Friedman has a dog named “Popeye”, and that “Joe Oriolo spends his spare time trying to blow smioke rings”. Ahhh, the stuff you learn…
Stop reading me and dig in (click thumbnails below to enlarge):
Jerry Beck is a writer, animation producer, college professor and author of more than 15 books on animation history. He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon Movies and Disney, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has curated cartoons for DVD and Blu-ray compilations and has lent his expertise to dozens of bonus documentaries and audio commentaries on such. Beck is currently on the faculty of CalArts in Valencia, UCLA in Westwood and Woodbury University in Burbank – teaching animation history. More about Jerry Beck [
Hmm, where have I seen that Pudgy gag before?—
http://drnorth.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/felix-the-cat-5-senses.jpg
This issue carries the statement that a Mr. A.J. Wall of the New York Historical Society requested issues of Fleischer’s Animated News and the editor writes that that request has been honored. It is possible that the still-extant New York Historical Society might still have any missing copies of this publication, though it would likely take archival hardcopy digging.
God I hate Pudgy.
Reminds me of the “Pageturner” and “Tne Kitty Letters” that we had at Turner Animation when we were working on “Pagemaster” and “Cats Don’t Dance”…