Dick Tracy in Animation
While the show was called The Dick Tracy Show, Tracy only appeared very briefly at the beginning and end of each episode, sitting at his desk, assigning his agents to track down his famous foes.
A Presentation on Film Preservation
Last week I gave a presentation on restoring classic cartoons as part of the Baltimore AMIA conference as a member of “The Reel Thing” technical symposium.
Spacey Invaders IV: The Other Invaders.
The final chapter of our survey of animated outer space visitors. Who next will invade our galaxy? Only an animators’ hyperactive creativity can say!
Happy Birthday, Cowboy Mickey – and Happy Unbirthday, Will Ryan!
We’re one day late for Mickey’s big day because we’ve been on the prairie getting you this Animation Spin about a classic country song collection and a legendary actor/songwriter.
The People At Terrytoons
My short but dramatic Terrytoons tenure has been well enough documented, but here I’d like to credit the names of those who helped (or hindered) that point in my cartoon career.
Treasure Planet’s Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins
While most of the characters in Treasure Planet were completely hand-drawn, the character of John Silver was a hybrid of traditional animation and CGI.
NOT Casper, NOT Daffy, NOT Fox & Crow – Classic Cartoon Comic Book Knock-Offs
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. If so, Casper, Daffy, the Fox and Crow should be VERY flattered!
Spacey Invaders III: Hanna Barbera Opens Hailing Frequencies
The fledgling Hanna-Barbera studios were quick to capitalize upon the craze of galactic travel and general “space age” consciousness.
Exit Bosko… “So Long, Folks!”
Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising were about to leave – and taking the studio’s most popular character with them. Here is Warner’s last batch of Boskos.
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 [Click Here]
