Mutt and Jeff in “Playing with Fire” (1926)
Here’s an interesting cartoon to chat about. It’s an enjoyable little romp – and it stars Mutt and Jeff.
Hearts and Flowers – Part 2
Only a few days left until Valentine’s Day. So gather ye rosebuds while ye may, from the dazzling bouquets of animated blooms from Hollywood’s Golden Era.
An Animation Spin Valentine to “The Archies”
Dialogue balloons of love go out in today’s Animation Spin to The Archie’s last album in their original LP series–and to a giant of the Archie world whom we recently lost.
“Hello All You Happy Tax Payers”: Tex Avery’s Voice Stock Company
When we think of Tex Avery’s cartoons, his soundtracks don’t instantly spring to mind. But a careful listen to his soundtracks reveals his painstaking approach to comedy, built frame-by-crazy-frame.
Enchanted Animation
The feature film Enchanted (2007) takes audiences on the journey of Princess Giselle, who’s living happily in a 2-D pastoral fairyland. Here’s how the animators behind it told the story.
Kinex in HD: “The Land of Wiz” and “The Land of the Wooden Soldiers”
Two of the five Kinex shorts I scanned today were tied together story-wise, so I thought it might be fun to post the raw scans for you, fresh from the telecine bakery!
Hearts and Flowers – Part 1
As Valentine’s Day approaches, it seems appropriate to celebrate the season with the start of a retrospective on the involvement of flowers as a central figure in the animated cartoon.
Merrie Melodies 1935-36: Let’s Meet Some Old Friends
Here are the melodies that inspired much of the “merrie” in the AAP package, syndicated to local television from 1956 through the 1980s.
The “Cheater” Cartoons
Cheaters typically had plots involving someone sharing memories of the past. Every time a memory would be announced, the old clip would appear. Here’s a list of those cartoons.
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 Cal Arts in Valencia, UCLA in Westwood and Woodbury University in Burbank – teaching animation history. More about Jerry Beck [Click Here]
