I Tawt I Taw A Hit Weckard!
To what must have been the great surprise of all concerned, a Bugs Bunny/Tweety record took off–and not just with the children’s-record audience.
In His Own Words: Floyd Norman on Mickey, Donald, Goofy: “The Three Musketeers” (2004)
“With The Three Musketeers, Disney finally had the perfect Mickey Mouse movie that was sure to play well in theaters. Instead, the film was released on home video.”
Animation Anecdotes #392
In 1986, producer and animator Phil Mendez had created his own little animation empire based on his creation of Kissyfur, spawning prime-time specials, a series and a ton of merchandise.
Thunderbean Updates and “Sandman Tales” (1933)
This week’s cartoon is an especially bizarre one, and almost qualifies as an entry in the “It was only a dream” category of cartoons – except you know its a dream from the beginning.
Walt Disney’s “Mickey’s Rival” (1936)
Happy to be back, folks! Here’s an animator breakdown of a Mickey Mouse short I have wanted to write about for a long time…
A Birthday Salute to Rankin/Bass Music Maestro Maury Laws
The great Maury Laws turns 95 this Thursday, so today we look at the very first Rankin/Bass TV special featuring a full score of original Maury Laws and Jules Bass songs.
THE EXPOSURE SHEET (1940) – Vol. 2 #6&7
These newsletters unveil a closer look at the Schlesinger personnel during a year (1940) that birth’s the biggest cartoon superstar of the 20th Century: Bugs Bunny.
Mel Doesn’t Shoot Blancs
You can’t blame the people at the Walter Lantz studio for hoping that lightning would strike twice. But it didn’t happen with “The Woody Woodpecker Polka”.
Jasper and the Puppetoons – Part 3
“Jasper Goes Hunting” provided another first for George Pal – an animated short combining major characters from two competing Hollywood studios.
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]
