Rudolf Ising’s “The Bear That Couldn’t Sleep” (1939)
In this cartoon, Ising used frustration comedy reminiscent of Edgar Kennedy and Wallace Beery to illustrate an “Old Bruin” being unable to sleep throughout hibernation.
“A Chipmunk Christmas” on Records
RCA Records released the first Chipmunks album to tell a story when Alvin, Simon and Theodore made their network TV comeback in a Christmas special involving Chuck Jones.
New Disney Books – for Christmas
I wanted to squeeze in this holiday gift guide now, as a great crop of Disney animation books have been accumulating – all worthy of your attention as presents for this holiday season.
Thufferin’ Thuccotash. . . We’re On The Charts!
When the “suits” at Capitol Records saw the sales of Mel Blanc’s “I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat” in the United Kingdom, they must have thought “it’ll sell like hotcakes here!”. They were right!
Kem Weber and his Disney Legacy
Walt Disney granted Kem Weber permission to shoot photos of his designs on the lot, often while in use by the artists and other employees.
Animation Anecdotes #393
The poster for The Great Mouse Detective was roughed out by the Disney publicity department and sent to the animation department.
“Santa’s Surprise” (1947)
I’ve had that certain ‘sound’ of the Paramount Cartoon orchestration humming in my head, so when I was thinking about what to show this week I thought about Santa’s Surprise.
Disney’s “Magician Mickey” (1937)
This week’s animator breakdown presents another Mickey Mouse cartoon I’ve been anxious to write about!
Walt Disney’s “From All of Us to All of You” on Records
The venerable theme song from the fondly-remembered Disney Christmas episode made its way to several recordings in two different versions during two different Disney record eras.
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]
