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.
Animation Anecdotes #391
Composer Richard Stone used the same soundstage that Carl Stalling recorded on for the classic Warner Bros. cartoons to make the music for Animaniacs.
What is the ‘True’ Version of a Classic Animated Short?
What makes the ‘authentic’ version of a classic animated film (or any film for that matter)? What is the ‘true’ version of a classic animation short?
The Mickey Mouse “Rambler” Commercial
The commercials were produced by Walt’s niece Phyllis Bounds and her husband George Hurrell, whose company, Hurrell Productions was a separate entity from the Disney studio.
“Free to Be … You and Me” Cartoons on Records
A look at the animation that resulted from the groundbreaking children’s record that became a book and then a TV special, each setting a creative foundation for generations.
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]
