Animation Anecdotes #315
Don Messick recalled the day – “Joe Barbera said to me, ‘Don, you can do baby voices, can’t you? We want Pebbles to have a playmate’.”
The Little King in “Art for Art’s Sake” (1934)
Van Beuren’s The Little King cartoons are always a nice surprise. I just watched my old 16mm print of this tonight and smiled throughout.
Speedy Gonzales in “Tabasco Road” (1957)
This week’s breakdown features an Academy Award-nominated cartoon with Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in all Mexico!
The Grooviest “Jungle Book” on Records
Disneyland Records’ somewhat unorthodox non-soundtrack version of the score captured a very different kind of ’60s “hip” than the movie soundtrack.
Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award – 1953
We continue our research into what cartoons were submitted to the Academy for Oscar consideration – but failed to make the cut.
Quiz Show Cartoons: 1960s – Part 5
By the early 1960’s, theatrical Hollywood cartoons still found occasional inspiration in the idea of the game show–which was gong through its own crisis at the time.
Jim Korkis on Bob Clampett’s “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs” (1943)
Bob Clampett was responsible for a still-controversial cartoon short, a scathing parody of Disney’s Snow White – with black caricatures.
Animation Anecdotes #314
“I was hired by Screen Gems in late 1936 and stayed until late 1937,” said veteran animator John Walworth. “By that time I had become an assistant animator.”
From “Abbott & Costello” to “Insect to Injury”
I’m always impressed when I see a Famous Studios cartoon in 35mm Technicolor. Insect to Injury is worth taking a second look at. While not the top of the 50s Popeyes, it’s still a lot of fun.
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]
