Oddly, there are two versions of Funny Face. The one still extant in 35mm is a ‘second’ version of the film, with closeups of the Betty Boop-esqe character redrawn, changing her hair style.
Here’s another fairy-tale spoof from Bob McKimson, this one in which the Big Bad Wolf tells his version of ‘The Three Little Pigs’.
Accomplished Hollywood voice actors and studio singers recreate the story and music from Walt Disney’s 1955 animated classic in beloved book and record sets.
Producer-director Bill Meléndez and animator Bill Littlejohn are the subject of this previously lost 1998 interview by Martha and Sol Sigall done for the Animation Guild.
After his death in 1989, Tezuka Productions animated two manga novels as 25-minute film festival releases; “Adachi-ga Hara”, based on a 1971 manga, and “Akuemon”.
To be sure, television was a democratizing force in animation. It allowed African Americans to see cartoons in their homes, in contrast to being restricted to balcony seats at theaters.
For my special 300th column: The Secret Origin of ‘Animation Anecdotes’ – and I tell of a time I was in a Filmation production… and actually got paid for it!
Here are three openings from my new transfers with rare music cues – and projection notes, to make sure they sync the film to the sound disc.
“Ahh…your sister drives a pickle wagon!” Here’s a fairy-tale spoof from Bob McKimson, featuring Porky Pig, which could be considered a revised version of the earlier Bob Clampett film.
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]
