Animation Anecdotes #297
“Cartoonists are unusual people. They are adults who never grow old,” said Bill Hanna. “Our employees’ ages range from the teen-aged to the white-haired, but the atmosphere is that of the young at heart.”
Mid-Century Modern: UPA’s “Man Alive!” (1952)
Man Alive! is a strikingly designed and executed short by UPA produced for the American Cancer Society. The story has as much thought as the design.
Comics by Warren Foster
Here are a few of the known comic book stories, that I’m aware of, written by Fleischer-Warner Bros-Hanna Barbera storyman Warren Foster.
The Pink Panther on Records… Sort Of
Four albums from the Florida-based Kid Stuff label somehow star the Blake Edwards/DePatie-Freleng character in musical stories without his speaking a word.
Pondering “Go Get The Ax”
No one knows much about this song – featured in Oswald’s “Alaska” and strummed by Bugs Bunny in “Hare Trigger”. But I have my own theory as to the origins of this number.
Forgotten Anime #52: “Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M” (2000)
A very minor OAV based on an equally minor manga. Who cared about a manga about a Japanese fireman when there were so many manga of more dramatic s-f adventures?
Those MGM Jazz Frog Cartoons
Beyond producing cartoons starring humanoid versions of Bosko and Honey at MGM, Harman and Ising also specialized in films starring caricatures of black jazz musicians – as frogs.
Animation Anecdotes #296
Reason and Emotion (1943) was a wartime short made by the Disney, depicting emotions as cartoon personas. The character of Emotion was modeled after animator Ward Kimball.
Forgotten Animation Studio: Kling Film Productions
This is a studio I’d like to research much further! They were one of many industrial film companies producing promotional and educational films in the 40s through the 60s.
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]
