Woody Woodpecker & the Avant-Garde
Almost seventy years after it closed, an exhibit will open soon to celebrate the influence of a long-ago art gallery that had a big influence on cinema – and especially Woody cartoons.
Animation Anecdotes #272
“Itchy and Scratchy came from something I’ve always wanted to do since I was a little kid. Watching cartoons like Tom and Jerry, I thought it would be fun to do a cartoon that really was totally violent.” – Matt Groening
Chester, Illinois – home of Popeye – the annual Popeye Picnic (and Lots of Popeye T-shirts)!
Popeye is my favorite cartoon character – and the Fleischer Popeyes are largely responsible for my love of classic animation.
Porky and Daffy in “Boobs In The Woods” (1950)
In this film, Porky Pig is essentially trapped with Daffy in the woods – a lingering vestige of Daffy as a lunatic, as he originated from his screen debut.
The Cartoons of “Sesame Street” on Records
The songs of Annie Award winner and Oscar nominee Bud Luckey and lyricist Don Hadley grace this ’70s vinyl classic spoofing radio countdown shows.
Mark Kausler on Ed Graham Jr.’s “Linus The Lionhearted”
Ed Graham brought about a small miracle by getting General Foods to fund a TV series featuring characters promoting their Post cereal products.
“Forgotten” Anime OAVs #27: “Big Wars” (1993)
Big Wars went almost unnoticed but it was one of the higher-quality productions of the 1990s, produced by Tokuma, based upon a novel by Yoshio Aramaki.
Cartoon Exhibition In The Segregated South
Many theaters across the country, especially in the South, refused to admit African Americans. This month we take a look at how segregation shaped the cartoon-viewing experience in a typical southern city.
Animation Anecdotes #271
The production process for a Walter Lantz Oswald the Rabbit cartoon is featured in the short Cartoonland Mysteries, the eighteenth installment of Universal’s Going Places series.
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]
