A Letter From Martha Sigall
With the Fourth of July upon us in a few weeks, I thought I would present correspondence about Any Bonds Today (1941) from the late, great, beloved Martha Sigall.
Animation Anecdotes #267
“The head honcho at MGM was looking through the financial books one day and said, ‘What the hell is this? What do we need new cartoons for?’ That was his thinking.” – Joe Barbera
Berny Wolf’s “Nursery Rhyme Films”
Wolfe’s animation on these low budget films is a lot of fun – and it’s also fun to see him using the bouncing ball device, having animated on the Fleischer bouncing ball films in the early 30s.
Robert McKimson’s “Rabbit’s Kin” (1952)
“How many lumps do you want?” “Oh, three or four…” Here’s a Warners cult classic – a Mel Blanc/Stan Freberg/Robert McKimson masterpiece – for this week’s breakdown!
Disney’s “The Reluctant Dragon” – on Records
Disney Legend Thurl Ravenscroft took to the microphone in the persona of the scaly scamp in an album loosely connected to the 1941 studio pseudo-docu-comedy.
Chatting with Lavelle Haines Howard and Celine Miles Marcus
Lavelle Haines and Celine Miles, two women who were among the largely unsung grunts of the animation industry: final checkers and ink and paint artists.
“Forgotten” Anime OAVs #22: “Psychic Force” (1998)
The Psychic Force OAV’s were created by Taito in Japan and released by Acclaim in North America. Since it was based on a 1995 video game, it was assumed that most purchasers would already be familiar with the basic story.
Grim and Bugs: The Art of the Pitch
A game of horseshoe that started at the Iwerks studio and ended at Lantz, played between two animation legends, Grim Natwick and Bugs Hardaway.
Animation Anecdotes #266
“I think people around the world look at the Simpsons as typical Americans, so they’re actually laughing at us. But, hey, Dysfunctional families are universal,” says executive producer James L. Brooks.
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]
