Animation Anecdotes #262
In 1982, when Warner Brothers’ Sylvester was a spokes-cat for 9-Lives cat food, there were also animated commercials. But it’s almost impossible to find the original unedited versions.
A “Cartoons On Film” Thursday: A Bray Update
What, no Thunderbean Thursday? This week an update on the long-awaited Blu-ray and DVD of a new Bray Studios cartoon restoration project.
Max Fleischer’s “A Car-Tune Portrait” (1937)
It’s time for a Fleischer Color Classic in this week’s breakdown! Dave Tendlar is the head animator, and once again Liszt’s second Hungarian Rhapsody gets the cartoon treatment.
Top Ten Cartoon Single Records (Part 2)
We’re down to the final five! Feel free to disagree, but these are your humble Animation Spinner’s personal choices for the best cartoon-related singles.
Chatting with Lew Irwin and Betty Brenon
The careers of animation veterans Lew Irwin and Betty Brenon were similar in that both worked at Leon Schlesinger’s during the 1930s and both ended up in supervisory positions.
“Forgotten” Anime OAVs #17: “Dark Cat” (1991)
Dark Cat is a feeble attempt to rip-off Urotsukidōji. It has plenty of sexual innuendo, bland nudity, and waving tentacles bursting out of high school teachers and students, but nothing really happens.
Reviews Of New Animation Books
Here we go again. Another of my way-overdue review round-ups of new books related to animation – past, present, and future!
Animation Anecdotes #261
“People seem to think it is just a breeze to take a purple spotted pig and a tall yellow giraffe and make them characters. It doesn’t work. So I leaned toward the most unoriginal idea in the world, a cat and a mouse.” – Joe Barbera
Thunderbean Update: Restoring “Cubby”
Some news on Cubby, how to fix warped film, and an open forum for debating what I should work on next!
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]
