Animation Anecdotes #235
“If I do a show like Popeye or Godzilla, we don’t own it outright. We participate with many partners. That’s why we prefer to do something original,” says Joe Barbera.
A Spooky Diversion: “The Case of the ‘Kangeroo’ (Kangaroo) Kid” (1963)
Today, from the “Sam Bassett, Hound for Hire” series. Produced in 1962 and ’63 by Australian Phil Davis, the scariest thing about the show was the animation was produced in Zagreb.
Disney’s “The Tortoise And The Hare” (1934)
A landmark of Disney animation, Tortoise and the Hare received an Academy Award for Best Animated Short for 1934, defeating Charles Mintz and Walter Lantz’s first cartoons in color, respectively.
Hanna Barbera Does “The Tell Tale Heart”
“The Most Frightening Album Ever Made!” When Hanna-Barbera Records & flamboyant horror movie Producer/Director William Castle got together on vinyl, the result was murder!
Paramount Cartoons 1961-62
Paramount was able to release 21 new cartoons this season due to a clever arrangement with King Features – plus a new alliance with Gene Deitch which yielded two additional shorts.
Argentine Animated Features, Part 9: 2008-2009
Part nine of my survey of Argentine animated feature films – featuring films by directors Gustavo Cova and Andrés G. Schaer.
Paul Whiteman Tops a Jazz Rabbit, 1930
The assignment that really accelerated the Lantz studio’s sophistication with musical sync was the animated introduction to “The King of Jazz”, a feature film that showcased the music of Paul Whiteman.
Animation Anecdotes #234
For a recording session at the Disney Studio, Paul Frees pulled up to the gate, but the guard couldn’t find his name on the list. “Should I call someone?” asked the guard. “Don’t bother,” said Frees, before driving away.
Halloween Continues: “Felix Dines And Pines” (1927)
For this week’s cartoon, I pulled “Felix Dines and Pines”, an especially weird entry in the great silent Felix the Cat series that qualifies quite nicely as a ‘spooky’ cartoon.
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 Cal Arts in Valencia, UCLA in Westwood and Woodbury University in Burbank – teaching animation history. More about Jerry Beck [Click Here]
