In His Own Words: Bill Scott at UPA
I got a chance to do a lengthy interview with Bill Scott on September 3, 1982 where we spent hours talking not only about his legendary work with Jay Ward…
Christmasy Cartoonz, Part 3: TV Cartoon Specials (from 1980)
Continuing our survey of Television Christmas Specials with an overview of various shows from 1980 to present day. If I’ve forgotten your favorite from this era, let me know in…
Commercials Animated by George Nicholas and Don Williams
We have another twofer for you. Two of my favorite animators, George Nicholas and Don Williams are our topic for today. George Nicholas had been one of the top animators…
Animation Anecdotes #139
Warner Commercials. In the Fifties, the Disney Studio earned money doing a variety of television commercials and even creating new characters. Warner Brothers also had a commercial unit that Jack…
Ub Iwerks in the 1930s
Another busy week here at Thunderbean. A final master for two titles went out today, with another in the coming week. All told four titles are in the process of…
“The Adventures of Gamba” (1975)
As far as made-for-TV cartoons from the 1970s and 1980s are concerned, I never made it a secret that I vastly prefer the output from the Japanese studios (Tokyo Movie…
Hanna-Barbera “HBR” Christmas Records
In 1965, Hanna-Barbera released the first two albums to feature their characters in a holiday setting on their fledgling record label—at least on the beautifully rendered album jackets. On the…
Toons Of The Orient 2: The “Legends” Stuff Is Made Of
Japanese cartoon makers were just as prone to raid fairy tales & legends for scenarios as their Western counterparts. One possible reason was that many of these films were produced…
Christmasy Cartoonz, Part 2: TV Cartoon Specials (to 1979)
Starting about 1950, Christmas animation began to be made for television. An early example is the first animation of the Frosty the Snowman song (above), 3 minutes by UPA in…
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]
