Cohl, McCay and Blackton Would Be Proud
Five days ago, Sweden won the top prize in this year’s Eurovision song competition, with Heroes by Måns Zelmerlöw. The Eurovision contest goes on for many days, and if you’re…
Max Fleischer’s “Pudgy The Watchman” (1938)
Today, we’re going to look into a post-code Betty Boop with her little pal, Pudgy! Many of the Fleischer cartoons featuring Betty Boop, including the early Talkartoons before her official…
Walt Disney’s Goofy – on the Record
The great goof’s birthday was yesterday, so it’s fitting that we celebrate it on the wrong date – and by checking out two of his kookiest record albums from the…
Paramount Sales News #52
Editor’s Note: This is the final installment of Thad Komorowski’s posts reprinting rare promotional print cartoons that originally appeared weekly (sometimes intermittently) from 1934 through 1945 in the in-house trade…
Streamline Pictures – Part 6
One of my duties at Streamline Pictures was to keep a scrapbook of the reviews that Streamline’s movies, videos, and books got in newspapers and magazines. Here is an alphabetical…
Walt Disney’s “Standard Parade For 1939”
Not all of the nontheatrical Disney cartoons were educational or public-service films. Some were sponsored films, undertaken for commercial sponsors who were willing to pay to have the prestige of…
Animation Anecdotes #213
Brad Bird’s Perspective. “I think all movies are an illusion, whether they are live action or animation,” said animation director Brad Bird in 2007. “And I think the best special…
Hugh Harman’s “Winky the Watchman” – and How to Do a Great Commentary Track
I really wish Hugh Harman had made a feature film instead of the educational films his studio produced over the years. The production values in their mid-40s productions are quite…
MGM’s “The Lonesome Mouse” (1943)
This week’s breakdown features Hanna and Barbera’s famous cat-and-mouse duo! The cat-and-mouse rivalry in Bill Hanna-Joe Barbera’s directorial debut, Puss Gets the Boot, was initially met with contempt by producer…
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]
