Animation Anecdotes #203
Peter Tytla: The Dumbo Boy. The December 29, 1941 issue of Time Magazine had a review of Disney’s recently released animated feature Dumbo. It included in the review of the…
What’s Your Favorite Cartoon Title?
What is your favorite cartoon title, and what makes a good one? While hunting through things from my childhood at my Mothers, I discovered a few pieces of paper that…
Animator Breakdown: “Hot Cross Bunny” (1948)
Hans Perk’s wonderful blog, A. Film LA, lets viewers observe documents (known as “animator drafts”) that show, in simple terms, who animated what in particular shorts and features for Disney….
Walt Disney’s “The Three Caballeros” on Record
To celebrate the presentation of The Three Caballeros and other “Treasures of the Disney Vault” this Sunday on TCM, here’s a look at the soundtrack album. Walt Disney Presenta LOS…
Paramount Sales News #41: Popeye Goes To War
With the attack on Pearl Harbor, these ads pulled no punches and would frequently show Popeye versus the Japanese. What better way to arouse theater patronage in wartime? If you…
French Animation – Part 18: TV series
Significant French TV animation began in the mid- to late-1980s. It has generally gone unnoticed in America. I covered Moi Renart, the 26-episode 1986 modernization of the medieval Reynard the…
Japanese Color Animation 1907 to 1945 – Part 1
Broadly speaking, Japanese color animation is seen as a post-World War II phenomenon. Only beginning in 1958, with Tōei Dōga’s 東映動画 Hakujaden 白蛇伝 (Legend of the White Snake; US title:…
Animation Anecdotes #202
The Secret Origin of Chip’n’Dale’s Rescue Rangers. I have always been fascinated with how animation projects develop, sometimes evolving into something significantly different than the original concept. After the continuing…
Behind the Scenes of Lou Bunin’s ‘Bury the Axis’ (1943)
This week, a little look behind the scenes of Lou Bunin’s Bury the Axis (1943) – courtesy of Kodachrome! Lou Bunin was a wonderful stop motion animator. Lou had a…
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]
