“Private Snafu” on Blu-ray
Back from the ‘Cultural Wasteland’ of last week and into the world of Classic Animation again! From a Thunderbean Office perspective, last week was a Van Beuren week here, with…
“Wet Blanket Policy” (1948)
“Ha-ha-ha-HA-ha! Ha-ha-ha-HA-ha! That’s the Woody Woodpecker Song…” In 1947, musicians George Tibbles and Ramey Idriss played Walter Lantz their new song about his famous manic woodpecker over the phone. Tibbles…
“Wilma Flintstone Tells the Story of Bambi” (1965)
Back when global warming was still a local issue, the modern Stone Age “Dr. Jane Goodrock” told the story of nature and renewal in the face of human naughtiness. Earth…
Paramount Sales News #47: Popeye’s Victory Garden
April-June 1943 Paramount had a lot to promote in 1943. It appeared Famous Studios was on its way to rival the Hollywood cartoon studios in popularity and quality. The Popeye…
Streamline Pictures – Part 1
Streamline Pictures was one of the first American companies formed to license Japanese animation for American distribution – with the goal of presenting the original anime uncut, leaving the original…
Ted Eshbaugh and The Lost “Otto Nobetter And The Railroad Gang” (1957)
Today we rediscover Ted Eshbaugh’s missing 1957 cartoon through THE “OTTO NOBETTER AND THE RAILROAD GANG” SAFETY BOOK. For the fans of Ted Eshbaugh, the past decade has been extremely…
Animation Anecdotes #208
By A Waterfall. When Adolph Zukor, president of Famous Players-Lasky, decided to stop producing the Paramount Screen Magazine (which featured the Felix the Cat silent animated cartoons) in 1920 as…
“Cartoon Show” Memories
We’re all tired at Thunderbean as we get all the Van Beuren Classics orders out the door, late but happily on their way. As I’ve been cleaning up archives and…
Tex Avery’s “Blitz Wolf” (1942)
Today this week, it’s time for Tex Avery, a man whose credit is synonymous with divine magnificence. This is the only draft from Tex’s career I know of at the…
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]
