Tom & Jerry on Record
Tom and Jerry on Records? Tom and Jerry sure made a lot of records for cartoon characters that don’t (usually) speak! Nevertheless, MGM Records found a way and their records…
Paul Fennell’s “This Changing World” (1941)
Today we take a look at two obscure but important shorts released by Columbia in 1941 – a two-part set labeled This Changing World. These are two subjects were designed…
The Last Days Of Mushi Pro
By the end of 1970 Osamu Tezuka was gone, leaving the wreckage of Mushi Productions behind him. It was no secret that Tezuka’s feature Cleopatra had doomed the studio; but…
Public Relations, Education, and Animation
Today we will be looking at a quartet of animated sales and educational films. Hopefully, some of these shorts will be new to you – the names of their animators…
Animation Anecdotes #160
Bluth’s Beauty and the Beast. According to well-respected animation historian (and Bluth historian who once worked for the animator-director) John Cawley: “Early in 1984, Don (Bluth) began in earnest turning…
Top 5 “Most Wanted” Cartoons – and 5 Favorite Finds
This week another top-ten list: five favorite finds and five most-wanteds; the continuing search for the missing stuff! I’ve of three minds when it comes to the reasons to continue…
Celebrating Howard Beckerman
Howard Beckerman is an animator, a historian and a professor. For over 40 years, he has been contributing expertise and joy to the art of animation at The School of…
The Actual TV Voices? “April Fool!”
It was the cruelest of “April Fool” tricks for cartoon-loving baby boomers: when you got a phonograph record featuring favorite characters, only to hear impostors doing the voices or singing…
“Johnny The Giant Killer” (1950)
Steve Stanchfield’s recent post about obscure animated features had me thinking about one of my favorite guilty pleasures – Johnny The Giant Killer. However, there is little to like about…
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]
