Music with Character: The 75th Anniversary of “Melody Time”
Managing to avoid most of the pitfalls of its predecessors, Melody Time was the last of Disney’s musical mélanges, and certainly the best.
Thunderbean Thoughts — and a few required animation history viewings!
I thought I’d share a few things that I think are must-sees in my animation history class, even though they’re not the eras often highlighted here.
Unpredictable as Weather (Part 3)
Cartoons struggle against storms, this week including Fleischer’s Bimbo, Charles Mintz’s Toby the Pup, Ub Iwerks’ Flip the Frog, and Van Buren’s Tom and Jerry.
Fleischer and Famous Studios: A Grab Bag, or Filet of Leftovers
Extreme cases present themselves, when a cartoon you had to skip over because it was unavailable suddenly gets found. Here are a few.
Animator Breakdown: “Tortoise Beats Hare” (1941)
Here’s an unexpected breakthrough—an animator draft/breakdown video of a pivotal film from Tex Avery’s directorial career at Schlesinger’s studio!
The Best of the Pest: A Tiny Tribute to Pixar’s “Ratatouille”
Hailed by critics and audiences, this Oscar winning feature continues to be remembered as the movie “about cooking that stars a rat”.
Commercials from the “Stop Motion Marvels” Blu-ray
Happy 4/20, everyone. To celebrate the day, we’re screening a reel of far-out stop-mo commercials.
Unpredictable as Weather (Part 2)
Bosko, Mickey Mouse and Oswald Rabbit versus nature’s big bad villains: the rain, the sleet and the snow.
TOP CEL: Face Of A Union Local – Part 2
An overview of the animator editors and format of the New York Screen Cartoonists newsletter in the 1940s and 50s.
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]
