Flights of Fancy (Part 15): Hazardous Hops and Happy Hopes
The themes in animation during this period take the battle to the enemy rather than holding territorial lines of defense.
Obscure Disney Animation Books
A partial listing of some fairly obscure Disney animation related books that might be unknown to many readers of this site.
A Quick Look At Quartet Films
Quartet Films was one of the hottest commercials studio in Hollywood for many years. Here’s a quick overview of their work and personnel.
How Clarence Nash Became Donald Duck
On December 2nd, 1933, Nash became Disney’s 125th employee – as the voice of Donald Duck.
Thunderbean News and “The Family Shoe” (1931)
I like a lot of things about this scrappy little cartoon. It’s exuberance in simple design and execution makes it hard to not smile while watching.
Flights of Fancy (Part 14): Air Cover and Cover-Ups
Wrapping up 1943 and moving into 1944, we find more “Situation Normal” for our airborne toons.
Max and Dave: The Code Breaks Betty
As of July 1st, 1934, all films had to submit to the Production Code and display the MPPDA seal. And yes, that applied to cartoons as well.
Doggone Sweet: The 70th Anniversary of “Feed the Kitty”
Seventy years after its debut, Feed the Kitty stands as one of Warner Bros. most fantastic cartoon shorts.
Jessica Rabbit
“I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way,” affirmed Jessica Rabbit, the first Disney cartoon character to be blatantly sexual in nature.
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]
