{"id":29580,"date":"2016-12-01T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T08:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=29580"},"modified":"2016-12-04T11:19:22","modified_gmt":"2016-12-04T19:19:22","slug":"thunderbean-status-report-and-hectors-hectic-life-1948","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/thunderbean-status-report-and-hectors-hectic-life-1948\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunderbean Status Report and \u201cHector\u2019s Hectic Life!\u201d (1948)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the last month of the year shows up, I have to say that 2016 was not the best of all years, but at least some things turned out ok!<\/p>\n\"tb-logo\"\n

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On the Thunderbean front, a handful of things are moving forward quite well, while other things have been stalled or have run into issues. I\u2019m happy to say that most of the projects are going quite well albeit slow. While I slog through this period, I am heartened that so many other things are starting to be possible as well, and that the sets seem to be good ambassadors, helping to \u201csell\u201d my pitch to pick up other licenses. There are more possible things on the horizon than ever. While the company didn\u2019t expand as much as I\u2019d like this past year, we\u2019re starting have quite a few things coming near the finish line, so it looks like that as the small backup of titles go to market, they will likely provide revenue to move other things forward quicker. <\/p>\n

Here are a few updates on current projects:<\/p>\n

1) Yuletide Flickers<\/strong>: Out to replication. This title should be back within a week or so, and will be available on Amazon for those that didn\u2019t get the pre-order. <\/p>\n

\"Bud<\/a>

Bud Abbott and… Jerry Lewis!<\/p><\/div>2) Abbott and Costello Rarities<\/strong>. This title is basically done, and waiting for one small audio section to be completed by one of the collaborators. We hope to have enough revenue through this season to send this to replication as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

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3) Flip the Frog<\/strong> (complete series, 2 Blu-ray set<\/em>) Cleanup continues on this set, slowly but surely, it\u2019s behind, but going well.<\/p>\n

4) Mid Century Modern, Volume 1 and 2<\/strong> (blu-ray upgrade<\/em>). Coming early 2017<\/p>\n

5) Lou Bunin Classics<\/strong> featuring Alice in Wonderland<\/em>. Waiting currently for funds to finish covering access fees and scanning.<\/p>\n

6) Stop Motion Marvels<\/strong> (Blu-ray upgrade<\/em>) Upgrade to out of print DVD set, originally released in 2010<\/p>\n

Other projects are in various stages. The Rainbow Parade<\/em> set and Iwerks\u2019 ComiColor<\/em> are in the early stages, some other license deals are also in various stages. One set doesn\u2019t have enough of a particular series to warrant a set yet, but recent developments are encouraging. Another project involves a live action puppet series, though very early on in development.<\/p>\n

We hope to finally officially announce, sooner than later, one set that has been in progress for over four years. We now have 90 films scanned for this set on this end- with often multiple copies to present the most complete\/best versions. I could write a book at this point on the ups and downs of this one title, but one way or another it will be in production this next year. It\u2019s likely three sets of three discs each. <\/p>\n

Mr. Bug Goes to Town<\/em> in on the roster, though some derails of distribution are still being worked out. Several animated features are possible this next year as well, though hard to say if all deals will work out.<\/p>\n

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\"hectors-hectic-title\"Now, onto Hector\u2019s Hectic Life!<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

Hector\u2019s Hectic Life<\/em> is perhaps one of the most overseen of the public domain Christmas cartoons, but not often in a good condition copy with decent color. Collector and historian Paul Mular was nice enough to lend this nice old Kodachrome 16mm print for the Yuletide Flickers<\/em> set, so I thought I\u2019d share the cleaned up version to start off the Christmas cartoon season. <\/p>\n

\"hector-250\"The cartoons that Bill Tytla directed at Famous are often more Disney-esque than the other director\u2019s films, sometimes with well-polished animation and sometimes not-as-polished. I feel like sometimes the layout drawings are better executed than much of the actual animation. This particular film is less polished than many of the shorts around the same time at the studio- at times looking quite rushed. I have to wonder if this film was budgeted lower and made much quicker. It falls shorts in carrying out many of the ideas – so many similar story situations are executed better in cartoons from MGM (by both very and Hanna Barbara) and Warner Brothers shorts. Still, I find I really enjoy some of the posing and character moments in the film. Still, even a little lessor of a Famous studio short is always much more fun that Heathcliff and Fangface. <\/p>\n

Have a good week everyone!<\/p>\n