CALVIN AND THE COLONEL ran on ABC in primetime from October 3, 1961 through September 22, 1962. It was on Tuesday nights at 8:30. Today it’s completely forgotten.CALVIN AND THE COLONEL featured the exploits of two backwoods animals from the south who had taken up residence in a large northern city. The series was created, and the lead characters voiced, by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, who patterned the cartoon after their long-running “Amos ‘n’ Andy” radio and television series. Gosden and Correll, two white men, had created and played the parts of the two black leads in the radio version of “Amos ‘n’ Andy”. They felt that, by using animals as their principal characters, they could avoid the touchy racial situation which “Amos ‘n’ Andy” had become in the early 1960’s.
They were wrong.Simply because of Gosden and Correll’s participation, the show has been banned from distribution for 40 years. There is nothing racist about the series. In fact, it’s one of the funniest TV cartoons ever produced. The series was produced for Kayro Productions by Bob Mosher and Joe Connelly, whose credits include “Leave it to Beaver”, and “The Munsters”.On Saturday afternoon February 26th at 3:00pm, Asifa-Hollywood will present a screening of several rare color episodes of the series, 16mm prints, some with original network commercials. Special guests from the cast & crew will attend and a Q & A after the screening will include voice actress June Foray and animators Phil Roman, John Sparey and Frank Andrina. The screening takes place on The American Film Institute campus, in the Ted Ashley-Warner Bros. Screening Room, 2021 N. Westen Ave. in Hollywood, CA. It’s a rare opportunity to see these episodes and meet the people behind the scenes.

The Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art in New York has posted an online exhibit of 50 top cartoonists with examples of their artwork alongside a sample of how they drew at age 12. NOW-THEN, a MoCCA online exhibit launches today and is well worth a visit. Curated by webmaster Robert Zimmerman, with a nifty logo by Lou Brooks, Now-Then contains art by many Brew favorites including Dave Sheldon (above), Gary Baseman, Jack Davis, Everett Peck, Bob Stakke and Kristen Ulve.

Robin Williams sings an anti-Disney/pro-Pixar slave spiritual.
(via IGN’s FilmForce)

DISNEYWAR by Pulitzer-prize winning author James B. Stewart is a blistering new indictment of the Eisner regime. Stewart had all sorts of insider access, including the cooperation of both Eisner and Roy Disney, so it should make for some juicy reading. The book also reprints the text of the letter of support for Roy and Stanley so if you signed that last year, then your name should be in the book. Here’s links to DISNEYWAR articles in TIME magazine and THE NEW YORK TIMES.

With all the media surrounding his recent “Gates” installation in New York City’s Central Park, it seems appropriate to point out that Christo has also wrapped Snoopy’s house. I think it’d be nice if for his next project, Christo wrapped himself up…very tightly. (Thanks, Florian)

OVER TIME is a wonderfully inventive and atmospheric student film, a tribute of sorts to Muppet creator Jim Henson. It was directed by Oury Atlan, Thibaut Berland and Damien Ferrie as a graduation project at the French animation/media school Supinfocom, whose CG student films routinely kick the ass out of anything produced by North American animation schools. The directing trio are now billed as Oury & Thomas and represented by Partizan Lab, the animation division of the London/Paris-based commercial firm Partizan. Watch OVER TIME here. (Thanks, Phil)

This is where I want to stay if I ever visit Lousiana.

A respected playwright is writing big Broadway musical versions of both SHREK and BETTY BOOP. “Can he pull it off without compromising his artistic integrity?” So asks this story in Sunday’s New York Times (registration required).(Thanks to Mark Mayerson for the link)