Coming up later this year from McFarland & Company Publishers is a new book which examines 1960s cartoons from the perspective of the Vietnam War. Unlike the 1940s (or today for that matter) I don’t recall many animated films (commercial or independent) that even came close to reflecting the war in Vietnam. There were several that focused on the hippie movement (MARVIN DIGS, HURTS AND FLOWERS, et al.), but there was certainly nothing on Saturday morning or in feature length productions.Racking my brain, only two theatrical war-themed cartoons come to mind (not counting the ongoing war between Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales): The Pink Panther in PINK PANZER (1965) has a war overtone with the Panther’s escalating battle against his neighbor, an ultra-miltaristic Little Man; and Warner Bros. release of Ken Mundie’s independent anti-war short, THE DOOR (1967) (1968’s G.I. PINK has the Panther being drafted into the Army, but it’s as topical of the war as an episode of Gomer Pyle USMC). I welcome the opportunity to be reminded of other cartoons of the era which reflected the actual Vietnam conflict.I look forward to reading what Lehman has to say. According to this interview with the author:

Lehman says: “Cartoons of the Vietnam Era were political and reflected their times. They were more subtle in the message that the films of the World War II but political nonetheless.” During his book research Lehman notices that cartoons changed to violent when the U.S. aimed for military victory in Vietnam and they became nonviolent when the goal shifted to military withdrawal.

American Animated Cartoons of the Vietnam Era: A study of social commentary in films and television programs, 1961-1973 will be published in November. Lehman is currently working on his second book The Colored Cartoon which will focus on African American cartoon characters of animation’s first 50 years. A 2001 article by Lehman (from the Journal of Popular Film and Television, Summer 2001) discussing Black Animated Images of 1946 is worth a read.

The opening titles for the PBS series MYSTERY! were based on the artwork of Edward Gorey. It’s a quite successful adaptation of his illustration style to animation, though Gorey himself had little involvement in the piece. It was directed by Derek Lamb, who also directed the SESAME STREET “I Get Mad” piece which I posted a couple days ago. Lamb, who passed away in 2005, discussed his experience creating the MSYTERY! piece in this AWN article.

Here is eight seconds of DePatie Freleng animation I was unaware of when I wrote my Pink Panther book. Thanks to Nic Kramer for discovering it on You Tube.

ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE has just published an informative piece by historian Jim Korkis about Disney’s short-lived (and rarely discussed) TV commercial unit during the 1950s. I’d love to see a collection of these spots on a future Disney Treasures dvd set. The spots were generally well produced and they deserve to be more widely available. Not to mention that Tom Oreb created an extraordinary amount of great designs for these commercials, like the Pegleg-less Pete Cat model above.

“Everybody needs to draw Mickey once.” So says Keitai from the Netherlands, who hosts the everybodyneeds2drawmickeyonce.com website, and is encouraging everyone to draw their version of the mouse and send it in for posting. So far she’s recieved dozens of fun entries from the likes of Oscar Grillo and Eric Weise (above) - all Mickey’s recieved to date are collected here. You can even vote for your favorite. No prizes, but it’s a hoot. Check it out - or better yet, contribute.

Cartoon Network’s PLASTIC MAN pilot which we mentioned a few days ago is back online. Check it out HERE. And then check out Stephen DeStefano’s blog for lots of artwork from the short.

Here’s a classic mid-70s SESAME STREET spot directed and designed by Derek Lamb and animated by esteemed cartoon historian and this year’s animated short Oscar winner John Canemaker. The cartoon teaches kids that it’s quite alright not being able to keep your emotions in check and getting angry all the time. Why can’t today’s children’s cartoon teach such great lessons?

Just a reminder that your chance to win a free full-access pass to the Ottawa International Animation Festival (Sept. 20-24) ends this Sunday. We’ve got two passes to hand out and we want to give them to folks who really really want to attend the festival. For entry details, read our contest rules here.