In honor of the 70th Anniversary of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, Steve Worth has posted images from an an incredible scrapbook of material relating to the landmark Disney film.

The Snow White scrapbook was created by Disney animator Clair Weeks and was donated to the Asifa Hollywood Animation Archive several months ago by the Weeks family. I’ve seen this book in person and it’s the only way to truly appreciate it. If you can’t get to the archive, Steve will be posting better images and digitizing this material properly after the holidays. In the meantime, go here now for a taste of things to come.

Among Fortune Magazine’s list of this year’s 101 Dumbest Moments in Business are:

13. Disneyland - for its plan to revise It’s A Small World for larger park guests.

21. Cartoon Network - for the whole Aqua Teen publicity fiasco.

I know I’m opening a can of worms here, but what do you think were some of the dumbest moments in animation in 2007?

A happy note to close out this year’s animation book releases: Hans Bacher’s eagerly anticipated book about animation production design, Dream Worlds, is finally shipping on Amazon. I’ve yet to see a copy but animation director Michael Sporn has received the book and is quite pleased. He writes on his blog: “With the same ardent enthusiasm I had for Amid Amidi’s Cartoon Modern and Mike Barrier’s The Animated Man, I encourage you to buy a copy of this book if you’re serious about animation. It’s stunningly beautiful, filled with excellent art, attractively designed and it looks to be enormously informative. The book shows you what a production designer does in an animated film. I’ve seen no other book like it.”

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the release of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Two worth-a-glance articles about the film’s premiere have been posted online by Wade Sampson and David Lesjak.

I’m happy to announce the April 15th 2008 release date of The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2.

The dvd set will contain three discs and include 75 vintage Walter Lantz cartoons, completely uncut - as originally seen in theaters.
• This collection includes 45 Woody Woodpecker cartoons, continuing the chronology, from 1952-1958.
• The set will feature treasures from the Walter Lantz archive including rarely seen Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Pooch The Pup, Cartune Classics and Swing Symphonies cartoons - titles include: Five and Dime, Wax Works, Springtime Serenade, She Done Him Right, A Haunting We Will Go, Fair Today, The Painter and the Pointer and Boogie Woogie Man.

Bonus Materials Include:
• Behind-the-Scenes with Walter Lantz (12 Segments from The Woody
Woodpecker Show TV series)
• Walter Lantz TV Pilots for Space Mouse (Secret Weapon), featuring the voice of Paul Frees, and Sam ‘n’ Simian (Jungle Medics), which features the voices of Dal McKennon.
• The Woody Woodpecker Show TV Episode (a full-length episode featuring Woody, Inspector Willoughby and the Beary Family)

Retail price will be $39.98, but expect discounts from Amazon and at the major retailers.

Today’s Bizarro by Dan Piraro.

Steve Stanchfield is one of the unsung angels out there who does the important work finding and restoring lost pieces of our animation history, and makes them accessible in attractive presentations on DVDs. He’s just finished two more volumes in time for last minute Christmas shoppers. I know that more time and money goes into these compilations than Steve will ever recoup. He does them for the love of the artform, and we should be very grateful. I certainly am. Both of these new releases are highly recommended.

Cartoon Commercials, Volume 1- features all animated commercials from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. It’s a totally entertaining disc with lots of “cartoon modern” stylized animation I haven’t seen elsewhere. I think the coolest thing about it is a subtitle feature that lists many of the animators, directors, voices and studios as you’re watching.

Return of the 30’s Characters follows in the same tradition as Stanchfield’s previous volume, Attack of the 30’s Characters. Great prints with original titles (or restored, and a few recreated). The highlights (for me) is Steve’s restoration of the lost Dick Huemor Toby Pup cartoon, The Museum (1930) and the Ub Iwerks’ ComiColor films, Balloonland (1935), Brementown Musicians (1935). Steve even attaches a strip of Cinecon 16mm to the box as a bonus. Fifteen other cartoons including Little Orphan Willie with Flip the Frog; Joint Wipers with Van Beuren’s Tom and Jerry; His Off Day with Puddy the Pup (Terrytoons); and The Hunting Season an RKO Rainbow Parade cartoon. Order it here.

Mark Mayerson has informed us that animator Jack Zander has passed away at age 99.

Zander cut his teeth as an animator at Van Beuren, Terrytoons and MGM (Harman Ising) Studios in the 1930s. After World War II, Zander’s New York studio was considered one of the best in the business. In addition to hundreds of commercials, he produced the TV special Gnomes (1980) and the infamous King Features TV special The Man Who Hated Laughter (1972). Mayerson has posted an overview of Zander’s career, with remembrances by colleagues and friends, on his blog

Previous Entries Next Entries