New Yorkers have enjoyed their live-action Yule log TV program for decades, but now every home in America can have a roaring animated fireplace on their TV courtesy of indie animator PES. His new dvd, The Fireplace, offers toasty warm loops of a pretzel stick-and-candy corn fire. Just $9.99 at EatPes.com.

Several years ago, when Playhouse Pictures closed its Hollywood office, cartoonist Mike Kazaleh purchased some old files being sold off in their garage sale. In one of the folders Mike found this intriguing bit of correspondence (click on pages below) between UPA Vice President and Production Manager Adrian Woolery and Spyros Skouras, President of 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation.

In this initial letter from November 7th, 1952, Woolery, who has just established his offshoot animation studio Playhouse Pictures, complains to Skouras about the quality of Fox’s Terrytoons (in particular, a Heckle & Jeckle short named House Busters):

“It was not a good picture. The story was completely lacking in charm and imagination. There was not a new or interesting idea in the entire reel. The characters and backgrounds were poorly designed and drawn. The story and gags were not funny or even amusing. I had a feeling this same picture had been done dozens of times in the last score of years and in fact was done much better twenty years ago.”

After hurling a few more insults at the Terrytoon, Woolery concludes:

“It is my sincere belief that we in the animation business have at our command the finest medium of expression. It must be exploited by capable people who have the courage and ability to recognize its unlimited potential. Fortunately, good pictures do not cost any more than bad ones.”

Was Woolery trying to convince Skouras to drop Terrytoons and commision Playhouse to provide modern cartoon shorts, as UPA did for Columbia? Skouras replied on January 23rd, 1953 (click letters at left), that he was quite pleased with the Terrytoons as is:

“…I cannot agree with the conclusion you arrived at after seeing the particular Terrytoon called House Wreckers (sic). As a matter of fact, Terrytoons Cartoons are immensely popular with audiences everywhere and are played in thousands of theatres. Audiences found them attractive enough to make our 1952 reciepts from Terrytoon releases to be most gratifying. You may be sure we are always endevoring to make this product better and, in 1953 we will do our utmost to improve all of our short subjects.”

And in fact, shortly thereafter, Fox forced Terry to begin producing his cartoons in CinemaScope. In 1955, perhaps taking Woolery’s suggestion to heart, Terrytoons installed UPA director Gene Deitch to overhaul the theatrical cartoons and bring them up to date with modern graphics.

Below is the first minute and a half of the cartoon that set Woolery off, House Busters, which features animation by Jim Tyer (the scenes of the convict escaping prison) and a delightful song written by Philip Schieb.

Tonight in Hollywood is my monthly mini-movie show with Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys. As always Janet’s live musical concert, featuring pop tunes of the 1920s and 30s, will be preceded by a selection of vintage musical shorts and cartoons, screened in glorious 16mm celluloid. Join us at 8pm, at THE STEVE ALLEN THEATER (Center for Inquiry-West), 4773 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood (Two blocks west of Vermont — Plenty of FREE parking in the rear). Admission $15. - a bargain!

This just in from animator Ken Priebe:

It is with a heavy heart that I pass this news on to you….

I just got a call at VanArts from Carol Southworth, wife of Disney/MGM/Hanna-Barbera veteran animator Ken Southworth, saying that Ken passed away this morning after a series of strokes. He was 89.

I got to know Ken well over the years, having had the privilege to work with him and visit his house in Anaheim; he was a very talented artist who will be missed greatly. He was a guest instructor at VanArts for many years in our summer program. (Ironically, he passed away on the anniversary of Walt Disney’s birthday).

Priebe collected career information on Southworth for his website several years ago. Click here for that information.

One of my favorite animation books of 2007 is an unlikely choice: The Animation Pimp by Chris Robinson. Unlikely because the book is a collection of already-published articles that Robinson had written over the past few years for the online Animation World Magazine. But reading the entire body of work again in this more organized and accessible print format gave me a completely new impression of the “Animation Pimp” columns.

The best way of describing the book is that it’s like having a wide-ranging cartoon conversation with a friend who appreciates and understands the animation art form as much as you do; you may not always agree with him, and sometimes you may want to punch him, but it’s ultimately fun and enlightening to hear his personal take on the art form. While the writing occasionally gets a bit too cute for my taste, for the most part Robinson offers some of the sharpest commentary and insights to be found anywhere about contemporary animation. The columns cover a lot of ground—everything from the animation festival scene and independent filmmakers to the mainstream likes of Shrek and Ren and Stimpy, all filtered through a refreshingly personal perspective.

The pieces are supplemented by a bevy of often quite witty illustrations by German animation director Andreas Hykade (Ring of Fire, The Runt). It’s a one-of-a-kind animation book that’s well worth adding to any animation library. And only $19 on Amazon.

Most of the Preston Blair swipes we’ve linked to in the past are by amateur artists, but this post shows that professional comic artists and animators are also not immune to “borrowing” from Preston Blair’s classic how-to books.

Kevin Langley offers the following unbelievable find on his blog: an old Harvey comic in which artist Ben Brown created a funny animal story comprised nearly entirely of swipes of Preston Blair characters and poses.

And Brew reader Gerard de Souza recently sent me frame grabs of his discovery: a Preston Blair bulldog in an old Speed Racer episode called “The Great Plan, Part 1″. I think it’s safe to say Blair was referenced as there are only three character animation drawings in the bulldog scene, and two of them are the Blair expressions below. The non-Blair drawing is an inbetween connecting these two drawings.

Just when you thought it was safe to travel with a big, blue, hammer-wielding maniac…

If you haven’t been doing it already, check out Xeth (Bulbo) Feinberg’s new internet cartoon series PAPU. This is an unabashed plug - but a sincere one, as I am a big fan of Feinberg’s little Flash cartoons. And don’t forget to shop for Bulbo and Papu products, and ask Papu a question on his Blog!

In a “clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon“, a court in Naples sent a summons to Tweety, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck ordering them to appear Friday at a copyright infringement trial. This AP story made my day.