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

Brewmaster Jerry Beck will be broadcasting once again, live on Shokus Internet Radio today, Wednesday December 19th from 4pm to 6pm Pacific time (that’s 7pm to 9pm for you in the Eastern Time Zone).

Stu Shostak and I will be discussing Terrytoons and all other classic animation. If you have a specific question you want answered, call in during the broadcast toll free (888) 746-5875. If you miss the show, it’ll be rerun for the next seven days at the same time. Tune in!

Colin Sanders, a game development student at UOIT, was frustrated by the quality of instruction in his animation class. Below is the animated piece he created for his final using all of the techniques that were taught by his professor. He concludes the piece with a “Thanks for nothing” note in the credits.

(Thanks, Dai Kun)

Folks in Bristol, England are getting a spectacular large-scale animation show this week. The event, Light Up Bristol, which projects 400-feet wide pieces of animation across historic buildings, started yesterday and runs through this Friday. Bristol-based animator and illustrator Robin Davey, who has two pieces in this year’s line-up, explained to me what the event is all about:

“Now in its second year, Light Up Bristol is a week of festively-themed large scale video projections on to some of the UK city’s landmark buildings. All the work has been produced especially for the event by many of Bristol’s creative agencies and individuals, in a variety of media ranging from Flash and After Effects through to film, stop-motion, and shadow-puppetry. Everyone involved has volunteered their time and talents free of charge, and the event is free to all. It runs from Monday 17 to Friday 21 December in and around College Green. I’ve contributed two very different pieces to the line-up. You can see some stills on my blog here.”

Creative Review magazine has images from the animated pieces in this article. More photos from the event, including the one above by James Burniston, are posted on Flickr.

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