Indulge me - this post is only for true Looney Tunes trivia nerds. The kind, like me, who find the tiniest piece of cartoon minutiae fascinating.

Last April I posted a TV trailer for Lad: A Dog which contained several seconds of new Bugs Bunny footage from Chuck Jones unit. Recently, film collector Bill Colleton unearthed a companion 20-second TV spot which promotes the initial pairing of Lad: A Dog with the featurette The Adventures of the Road Runner. It’s just a small piece of lost Looney Tunes history, but I think it’s cool - and I just had to share:

The Adventures of the Road Runner featurette has since been released on DVD, included with the bonus materials in Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2. (Lad: A Dog, alas, has never been released on DVD).

Animator Mark Kausler found this cover image online. Anyone got a copy?

Two fascinating interviews have turned up online which are a must-read for any fan of classic animation: Michael Barrier has posted a 1977 interview with Disney concept artist Jim Bodrero (conducted by Milton Gray) and Thad Komorowski has posted a late-1970s interview with animator Emery Hawkins (conducted by John Canemaker). While the Bodrero interview is more informational, the Hawkins interview really delves into his working style and offers a sense of why he was one of the most distinctive animators of Golden Age animation. The interview is accompanied by a clip reel of Hawkins’s work, put together by Komorowski. The image at the top of this post is a scene of Hawkins animation from the John Sutherland film Rhapsody of Steel.

Chris Robinson tells me that he’s currently looking for writers and articles to be published in ASIFA Magazine (previously called Cartoons). The magazine has published numerous fine pieces over the past few years, including John Canemaker’s excellent two-parter about the life and art of JP Miller. The downside is that the magazine isn’t available for sale to the public, and is received only by ASIFA members.

Robinson says he’s looking for articles about all aspects of animation (business, indies, cartoons, anime, academic, interviews, etc.). The magazine comes out twice a year (summer and winter) and writers are paid for their contributions. Anybody interested can send a pitch to Chris Robinson at chris [at] animationfestival [dot] ca.

2719Hyperion.com has a fascinating post identifying the locations of Walt Disney’s childhood homes and workplaces in Kansas City, Missouri.

I’ve neglected to acknowledge the release this week of Warner Bros. Academy Award Animation Collection. It came out last Tuesday and it’s a teriffic compilation containing all the Oscar winning animated cartoons, and most of the nominees, that Warner Bros. owns the rights to. This includes several great Looney Tunes, MGM Tom & Jerry, Tex Avery, Fleischer Popeye and Superman cartoons.

The prints are gorgeous, and there is expert commentary on several tracks provided by Mark Kausler, Eric Goldberg, Greg Ford, Paul Dini and Brewmasters Amid Amidi and Jerry Beck. Also worthy of mention is the special round table audio commentary on Popeye The Sailor Meets Sindbad The Sailor by Bob Jaques, Leslie Cabarga and Ray Pointer, moderated by myself. There is also a wonderful one hour documentary on Oscar winning cartoons (with additional clips from Disney, Zagreb and Hubley films) and comments from Michael Sporn, Mark Kausler, Howard Beckerman, Charles Solomon, Bill Plympton, Jimmy Picker, Tom Sito, Eric Goldberg, and archival quotes from Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.

Many of these cartoons already appeared in several scattered video collections, though several of them were previously issued in edited form. Here, all the cartoons are complete and uncut - and it’s great to have them all collected in one place. A great package, highly recommended.

Next Tuesday, 2/19, at 7:30 p.m., ASIFA Atlanta is putting on To Hell with Hitler, a program of WW2-era cartoons at the Plaza Theatre ($4 members admission; $7 non-members).

Clay Croker (of ArgleBargle blog fame) curated the show, created the cool poster, and is providing the 16mm prints that will be shown. The only caution is that the screening willl take place in a part of the theatre that holds around 100 folks, so expect it to be standing-room-only!

(Thanks, Robert Pope)

Based on what little I’ve seen from this film, it looks awesome.
Here’s the latest trailer from Dreamworks’ Kung Fu Panda.