David Gerstein and Cole Johnson found this delightfully primitive 1934 Japanese cartoon about a war in 1936(?). Clearly inspired by Hollywood cartoons of the era, one can read plenty into the fact that the brave Japanese warriors are doing battle with a “mickey mouse” army. Says Gerstein:

Maybe it’s a “Nutcracker Suite”-inspired thing? Dunno if the “Nutcracker” was known in Japan in the 1930s, and this uses pre-”Nutcracker” classical themes, but it does have a mouse kingdom trying to take over a toyland-like world. What’s great, though, is that the mice are obvious Mickey clones, and at about 1:45 a cat lead briefly mutates into Felix. The music over the main and end titles sounds like it belongs with a 1930 Terrytoon or Van Beuren, doesn’t it?

If anyone can translate the title or tell us more about the film’s plot, we are eager to learn.

Courtesy of Marc Schirmeister, The Asifa Hollywood Animation Archive has posted the complete 18-page Crimebuster story from a 1942 issue of Boy Comics. The story, written by Charles Biro and drawn by future stooge-in-law Norman Maurer, uses the fictional Acme Animation Studio as a backdrop. There are references to animators with some familiar sounding names (Gordon, Tyre (sic), Lovey (sic), Foster). Read it here.

Brew reader Andy Kinyon writes in with a query:

Over ten years ago I was given two drawings. I guess youd call them pin-up cartoon girls. They’re signed JENKINS. On the back of one says, ROY JENKINS, 12625 Welby Way, N. Hollywood. Could it be the same animator who’s name appears on several Columbia Screen Gems cartoons (Cat-tastrophy, Big House Blues and Boston Beanie). Any information would be much appreciated.

Jenkins also did a stint at Walter Lantz in the 1960s. I’ll throw it open to our readers. Does anyone know anymore about the life and career of Roy Jenkins? These drawings (which seem to be inspired by the Bill Ward school) are pretty hot. (click on thumbnails below for larger image)

It was officially announced today that Popeye the Sailor Vol. 2 from Warner Home Video will be released on June 17th 2008. Bonus materials will include a documentary on the Fleischer Studios, an interview with Jack Mercer, and the complete Fleischer feature film Gulliver’s Travels (1939). I’ll reveal more information on the bonus features in a future post, closer to the release date. In the meantime, enjoy this rare title card (below), snapped with my notoriously funky cel phone camera, off a glare-filled TV screen. It’s the original opening title card to Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp, not seen since it’s initial release in 1939. This film, the third Technicolor two-reel Popeye special, and thirty other Popeye black & white classics will presented complete, uncut and beautifully restored on this landmark volume.

After some record-breaking days of traffic last week, we’ve decided to take the next big step and upgrade Cartoon Brew to its own dedicated server. We hope that this will speed up everybody’s site load times as well as prepare us for future traffic spikes. The transition to a new server has not been especially smooth, hence the downtimes during the past couple days, but everything should be back to normal after this weekend. Thanks to all the Brew readers for your patience and support!

If you’ve ever wondered why Disney story artist Bill Peet is often referred to as a master draftsman, look no further than these never-before-published drawings by Peet for a planned storybook about Susie the Blue Coupe. They’re posted in two parts on Michael Sporn’s blog: Part I and Part II.

The story was turned into a Disney theatrical short in 1952. It can be viewed on YouTube. An interesting note about the film: Hans Perk, a reliable Disney authority, says in the comments of Sporn’s post that Susie the Blue Coupe is one of a handful of Disney shorts that has lapsed into the public domain. So remix away folks!

Does this look familiar?

Steve Stanchfield (Thunderbean Animation) — forever on the outlook for Preston Blair swipes as he travels across the nation — spotted this architectural curiosity (above).

Mary and I were travelling recently through Lexington, KY and saw this. Doesn’t this building scream “Drinking is FUN!”??? It seems as if they either really liked a certain newer animation building in Burbank (at left), or were making fun of the fact that so many animators loved the sauce. Maybe if Disney ever decides to scrap animation all together they can sell the building to these folks!

I’d like to make a reference to “Pink Elephants On Parade”… but I think I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

The new blog Market Saw keeps readers updated about the latest 3D craze sweeping the feature animation biz (and movie industry as a whole). The site also has a list of upcoming 3D features including major studio films like Bolt, Coraline, Monsters vs. Aliens, Frankenweenie and Ice Age 3, as well as some animated features I hadn’t heard of such as Gaumont’s Boat and New Line’s Planet 51. This Wall Street Journal piece gives more background on the growth of 3D movies, and this page offers the perspective of Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is one of the technology’s biggest proponents and has announced that all of DreamWorks’s animated features from 2009 onward will be produced in 3D.