brewmasters
JERRY BECK
bio & contact
view posts by jerry
AMID AMIDI
bio & contact
view posts by amid
POSTS FOR
“2008“
by brewmasters
December 24, 2008 8:56 am


Our Christmas present to you: episode 15 of Cartoon Brew TV. Jerry Beck is back this week with a brand-new commentary edition of “Brew Vaults.” He takes a look at a rare episode of A Few Quick Facts. This cartoon was originally shown to servicemen during World War II as part of the Army/Navy Screen Magazine, a newsreel program produced under the supervision of director Frank Capra. This three-part episode honors the Navy’s latest battleships; praises the American soldier’s brain; and explains the cost and care of a G.I’s shoes. Jerry is joined on the commentary by animator and historian Mark Kausler. Head on over to hear Jerry and Mark’s thoughts about A Few Quick Facts only on Cartoon Brew TV!

by amid
December 24, 2008 7:41 am


A few nice collections of holiday-themed cartoon artwork to keep you entertained during the cold weather…

Disney artwork

Beautiful drawings by “Walt Disney Staff” illustrating a short story by Pearl S. Buck that appeared in a 1956 issue of Family Circle.

Jingle Bells

Illustrations from Jingle Bells, a Little Golden Book by the great J.P. Miller.

Disney artwork

An incredible collection of Disney Studio holiday cards from the 1930s-’50s.

Life magazine

Delightful and humorous holiday imagery from the early-20th century published in Life magazine.

Littlest Snowman

Holiday comic art including some great Frosty comics, as well as the creepy Littlest Snowman cover above.

by amid
December 24, 2008 12:45 am


Directed by Bill Melendez, this is the 1974 Emmy Award-winning special Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Clause. Melendez’s years of working on the animated Peanuts cartoons is really evident in his approach to the design and animation of this special.


by jerry
December 23, 2008 6:10 pm


Warner Bros. is finally releasing the classic Paramount Superman cartoons (1941-43) on a stand alone DVD set. These are the nine Max Fleischer sci-fi adventures and eight Famous Studios World War II flavored action epics as you’ve never seen them before. The two-disc collection will go on sale April 7th and will retail for $26.99 (and be available much cheaper on Amazon, at Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart).

Warner Bros. and DC Comics own the master negatives to these cartoons and the new restorations here are truly breathtaking. Warner Home Video previously released these only as bonus material on several Christopher Reeve Superman DVDs, but are releasing this special set due to popular demand. Throw away your Dollar Store dupes. This is the ultimate collection of these cartoons.

(Thanks Dave Lambert at TVshowsondvd.com)

by jerry
December 23, 2008 6:00 am


Looney Tunes make a return appearance to television on New Years Day when Cartoon Network is scheduled to broadcast an all-day 14-hour marathon of classic Warner Bros. cartoons.

95 shorts, spanning four decades, begin on New Years Day (January 1st) at 6am with Freleng’s The Wabbit Who Came To Supper (pictured above). The final hour at 7pm highlights Chuck Jones masterpieces like One Froggy Evening, Duck Amuck, Duck Dodgers and What’s Opera Doc?. Jon Cooke posted the exact schedule on the Termite Terrace Trading Post forum.

But note, this is a one-time-only stunt. Perhaps overwhelming ratings will convince the network to return these treasures to the regular line-up. Whatever happens, this sounds like the perfect way to start 2009.

by jerry
December 23, 2008 2:35 am


It wouldn’t be Christmas without the traditional year-end report from JibJab:

by amid
December 23, 2008 12:32 am


Celebrating Christmas old-school Chipmunk style…

by jerry
December 22, 2008 11:00 pm


I’m a sucker for retro-nonsense like this:

Paul Badilla and his friends in Chile made this for an exhibition for the artist Marcela Trujillo. I have no idea what the point of this piece is supposed to be, but here’s a production blog in Spanish with plenty of images of artists at work.