If anybody has ever wondered why the 1930s-1950s are referred to as the Golden Age of animation, these four shorts below should provide the answer to that question. The theme is jazz, the cartoons are beautifully animated and effortlessly entertaining, and they’re all courtesy of individual users who posted them on YouTube.

MINNIE THE MOOCHER (1932, Fleischer)
Director: Dave Fleischer
Music: Cab Calloway

PIED PIPER OF BASIN STREET (1945, Lantz)
Director: James “Shamus” Culhane
Music: Jack Teagarden
Thanks to Kevin Langley for posting this on YouTube.

“All the Cats Join In” from MAKE MINE MUSIC (1946, Disney)
Director: Jack Kinney
Music: Benny Goodman

DIXIELAND DROOPY (1954, MGM)
Director: Tex Avery
Music: Scott Bradley

Michael Sporn shares his memories of working on the last commercial that John Hubley ever directed. It was a spot for Vlasic Pickles that didn’t go over too well with the agency. Sporn’s posts - PART I and PART II - include some great thumbnail poses by animator Phil Duncan and also the revelation that Hubley was responsible for designing the Vlasic Pickles stork mascot, which is still used by the company today.

Brew reader Chris Olson found an old issue of POPULAR MECHANICS with a behind-the-scenes look at the making of PINOCCHIO, and he was kind enough to make scans of the article for other Brew readers to see. The PM issue (volume 1, no. 73) was released in January 1940, a month before the film was released. The article emphasizes the technical aspects of the production, and includes some bizarre and incredible photos, such as the “mad scientist”-looking sound fx guys above. Other photos show people mixing cel paint dyes, toying around with electrical equipment, painting puppets and doing all types of things that one doesn’t typically associate with an animated production.

It’s also interesting to note that not a single artist is identified in the photo captions or article. The only person named is Walt Disney. I’ll try to right that wrong by identifying a few of the individuals. The story artists on the title page are (left to right) Ted Sears, Otto Englander and Webb Smith. The animator at top of page 6 is, of course, Bill Tytla, and the woman painting the model of Pinocchio on page 7 is Helen Nerbovig (who also happened to be the wife of background painter Bob McIntosh). If you can identify other people, let me know.

UPDATE: Michael Sporn writes that the animator looking at the fox on the second page is Norm Ferguson.

UPDATE #2: Jeff Peterson writes that the model maker with the clock at the bottom of page 7 is Bob Jones. There was an interview with him in Issue 37 of THE E TICKET.

(click on images for bigger versions)

There’s a solid animation lecture series currently happening at London’s Science Museum in conjunction with the Pixar: 20 Years of Animation exhibition. The series - Talk Animation! - continues through June 9. Upcoming speaker highlights include directing duo Smith & Foulkes, Philip Hunt of Studio aka, and stop motion director Barry Purves. More details HERE.

Story artist Jenny Lerew has posted another excellent entry about storytelling in animation on her blog, Blackwing Diaries. This time, she tackles the importance of creating honest, likeable characters that the audience can relate to. It seems like an obvious point, and yet, the type of characters which she speaks about are missing from the vast majority of contemporary feature and TV animation.

Director/designer Dave Wasson (TIME SQUAD, MAX AND HIS SPECIAL PROBLEM) has launched a new line of T-shirts called Vot-Not. He’s starting out with three designs and they’re all quite fetching. Ordering info HERE.
(via Gabe Swarr)

An article in last week’s VARIETY reports that not only will Cartoon Network continue to air live-action films like ACE VENTURA and DUMB AND DUMBER, but that they’re also beginning to plan production of original live-action TV series and movies. Now I know a lot of people are probably going, What the hell? Why is Cartoon Network going to produce live action?

I, for one, however applaud this out-of-the-box thinking on the part of the CN execs. After all, just because a channel is called Cartoon Network doesn’t mean they actually need to air cartoons. That’s so obvious…so 20th century. By giving audience what they’re not expecting, Cartoon Network is showing it’s a risk-taker, and that they aren’t afraid to add an element of surprise to their programming.

The execs at Cartoon Net have stumbled upon a secret that will revolutionize the cable industry, and that’s if you ignore the name of your channel and just air whatever you feel like, the possibilities for programming are endless. If this catches on, I predict an exciting renaissance in cable TV. No longer will channels be limited to their tired routines. Seriously, how many weather reports does the Weather Channel really need? Imagine how much more interesting it’ll be to catch NBA games on The Weather Channel. And sports on ESPN? Been there, done that. What ESPN really needs to distinguish itself from the competition is a month-long film tribute to Edward G. Robinson. The idea could potentially even spread to individual shows. Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor? We all saw that coming a mile away. But the O’Reilly Factor hosted by Oprah - now that’s what I call some innovative television. It’s a wonder that nobody’s every thought of this before, and to think we owe it all to those geniuses at Cartoon Network.

It looks like Nick Park’s Wallace and Gromit feature has spawned a real-life were-rabbit in England. The oversized rabbit is eating prize-winning leeks and turnips in the town of Felton. A BBC article has this quote from farmer Jeff Smith:

“This is no ordinary rabbit. We are dealing with a monster. It is absolutely massive. I have seen its prints and they are huge, bigger than a deer. It is a brute of a thing.”