Author Archives: Jerry Beck

When I Am King by Sverre Fredriksen

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This is a new stop motion video that uses an old wood burning technique called pyrography. It was directed by Sverre Fredriksen, a young animator from Norway who has settled in Amsterdam, who soldered ten tons (or thereabouts) of timber to create the images — averaging five hours of work per second shown. Everything was done analog, nothing digital. You can watch a making-of video here. It was produced by Yellow Submarine, a sister company of SubmarineChannel. The song is by Dutch singer songwriter Tim Knol from his fist album.

(Thanks, Remco Vlaanderen)

Brew Shopping Tip: Hallmark Hanna Barbera cards

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I was searching for a Father’s Day card yesterday and although my dad isn’t particularly environmentally conscious, I had to buy this card (click thumbnails below to enlarge).

Apparently, the art staff at Hallmark, just like they did with Looney Tunes cards we reported about in 2006, now have the Hanna Barbera license and are creating cards in the style of Mel Crawford Golden Book art! Naturally, none of this card line is online, but there are some other attractive HB cards out there and several new retro-Looney Tunes that really appealed to me. And if any of the artists involved are reading this: please identify yourself! We love what you are doing!

Howard Post (1926-2010)

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Mark Evanier has reported the passing of Howard Post. Mark does a great job discussing Post’s prolific career in comics. I, too, was a huge fan of Howard Post’s work, not only in comics, but also of his brief stint as successor to Seymour Kneitel at the Paramount Animation Studio in 1964-1966. I got to interview him several times about that period (photo above is of me and Howard, at right, at the San Diego Comic Con in 2003).

Among the comic books Post drew, his work on Harvey’s Spooky and Hot Stuff in the 1950s and 60s is his most significant, and influential.

But Post did some unique little things during his brief time as the head of Paramount’s animation studio in the 1960s that are worthy of note. I like the Ronald Searle-esque The Itch, his adaptations of Jack Mendelsohn’s child p.o.v. comic strip Jacky’s Wacky World, and his ill-fated attempt to bring Bill Dana’s Jose Jimenez to the screen. He was required to fulfill a pre-existing order of Seymour Kneitel/Eddie Lawrence Swifty and Shorty series. With nothing to lose, in the last S&S cartoon, Post decided to do without Lawrence’s voice, painted the characters all in white and set them against impressionist background paintings. The end result, Les Boys (1965), is quite a treat – and a worthy tribute to a man who was always creative no matter the constraints.

The Sunday Funnies (5/23/10)

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Our weekly survey of selected comic strips that reference animated cartoons. From the top: Bound and Gagged (5/21) by Dana Summers; Nest Heads (5/20) by John Allen; a New Yorker cartoon (5/17) by Paul Noth; Pearls Before Swine (5/20) by Stephan Pastis; and Bizarro (5/23) by Dan Piraro.

(Thanks, Jim Lahue, Kurtis Findlay, Ed Austin and Harvey Deneroff)

Hulk Hogan sues Cocoa Pebbles

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It’s Hulk Hogan vs. The Flintstones – for real.

The “Hulkster” is suing Post Cereals, maker of Cocoa Pebbles, accusing the company of appropriating his image in an animated commercial for the cereal. According to Tampa Bay Online:

In the “Cocoa Smashdown” commercial, a character goes by the name “Hulk Boulder,” which Hogan’s lawsuit says is a name he used early in his career until wrestling promoter Vince McMahon decided he should have an Irish name. The wrestler also contends he has been harmed by, among other things, “the unauthorized and degrading depictions in the Cocoa Smashdown advertisements.”

Perhaps Hogan was offended by the shot where the character seemingly pulls a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles out of his trunks? You be the judge:

(Thanks, Jeaux Janovsky)

Silent animation in Red Dead Redemption

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In the recently released PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 video game Red Dead Redemption there appears this “silent movie” The Dangers of Doctors and Patent Medicines. In the game, it is seen projected on the wall of an old west theatre. Of course this kind of animation would not have existed until the 1910s – I’m not sure what time frame this western game takes place in, nor do we know who animated this fun little piece at Rockstar San Diego, but perhaps the animators will identify themselves in our comments section below.

(Thanks, John Karel)

Saturday, Sunday and Monday in LA: UPA, Silent Disney and Cartoon Dump

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Saturday, May 22nd: UPA Tribute and fundraiser – 5:00 to 9:30 pm at Woodbury University’s 250 seat Fletcher Jones Auditorium. A Ragtime Bear cel setup, above, donated by Van Eaton Galleries, to be auctioned.

Program: 5:00 – Reception; 6:00 – Two 40 minute film programs will include classics & rarities, remembered by a panel of UPA veterans, and moderated by Adam Abraham, author of an upcoming UPA history book. Panel will include animator Fred Crippen, Ervin Kaplan – a protégé of Bob McIntosh, Martha Sigall who worked every animation studio, and very first days of UPA, and Joe Siracusa – he created the UPA soundtracks.

Location: Woodbury University, 7500 Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, California. More details on this event can be found at upapix.com.

Sunday, May 23 at 6:30 pm, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will give the concert premiere of Alex Rannie’s original score for Walt Disney’s 1924 “Alice Comedy” Alice’s Wild West Show at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. It will screen along with Buster Keaton’s feature The Cameraman. Rannie sent us these notes about the film:

Alice’s Wild West Show was released on May 1, 1924, as the fourth installment in Walt Disney’s 57-film series of Alice Comedies (1923-1927). Directed and animated by Disney (with additional animation by Rollin “Ham” Hamilton), it stars Virginia Davis as “Alice” and Tommy Hicks as “Tubby O’Brien.”

No original musical material exists for any of Walt Disney’s almost 100 silent movies. This score was commissioned in 1999 for a Disney Channel broadcast of Alice’s Wild West Show as part of a year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of the October 16, 1923, founding of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.

For more information on this event click here.

Monday May 24th at 8pm: Cartoon Dump, the unholy alliance of noted author, producer and animation scholar Jerry Beck and writer/ producer/ comedian Frank Conniff (“TV’s Frank” from MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 and CINEMATIC TITANIC) is back for another depraved offering of sketches, songs, puppets, stand-up comedy, and the most God-awful Saturday Morning Cartoons from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

This month featuring:
Frank Conniff as Moodsy the Clinically Depressed Owl
Erica Doering as Compost Brite
J. Elvis Weinstein as Dumpster Diver Dan
Joe Keyes as Officer Pete the Paint Sniffing Patrolman with Sleep Apnea
Sharon Houston as Sharon the Social Worker
Kristin Ariggo as Cue Card Goddess
Dave “Gruber” Allen as Whatever Crazy Character Gruber Decides To Do
and
Jerry Beck as Jerry Beck

Plus, stand-up comedy from
J. Elvis Weinstein
and special guest star
Andy Kindler!

Monday 5/24 at 8pm, Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Blvd. • Free Parking! • Advanced Tickets here • Phone: (323) 666-9797 • Map & Directions

Maf the Dog book trailer

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Here’s an animated trailer for The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe , a new book by Andrew O’Hagan. The book is being published this month by UK’s Faber and Faber, and they commissioned this stylish promotional spot. Set in 60s era New York and featuring Marilyn Monroe, the animation design follows the 50s/60s illustration tradition. Designed and animated by the super-talented Robin Davey.