Author Archives: Jerry Beck

Facebook Fun

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That’s Dave Fleischer in the center, at the Paramount gates in Hollywood, with his two big stars of 1939, Gulliver and Popeye.

I found this image in my collection and contributed it to my new daily Facebook visit, the Popeye Look-alike Fan Page. It’s an incredible (and hilarious) archive of oddball live action photographs of the Popeye character.

Facebook has become an invaluable resource of pop culture ephemera and animation history, as collectors and fans are scanning their collections and sharing it with the world. I’ve joined in myself whenever I find something of interest to share. For example, I just found this (below) in my research files, the first model sheet for Little Audrey, drawn in 1946 by Bill Tytla! Check it out at larger size on the Harvey Comics facebook page.

While I’m at it, I should once again plug the Cartoon Brew Facebook page, where our readers run the show with additional commentary, films and event announcements.

Adventure Time starts tonight!

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Here’s a day I’ve been waiting for — for at least three years. Set the TiVo or tune-in tonight at 8pm as Cartoon Network presents the premiere of Pen Ward’s cult-cartoon series, Adventure Time.

To get you up to speed, check out some epic tribute art by The Autumn Society, watch the original pilot or sing along to the theme song. It’s the first original thing to hit the TV cartoon world in several years, and I want it to be a hit. Best wishes and good luck to Pen and his incredible crew.

Henry Selick returns to Disney

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No joke – and good news!
Variety is reporting that Henry Selick has signed an exclusive long term deal to produce and direct movies for “Disney/Pixar”. Interesting to note the article refers to the studio as “Disney/Pixar” as opposed to either Disney or Pixar.

Excerpts from the Variety article:

The helmer, who’s been spotted in recent months at Pixar’s Emeryville, Calif. campus, will set up shop in the Bay Area, where he plans to write and direct features based on both original ideas and literary properties. Selick hopes to benefit from the Pixar brain trust and technology, but will continue to produce toons using his trademark stop-motion style.

“I’ll quote Dick Cook right after ‘James and the Giant Peach’ was finished. He said, ‘We don’t believe this is a viable medium anymore, and we’re not going to do it,’?” Selick told Daily Variety. “A few years later they shut down 2D. It’s great that both of those things are back.”

I think this is a win-win-win for Disney, Selick and stop motion animation. Congratulations, Henry. We’re rooting for you.

The Ship That Never Came In by Kim Deitch

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I don’t know how I missed this before, but I just found this 2003 animation (by John Kuromoto) of a Kim Deitch cartoon based on a Waldo strip Deitch originally wrote for a comic in 1992. It’s also appropriately being used as a promo for Deitch’s graphic novel The Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Click here to enjoy The Ship That Never Came In.

(Thanks, Mike Stanfill)

The CGI Yogi

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I wasn’t going to post about this. I was sent these images of CGI Yogi and Boo Boo a few days ago and decided they were so horrible that they couldn’t possibly be the finals. Now they seem to be all over the internet (you can see larger versions on The Movie Insider.com) and many readers have sent them in to me, wanting my opinion.

My opinion? As much as I hate the idea of this CGI Yogi Bear movie, I can’t believe these are the actual images of the characters that will be animated in the film. These designs are simply awful. What about you? What do you think?

Kurtz + Friends blog

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Bob Kurtz began his career designing the original Alvin and the Chipmunks for Format Films, wrote Pink Panther cartoons for DePatie-Freleng and created Cool Cat for Warner Bros. Perhaps his greatest achievement at this time was his hilarious animation on the Roger Ramjet cartoons. Since the 70s, Kurtz has run his own studio producing award winning commercials, shorts and movie titles.

Bob has recently expanded his website to include a blog, and has added numerous videos of his recent animated works (pssst, check his George Carlin page, and his short, It’s No Bullshit). Check it out and enjoy: Kurtz+Friends blog.

Fleischer’s Secret Story-Telling Chart

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Well, I don’t know if it was a secret, but here’s a rare publicity photo of Dave Fleischer with a “story mood chart” indicating story beats for Mr. Bug Goes To Town (1941). Click the photo above to see a close up of the chart. I don’t know if they really used anything like this in production, but however they did it, they created a masterpiece – and that’s all that matters.