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TAG FOR “Books”Cartoon Brew's home for up-to-the-minute, unedited announcements and press releases direct from industry sources.
March 24, 2008 3:15 pm
I just found out that my Hanna Barbera Treasury has become a finalist in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards. Before we get too excited, keep in mind I’m competing against 652 finalists in 61 catagories. The Hanna Barbera Treasury is nominated in the Popular Culture catagory, against some strong competition, including one book on The Beatles and another on Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon). According to the ForeWord Magazine website, “ForeWord’s Book of the Year Awards program was designed to discover distinctive books across a number of genres. The winners will be determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers, selected from our readership. Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, as well as Editor’s Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction will be announced at a special program at BookExpo America at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on May 30. The ceremony is open to all BEA attendees.” My thanks to the editors and designers at Palace Press/Insight Editions for creating such an incredibly fun tribute to the legacy of Hanna Barbera. This was a rare case where the finished book turned out 16 Comments » posted in Books 
March 6, 2008 6:00 am
If you haven’t been a regular reader of Leonard Maltin’s website or his quarterly newsletter – both named Movie Crazy – you should be. Leonard has now collected the best articles from the newsletter into a 410-page trade paperback also named, you guessed it: Movie Crazy. It’s loaded with incredible interviews with, and articles about, the people in front and behind the cameras during the golden age of Hollywood. It also contains many pieces of particular interest to animation fans. These include an interview with Janet Waldo (voice of Judy Jetson and Penelope Pittstop), a bio of Arthur Q. Bryan (voice of Elmer Fudd), an interview with Betty Kimball (Ward’s wife) and Marie Johnston (Ollie’s better half) on their careers as ink-and-paint girls at Disney, rare Hollywood caricatures by Disney Legend Joe Grant and an amazing publicity photo of Spanky McFarland and Mickey Mouse. It’s published by Mike (Dark Horse) Richardson’s M Press imprint and available on amazon.com for $13.57 – and worth every penny. No Comments » posted in Books
March 4, 2008 5:28 pm
Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children’s Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became An American Icon Along the Way is a book chronicling the behind-the-scenes history of the famous children’s book publisher. Though it is published by Golden Books, it appears to be more than your average corporate fluff piece, and seemingly has lots of original historical research. It is also copiously illustrated with illustrations and photos, and includes coverage of all our Golden Book favorites including Mary Blair, Gustaf Tenggren, Aurelius Battaglia, JP Miller, Alice and Martin Provensen, Mel Crawford and Tibor Gergely, among others. If anbody has actually read the book, please share your thoughts about it in the comments. 5 Comments » posted in Books
March 1, 2008 12:05 am
I just got a copy of Christopher Lehman’s latest book, The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation in American Animated Short Films. 1907-1954. It’s an un-illustrated, 137-page survey of the black stereotypes and African American cultural influences in the Hollywood cartoons we all grew up with, and most of us still enjoy today. Lehman goes out of his way not to applaud, criticize or denounce these films. He mainly reports in an even handed way, that they were made, what images they contain, and records any controversies surrounding them. Though he covers almost every black character I’m aware of (including Lantz’s L’il Eightball, Pal’s Jasper and Famous Studios’ Buzzy) he neglects to mention Chuck Jones’ Inki, a pretty significant character. And I’m not sure I agree with his assertions that Bugs Bunny’s personality was essentially a “black cultural characterization”. But overall Lehman did his homework, with considerable research on the NAACP’s protests against such cartoons as Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs and Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat. For more info on this publication, visit the University of Massachusetts Press website. 25 Comments » posted in Books
February 25, 2008 12:05 am
I had the pleasure of meeting animator Jakob Jensen over this past weekend. Jensen has worked in the animation industry since the age of 17 with stints at A Film in Copenhagen and Amblimation in London, before settling down at Dreamworks Animation in Los Angeles in 1995 (as animator on The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Madagascar and all the others. He is currently the Animation Director on Warner Bros. Astro Boy at Imagi Animation Studios). Jensen gave me a copy of his recently self-published book My First Imperial ABC, a beautifully illustrated spoof of American media and politics disguised as a children’s primer. Jensen “juxtaposes over-used, politically charged words with drawings expressing the author’s dismay with our current state of affairs.” Jensen edited together a video preview (with a bit of animation) of the books cartoon content and posted it on You Tube. I’d love to see a fully animated film based on these ABC’s – till then, this delightful book will have to do. 1 Comment » posted in Books
February 15, 2008 10:27 am
Chris Robinson tells me that he’s currently looking for writers and articles to be published in ASIFA Magazine (previously called Cartoons). The magazine has published numerous fine pieces over the past few years, including John Canemaker’s excellent two-parter about the life and art of JP Miller. The downside is that the magazine isn’t available for sale to the public, and is received only by ASIFA members. Robinson says he’s looking for articles about all aspects of animation (business, indies, cartoons, anime, academic, interviews, etc.). The magazine comes out twice a year (summer and winter) and writers are paid for their contributions. Anybody interested can send a pitch to Chris Robinson at chris [at] animationfestival [dot] ca. 2 Comments » posted in Books
February 1, 2008 3:12 am
Dear Brew readers, please indulge this shameless late-night post. I discovered a new fact tonight: nothing perks one up at 1:30am like walking by MoMA and seeing your book in their store window display. I snapped a couple phonecam shots for posterity.  It’s equally exciting to know that Cartoon Modern is extending its reach all over the globe. It was a delight to hear Paco Calderón, a cartoonist from Mexico City, state in a new Amazon review that Cartoon Modern was his personal “book of the year.” And on a recent trip to Japan, Christopher Butcher discovered that my book was on display in the country’s largest bookstore, the flagship Kinokuniya Books. He snapped the pic below showing it alongside some fine company: The Art of Ratatouille and the Fantagraphics Peanuts reprints.  Of course, a book is no use if it just sits in a bookstore. Thankfully plenty of artists are putting it to good use. Guillermo GarcÃa CarsÃ, the co-creator, director and designer of the exemplary CG preschool series Pocoyo told me that after going through Cartoon Modern he was inspired to create a stylized Flash-animated segment for a recent episode. He sent a few stills which I’ve posted below. Also be sure and check out his new website GuillermoGarciaCarsi.com which features Pocoyo and non-Pocoyo animation as well as plenty of his eye-catching illustrations.  The accompanying Cartoon Modern blog is also inspiring artists. For example, Adam Garcia of Philly-based design studio The Pressure posted onto Flickr this page of studies based on images from the blog.
Saving the best for last, here is an intriguing sight: knitted versions of the cover’s Ernie Pintoff/Fred Crippen-designed characters.
Why are they knitted? Because I’m now the proud owner of this awesome one-of-a-kind Cartoon Modern scarf I received from my friend, filmmaker Heather Harkins. It’s the perfect complement to my Mary Blair boxers. Thanks, Heather!
9 Comments » posted in Books
January 18, 2008 9:00 am
I’m way overdue in posting, plugging and praising these two fine publications. In this day and age of blogs and dedicated websites, niche publications are getting scarcer and scarcer. However, the proprietors of these books have a passion and point of view that you have to admire—both putting a spotlight on overlooked and esoteric aspects of cartoon history. Cereal:Geek covers animation of the 1980s, specifically action adventure cartoons, particularly of the Transformers, He-Man, Ghostbusters, Voltron variety. The latest issue (#2) features 100 glossy color pages, packed with artwork and articles such as “Things We Love About Thundercats”, “Why I dislike Defenders of the Universe” and “There’s Something About Jem”. It’s aimed squarely at those who grew up taking these things very seriously. If that’s not you—move on. Craig Yoe’s Arf Forum (which we plugged before, in pre-production) is a work of art unto itself. I can’t praise this series highly enough. Yoe packs so much incredible cartoon history and eye candy into 122 pages, you are left breathless and amazed. Overlooked artisans George Crenshaw, Max Ernst, Ted Scheel, William Ekgren, Henry Heath and Italian girlie cartoonist Kremos are among those featured in this forum. I recommend this to all readers of the Brew. Order now! |
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