Eliza Jäppinen, a co-founder and creative director of the up-and-coming Finnish animation studio Anima Boutique, recently told me about a cool vintage cut-out animation series from Finland that I’d never heard of called Käytöskukka. I’ve posted a couple of the cartoons in this post, and the rest of the episodes can be viewed on YouTube. Here’s some brief background on the series from Eliza:

These are old Finnish-made cartoons called Käytöskukka, and I draw a lot of inspiration from them. They are very fun to watch, even if you don’t get anything of the language. The idea of the Käytöskukka was to teach children manners. Heikki Partanen made it during 1966-67 and produced altogether 13 episodes. Every episode has a theme: pride, consideration, laziness etc. In every episode a character behaves badly and gets what’s coming to them. In the end the narrator recites “the lesson learned.”

(photo via)

The great American diplomat and Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson may have well been talking about Li’l Abner creator Al Capp when he said, “Nothing so dates a man as to decry the younger generation.” In the final decade of his life, Capp launched vitriolic attacks against everybody and anything that didn’t adhere to his extremist views, even going so far as to label student protests against the Vietnam War as “mugging, vandalism and thievery.” Another example is this video clip of Capp going to meet John Lennon and Yoko Ono just so he could verbally berate them:

Capp’s antics became the subject of a colorful documentary—This is Al Capp—that premiered on NBC’s “Experiments in Television” on March 1, 1970. What makes it especially relevant to Cartoon Brew is that the special was co-directed by animation designer and director Ernie Pintoff, who created classic cartoons like Flebus and the Oscar-winning Critic. (Pintoff and his writing partner Guy Fraumeni also directed two other documentaries for the series—”This Is Marshall McLuhan” and “This Is Sholem Aleichem.”)

Somebody has posted onto YouTube the first twenty minutes of the Al Capp documentary (viewable in two parts below). Capp comes across as a one-man Fox News Channel—reactionary, naive, and intellectually vapid. Still, it’s somehow entertaining to hear such hostile bile coming from the mouth of a famous cartoonist. After all, I think this may be the only instance of a cartoonist’s political ideas being the subject of a documentary on network television. The special also features quotes from John Steinbeck, and onscreen appearances by legendary cartoonists Milton Caniff and Walt Kelly, underground cartoonists Spain and Trina Robbins, and others like William F. Buckley, Paul Krassner and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

The presentation of the material is topnotch, and even in live-action, Pintoff’s animation sensibilities come through loud and clear. He employs energetic quick-cuts, intimate close-up interview shots and cheeky juxtapositions of images and sounds resulting in a playful presentation that make even Capp’s rantings seem semi-tolerable.

(via Mike Lynch)

Not the most embarassing moment in my life, but it comes pretty close. By popular demand, and as a Brew 4th Anniversary special, here’s my appearance on Joan River’s syndicated TV show, Can We Shop, in February 1994. The longest eight minutes of my life:

There was absolutely no prep for this show. I met Ms. Rivers on the set. I have no idea what she would ask - and they had no idea what I might say. The show needed a “Looney Tunes expert” and they located me in L.A. on a Friday, flew me to tape the show in New York on Monday. I recall the day this was taped there was a horrible blizzard hitting the city. I took the opportunity of being in Manhattan to schedule a meeting at The Museum of Modern Art later that day to pitch a Famous Studios retrospective. Thanks to Joan Rivers flying me into New York for this, the February 1995 Cartoons From Times Square screenings and Famous Studios reunion at MoMA took place - one of the greatest moments of my professional life.

Loud Mouth Lime, Jolly Olly Orange and Goofy Grape are poised for a comeback.

Our friends at Renegade Animation (Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, The Mr. Men Show) have obtained the rights to the Funny Face characters, originally featured on Pillsbury drink packets in the ‘60s, from Boston-based Carson Creations. Renegade plans to produce an animated television series based on the property. The studio is currently producing a pilot episode while seeking distribution and licensing agreements. According to the press release:

The Funny Face television series will be aimed at kids from 6 to 11 and will recall the animation style and the spirit of classic, theatrical cartoons such as Tom & Jerry and Looney Tunes. “It’s a delightful opportunity to be funny in a way that is missing from the cartoon landscape right now,” said Renegade’s Ashley Postlewaite, who will executive produce the series. “These characters are perfect for that style of comedy.” Darrell Van Citters will direct the series. “I can’t wait to get back to the kind of flat-out physical comedy that insired me to get into animation in the first place!” says Van Citters. Michael Giaimo is heading up visual development on the series. Renegade Animation plans to produce the series using its proprietary “paperless” animation pipeline with all phases of the animation process being completed at its studio in Glendale. Renegade is the only animation studio that produces animated television series entirely with U.S. talent.

This sounds like a great idea to me. No word yet if Chinese Cherry or Injun Orange will make cameo appearances.

John Kricfalusi has posted a fascinating visual analysis of the early episodes of Rocky & Bullwinkle. If there’s one bit of advice that contemporary animation producers could take away from his post, it’s this bit of wisdom:

“If you gotta do limited animation, use great drawings I always say. They don’t cost that much. Just hire real designers and don’t step on them.”

In other words, even if you’re working on a limited budget, there’s no reason a piece of animation should ever look this incompetently designed or atrociously drawn.

There’s an intriguing story in yesterday’s news wires about how Disney is producing a new TV version of Lilo and Stitch specifically targeted towards Japanese audiences. The new series, titled Stitch!, which will be produced by Japanese animation studio Madhouse (Ninja Scroll, Cardcaptor Sakura), replaces the orphan Lilo with a Japanese girl named Hanako, and transplants the setting from Hawaii to a tropical island in Okinawa, Japan. The series will premiere on Japan’s Disney channel in October.

For Popeye completists only: To be released the same day (June 17th) as Popeye The Sailor Vol. 2, 1938-1940, Warner Home Video will be appealing to kids and families with a special one-disc release containing eight color episodes from the 1978 CBS Saturday morning series, The All-New Popeye Hour. The eight cartoons include: Abject Flying Object, Ship Ahoy, I Wouldn’t Take That Mare to The Fair on a Dare, Popeye Goes Sightseeing, Chips Off The Old Ice Block, Popeye The Plumber, Swee-Pea Plagues
A Parade and Polly Wants Some Spinach.

Nothing says more about the sad, pathetic, desperate, moribund state of the US TV animation industry than the fact that Seth MacFarlane is the only artist trusted to create new animated shows for a major TV network.