I’m not sure what’s going on here, but something tells me this isn’t the type of family entertainment Walt had in mind when he started Disneyland.
(via Boing Boing)
When Disney Animals Attack!
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Monthly Archives: September 2007
Sugar Bear Scholarship
Just when I think the world is spinning madly out of control, Dan Goodsell’s always delightful blog, A Sampler of Things, has visually charted The Evolution of Sugar Bear to make things right.
Post-script (pun intended): Even more Sugar Bear info at Topher’s Breakfast Cereal Character Guide.
Anime nerd to become Japan’s next prime minister
From Thursday’s Wall Street Journal:
Score one for the nerds! Shares of Japanese companies involved in the production of animated films and comic books soared in Tokyo Wednesday amid speculation that Taro Aso, secretary-general of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party — and a well-known comic-book fan — may be the nation’s next prime minister. Following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s surprise resignation, shares linked to hobbies associated with “otaku,” or nerds, jumped.
In May, while serving as Japan’s foreign minister, Mr. Aso unveiled plans to establish the International Manga Award to recognize foreign cartoonists. When the winners were announced in July, Mr. Aso told Kyodo News, “It is my hope that manga, through these works, will act as a bridge to the world.” Mr. Aso’s official Web site contains an ode to “manga” published in August that praises the genre for lifting Japan’s standing on the international stage and urges his countrymen to be proud of this success.
Looney Tunes at S.F. Airport
Check this out. Starting last month a portion Eric Calande’s Looney Tunes collection went on display at the San Francisco International Airport. The show is located in the international terminal (section A2) and consists of 20 cases worth of material featuring vintage production artwork and rare collectibles. The show is FREE to see and because it sits out side of the security area there is no need to be a ticketed passenger. If you are in the Bay area, or planning to fly through it, the terminal will display the exhibit through March 2008.
Carnivore Reflux by Eddie White and James Calvert
A new short (notably our first foreign one) launches this afternoon on CartoonBrewFilms: Carnivore Reflux directed by Eddie White and James Calvert of the People’s Republic of Animation, a young and quickly rising Australian animation studio. Stay tuned for many more terrific animated shorts, both international and domestic, set to debut on BrewFilms in the coming months.
Twice Upon a Time
Animator director Ward Jenkins has posted an interview on his blog with writer and historian Taylor Jessen, the foremost chronicler of the innovative and overlooked animated film Twice Upon a Time (1983). Ward also interviewed the film’s art director Harley Jessup and will be posting that discussion next.
UPA at MoMA, 1955
UPDATE: Let’s try this again. I apologize that the post didn’t appear on the Cartoon Modern blog last night. A funky accident deleted the post and forced me to rewrite the whole thing. It’s up now.
This evening I posted a rare bit of previously lost animation history on the Cartoon Modern blog: photographs from the 1955 UPA tribute at MoMA. While I knew about this exhibit, I had never seen any photos from the show or had any idea how the artwork was presented. A couple months ago though, while working on Inside UPA, we discovered this set of photos in a storage box. These pics offer a terrific sense what it might have been like to attend this show in the 1950s.
And if you want a sense of what it was like to actually work at the UPA studio, be sure to pick up a copy of the forthcoming Cartoon Brew book Inside UPA. You can lock in the lower pre-order price if you buy the book by this Saturday, September 15. The print run is only 1000 copies and quite a few are gone already.
Jim Tyer, Super Genius
Readers of Cartoon Brew should know the name Jim Tyer. He’s the cartoonist whose each and every drawing will immediately make you laugh, and an animation style you can never forget. At first glance his animation looks wrong, sloppy and way off-model. You wonder how he got away with what he did. But upon closer inspection, you realize the guy knew exactly what he was doing, and was a refreshing counterpoint to the Disney-inspired “illusion of life” other animators were striving to achieve. If there is such a thing as a “cult animator”, Tyer would be leader of the pack.
Thad K., who updates his Animation ID blog with neat things everyday, just posted this incredible Tyer sequence below, from a 1950 Terrytoon, Dream Walking. It really sums up everything we love about this animator.
Mark & Earl on Stu’s Show
A quick plug for Mark Evanier and Earl Kress who will be live on internet radio today at 7pm Eastern (4pm PST). They’ll be on Stu’s Show for two hours, discussing TV cartoons from the late 60s/early 70s. Tune in!
Covering The Mouse
I like Disney cartoons. And I like Disney music. So here’s a new Disney blog that pays unique tribute to the songs: Covering the Mouse, a blog dedicated to musicians and singers who have covered Disney songs.
Webmaster Kurtis Findley has just started blogging, posting Disney tunes by the likes of Usher, Bobby McFerrin and LL Cool J. My hope is that he delves into the stranger stuff from the past – like Louis Prima singing Supercalifgragilisticexpialidocious! and Satchmo covering Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.
Animondays
Starting today, animator David B. Levy (president of Asifa-East) starts a new blog, Animondays, which he will update once a week. I’m really looking forward to this, as David has become one of my favorite commentators on animation with his clever, informative columns in the ASIFA-East newsletters and his excellent book, Your Career in Animation: How to Survive and Thrive. Here’s hoping David catches the blogging bug and adds AniTuesday, AniWednesday and so on, to his schedule.
Speaking of Mondays, next Monday night I’ll be presenting my Worst Cartoons Ever! screening for ASIFA-East in New York City. I’ll only be in the city for two days, (as I’m en route to the Ottawa Animation Festival) and I’m hoping to see as many of my old friends and Brew readers there as I can. This is a great way for everyone to meet up and say hello.
The screening will take place at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway (between Waverly and Washington Place), Room 017 at 7 PM. The program is technically for ASIFA-East members and NYU students/faculty/alumni only. However, if you are not a member of ASIFA (and you really should be) or not affiliated with NYU, please contact me by Thursday Sept 13th – and I’ll put you on the list. Should be fun… I can’t wait to inflict this bad stuff in the Big Apple.
If Simpsons was Star Wars
(Thanks Rich Cando and Animated News)
Mid-Atlantic Comic Con
Just a reminder that for those of you on the east coast, The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention is the end of this week, September 13 through the 15th at The Clarion Hotel in Aberdeen, Maryland. Among the events scheduled are an in person appearence by Virginia Davis who will talk about working for Walt Disney at the start of his career – and a screening of Ray Pointer’s Alice In Cartoonland program featuring some of the earliest Alice Comedies. Thad Komorowski is running two separate programs of classic animation, A Salute To Frank Tashlin and Golden Age Cartoons there as well. Consult the convention website for more information.
Who’s Who in The Autograph Hound
Jeff Pepper of 2719 Hyperion offers up a well annotated who’s who of celebrity caricatures in the Disney short The Autograph Hound (1939).
Geico’s New Cavemen
Geico’s latest spots for car insurance use a new but familiar group of cavemen: The Flintstones. Brandweek has more details about the campaign.
(Thanks, Dai Kun)
