Monthly Archives: December 2009

Happy Birthday, Howard Beckerman

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Howard Beckerman is the king of New York animation; a teacher, a mentor and a living legend. It was his birthday yesterday, on Christmas, and to celebrate the occasion we present The Trip (1967) which Beckerman wrote, animated and co-designed — another hidden gem produced during the Shamus Culhane era at Paramount. Howard recalled:

“The film was originally titled “The Vacation”, but Paramount changed it to “The Trip” and it always gets confused with the Peter Fonda live-action production.”

Happy Birthday, Howard!

The Best Animation Books of 2009

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Here are my picks for the best animation books of 2009.

Colors of Mary Blair and Iwao Takamoto

The Colors of Mary Blair –A catalog for an exhibition that happened earlier this year at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. I don’t have a copy myself and don’t even know how you can obtain one, but this book does it right with page after packed page of animation concepts, personal watercolors, advertising art, and illustration work. It works well as a companion to John Canemaker’s 2003 bio The Art and Flair of Mary Blair.

Iwao Takamoto: My Life with a Thousand Characters by Iwao Takamoto with Michael Mallory – An entertaining, fast-paced and personal look into the life and career of now-deceased artist Iwao Takamoto that shows he deserves to be remembered for more than just designing Scooby-Doo.

South of the Border with Disney

South of the Border with Disney: Walt Disney and the Good Neighbor Program 1941-1948 by J.B. Kaufman – A masterful piece of research that proves not every stone has been unturned in the field of Disney history.

Walt Stanchfield books

Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Volume 1 and Volume 2, by Walt Stanchfield, edited by Don Hahn – A lifetime’s worth of knowledge and wisdom is contained within these two paperbacks. The material is taken from Stanchfield’s handouts used in his classes for Disney animators. These books belong on any animator’s bookshelf, whether beginner or expert.

Starting Point and Fantastic Mr. Fox

Starting Point: 1979-1996 by Hayao Miyazaki, translated by Beth Cary and Frederik L. Schodt – I have yet to read a single page of this book, but if you ask Mark Mayerson and Richard O’Connor, it’s nothing short of amazing. It sounds like an eclectic and thought-provoking collection of opinions from one of today’s master animation directors, and it’s the animation book that I’m currently most looking forward to reading.

The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox – This elegantly compact volume, designed by Angus Hyland of Pentagram, injects fresh blood into the tired ‘art of’ book format. I’ve personally resisted writing any more feature film ‘art of’ books, but something as original and distinctive as this one might force me to reconsider.

Feel free to share your favorite animated-related titles published in the past year and tell us why.

Oscar T. Perez

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Óscar T. Pérez is a wonderful book illustrator based in Madrid, Spain. Now, Perez has posted a group of animated shorts – films sponsored by his publishers Edicions Bromera and La Galera — made to promote some of his recently published books. Below is a stylish one for The Encyclopedia of Monsters and Other Terrifying Creatures, written by Enric Lluch. To see more of Perez’ illustration art visit his blog.

Government Comics online archive

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Richard Graham at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has put together an online collection of 183 government comic books – i.e. comics commissioned by the the U.S. Government to educate and inform the general public. Charlie Brown, Yogi, Dagwood and many other well known characters show up in these booklets, as well as obscure work by Walt Kelly, Dr. Seuss, Will Eisner, Al Capp, etc. All of it is downloadable via PDF files. Absolutely worth a browse during your off time over the Christmas holidays. Here’s the link.

(Thanks, Mark Bieraugel)

Christmas Cards by Disney Artists ca. 1940

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Bill Hurtz card
Christmas Card by Bill Hurtz

Here’s a collage of holiday cards by Disney artists that I guarantee you haven’t seen before. They are either from 1939 or 1940. Click on the image below for the full-sized version. The artists are, clockwise from upper left, Berk Anthony, Bill Hurtz, Walt Kelly, Marc Davis, Zach Schwartz (I think), Marc Davis again, Ernie Nordli, Ted Sears, and Frank Thomas.

Disney cards

Ghibli Museum goes Fleischer

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I don’t read Japanese, but apparently the Ghibli Museum Library is hosting a tribute screening and exhibit celebrating Max and Dave Fleischer’s Mr. Bug Goes To Town (1941). Check out the website and blog with pictures and clips. There’s even a new one-sheet poster.

Is this a one-time screening or a re-release? Can anyone translate the site to tell us what’s going on?

(Thanks, Iain Robbins)

Sita Sings the Blues: One-Week NY Theatrical Run

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Sita Sings the Blues

Nina Paley’s animation masterpiece (and I don’t use that term loosely) is having a full one-week theatrical run in New York City from December 25-31. There are multiple screenings a day at the IFC Film Center (323 Sixth Avenue) and Paley writes on her blog that she’ll be doing Q&As at the 8:25 pm shows “most (possibly all) nights.” Showtimes and tickets are available at the IFC website.