A Last Minute Holiday Shopping List

Christmas is next Tuesday, less than a week away. So here’s a few last minute gift-giving ideas for that cartoon-freak in your life – or for that special someone who still needs convincing that this animation obsession of yours isn’t just for weirdo’s.

If you dug the recent Spongebob stop-motion Christmas Special as much as I did, you’ll love the just-as-cool soundtrack album by Tom Kenny & Andy Paley. The It’s A SpongeBob Christmas! Album is now on Amazon and iTunes. The songs are more than just fun – the lyrics are clever, the tunes are hummable and the vocal performances are hilarious. Don’t be a jerk – buy this album for Christmas!

Craig Yoe’s latest compilation of old comics is his best. I know I’ve raved about his books before, but this one is special. Comics About Cartoonists is a collection of classic comic book stories about the cartoonists themselves – by some of the best artists in the field. I’m not even sure where to begin: Jack Kirby, Sheldon Mayer, Jack Cole, Al Capp, Siegel, Shuster, Ditko, Caniff, Bushmiller… on and on! Animators include Milt Gross, Al Stahl, Milt Stein and Winsor McCay. You will not put this one down and will be glad Yoe was crazy enough to spend years (decades, perhaps) locating this stuff. Even the end papers – made up of vintage ads for cartooning correspondence school courses – are a blast. I order you to pre-order this book TODAY!

This one is a must-have for your Mary Blair collection (you do have a Mary Blair collection, don’t you?). A Mary Blair Treasury of Golden Books is a compilation of the famed Disney inspiration artist’s greatest work for Western Publishing, primarily for their Golden Book series aimed at children. Reprinted beautifully and at large size, this volume includes the classic Baby’s House and I Can Fly (both 1950), The Golden Book of Little Verses (1953) and The Up and Down Book (1964) – and more. Blair not only inspired Disney, but a whole new generation of animators working today. John Canemaker’s informative Foreword tops it off perfectly. A classy package of visual treats for you – or your young ones.