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Archives for July 2009
Animation Watched on July 30, 2009
- “Bully for Bugs” (1953, directed by Chuck Jones)
- “What’s Up Doc?” (1950, directed by Robert McKimson)
These shorts are included on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1.
Animation Watched on July 29, 2009
- “The Wise Little Hen” (1934, directed by Wilfred Jackson)
- “The Golden Touch” (1935, directed by Walt Disney)
- “Ben and Me” (1953, directed by Hamilton Luske)
These shorts are all included on Walt Disney’s Timeless Tales: Volume 3.
Animation Watched on July 28, 2009
- “Baseball Bugs” (1946, directed by Friz Freleng)
- “Long-Haired Hare” (1949, directed by Chuck Jones)
- “High Diving Hare” (1949, directed by Friz Freleng)
- “Rabbit Seasoning” (1952, directed by Chuck Jones)
These shorts are included on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1.
Don Bluth’s Cyber Garage Project
Don Bluth is currently in the process of producing a three-minute short using classical animation techniques as a collaborative educational exercise to help give the students of his online animation school some actual hands-on experience. I’ve been keeping an eye on the school’s forums to follow the progress of the students working on the project and it’s been fascinating to watch.
Here’s short a student pencil test from the project:
Animation Watched on July 27, 2009
- “The Country Cousin” (1936, directed by Wilfred Jackson)
- “Ferdinand the Bull” (1938, directed by Dick Rickard)
- “The Ugly Duckling” (1939, directed by Jack Cutting)
These shorts are included on Walt Disney’s Timeless Tales: Volume 2.
Animation Watched on July 26, 2009
- Superman: Doomsday (2007, directed by Bruce Timm, Lauren Montgomery, and Brandon Vietti)
This full-length animated feature is available on DVD and Blu-ray.
It’s Like Garfield, Only It’s Actually Funny
Simon’s Cat is a brilliant series of animated shorts produced in Flash by Simon Tofield and distributed on YouTube. The newest short, titled “Fly Guy” was released today.
I particularly like the rhythm and pacing of Tofield’s shorts. The cat, it should be said, has perfect comedic timing.
Animation Watched on July 24, 2009
- “Three Little Pigs” (1933, directed by Burton Gillett)
- “The Pied Piper” (1933, directed by Wilfred Jackson)
- “The Grasshopper and the Ants” (1934, directed by Wilfred Jackson)
- “Tortoise and the Hare” (1935, directed by Wilfred Jackson)
These shorts are all included on Walt Disney’s Timeless Tales: Volume 1.
Animation Watched on July 23, 2009
- “Rabbit of Seville” (1950, directed by Chuck Jones)
This short is included on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1.
Animation Watched on July 22, 2009
- “The Legend of Johnny Appleseed” from Melody Time (1948, directed by Wilfred Jackson)
- “Pecos Bill” from Melody Time (1948, directed by Clyde Geronimi)
These shorts are best viewed on the Region 2 PAL format DVD release of Melody Time, as significant cuts were made to the American release of “Pecos Bill” to eliminate all depictions of cigarette smoking.
The Taxonomy of Cartoon Automobiles
It recently occurred to me that anthropomorphized cartoon automobiles can be separated into two distinct groups. The first group consists mostly of convertible or open-top vehicles with eyes formed by the headlamps:
Benny the Cab from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Speed Buggy
A second distinct group consists of characters with enclosed passenger compartments and eyes that magically appear as part of the vehicle’s windshield. For obvious reasons, this type of vehicle never seems to carry either passengers or a driver:
Defendant in “The Story of Anyburg, USA”
Lightning McQueen in Cars
Animation Watched on July 21, 2009
- “Duck Amuck” (1953, directed by Chuck Jones)
- “Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century” (1953, directed by Chuck Jones)
These shorts are included on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1.
Animation Watched on July 20, 2009
- “The Story of Anyburg, USA” (1957, directed by Clyde Geronomi)
- “Paul Bunyan” (1958, directed by Les Clark)
- “A Symposium on Popular Songs” (1962, directed by Bill Justice)
These shorts are available on the second disc of Walt Disney Tresures: Disney Rarities, Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s.
Animation Watched on July 19, 2009
- “Sunday Go to Meetin’ Time” (1936, directed by Friz Freleng)
- “Uncle Tom’s Bungalow” (1937, directed by Tex Avery)
- “The Isle of Pingo Pongo” (1938, directed by Tex Avery)
These shorts are constituents of the Censored Eleven. As such, they are not officially available in any licensed anthologies, although they can be found easily on YouTube.
Animation Watched on July 18, 2009
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988, directed by Robert Zemekis)
This film is available on Netflix Watch Instantly, as well as on a Vista series DVD.
Animation Watched on July 17, 2009
- “Ballot Box Bunny” (1950, directed by Friz Freleng)
- “Water, Water Every Hare” (1950, directed by Chuck Jones)
These shorts are all included on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1.
‘And Now,’ Cried John Lasseter, ‘Let the Wild Rumpus Start!’
John Lasseter’s 1983 animation test for Disney’s unrealized adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are has hit YouTube.
Animation Watched on July 15, 2009
- “Little Hiawatha” (1937, directed by David Hand)
- “Casey at the Bat” from Make Mine Music (1946, directed by Jack Kinney)
- “Morris the Midget Moose” (1950, directed by Charles A. Nichols)
These shorts are all included on Walt Disney’s Timeless Tales: Volume 3.
Animation Watched on July 11, 2009
- “Red Hot Riding Hood” (1943, directed by Tex Avery)
I’m not aware of any commercial releases of this cartoon with the suicide ending, but, like just about everything else, it’s available on YouTube.
Even Better Than the Frito Bandito
Check out this great Raid commercial Tex Avery directed for Cascade Productions in 1969. The insects are voiced by Mel Blanc and Paul Frees.
I love that we live in a world where people upload copies of 40-year-old television commercials to YouTube.
