Channel Frederator Blog

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The Comics Journal (#292) is a Deitch Family Extravaganza. The intro claims that the issue contains 120,000 words about this brilliant and complex family…and I wouldn’t be surprised! The Gene Deitch section is of interest to animation fans as he discusses his time at UPA, Jam Handy, Terrytoons, and his later years producing animation in Prague. There is also an exhaustive interview with undie/indie comcs genius Kim where he covers the far-flung experiences that feed his extensive body of work (a stint as a merchant seaman, underground comics days in San Francisco, interviewing silent film stars and death row inmates for background—not to mention a good story involving Robert Crumb and a pie!) Also featured are chats with lesser-known-but-brilliant-in-their-own-way brothers Simon and Seth. I devoured this issue!

(TCJ has posted some additional material that was cut from the Kim Deitch interview here. About 20,000 more words or so, along with lots of sketches and preliminary artwork. If you just can’t get enough!)

Also, don’t miss the Kim Deitch retrospective that opens this month at MOCCA in NYC.

After the jump, a Gaston LeCrayon cartoon from Gene Deitch days at Terrytoons. (Color shift alert!)

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In honor of Labor Day, enjoy this early Disney cartoon, “Alice’s Egg Plant”—from the Alice series, natch! The portrayal of Little Red Henski (a Communist Rooster set on unionizing the factory) is extra amusing, considering Walt’s later run-in with the Cartoonists Strike of 1941.

—Anne D. Bernstein

This Thursday (August 28th) is the last day to see the exhibit “Golden Legacy: Original Art from 65 Years of Golden Books” at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. I was there last weekend I can confirm that there were adults attending sans kids. (Much of the artwork is hung close to the ground, so be prepared to get down on your knees to take in the details.)

As you may know, Golden Books illustrators included many Disney artists such as Gustav Tenggren and Mary Blair. I was particularly thrilled to see two original pieces by Mary Blair from I Can Fly.

(My one gripe is that the medium of the pieces is not indicated, and although advertised as a collection of “original art”, there seem to be some digital prints in the mix.)

Amazing fact: There have been two BILLION copies of Golden Books printed to date!

If you can’t make it speedily to the West Side, the exhibit (which originated at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Texas) will be touring in the future: The Eric Carle Museum and the Chicago Public Library are on the agenda. [Read more…]

Andrew Farago (a curator at San Francisco’s fabulous Cartoon Art Museum) interviews Jorge R. Gutierrez at the Animation World Magazine website. Jorge is an exuberant artist and Flash maverick with a unique style that brings Mexican culture (especially folk art) into the digital age. He created the Nickelodeon show El Tigre with his wife, Sandra Equihua.

(One of my favorite parts of the interview is where he recalls telling his wife that they were going to become “…the Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo of animation” but “without the, y’know, cheating and the trains hitting you” part.)

For more on Jorge, see the Super-Macho site, the Super-Macho blog, the El Tigre blog (new!), and Nick’s El Tigre page.

You can also watch episodes of Jorge’s earlier web series El Macho here.

—Anne D. Bernstein

PictureBox has announced that they are working on a John Kricfalusi book, to be published in 2009. It will be “the definitive book of John’s work – from childhood through Ren and Stimpy to today.” I can’t wait for this to come out!

PictureBox puts out high quality art books, including the recent comprehensive and massively tasty Gary Panter tome. Click here to see the $95 version. And, if you can bear it, click here to see the $1000 “Hot Burrito Deluxe” version!

They also have a store in Brooklyn near the banks of the scenic Gowanus.

If you go to the PictureBox news page and scroll down (no direct link–look for June 13th) you will see photos from Dan Nadel’s recent visit to Los Angeles. There are some pix of John K’s studio (but none of the man himself).

Also, there’s a photo of some guys. Very cool guys. Who apparently had a very cool party at the Chateau Marmont. Which we can only dream about.

Can you identify them? Answer after the jump. [Read more…]

Written By is a magazine published by the Writers Guild of America West. The Summer 2008 issue just came out and the theme is “Age of Animation”. The Cartoon Cover boy is Matt Groening, and you can read an except of his interview here. (One interesting tidbit that I didn’t know is that Bart’s name came from a bad novel that Groening wrote in high school. Bartholemew Simpson was the narrator who was “haunted by the fact that he looked like a beaver.”)

The issue is well worth purchasing: it includes interviews with Seth McFarlane (by Family Guy showrunner, David A. Goodman) and Brad Bird, an opinion piece by Mark Evanier, excerpts from unproduced animation scripts., and of course coverage of the history and present state of animation union organizing (by both the WGA and local 839). [Read more…]

This is a great find, which I was turned on to via the Disney History blog.

In this five part series, we hear about what goes into making Disney animation, from the artists and creatives themselves.
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The Pixar Touch by David A. Price is an exhaustive look into the rise of the famously innovative and super successful animation studio. This podcast interview with the author, from The Sound of Young America, will give you a taste for what’s inside the covers.

One fascinating aspect of Pixar history is the company’s roots at The New York Institute of Technology in the 70’s and 80’s. Alexandre Schure, a forward-thinking and mysterious millionaire—and founder of the school—bankrolled a Computer Graphics Lab and hired computer programmer Edmund Catmull to run it. Shure was interested in using computers to help finish up his animated feature adaptation of Tubby the Tuba. [Read more…]

Mel Blanc radio shows are available for downloading on this page of The Internet Archive. The scripts are extremely corny, but it’s worth it to hear dozens upon dozens of voices coming out of the mouth of one of the all-time amazing audio artistes.

After making an impact playing various characters on Jack Benny’s radio show (including the voice of Benny’s car, Maxwell) Mel was given his own program and The Mel Blanc Show ran from September 3, 1946 to June 24, 1947. Blanc didn’t play all the supporting characters, as guest voices included Jim Backus (later the voice of Mr. Magoo) and Bea Benaderet (later the voice of Betty Rubble on The Flintstones).

Mel starred as the owner of a Fix-It Shop (yes, such things did once exist!) A typical episode would find Mel facing some sort of relationship complication with his girlfriend Betty (Mary Jane Croft, who appeared as Betty Ramsey on I Love Lucy). But it [Read more…]