Act Of Membership Meeting - It Is where It Is At

The monthly Asifa-Hollywood Act Of Membership meeting is the heart of all ASIFA activities. It is the last Wednesday of each month. Lots of people, lots of work, lots of planning, some pizza and networking. A fun way to spend a Wednesday night and be part of animation history.

Last night people from large studios (I saw a DreamWorks card pass hands) people from small studios (we had the head of Smorgasbord), animation students, animators, members of the film press (Internet Movie Data Base), and people that just plain love animation got together to be part of and take part in ASIFA.

• We rearranged the archive to be ready for the upcoming move of the safe that houses a lot of the really rare stuff.
  
  
• We planned our Comic Con presence
  
  
• We lined up volunteers for 2-D Expo, Comic Con, the Aladdin Reunion, and the Scrappyland exhibit and screening.
  
  
• We had pizza
  
  
• We talked
  
  
• Networked
  
  
• Reviewed animation projects (one of the assistance animators on Robot Chicken talked about the project and her involvement)
  

When I headed home at 9:30 there were still people standing out on the street trading cards and talking animation.

  ¶ 8:53 AM

 
Comic Con Questions  ¶ 8:03 AM

 
Pizza Break  ¶ 8:00 AM

 
Planning up coming events  ¶ 7:56 AM

 
March Membership Meeting   ¶ 7:54 AM

 
Check you book stores!  ¶ 7:37 AM

  Schlesinger Wars Continued Amid Amidi, over at Cartoon Brew,
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/archives/2005_03.html#001006 has an article on Leon Schlesinger and how his inactivity and fiduciary negligence make him the prefect animation executive.

Then Mark Evanier over at his New From Me site NewsFromMe answers his post by saying that Leon did give his animators freedom to create but he paid them poorly.

Time for me to weigh in. Yes Leon paid his workers poorly, I agree and yes he gave them freedom and yes he went to the track and he spent time on his yacht but he was more hands on than he is credited with being.

About a year ago I was reading the first couple of chapters of Martha Sigall`s upcoming book in proof form. (2 more days until it in out on the stands). There was a story in her book about things that the animators had to do in storyboards to slip things past Schlesinger (I`m not going to tell you what. It is a great story and I am not about to steal her thunder)

So I think to myself if Leon is always at the track and gives them complete freedom why do they have to put things over on him?

I started talking to Martha and doing some research and I have come to the conclusion that Leon`s reputation has been damaged by animators wanting to take more credit for themselves and in one case purposely minimized in an act of disserved revenge.

First off, Tex Avery and crew were not put over on the Warner`s lot to give them freedom. They were put there because Tom Palmer was about to get fired and Leon wanted his replacement off site so that Tom would finish his work before he found out that the ax was going to fall.

Leon gave Tex the people that were not fitting in at the studio. Bobo Canon, Chuck Jones, and Bob Clampett were misfits that hadn`t had a real chance to shine. Virgule Ross and Sid Southerland came with Tex from Lantz. They were part of his scam to pass himself off as an animation director.

Leon did not go out looking for Tex or get Tex away from Lantz. Tex was recovering from his eye injury and had been out of work for a year. He bluffed his way into Schlesingers. Leon gave him a one picture make or break tryout in an old shake on the Warner's lot.

Leon did enjoy the good life and he did leave the office sometimes (okay a lot of times) but when he was there he was there. It makes the animators seem more important if they minimize his roll. Then they can take credit for everything themselves.

The real damage to Leon`s reputation comes from Chuck Jones. Leon never forgave Chuck for leading the strike. Leon was a smart enough businessman to keep Chuck Jones on staff. But he made his life a living hell whenever he could.

As a pay back Chuck minimized Leon`s roll to that of bumbling buffoon. I have never once seen a piece of Chuck Jones footage about Leon or heard Chuck talk about Schlesinger without him going into an exaggerated Leon lisp. He minimized the strike saying that Leon wanted to get back to the track so he caved in. And he never gave Leon any credit for anything but going to the track and being a buffoon.

I completely understand why Chuck tried to cut Leon Schlesinger out of history and I agree with all of the things that Amid and Mark said. But both of their takes on the subject are too simplistic and the full story of Leon Schlesiger has been hidden long enough.  ¶ 7:41 AM

  If You Have the Screener Why Buy the Desk - Here`s Why! So I`ve had my ASIFA screener copy of The Incredibles for 4 months. Got all of the cool feelings of superiority out of lording it over my students and friends, I`ve got the Incredibles and you don`t! Defended my copies against same friends, neighbors, and students. No, you can not borrow my copy. It can not leave my hands, thank you very much. I'm the one they are going to come after when you make a pirated copy. Even got to publicly humiliate some jerk in Europe that e-mailed me trying to buy one of my family`s copies of said movie.

I`ve got the movie. I`ve seen it maybe 30 or more times. I`ve got good mileage out of my ASIFA-Hollywood swag. Why should I buy the new commercial disk? Money is tight, right? Okay, let me tell me why. Disk 2. There is more stuff, just plain playing time-wise, on Disk 2 then there is on Disk 1. And it is cool stuff.

REASON 1 - PIXAR GOES 2-D:
We have heard the rumors for the last couple of years that Pixar was going to produce 2D animation. Surprise; check out Mr. Incredible and Pals. I know that this tongue-in-cheek send up of Clutch Cargo is not what the rumor-mongers had in mind but it is a great bit of fun. And maybe even an answer to all the 2-D rumor-mongers.



Make sure to play it with the commentary by Mr. Incredible and Frozone. (P.S. check out Pixar`s titles, Pixar has been quietly producing 2-D animation since Monsters Inc. with no one seeming to take note. I know you want a feature, but be happy with what you have got.)

REASON 2 - JACK-JACK ATTACKS:
Here is a great piece of animation. Good storytelling. Lots of fun. Kari the babysitter may seem like a flake but she knows her stuff and knows how to handle any situation. She has got a lot of grit. Mozart just does too good of a job with Jack-Jack`s cognitive development.



REASON 3 - THE GREATEST 2-D MOVIE NEVER SEEN:
The deleted scenes are taken from Brad Bird`s animatic. It looks like some of it is done with flash, some with 3-D elements, and some is done pencil test style. All of it is great fun. I would love to see the complete animatic. Maybe some day?

REASON 4 - THREE MAJOR MAKING OF DOCUMENTARIES:
The Making of the Incredibles, more making of the Incredibles, visual rendering blunders, and a documentary with Sarah Vewell, the voice of Violet. What a great choice for this teenage wallflower. A very fascinating lady. She is truly out there.

REASON 5 - COMMENTARY, COMMENTARY, AND MORE COMMENTARY:
I am not a big fan of commentaries on live action films, they tend to take the magick out of the filmmaking process. I am of 2 minds. I like to know stuff about production but I don`t want to know so much that it ruins the fun of the movie for me. However when I get to animated movies I really like to hear the animators and the director talk about how they did what they did. Because somehow it makes it all the more magick, if you like this kind of thing then The Incredibles has it in spades. Both Brad and John Walker Commentary and commentary by 10 of the animators. Very cool stuff.  ¶ 7:49 PM

  The Silent Era 1897-1929 Jon Reeves of IMDB comments on yesterday`s rant on professor Bonehead.

The good news is that my favorite print reference for that era, American
Animated Films: The Silent Era 1897-1929, by Denis Gifford (McFarland, ISBN 0-89950-460-4, apparently out of print but available) gets it right, though they list it under what we show as an alternate title, Mr. Bonehead Gets Wrecked.
--
Jon Reeves
The Internet Movie Database http://imdb.com "My God! It's full of stars!"

See Original Story: Bonehead  ¶ 6:33 AM

  Book Signing & Birthday Party for MARTHA SIGALL
Other news about Martha`s Book and related events:

===================

April 17, 2005 • 2:00pm to 5:00pm

ASIFA-Hollywood cordially invites you a
Book Signing & Birthday Party for MARTHA SIGALL
In honor of the publication of her biography


Martha's book!

LIVING LIFE INSIDE THE LINES

Join us as we celebrate the publication of Martha Sigall's book, "Living Life In Side The Lines: Tales From The Golden Age of Animation", and a special birthday celebration at the Van Eaton Animation Art Gallery in Sherman Oaks. Martha will be signing copies of her book, rare one-of-a-kind items will be on sale and raffled away - and they'll be cake for all!

Martha is one of the last from the fabled Termite Terrace where she started working when she was but a teenager. Her stories of her career at Leon Schlesinger, MGM (alongside Hanna, Barbera and Tex Avery), with Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, etc. are collected in her book - and here's a rare chance to meet her in person! Don't miss this rare Asifa-Hollywood event!

April 17, 2005 • 2:00pm to 5:00pm

Van Eaton Gallery
13613 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA


========================

Women In Animation have a book signing planned with Martha on April 19th. At Cartoon Network during their Annual Status Meeting. http://womeninanimation.org/

Networking at 6 PM Meeting at 7 PM

=========================

The Culver City Historical Society has Martha scheduled for a book signing on April 20th. at the Veterans Center in Culver City at 7 PM.

=========================

As my readers know I have been waiting for this book for some time. I started reading this in proofs and got hooked and have had to wait for the finished work to hit the stands.  ¶ 1:57 PM

  Undervalued Animator Victim of Bonehead Mistake I got into a little animation history research yesterday. I have this video that lists Professor Bonehead Is Shipwrecked as the 1912 work of Emile Cohl. It also states that it was created in America.

1912 is the right date for Cohl to be in the U.S. of A. Tom Edison was using his patent to block foreign filmmakers from importing film at the time so a lot of French companies had U.S. studios so that they did not have to import.

Emile Cohl was at the Eclair Studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey from 1912 to 1914. (The studio burned down later helping to destroy his U.S rep. The ground the studio stood on is now the Fort Lee on ramp for the George Washington Bridge - a ramp I have used a lot in the past because there is no way to get out of Newark Airport without heading to the G.W. Bridge even if you do need to head into Jersey)

The first problem that arises with this video is that the title card clearly states that this is a Galmont America Film, the wrong studio for Cohl at this time.

The next problem is that there is clearly a panning run cycle / traveling background technique used in this film which means cell overlay or Rip and Slash. Can`t be done any other ways. Raul Berre` came up with Rip and Slash around 1913 or 1914, Bill Nolan came up with traveling background about the same time and Earl Hurd didn`t patent Cell Overlay until 1915 so the 1912 date is really out of the question.

The third problem is that it just does not look like the work of Emile Cohl. The subject matter does not seem like something he would tackle. The technique is crud in places where Cohl had already shown proficiency, and the drawing style does not match the other works of Cohl.

I love Emile Cohl's work and I would love for there to be more of it. I would love for him to have used cell overlay and panning run cycle / traveling background technique in 1912 and get some of the credit he deserves for creating the New York animation industry. (Which he did by the way - Emile Cohl`s studio was visited in about 1912 by 2 mysterious New York artists. Cohl was not very happy about the visit but his bosses made him give the tour. About 6 months later the first U.S. animation studio was founded clearly using lots of his animation techniques.)

Professor Bonehead Is Shipwrecked can not be a 1912 work that is fact, no way. The techniques just aren`t in place yet. I also very much doubt that it is the work of Emile Cohl.

I don`t know who put out this video with the wrong information or why they did so but I am sick and tired of sloppy scholarship in the early days of animation history. Internet Movie Data Base lists this as a 1916 work by Harry Palmer (good for them) but 80% of the other Internet sites give the 1912 Emile Cohl miss information and date from this video as fact and I fear that it will find its way into classrooms and even books.

  ¶ 11:18 AM

  Commercial Success AFI commercials of the 50`s and 60`s screening sold out house.

































Scrappy next month.  ¶ 7:34 PM

  99 Cent Review Like the plague I have been avoiding the whole Mel-O-Toons series. But nothing new was on the racks this last Friday, I had a dollar seven burning a hole in my pocket, and I had just taught my last class for the semester and I was feeling like something cartoon to unwind with. So I took a second look.

Anybody that reads these pages knows that I am addicted to the DVD rack at my local 99 Cent Only Store. And you just might have heard that I think that Genius Entertainment does a good job most times in transferring to DVD.

I have been passing up their Adventure Tales Volume One because of the cover illustration. It is taken from Little Hawk Mel-O-Toon, the regurgitated, recondensed, 60`s kids record set to very limited crap animation with a narrator that has more action in his droning voice then ever appears on screen.

True there are 4 Mel-O-Toon cartoons (sic) on this disk and they are as bad as I remembered them. Worse if they break into song, which 2 of them do. Then there are 3 Famous Cartoons that are a step or 5 above them. I already have copies of all other these either on VHS or DVD. The real payoff is the opening and closing Cinecolor toons.

NOTE: Cinecolor, a 2 color process with a orange layer printed on one side of the film and a blue layer printed on the other side of the film, owes a lot to Walt Disney who gained exclusive rights for animation to the 3 color Technicolor process thus locking out other animation studios until his exclusive ran out in the mid 30`s

Adventure Tales Volume 1 opens with a great Fleischer cinecolor Ants in the Plants, a fun romp in the insect world with an anteater as the villain.

The DVD ends with a Van Beuren Molly Moo-Cow The Hunting Season. I like Molly, even if she is utterly deformed, she doesn`t have one. Here she becomes friends with 2 ducks and then takes on a hunter to save them from the dinner table.

Because of these two Cinecolor films and only because of them I am giving this disk a passing grade. It is worth the $1.07 and the wait in line behind 2 people. If there had be 3 people in line that would have been a different story.



2 Cinecolor Toons Makes this DVD Worth $1.07

1. Ants in the Plants (Fleischer - Cinecolor - 1940)
2. Much Ado About Mutton (Famous - 1949)
3. Hector`s Hectic Life (Famous - 1948)
4. A Mutt in a Rut (Famous - 1949)
5. Little Hawk (Mel-O-Toon - 60`s)
6. Paul Bunyan (Mel-O-Toon - 60`s)
7. Robin Hood (Mel-O-Toon - 60`s)
8. Tom Sawyer (Mel-O-Toon - 60`s)
9. The Hunting Season (Van Beuren - Molly Moo-Cow - 1935)

  ¶ 9:38 AM

  Hey guys.

I was just reading the flyer for this Saturday's screening of commercials and I realized that there's a small error in the listing. Instead of the Ted Astley screening room, it says that it's being held at the Steven Ross screening room. I'm not sure if that's another name for the same location or what, but it might be good to post a quick note on the blog and Cartoon Brew.

nattering & gromishing,

Steve Gattuso

Thanks Steve. It is the Ted Astley Theater, I have that word from Jerry. I am closing out my last class for the semester today so I am running way behind on this blog.

ASIFA-Hollywood presents
ANIMATED COMMERCIALS

From the 1950s & 60s

A selection of the coolest animated television commercials from the golden age of TV.
Uber cool designs, cigarettes, beer... from the greatest animators in the business.
More details on this special screening to be posted shortly...

Saturday March 26th - 3:00pm
The American Film Institute
TED ASHLEY/WARNER BROS. SCREENING ROOM
2021 N. Western Ave.
Hollywood, CA

 
  ¶ 5:49 AM

  Were-Rabbit is coming! So I am thinking to myself, Larry (I`m on a first name basic with me) what are you going to blog today? The old e-mail to the rescue in spades



Then Were-Rabbit is coming, the Were-Rabbit is coming! And there is a new trailer out at Wallce and Gromit

How cool is that. Starevich, O`Brian, Harryhausen, Park. Chip their faces on the sacred mountain of some oppressed indigenous people. Stop Motion forever!  ¶ 7:29 AM

  I May Have Shot Myself in the Foot So here I am counting down the days until Martha`s book comes out and I go out to Amazon to check the shipping date.

Items Ordered
1 of: Living Life Inside The Lines: Tales From The Golden Age
Of Animation
By: MARTHA SIGALL

Shipping estimate: April 2, 2005
Delivery estimate: April 7, 2005 - April 9, 2005

So that means that I need to add another 7 days to my own wait. And I thought I was being smart ordering it on line. Of course I doubt that my local bookstore will stock it right away.



When Martha was 12 years old she lived next door to Schlesinger`s Pacific Title Company and use to run errands for the artists. So started her career within the animation industry. Just 10 more days until you can read her story and 17 until I can.  ¶ 7:42 AM

  I Dreamed I Saw Jim Hill Last Night You might want to stop over at Jill Hill Media today, he always has things of interest http://www.jimhillmedia.com/  ¶ 6:53 AM

  Disney's ALADDIN REUNION Time for a little reminder. The Aladdin Reunion is coming up. The list of guests is growing. This should be a good one. When I e-mailed Jim Hill about this one a few months back he said that he was making air plane reservations. And he is coming in from the East Coast. (I believe him because he flew in for the Lion King Reunion)

I think what I am trying to say is that if you live in Southern California then there is no reason to miss this once in a life time event.

ASIFA-Hollywood cordially invites you an
Disney's ALADDIN REUNION

Cast & crew reunion

Join us as we celebrate Disney's Aladdin with a cast & crew reunion on Friday Night April 22nd in the auditorium at the main branch Glendale Library. Confirmed Guests will be Andreas Deja- animator of Jafar, Eric Goldberg animator of the Genii, directors John Musker & Ron Clements and Will Finn - animator of Iago. Animator and Crazy Hakim the dung salesman, Tom Sito, will moderate.

More details to be announced. Mark you calender now!

April 22nd, 2005 - 7:00pm

GLENDALE CENTRAL LIBRARY
222 E. Harvard Street
Glendale, CA

  ¶ 6:09 PM

  Saturday Morning Catch Up I`ve been back over to the 99 Cent Only Store. (While deep down in my 60`s hippie soul I fear that they may be the first assault in a world monetary conspiracy trying to destroy our American way of life I keep coming back. I know that there is no such thing as a free lunch and the American standard of living is somehow going to suffer because I am only paying 99 cents but 99 Cent DVDs of public domain animation is worth it.



Of all the public domain DVD houses I like the work of Genius Entertainment the most. They seem to have pride in their work and their transfers almost always look clean.

There is not that much Disney out in public domain. Classic Cartoons Volume 4 has a nice one, Bill Peet`s Susie, The Little Blue Coupe. It is not a pristine transfer and there are a few rough spots and some color fade but all and all not too bad. Sterling Holloway narrates.

There are is Schlesinger Porky cartoon, Porky`s Cafe, not the best Chuck Jones and a little color faded but still Chuck Jones.

Rounded out with a Friz Freleng Beaky Buzzard, The Lion`s Busy. I`ve always linked Beaky (and Stan Freeburg, his voice) and I love the character design on the Lion. (but why he talks in an Irish accent I don`t know) Fun stuff.

The rest are Famous Studios. Two Raggedy Ann cartoons, too sweet for me. Another copy of Teacher`s Pest and Lightning in Ups And Downs Derby. I still morn the take over of the Fleischer Studio.



While I was in the 99 Cent Only Store I wondered over to the men`s department and picked up a nice Bugs Bunny tie. This is one of the Post Office ties that came out with the Loonie Tunes stamps a few years back. They still have the $9.99 price tag on them. It looks like the Post Office has unloaded them to 99 Cents. Now I can finally afford to keep up with Sol Sigall who always wears a very cool Loonie Toons tie at all the animation events. (I`m pretty sure that he paid full price for his)

Speaking of animation events, this months AFI screening with Jerry Beck features TV commercials of the 50`s and 60`s.



Now I hate commercials as much as the next guy and maybe even more, but give them 40 or 50 years on the shelf and all of the sudden they become art. I am looking forward to maybe seeing a Happy Fizzies Party, Mr. Bubble, Mr. Magoo selling beer, and of course Fred Flintstone pushing tobacco to kids (oh, it was Prime Time so they were not marketing to children). I`m not sure what Jerry has lined up (I`m just guessing) but I`m there for this event. Remember, ASIFA members get in free.

ASIFA-Hollywood presents
ANIMATED COMMERCIALS

From the 1950s & 60s

A selection of the coolest animated television commercials from the golden age of TV.
Uber cool designs, cigarettes, beer... from the greatest animators in the business.
More details on this special screening to be posted shortly...

Saturday March 26th - 3:00pm
The American Film Institute
TED ASHLEY/WARNER BROS. SCREENING ROOM
2021 N. Western Ave.
Hollywood, CA

  ¶ 10:50 AM

  Upcoming Events Just got these in my e-mail. June Foray I know about and can recommend highly. Red Stick I have just seen their web site but I am always in favor of short animation. But both should be of interest to our readers.

June Foray is set to speak and sign at the LA TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS on
April 23 (Sat) at 1pm at the Reading by Nine Stage. The event takes place on the
UCLA campus.........
More info at http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalbooks/

================


The Red Stick International Animation Festival is now just a month away and we are raring to go. Register for a free pass or check out our events on our new page!

www.redstickfestival.org

Be on the lookout for a new limited edition poster designed by Heath Tullier.

Things are shaping up for a marvelous festival! See you on the River April 21-23!

Stacey


Stacey Simmons, Ph.D.
Assistant Director for Strategic Advancement
Center for Computation & Technology
Louisiana State University
302 Johnston Hall
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
225-578-5906

  ¶ 10:37 AM

  Book Signings Coming Up

I got a phone call from Martha Sigall last night. She was very excited about a number of book signings that she has got coming up.

Her book comes out on April 1st. I`ve had my copy on order for months. She starts off with the Golden Awards Banquet that The Animation Guild is holding on April 9th. Linda Jones is setting up a couple of book signings for Martha for sometime in April. (one at the Chuck Jones Gallery at fashion Island and one at their gallery in Old Town San Diego)

Women in Animation is planning a book signing with Martha and ASIFA is talking about one. And I have her signed up for an appearance at this year`s Comic Con.

I am tired just writing all this. She is amazing. All the best with the book Martha. I`m counting the days. I read the first couple of chapters in proofs over a year ago and I have been waiting for the rest ever since.  ¶ 8:27 PM

  That's the Woody Woodpecker Song

Hi Everybody,

I am pleased to inform you that the Walter Lantz Foundation has awarded ASIFA-Hollywood a grant in the amount of $X, to help cover the operating costs of the Animation Center.

I would like to thank Bill Turner and David Derks, who assisted me in writing the grant proposal that got us this money.

Antran

The Walter Lantz Foundation has been very good to ASIFA-Hollywood over the past few years. Once again they have given up a grant to help with operations of the ASIFA Animation Center. This makes possible a number of other projects and generally makes everything much easier.

A great big thank you to the Walter Lantz Foundation for their continued support.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
That's the Woody Woodpecker Song.
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
He's a-pecking it all day long.
He pecks a few holes in a tree to see
If a redwood's really red.
And it doesn't phase him
On the tiniest whim
To peck a few holes in your head...

I think I am going to dig out some Woody cartoons to celebrate.  ¶ 8:17 PM

  Public Domain DVD`s

Hiya Larry.

A couple of things about those 99 Cent DVDs you've been posting about.

The Kimba dub on those discs was done in the late 80s or early 90s for syndication. I don't know why they did it, but I do remember it airing in the wee small hours of the morning. For the longest time it was the only version available on VHS.

Nitpick dept: The format on DVDs is MPEG-2, not MP3, and I'm willing to bet my donut hole collection that those "crappy transfers" weren't even taken from prints at all. Although I don't have that particular disc, I do know that a good percentage of those cheapo DVDs are just transferred directly from the public domain VHS tapes that they used to sell for $3.99 in the same venues. This means that not only are the transfers crappy (and old as dirt), but you have the additional quality hit of an EP speed dub onto the cheapest tape they could get their hands on in 1993 -- the worst of both worlds, except that you can't get a head clog from a DVD. Some of those VHS's were in turn lifted from other companies' VHS's, so you have generation loss in addition to everything else.

In short, it's a miracle that they actually do a good job on some of them. Which they do.

BTW . . . any plans to finish the ASIFA office move? I'd like to help, but I need to know a few days in advance to have any hope of clearing my schedule.

Eric

Thanks for the corrections. And FYI the move, which proved to be a major pain and was called off again and again, finally got made last weekend. I had come to the conclusion that the move was jinxed and if I talked about it, it would never happen. I might be right because I shut up about it and it finally came off with out a hitch.  ¶ 8:06 PM

  Good Cartoons Bad Transfers So it is only 99 cents. It`s a crap shoot. And sometimes that is what you get. When they say Digitally Remastered a lot of times all it means is that the beat up 35 mm prints have been transferred to MP3 format.

Toon Collection Volume 1 has some great Fleischer Color Classics but the print quality is just awful. That is not always the case. I have picked up some great stuff with really good transfers lovingly done and right there at the 99 cent rack, sadly just not this time.

• The Elephant Never Forgets - Fleischer Color Classics
• Peeping Penguins - Fleischer Color Classics
• Time for Love - Fleischer Color Classics
• A Car-Tune Portrait - Fleischer Color Classics
• The Old Shell Game? - New 3 Stooges
  
• The Mite Makes Right - Famous
• The Tears of an Onion - Fleischer Color Classics
• Bunny Mooning - Fleischer Color Classics
  
  
  
  

  ¶ 11:15 AM

  Good Images New Sound If your name is Caesar it might not be a good day to hang out at the Forum but it is a great day for Anime fans over at the 99 Cents Only stories.

I was just talking to Fred Ladd last week at the Robots opening and somebody there said that they had seen Kimba DVD`s at 99 Cents Only. To celebrate my son and I sang Fred a verse or two of the Kimba theme song. Today I found volume 3 and 4 at my local store.

Now I have Kimba in VHS so this is not as great as a new/old Van Beuren Tom and Jerry but Kimba is an important piece of Anime history and he has come to 99 cent DVD`s. So if you don`t have a copy of Kimba yet here is your chance to sample early Anime without laying out lots of money.




The image quality on these new Kimbas are very good. The strange thing is that these are completely new dubs. Gone is the Fred Ladd Players and the Fred Ladd theme song. I can do without the theme if I have to but I miss the voice of Billie Lou Watt.  ¶ 9:58 AM

  Special Performance by the Scrappy Puppet Theatre Players There is a kid like goofiness of the true fan to Jerry Beck`s love of the Scrappy cartoons. Not only does he collect the Scrappy Puppet Theater and pay to have the Scrppy Puppet Theater commercial restored, but he plays with the paper puppets and in public. This I have got to see.

Saturday April 30th • 1:00pm





A full day of fun... a Scrappy-Fest!
At 1pm: Guest speakers, exhibits, and a special performance by the Scrappy Puppet Theatre Players who will enact, live, a classic scene from a Scrappy cartoon!

At 3pm: a rare screening of newly restored 35mm prints of classic Scrappy cartoons from the 1930s. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

More details on this special screening to be posted shortly...

Saturday April 30th • 1:00pm till 5:30pm
The American Film Institute
TED ASHLEY/WARNER BROS. SCREENING ROOM
2021 N. Western Ave.
Hollywood, CA

Come dressed as Scrappy, Oopie or Margie and win a prize!  ¶ 8:04 AM

  POOH'S HEFFALUMP MOVIE Wednesday March 16th • 7:30pm


ASIFA-Hollywood and DisneyToon Studios present
POOH'S HEFFALUMP MOVIE


The Hundred Acre Wood crew is together again in POOH'S HEFFALUMP MOVIE, this time learning an important lesson about being accepting of others' differences and the value of true friendship. Pooh's Heffalump Movie is only the third original Pooh feature made for theatrical release. But this film introduces a new character that was not a part of the original books' illustrations. It existed only in the minds of the characters.

DisneyToon Studios presents a charming new journey through the Hundred Acre Wood, featuring the voice talents of Jim Cummings as friendly Winnie the Pooh and the irrepressible Tigger, John Fiedler as little Piglet, Nikita Hopkins as Roo and introducing Kyle Stanger as the voice of Lumpy.

Wednesday March 16th • 7:30pm
Frank G. Wells Theatre
Walt Disney Studios
500 S. Buena Vista Street
(enter through Alameda gate)
Seating capacity limited to 113
Asifa Members only R.S.V.P. (818) 560-1782 by 3/14/05  ¶ 8:01 AM

  Student Short Animation

Is the backbone of the future. A lot of it may be underdeveloped as yet but it is still worth checking out. Anybody that is going to be in the Long Beach area on March 18th might want to check out the student short animation festival:

March 18th
6 to 8 PM

4825 E Pacific Coast Hwy
Long Beach, CA 90804
Admission: Free

 
  ¶ 7:56 AM

  Ladislas Starevich a.k.a. Wladyslaw Starewicz (1892-1965) I got an e-mail question from Ray Pointer the other day on what I cover in my animation history classes. While doing a quick overview for him I forgot how to spell Ladislas Starevich (since he spelled it 3 different ways over his life I didn't feel too bad) I just went out looking for at least one of the 3 ways that he spelled it. In my search I came upon this site over at AWN: Ladislas Starevich

I am still going through it but it looks very complete. If you want to learn more about the first major stop motion animator you should check out this site.

They even have some movie clips from some of his films like Frog That Would Be King 1922. And a number of animated GIF files like this one below.



Great stuff, well worth a look.  ¶ 11:22 AM

  In favor of a Scrat movie:

The funniest thing about the Blue Sky coming attractions was this Rat-Squirrel scene stealer. As good as Ice Age was, every time Scrat was on screen he up staged everybody else. He is a force of nature.

He is the reincarnation of Wily Coyote without the need for a Road Runner. He is pure comic genius. More shorts, many more shorts, please and how about a feature with other characters with their own agendas and plots but told all from the point of view of the monomaniac Scrat?

 
  ¶ 4:43 PM

  I`ve Got Mine On Order

Hardback

Paperback  ¶ 10:08 AM

  ASIFA-Hollywood Screening of Robots Fox pulled out all the stops last night at the ASIFA screening of Robots. As luck would have it I was in attendance (luck had nothing to do with it, I spent 2 hours in a car driving in from O.C. and well worth the drive, too)



Lots of cool people hanging out, talking and eating at the Academy of television Art and Science theater.



After enjoying the film there was a Q & A with the Chris Melendandri (Exec Producer & President of 20th Century Fox Animation) , David Torres (lead animator), and David Esneault, master lighting lead.



The panel was hosted by Jerry Beck who did a great job of steering questions and getting to the design and story elements behind Robots.


David Esneault, master lighting lead  ¶ 11:26 PM