Archive: Eisenberg and Barbera's Foxy Fagan Today, we posted a vintage funny animal comic with story by Joe Barbera and art by Harvey Eisenberg...



Comics: Harvey Eisenberg's Foxy Fagan 1946

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 5:36 PM

  Archive: John Kricfalusi Writes... Our cartoon heritage is quickly disappearing from history. You don't see many classic cartoons on television anymore- certainly not black and white cartoons. The Golden Age of Cartoons, classified by historians to be generally from 1928 to 1960 is dominated in most people's minds by Walt Disney's features and the Warner Bros. cartoons, which are often seen in "restored" edited, cut and recolored versions that don't look like the films as they were created by the original artists.

There's a lot more to the story... There were many lesser-known studios that contributed to the development of cartoons as well: the Fleischers, Terrytoons, Famous Studios, and Columbia. Wonderful cartoons made by these studios and many others are almost completely impossible to see anymore. You can find a few bad prints of public domain cartoons on cheapie DVDs, but the vast library of classics has practically vanished from history and worse, from the attention of new audiences that could enjoy them and young cartoonists that could benefit from them.

Animators today have a very hard time finding the best cartoons ever made to help them learn and be proud of their craft.



The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is coming to our rescue. Stephen Worth, with the help of private collectors, is amassing a huge collection of classic cartoons and logging them by studio and chronology to make these lost films available to the public, while the owners of the cartoons are just letting them collect dust in vaults.

At the Archive, not only can you view the cartoons, you can also see a great collection of cartoon related art- art that inspired many of the animators of the past. Children's book illustrations, comic books, comic strips... it's all there. ASIFA-Hollywood is also collecting interviews and articles about cartoonists, animators and illustrators to tell the history of animation through the stories of the artists who created it.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is something I wish I had when I was a kid. It's an invaluable storehouse of lost techniques from an artform that developed to its highest peak during the 30s to the 50s.

If you can't physically visit the Archive facility in Burbank, the Archive has a great blog that features samples of all the stuff and informative articles about the artists. The address of it is www.animationarchive.org.

To a cartoonist or cartoon fan, the archive is our Louvre! Thanks to Steve and all the collectors who have contributed and to all the good folks at ASIFA-Hollywood for making it happen!

John Kricfalusi

To contribute, please see the... Contribution Categories Page

Donate online using our PayPal button...

To join ASIFA-Hollywood, please see the Membership Page

Contributions can be sent to...

ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
2114 W Burbank Bl
Burbank, CA 91506

When contributing to this project, please write ARCHIVE DONATION on the subject line of your check.  ¶ 3:14 PM

  Celebrating Stop Motion:

There are events for 2-D animation there are events for 3-D computer animation but nobody does events for Stop Motion.



Last Wednesday night I got a call from the East Coast. That is no big surprise since I hail from those parts. The big surprise is that I did not know the stop motion animator who called to say he was coming in to LA to the ASIFA-Hollywood Stop Mo Expo on Woodbury campus on April 21st.

There will be a planning meeting for the Stop Mo Expo this Tuesday night:

Tuesday, February 27th - 7 PM
Room D104 Design Center
Woodbury University Campus
7500 N Glenoaks Blvd
Burbank , CA 91504

The set for the stop motion animation jam is in the works. I am trying for forced prospective in a easily transportable suitcase set design with a 90 degree rotation and glass support plates with controlled lighting. We will see what happens.

If you want to be part of this project come on out to Woodbury tomorrow night and join the planning session. Still lots to be done.

Larry Loc (ASIFA Blog Guy)  ¶ 7:49 AM

  Archive: Herb Klynn's The Shrimp Part One Here is an interesting post... an unsold pilot from Herb Klynn's Format Films titled "The Shrimp"...



Pitch: Herb Klynn's The Shrimp Part One

Great stuff!

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 6:21 PM

 



Thank you Jeffery and DreamWorks for a great Pre-Oscar Brunch. It was a great event and the food was out of site grade A great. I had a very good time.

Larry Loc (ASIFA Blog Guy)  ¶ 9:03 PM

  Archive: More 50s and 60s Album Covers Here's a nice selection of 50s and 60s album covers that we digitized today...



Media: More 50s and 60s Album Covers

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 6:12 PM

  Archive: Uncle Remus Stories Part Two Today, we digitized more images from the Giant Golden Book, Uncle Remus Stories...



Illustration: Uncle Remus Stories Part Two

If you missed the first posting from this book, see...Uncle Remus Stories 1949 Part One

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 1:31 AM

  Reports on a Fun Event w/ thoughts on a Forgotten Master:

Martha and Sol Sigall graciously made an appearance at Laguna College of Art & Design yesterday. I had a fun time. Sol and Martha are some of my all time favorite people in or outside the animation community. We showed some of the cartoons Martha worked on, she showed some classic Warner Bros. model sheets and art work, talked about lots of great animation stories from the golden age, and answered lots of questions for the students.

Now Martha has worked with all the greats, Chuck, Friz, Tex, Robert Clampett (I knew the answer before I asked her this question which is why I asked it) Just who is your favorite classic Warner Bros. director? The students were a little shocked when she said Frank Tashlin.

It didn`t shock me. I am a big Tashlin fan. But he is the overlooked master. He was the very first to treat animation like film. He brought live action sensibility into animation with really long pans and rapid cuts and cool camera angles and he was the first to break the 4th wall. Something that has become a Looney Tunes standard.

I completely agree with Martha, Frank Tashlin is an overlooked animation master and well worth a lot of study by animation students. You could also learn a lot looking at his live action films, because Frank also brought cartoon sensibility to his live action work.

Enough of the soapbox, lets take a look at some the images from yesterday`s get together with Martha and Sol. Very cool stuff.



Larry Loc (ASIFA Blog Guy)  ¶ 8:09 AM

  Archive: John Held Jr. Today, Archive volunteer Gary Francis brought by a couple of Playboy magazines from the late 60s for us to digitize. Included in one was a feature on the famous 1920s cartoonist/illustrator, John Held Jr.



Pinups: John Held Jr.

Held's images of flappers and sheiks crystalized the image of jazz age flaming youth. Check it out...

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 11:49 PM

  Cartoon Inflation Index:

Would you pay $3 for a 1933 Walter Lantz Oswald The Lucky Rabbit cartoon? I did just the other day. And the thing that burned me up a little was that the disk had been marked up from 99 cents.

The 99-cent disks that have flooded the market for the last couple of years are being systematically dumped to thrift stores. And the thrift stores are pricing these dollar disks like major release DVDs and ironically tripling the original selling price on the Public Domain product.

Maybe this is the birth of a new distribution pipeline for PD cheapo DVD producers? It gives you something to think about. And it all comes down to how much I really want that 1 title.



Titles on this disk:

• Poor Cinderela 1934
  
• Pantry Panic 1941
  
• Raggedy Ann the Enchanted Square 1947
  
• (Oswald Rabbit)The Zoo 1933
  
• Bored of Education 1946
  
• One Good Turn (Felix) 1929
  
• Feudin, Fuss `n Hillbully (New 3 Stooges) 1965
  
• Quack-A-Doodle-Do (Baby Huey) 1950
  
• A Date To Skate (Popeye) 1938
  

Larry Loc (ASIFA Blog Guy)  ¶ 7:23 AM

  Get Set, Animate:

I am deep in stop motion set design this weekend in preparation for the animation jam at the upcoming Stop Mo Expo.

The trick here is to create an environment that will lend itself to speed in stop motion animation execution. Not something that is natural to the process.

The big problem is support in movement. There comes a time in walk and run cycles when the model in unbalanced or even airborne. I am working on a design that will eliminate the need for wire or support bar removal in post production.



The plan is to work with a down shooting setup with airborne support provided by sheets of glass. Lighting becomes the big problem with reflections the great enemy. Therefore lighting must be build into the set with limiters part of build. These problems were licked in cel animation so it is doable.

I am thinking of raffling off the set at the end of the Stop Mo Expo. It would be fun to have this set go to someone who would continue to use it to make stop motion animation films. Heaven knows we don`t have the storage at the archive.

Larry Loc (ASIFA Blog Guy)  ¶ 9:09 AM

  Archive: Tytla and Terry-Jekyll and Hyde Today's treasure is a Mighty Mouse cartoon with spectacular animation by Bill Tytla...



Filmography: Tytla & Terry-Jekyll & Hyde

We'll be back at the archive on Tuesday with more amazing stuff!

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 6:32 PM

  Archive: Norelius and Bauer Bland Tomtar Och Troll 1944/49 Today we scanned two more Swedish fairy tale books in the Bland Tomtar Och Troll Series- 1944 and 1949...



Illustration: Einar Norelius and John Bauer's Bland Tomtar Och Troll 1944/49

John Bauer and Einar Norelius are amazing artists. This is our fourth posting on these wonderful books that are rarely seen in the United States.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 7:34 PM

  ASIFA Stop Mo Expo Planning Session No. 2:

A planning session for the upcoming (April 21st) ASIFA-Hollywood Stop Mo Expo will take place on:

Tuesday, February 27th - 7 PM
Room D104 Design Center
Woodbury University Campus
7500 N Glenoaks Blvd
Burbank , CA 91504

We are getting down to the wire on this event. We still have a lot to do. Come on out and be part of this exciting one of a kind event.


Larry Loc (ASIFA Blog Guy)  ¶ 8:02 AM

  Yet Again More Annie Photos:

Jason Jones worked Sunday night as the assistant to the Annies photographer. Jason had the good sense to snap digital photos while he was assisting. And here they are.






Larry Loc (ASIFA Blog Guy)  ¶ 9:00 AM