The Merrie Melodies Theme: “Merrily We Roll Along”
Editor’s Note: Will Friedwald is back this week to fill us in on a tune familiar to all cartoon lovers everywhere: Before we begin, Will Friedwald and I wish…
The “Real” Giant Robots
Those waiting for my column on Anime Fandom in North America, part 3, can take this as half of it; the half on “real robots”. The other half, on teenagers…
Classic Commercials By Classic Animators
TV commercials. Apparently, everyone did them. We know many classic animators back in the 1950s and 60s moonlighted at the several independent commercial studios, but what about the Hollywood studios…
Animation Anecdotes #126
Jay Ward Musicology. Supposedly, Stan Worth and Sheldon Allman got together one Sunday afternoon and churned out the memorable theme songs for George of the Jungle, Super Chicken and Tom…
Red Raven Records and Creepy “Teddy Bear” Themes
This was one of my favorite things when I was a kid – Red Raven ‘Movie’ Records! These worked sort of like a zoetrope, with a continuous animated movie drawn…
In His Own Words: Bob Clampett at Warners
Animation Legend Bob Clampett was born May 8th, 1913 which means he would have been one hundred years old this year. Once upon a time, there would have been tributes…
Sneak Peek at Darrell Van Citters new Jay Ward Book
Remember these guys? Animator Darrell Van Citters, who put together the must-have Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol book, has been spending the last few years tracking down the rarest of the…
The Jerry Report – Update #2
Continuing my running list of upcoming events I’ll be attending and places I gotta go. I do this list more for myself than for any other reason – If I…
More Giant Robots!
Don’t think that all of the giant robot TV cartoons were created by Go Nagai. He may have invented them, but others quickly jumped onto the, er, giant robots. The…
Jerry Beck is a writer, animation producer, college professor and author of more than 15 books on animation history. He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon Movies and Disney, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has curated cartoons for DVD and blu-ray compilations and has lent his expertise to dozens of bonus documentaries and audio commentaries on such. Beck is currently on the faculty of Cal Arts in Valencia – teaching animation history. More about Jerry Beck [Click Here]
