Friday, December 29, 2006

The March of Time


    Someone over at YouTube has posted "The March of Time", the 1939 holiday gag reel made by the WB animation department staff (watch for all your favorite personalities show up in this one!). Check it out before it's too late - you won't be disappointed you did!



    "Gweat stuff, gweat stuff!"


    (Thanks to Jerry Beck for pointing this out on Cartoon Brew)

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Cartoon of the Month: "The Snowman"

    This month's featured cartoon is "The Snowman", produced by Ted Eshbaugh's studio (probably originally in Technicolor) and released in 1932. Enjoy!



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    mmm...donuts

Thursday, December 14, 2006

The Haunted Ship (1930)

    Well, it's time for another weird Van Beuren cartoon from 1930. "The Haunted Ship", released on 27th April (my birthday ;-) is a real classic of the spooky and surreal early '30s style. I'd even compare it with the best Fleischer cartoons of the similar kind. Animation is certainly above the average Van Beuren standard of that time. This is also the first cartoon that featured two obscure characters named Waffles the Cat and Don Dog. Only three more cartoons were made, before Waffles and Don morphed into the well known human duo called Tom & Jerry.

    Note: as you probably know, Van Beuren "Tom & Jerry" were a pair of humans, and they are in no way related to the famous Hanna-Barbera cat & mouse. You can find a complete filmography and lot of info about VB Tom & Jerry and their precursors HERE.