One of Disney’s earliest characters created Bucky Bug first appeared in the Silly Symphonies Sunday page, which debuted in January 1932. An animated Silly Symphony Bugs in Love, featuring (a plumper) Bucky and his girlfriend June Bug, started production shortly after the early months of the strip, ultimately released in October.
The Bucky continuities ended in Mar...
2020-10-23 20:08:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Quick announcement on this Patreon: thinking it over for a while and despite the majority votes in favor of animator breakdown videos without documentation, I’ve decided against the idea. To be truthful, it does not seem worth the effort in producing videos based on guesswork compared to animator breakdowns using information via animator drafts (and sometimes, notes from studio production papers).
On a positive note, I am hoping to receive a cache of...
2020-10-21 20:44:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Today in continuing the October theme with vintage comic book stories starring notable animated characters, here is a double drop of potion for this special witches' brew! (Both pages are less than 8 pages long, so two stories seems to fit well, especially those with similar themes.)
The first is a story featuring Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost in Casper the Friendly Ghost #25 (October 1954), published by Harvey Comics. For his educated guess, anim...
2020-10-21 01:49:38 +0000 UTC View Post
Admittedly, it has been difficult finding appropriate comic book stories that feature animated characters from the East Coast for the month of October (not counting Casper the Friendly Ghost). This story, featuring Paul Terry's screwball magpies Heckle and Jeckle, is an adaptation of The Hitch Hikers, released December 1947. Its credited artist, Connie "Conrad" Rasinski, directed the original cartoon,...
2020-10-18 14:43:43 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is a special Four Color feature starring Walter Lantz's Andy Panda and his co-star Charlie Chicken! This 25-page story (and the cover) were drawn and inked by Dell Comics mainstay Dan Gormley. Gormley's drawing in the story is very lively and "animated", though unlike many of the other artists, he did not seem to have worked in animation.
2020-10-17 01:57:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's a Halloween-themed story with Tom, Jerry and Tuffy from Tom and Jerry Comics #99 (October 1952)·—drawn, inked and lettered by Harvey Eisenberg.
2020-10-14 20:24:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Besides the Donald Duck stories by Carl Barks, another long-running series in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories featured Li'l Bad Wolf, the exact opposite of his overbearing father the Big Bad Wolf, christened as Zeke in the comics.
From Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #62 (November 1945)— drawn, inked and lettered by Carl Buettner.
2020-10-13 17:20:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the first in a batch of comic book stories with a spooky theme for the month of October. In this featured Bugs Bunny story, Bugs and Porky crack their first case as amateur detectives involving Clarabelle, a prized circus flea!
From Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Comics #37 (November 1944)—drawn, inked and lettered by Tom McKimson.
2020-10-10 17:51:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Previously offered at the $10+ level, here is an “animator breakdown” video on The Vanishing Private, one of the few in a series of Army-based shorts with Donald Duck and Pete.
Some scenes in the film are given a d...
2020-10-09 17:08:47 +0000 UTC View Post
The outline circulated for the final sequel with Disney’s Three Little Pigs circulated around the studio on July 15, 1936. In...
2020-10-02 15:30:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Yabba-dabba-doo! This date marks the 60th anniversary of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera's modern Stone Age family! To celebrate the occasion, here is the first featured story that appeared in Dell Giant #48 (September 1961), drawn and inked by Harvey Eisenberg.
Before working at Hanna-Barbera, Eisenberg had devised an animated television show with a prehistoric family. He partnered with Charles McKimson, art editor of Western Publishing, on the proje...
2020-09-30 13:49:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Previously available at the $10+ level, here is the first sequel to Disney's Three Little Pigs!
With the enormous success of 2020-09-25 18:59:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Previously exclusive to the $10 level, here is an animator breakdown video on a favorite among many—A Fractured Leghorn, directed by Bob McKimson.
Like last week's installment of The Leghorn Blows at Midn...
2020-09-18 22:34:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is a story featured in the first Terrytoons comic book magazine, issued by St. John, in the spring of 1948. When the Terrytoons characters appeared in St. John's line of comics, the stories were drawn by animators who worked in Paul Terry's studio, as well as their inkers who would outline the pencil art.
This story is credited to Conrad "Connie" Rasinsk...
2020-09-16 20:30:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Screwy Squirrel—billed as "Skrewy" in these stories and in MGM publicity materials—made his screen debut in Screwball Squirrel, released April 1944. Shortly after, he appeared in his own featured stories in Our Gang Comics, with tie-ins to different MGM characters, including Tom and Jerry and "Happy Hound", later known as Droopy.
Here's the first "Skrewy" story from Our Gang Comics #12 (July-August 1944)—drawn, inked and lettered by Carl Buettner. Buettn...
2020-09-14 21:29:00 +0000 UTC View Post
If you are unable to access the Google Drive embed, click here.
Previously exclusive to the $10 level, here is an animator breakdown video on The Leghorn Blows at Midnight, directed by Bob McKimson.
There is no known documentation on voice recording session dates for W...
2020-09-12 13:49:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy Saturday! For this weekend, I have an announcement—I’ve decided to put rarities on the $10 level from hereon in, in addition to the double feature of “animator breakdown” videos.
Today, I’ll be presenting a sneak peek at the newest restoration of a very rare film—The Lady Said No, released April 26, 1946, written and directed by Frank Tashlin as part of the very short-lived Daffy Ditty series distributed by United Artists.
The only material t...
2020-09-05 19:53:26 +0000 UTC View Post
If you are unable to access the Google Drive embed, click here.
Previously exclusive to the $10 level, here is an animator breakdown video on Big Top Bunny, directed by Bob McKimson.
Mel Blanc lent his vocals for this production in three consecutive recording ses...
2020-09-04 21:39:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Summer is starting to wind down, so it seems appropriate to share this beach outing with Felix the Cat and his nephew Inky!
Drawn and inked by Otto Messmer with some pages by Joe Oriolo, from Felix the Cat #25 (November 1951). The preceding gag page with Felix and Skiddoo can be seen before the main feature.
2020-09-03 22:07:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Now for some comics with cartoon characters from the East Coast—Terrytoons’ screwball magpies, Heckle and Jeckle!
Drawn (and possibly written) by the inimitable Jim Tyer, H&J find a sunken treasure chest full of money and indulge themselves accordingly in fancy clothes, until something unexpected happens…
From Paul Terry’s Terrytoons Comics #85 (October 1951).
2020-09-03 00:10:26 +0000 UTC View Post
In this story drawn by Vive Risto, a former animator in Bob Clampett's black-and-white "Katz unit", Sylvester (billed as "Sylvester Pussycat") invites himself inside Elmer Fudd's home for dinner. The drawing in these Dell Looney Tunes comics is generally sharp, but the writing pales compared to the animated cartoons; it almost comes across as a mid-1940s Screen Gems cartoon, without much of the wit or psychological precision between the conflict of the two central characters. 2020-09-01 23:06:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Presenting another regular feature on this Patreon page, I thought it would be a neat idea to present a wealth of vintage comic book stories featuring classic cartoon characters! This might serve as an extension of the Cartoon Research posts I have written centered on animation artists who have worked on comic book stories, either moonlighting or on an exclusive basis.
Here’s an interesting story from Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Comics #35 (September 194...
2020-08-31 17:37:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Previously exclusive to the $10 level, here is an animator breakdown video on the Oscar-nominated Truant Officer Donald, released August 1, 1941. Jack King is the director, with Carl Barks, Jack Hannah and Harry Ree...
2020-08-28 22:14:31 +0000 UTC View PostI've been wrestling with this decision, but the reality is I’m limited on the animator drafts that are available to me, and I understand educated guesswork can be frowned upon.
How would you guys feel if I posted animator breakdowns based on educated guesswork? I would put these videos on a lower level, since they are about eyeballing different animators' styles.
There might be some cases where an animator breakdown will be partially complete, in ca...
2020-08-11 04:25:12 +0000 UTC View Post
If you have difficulty playing the Google Drive embed, click here.
So, here’s something special (?) I’ve prepared for Bugs Bunny’s 80th anniversary—an “animator breakdown” of Bob McKimson’...
2020-07-27 16:05:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Have some Pre-Code profanity this Monday in this newly restored clip from The Milkman (1932)…
2020-07-21 00:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Pete Burness (1904-1969) has been given his own Animation Profile on C...
2020-07-16 18:23:11 +0000 UTC View Post
There will be a slight delay with the pair of exclusive “animator breakdown” videos for a few days for Patrons on the $10 level. The next pair will be two cartoons featuring Disney’s Three Little Pigs—The Big Bad Wolf (1934) and The Practical Pig (1939). I have already written about the original 2020-07-10 22:22:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey, folks! I'm happy to announce a new special feature on this Patreon.
There will be a new $10 reward that offers TWO brand-new “animator breakdown” videos - these will be offered for one week only. Once these expire, another pair of “animator breakdown” videos will appear. The first pair will be profi...
2020-06-18 17:38:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi, folks! Just dropping by with an unexpected Friday surprise—an animator breakdown video on one of the finest Donald Duck cartoons, Fire...
2020-05-15 15:06:12 +0000 UTC View Post