Hello there fellow cartoon lovers. I assume some of you like me, are fans of a certain show called Courage the Cowardly Dog, and you have good reason to be it is one of the smartest, scariest, funniest and best looking animated TV shows. Some of you like me may have the DVDs of the series. And again if you are like me, you are very disappointed by the lack of special features. However this doesn't need to bug you anymore.
John R. Dilworth the creator of the series has done some commentaries on YouTube. However these commentaries do not have the cartoon with them, due to copyright reasons. You play the YouTube video and your DVD at thee same time and are able to have commentary playing over some of your favorite episodes. John R. Dilworth has done two of these so far. One is for the fan-favorite episode King Rameses Curse and the other is for the shows first episode A Night at The Katz Motel. He plans to do much more in the future.
76 years ago today Bugs Bunny first hopped onto movie screens. Since this he has become one of the most famous and beloved cartoon stars in the world. To celebrate his birthday today we are going to look at some great Bugs Bunny shorts.
We are going to start with a classic 1943 cartoon from director Robert Clampett. This film is Falling Hare, and is a short about Bugs fighting a gremlin. The title was originally going to be Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin. However Disney was working on an animated feature called Gremlin Lore (film that would never come to be). Because of this Walt asked if the other Hollywood animation studious could not make cartoons about gremlins. However since this cartoon was already well into production, producer Leon Schlesinger decided instead to change the title to Falling Hare. Similarly another Warner Brothers' cartoon originally going to be titled Gremlins From the Kremlin was renamed Russian Rhapsody. The animators on this film include Robert McKimson, Rod Scribner, Manny Gould, Thomas McKimson, Bill Melendez, Phil Monore and Virgil Ross. This an excellent and very funny cartoon, so enjoy.
Next up is All This and Rabbit Stew. This cartoon was directed by animation great Tex Avery. However Avery had left Warners by the time the film was released. Because of this he receives no screen credit for having directed it. This was the last Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Tex Avery, who had directed Bugs in the rabbit's debut A Wild Hare. Animation of Bugs tricking the hunter with log would be reused in the cartoon The Big Snooze. This film has been declared one of the censored 11. These are 11 Warner Brothers cartoon that have been banned from TV because they have been declared too racially insensitive. This cartoon however is a very funny film and a must watch for all lovers of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The animators include Robert McKimson, Virgil Ross, Charles McKimson, Rod Scribner, Sidney Sutherland and John Didrik Johnsen.
Last but certainly not least is the 1950 classic Rabbit of Seville directed by Chuck Jones. Chuck Jones and his writer Michael Maltese loved the mixture of high and popular culture and this film shows that perfectly., as it is a slapstick parody of opera, but is also very respectful to opera. Notice a sign with the names Eduardo Selzeri, Michele Maltese and Carlo Jonzi on it. This obviously references Chuck and Michael, but it also references producer Edward Selzer. The animators on this film include Ken Champin, Ben Washam, Phil Monroe, Emery Hawkins and Llyod Vaughan. This is a masterpiece of cartoon filmmaking so enjoy.
The popularity of Bugs will never end nor should it so on with the show this is it...
-Michael J. Ruhland
Recourses Used Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin imdb.com
With Criterion releasing Watership Down last year, the company has announced it will also be releasing another animated work of art, Fantastic Planet in June. Criterion is known for releasing some of the greatest and most artistic live action films in the best quality available, and with huge respect to the art of film. However an animated film can be just as artistic and brilliant as any live action film and it is good to see Criterion is realizing animation as great art.
Fantastic Planet is a 1973 politically minded and very abstract Sci-fi animated feature film from director René Laloux, and with some brilliant artwork from Roland Topor. This film is an intelligent, and highly artistic film fable based off of Stefan Wul's novel.
I am hoping because of this that more animated works of art will be released by Criterion in the future.
So with Valentines Day, just around the corner today we are going to look at some cartoons with a theme of love.
Our first cartoon for the day is a sweet and charming little Mickey Mouse cartoon from 1933 called Puppy Love. This film was directed by Wilfred Jackson. Jackson was one of the all time great Disney directors. His early Silly Symphonies are among the best of that series, his work as the animation director on Song of the South is fantastic, and he would become one of the directors for such feature films as Fantasia (The Night on Bald Mountain segment), Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. As was true of all the early Mickey Mouse cartoons of this era, Walt Disney, himself voiced Mickey.
For Valentines Day, what is better than a serenade, especially when that serenade is done by cartoon cats. So up next is a fun little operatic Terry-Toon from 1950 called If Cats Could Sing. Around this time Terry-Toons were doing many operatic cartoons most of them staring Mighty Mouse. This film was directed by Eddie Donnelly, who was one of the main Terry-Toons directors at this time.
Our next cartoon stars the world's greatest lover, Pepe Le Pew. From 1949 it is For Scent-imental Reasons. This was the third Pepe cartoon, and the first to win an Oscar. It is in fact the second Warner Brothers' cartoon to win an Oscar, the first was Tweetie Pie (the first Tweety and Sylvester cartoon). Pepe Le Pew was somewhat based off the character Pepe Le Moko. Mostly based off the characters use in 1938's Algiers (a remake of the French film Pepe Le Moko), when he was played by Charles Boyer. This film was directed by the great Chuck Jones, who directed nearly all the Pepe Le Pew cartoons. This is one of Pepe's best films.
Our last film for today is a much darker and more experimental film than the previous three. From 1991 it is Two Sisters directed by Caroline Leaf. What really separates this from the previous three though is that this is not about romantic love, but rather about sisterly love, and very misguided sisterly love on top of that. This film came from the Natoinal Film Board of Canada, which is the home of a lot of more experimental animated shorts, than nearly any other studio. This film is not only a good short, but a great work of art as well.
Usman Riaz's The Glassworker will mark the very first hand drawn animated film to come out of Pakistan. The animation style will be heavily influenced by Japanese anime.
Usman Riaz is a musician, currently studying at Berklee College. Along with the animation and directing, he will also be composing the music for the film.
The film will about a boy who grew up working in a glass factory, and falls in love with a girl who works there. Riaz hopes that this will open the door for more great art to come out of Pakistan using this method.
Shout! Factory Films has gotten the rights to release the French animated feature film Long Way North in the U.S.. Shout! will release the film in theaters sometime in Fall 2016, tough the film will have an earlier release at New York International Children’s Film Festival on February 26th. Shout will also be in charge of the film's U.S. Blu-Ray/DVD/Amazon Prime/Netflix releases as well. They will also be in charge of English Dubs as well.
Long Way North is directed by Rémi Chayé. This is his debut as a director, but he has been an assistant director on two fantastic movies, Tomm Moore's The Secrect of Kells, and Jean-François Laguionie's The Painting.
I am excited about this and hope that Shout! Factory Films, will do this with more foreign animation in the future.
Tom and Jerry have a long line of direct to video movies. These feature films began in 2001 with a quite entertaining entry Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (directed by James T. Walker). This would mark the last time William Hanna would work with the characters as he would die shortly after it's release. This however would be Followed by many other movies released the same way. These would range from great to entertaining to pretty darn bad.
Tom and Jerry Tales was made to be a return to the style of the classic theatrical shorts. While this show doesn't reach the heights of the classic theatrical shorts, it is entertaining and is probably the best made for TV version of the cat and mouse duo. Each half-hour episode would be made up of 3 shorts about the same length as the classic cartoons. These 3 shorts would often all relate to one similar theme. Joseph Barbera would serve as this TV show's executive producer, and would even write some episodes. However he would die after the first season and therefore wouldn't be able to work through the show's second and last season. Two of the main people working on this show were Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone, who have made good careers out of reviving classic cartoon characters. They have also worked on the T.V. shows, Duck Dodgers, The Looney Tunes Show and Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated. This show premiered in 2006 and ran into 2008.
After that show began Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone would take over the direct to video movies, again the quality of these would not be consistent. One film of great note would Tom and Jerry: A Nutcrackers Tale. This is one of the best of the series, but more importantly it was based off an idea by Joseph Barbera. The film would be finished after he passed away, and dedicated to his memory. These films are still being made.
The most recent version of the duo is The Tom and Jerry Show. This show created by Bob Jaques and directed by Darrell Van Critters, is well written but simply has too bad of animation to be as funny as it should be.
What does the future hold next for Tom and Jerry, I don't know, but there is talk of another theatrical feature, and more, but for now this is the end.
