On this day in 1949, we had the premiere of Fast and Furry-ous, which brought us the first appearances of Wile E. (Ethelbert) Coyote and the Road Runner. And yes, Mark Evanier is responsible for the name Ethelbert. So come with us now and take a look while we try to figure out one question — why does Mel Blanc get a voice credit for this cartoon?
Warning: Not necessarily office-friendly words abound.
Unless you go to an animation festival, and you should go to an animation festival, the only way to see independent animation is to look out for the traveling cartoon programs. For a while it was Fans Only. We clustered in this or that museum auditorium for the International Tournee of Animation, now defunct.
This was the traveling hothouse for the short cartoon, where animation lived on as an art form, not a commercial proposition. The films came mainly from studios run by a government or a college mixed in with a few made by individuals. And the individuals almost always had a grant. Civilians in the audience were always surprised that at least half of these pictures are serious, not made to make you laugh; quite often a meditation on unpleasant things or a non-linear succession of disturbing images.
That’s show biz.
Then came Spike and Mike. They were into animation, going to a festival or a traveling program now and again. As showmen, they were dismayed that only, say, 20 percent of these films, on a bad day, would be what you would call entertainment. They were all worthy of contemplation by the prepared, patient mind, but keep ‘em in their seats, keep ‘em hollering for more? No.
Spike and Mike made change. Their Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation began with a core of cartoons from the museum shows that were fast, stupid jokes or slightly slower jokes that were quite filthy. They packed the rest of the program with other funny or gross films too low for the museum crowd. They marketed it to regular theaters, to be shown as a regular attraction, not the weekend midnight slot.
They’ve been at it so long they have created their own sub-genre (and I certainly don’t mean than in a derogatory way, unless that would make you more likely to attend, then yes, I mean “sub” in the most demeaning, degrading sense possible). Spike and Mike is now a learning tool, like a video game, that teaches you how to do something very specific, in this case to make a cartoon that can get past the gauntlet.
Consider if you will an audience. An audience of mostly men, like what you used to see at the San Diego Comic-Con. If the center wasn’t dry, a lot more of these people would be working on a cheap high, a perfect attitude for the gauntlet. They’ve been whipped up by having free t-shirts thrown at the crowd. They say, “Fuck Stoners,” or “I Fucked a Backstreet Boy;” a few are kind of rude. Then they’re ready for the gauntlet.
On this day in 1940, A Wild Hare was released in theaters, which was written by Rich Hogan, animated by Virgil Ross, and directed by Tex Avery. It was in this cartoon that Bugs Bunny first emerged from his rabbit hole to ask Elmer Fudd, now a hunter, “What’s up, Doc?" It was also the first meeting of the two characters, and the first cartoon where Mel Blanc uses the version of Bugs voice that would become famous worldwide.
The film would go on to get an Academy Award nomination for best short film, alongside Puss Gets The Boot, which introduced Tom and Jerry. Both lost to Citizen Kane.
Okay, technically Family Guy is a Sunday night cartoon rather than a Saturday morning one; let’s just go with it.
As you might imagine, Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy did not spring forth fully formed from the pen like Bosko The Clown did, there were earlier versions. Here we have Seth introducing a 1995 early presentation reel of a proto-Griffin that he developed while he was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, and yes, we have to warn you that it’s probably Not Safe For Work:
It’s been a while since I’ve seen truly interesting Saturday morning cartoons, so when I came across this, I thought I’d share it with you. This is a clip from Tex Avery’s Droopy’s Good Deed and is prefaced with a WARNING: NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
l can understand why this was cut from the versions of the cartoons I was raised on as a kid (cut right after the explosion) but it amazes me that it took me this long to even know that this existed.
We’re including the full cartoon after the jump, which has a few other snippets that seem unfamiliar to me. Enjoy.
As a contrast to all the Spider-Man stories this week, Alan Kistler sends us a quick update on other movies in the pipeline:
"This is an interesting week in terms of comic book movies and the like.
Iron Man director Jon Favreau has confirmed that Jeff Bridges will be shaving his head to play the role of Obadiah Stane, who in the comics was a wealthy, sociopathic industrialist who took Tony Stark’s company and manipulated the recovering alcoholic into drinking again.
Rumors are flying that Sarah Michelle Gellar is up for the role of Harley Quinn in the upcoming Batman sequel The Dark Knight, but this has yet to be confirmed by anyone.
And "Moriarty" at Ain’tItCoolNews has posted up a review of an advanced screening of The Transformers. The review is full of spoilers concerning plot, so if you want the gist without having the story ruined for you, here are the highlights:
Sounds like a great report to me. Here’s hoping the movie lives up to the hype."
One of my favorite bloggers, Jon Swift, stepped out of satirical mode for a post to excoriate Chris Muir, a radical reactionary strip cartoonist who recently drew Hillary Clinton in blackface to mock a recent speech given by the Senator in which she quoted a Negro spiritual by affecting a cadence that didn’t sound quite right coming from a white upper-class woman. (Lots of folks from all ends of the political spectrum were able to mock that same speech snippet without adding insult to injury.)
Swift noted, "If Chris Muir drew Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, for example, he wouldn’t have bothered drawing a panel showing Lucy pulling the football away at the last minute when Charlie Brown tries to kick it. That would be too Old School for him. Instead, Muir would just have Lucy say, ‘Democrats always pull the football away at the last minute when you are trying to kick it, Charlie Brown.’ Lucy and Charlie Brown would also probably be in their underwear." His commenters responded by issuing a challenge to bloggers to "Show us how Chris Muir would do your favourite newspaper, comic book or web comic!"
Lots of popular liberal bloggers have already responded, including Chris Clark (For Better or For Muir), skippy the bush kangaroo (who riffs on Muir with Mutts) and Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon, who I think captures Muir’s zeitgeit perfectly with this apology to Aaron McGruder:
Can the liberal comics blogosphere rise to the occasion as well? Stay tuned!
Late last year, Fantagraphics released the first in their series of books reprinting E.C. Segar’s work on Popeye, one of comics’ greatest creations. This summer, Warner Home Video will be releasing something of a companion volume: Popeye The Sailor 1933 – 1938, as produced by Max Fleischer under the direction of Dave Fleischer.
It took three classic creators and one classic creation to birth a true American icon.
The Warners box set is expected to contain all 60 Fleischer cartoons produced during this period in their original and uncut form, starting with Betty Boop Meets Popeye The Sailor, our hero’s cinematic debut. The set will also include extras and documentaries, including histories of both Popeye and of the Fleischer Studios.
Because the cartoons will be unedited from their original form, the box set is likely to carry a "This Compilation is Intended for the Adult Collector and May Not Be Suitable for Children" disclaimer, according to tvshowsondvd.com/ Popeye 1933 – 1938 will retail at $65 and is expected to be out on July 31.
According to an announcement from the Hearst Corporation, King Features Syndicate editor-in-chief Jay Kennedy died yesterday while on vacation in Costa Rica. He was 50 years old.
"Jay had a profound impact on the transformation of King Features as a home for the best new and talented comic strip creators in the country," said Bruce L. Paisner, executive vice president, Hearst Entertainment & Syndication. "He was an extremely creative talent himself and we are indebted to him for all he did."
Kennedy joined King Features in 1988 as deputy comics editor and became comics editor one year later. He was named editor in chief in 1997. He previously served as cartoon editor of Esquire magazine,and was a humor book agent and a cartoon consultant and editor for magazines and publishers, including People. In 1985, Kennedy guest edited r the "European Humor" issue of The National Lampoon.
Kennedy wrote articles about the history of cartooning, and profiled cartoonists and contemporary comics for magazines including New Age Journal, Heavy Metal, New York, The IGA Journal, and Escape, an English bi-monthly. He was also the author of "The Underground Comix Guide," published in 1982.
Before graduating with a sociology degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Kennedy studied sculpting and conceptual art at The School of Visual Arts in New York City.
I recall having corresponded with Kennedy on several occasions, probably asking some questions or other about women cartoonists at King Features, and always found him knowledgeable and pleasant. ComicMix offfers our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.
Worth1000 is running one of their periodic Photoshop contests. This time, the contestants are asked to update an old painting, placing a cartoon character in the original work.
Pictured at right, we present The Dancing Hippo by Degas. Soundtrack, of course, by Allan Sherman.
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