Channel Frederator Blog

The Daily Mail is running a story about the top ten “tear jerker” films of all time. I thought it was interesting that three of the top ten films listed were animated, with two in the top three, and an animated film took the top spot.

What’s your “tear jerker” cartoon moment?

-Floyd Bishop

This is a real project.

When supervillain Tan-Gu invites the world’s most notorious bad guys to his island fortress to compete in an Olympic-style tournament of evil, the fate of the free world hangs in the balance. For the Anti-Evil Task Force there’s only one man who can stop Tan-Gu and save mankind: Kung Fu Magoo!

This feature length film stars the beloved Mr. Magoo and his 12 year-old nephew Justin as they dodge giant robotic spiders, ninjas on jet skis, and Tan-Gu’s mutant “Beasteens” (half animal, half teenage girl!) — and that’s before the Evil-lympics even begin! With competitions like the 100-meter Destructive Rampage, Laser Cage Wrestling, and the Evil Egg and Spoon Race, Justin must work double-time to help his uncle stay in the competition and avoid danger at every turn.

I haven’t seen the film, but I can’t imagine Mr Magoo doing Kung Fu. It sounds like someone [Read more…]

Tonight’s airing of “The Simpsons” will mark the start of it’s 20th season on the air. This ties the record held by “Gunsmoke”. The series is still going strong in the eyes of Emmy voters, picking up it’s 10th Emmy for Outstanding Animated Series.

To put the longetivity into perspective, I was in 8th grade when the series started after a run of hilarious short segments on “The Tracey Ullman Show”. I’ll be 33 this year. That’s an impressive run.

Watch America’s favorite yellow family when they start their new season tonight on Fox, 8 ET/PT.

-Floyd Bishop

Adam Koford over at Drawn! has posted a great link to Alex Toth art. While some of it has been seen elsewhere, there are some great unpublished pieces. It would be great to see artwork of this caliber in a modern television series.

-Floyd Bishop

Disney will be releasing “Sleeping Beauty” on Blu Ray disc in October. The title will also be available on DVD.

In production from 1951 until the end of 1958, this film set a record for the longest production schedule in the studio’s history. This record was later tied by “The Black Cauldron”. Featuring elaborate backgrounds and a much more angular character design, this film was initially no favorite of critics.

While the film seems to drag in some spots, it gives us perhaps one of the best villains in animation, Maleficant.

Maleficant is pure evil, from here color scheme, to her voice by Eleanor Audley (also the voice of Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion), and animation by Marc Davis. In my opinion, the film is worth the purchase price just to see her in action in HD.

-Floyd Bishop

While I was moving this weekend, I saw some of my kids toys rolling around in a basket, and a song popped into my head. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but I thought about it a while and remembered something about Sesame Street. Thirty some years ago, this clip somehow cemented itself deep into the recesses of my brain, only to show up in a YouTube search.

What kind of animation related things are rolling around in your heads?

-Floyd Bishop

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In honor of Labor Day, enjoy this early Disney cartoon, “Alice’s Egg Plant”—from the Alice series, natch! The portrayal of Little Red Henski (a Communist Rooster set on unionizing the factory) is extra amusing, considering Walt’s later run-in with the Cartoonists Strike of 1941.

—Anne D. Bernstein

Mel Blanc radio shows are available for downloading on this page of The Internet Archive. The scripts are extremely corny, but it’s worth it to hear dozens upon dozens of voices coming out of the mouth of one of the all-time amazing audio artistes.

After making an impact playing various characters on Jack Benny’s radio show (including the voice of Benny’s car, Maxwell) Mel was given his own program and The Mel Blanc Show ran from September 3, 1946 to June 24, 1947. Blanc didn’t play all the supporting characters, as guest voices included Jim Backus (later the voice of Mr. Magoo) and Bea Benaderet (later the voice of Betty Rubble on The Flintstones).

Mel starred as the owner of a Fix-It Shop (yes, such things did once exist!) A typical episode would find Mel facing some sort of relationship complication with his girlfriend Betty (Mary Jane Croft, who appeared as Betty Ramsey on I Love Lucy). But it [Read more…]

In 1953, Disney released “Ben and Me”. This Oscar winning short was adapted from the children’s book of the same title, by Robert Lawson. While the book was based on more historical fact, the film aims for entertainment. The film serves both as a sort of biography of Ben Franklin, and an overview of the American revolution.

Have a great Fourth of July weekend, and don’t throw fire crackers with your animating hand!

-Floyd Bishop