Monthly Archives: July 2010

by Thad | July 27, 2010 · 6:06 pm

Situation Normal: All Fucked Up

For a change of pace (namely positivity), what is sure to be the classic animation release of the year is Steve Stanchfield’s Thunderbean Animation collection of Private Snafu cartoons. Steve has practically moved heaven and earth to make sure that these things look as great as they possibly can, using mostly 35mm negative source material. I bought a copy of the preview disc he offered for sale at the GAC Forums, and I can safely say that these things look as good as the black-and-white restorations on Warner Home Video’s Golden Collections. I believe that the final disc will contain all of the Snafu shorts produced at Schlesinger’s/Warners, minus Secrets of the Caribbean, which remains lost. (Steve, correct me if I’m wrong.)

Along with just looking excellent, this collection will arguably have the most re-watchability out of all the Thunderbean releases because of its sheer entertainment value. These are not second-rate shorts cranked out for the Army, nor are they strictly educational bluster (well, a rare few are). They are hilarious, beautifully animated cartoons by the greatest studio during what was their most innovative period, and are just as successful comedies as anything they were doing for general exhibition.* Ted Geisel, the head writer of the shorts, was a perfect match for the Termite Terrace boys, and we can be grateful Disney was too greedy for its own good in bidding for the Snafu series (they wanted to own the character outright, and any merchandising rights), so history was not denied this pairing.

I’d go as far as to argue that Chuck Jones’s Spies and Bob Clampett’s Fighting Tools rank as some of the studio’s best work ever. Friz Freleng’s Rumors is probably the wildest film he ever did, and Frank Tashlin has the gall to tease even military boys with camera angles to obscure women’s breasts. What I’d really like to see discovered now are more of the Seaman Hook cartoons Warners did for the Navy, as only three (by Jones, Clampett, and McKimson in his directorial debut) are known to exist now. (There has to be at least one Freleng one, and a Tashlin one existing is not unlikely.) Who knows, researchers (okay, who the hell am I kidding, a researcher) have been more successful in finding animation artifacts in the last five years than thirty.

I’m not sure of a final release date, but once Steve gives the say-so, I’ll post it here. Below is an alright copy of the aforementioned Fighting Tools. Top-notch direction from Clampett and his animators at in excellent form. There’s even a gay mouse too (animated by Virgil Ross).

* – Though I can verify at least one Snafu, Tashlin’s The Home Front, was released theatrically, because I had seen a print at one time that was clearly identified as a theatrical print. The word “nuts” in the phrase, “freeze the nuts off a jeep”, was muted.

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Filed under classic animation

by Thad | July 25, 2010 · 8:24 pm

“I got[tfredson]s a bone to pick wit youse mugs.”

Via Jaime Weinman, I caught the news announced at Comic-Con (I tend to avoid any and all news associated with the place involuntarily) that Fantagraphics is planning to print the entire run of Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse daily continuities. That’s a beautiful thought, but they may be ultimately promising more than they can deliver. (We’re still waiting on those Pogo books.)

There’s a lot of dilemmas in reprinting a library set devoted to Gottfredson, which is why there hasn’t been a steady supply of them reprinted in America since Bruce Hamilton had the Disney license in the 1980s (before he went insane). It wasn’t for a lack of trying, as Gary Groth may be implying with his backhanded dig at Gemstone. Firstly, as addressed by Groth, a complete collection would include some genuinely racist material. There’s no dodging or spinning the issue. Most of the black characters are presented as dumber and uglier than dogshit in Gottfredson’s world, and, for a change, I completely sympathize with Disney’s nervousness about printing the more notorious stories.

Secondly, the sources for the strips will need to be seriously cleaned up for modern printing. Bad printing has ruined many a great Disney story in the past. I sincerely hope they take the necessary time to do justice to Gottfredson’s work.

Thirdly, and yes, objectively, most of the continuities after 1950 are very forgettable, which may be why Groth misremembered that 1955 was the last time a continuing storyline was used in the dailies. That doesn’t mean they will sell bad. On the contrary, they could sell wonderful, as save one 1952 continuity, none of the 1950s stories have been reprinted in the United States. The mileage on these stories will vary depending on the individual’s tolerance of hackneyed writing and drawing.

Fourth, final, and foremost, we’re talking about the Disney Corporation here. There will be guaranteed bottlenecks in the production. Some high-up won’t like how Mickey addresses Minnie in one story, or doesn’t like the brutality of Pete in another, or doesn’t like the cleavage showing on a femme fatale, and ask for changes, even though the number of minors actually buying the books will be in the single digits. Stuff won’t move, more delays will occur, and we might actually see Pogo Volume 1 before Mickey Volume 1.

It would really be wonderful to have all of these things in a nice bound volume (ala Barks, Kurtzman, Martin, etc.), but I wouldn’t hold your breath on anything positive having to do with the Wonderful World of Disney getting accomplished. I would like more than anything to be proven wrong, as Floyd Gottfredson was one of the most gifted of all 20th century storytellers, and a complete collection of his work is badly needed.

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Filed under comics, floyd gottfredson

by Thad | July 20, 2010 · 9:55 pm

Enough

I’ve refrained from seriously commenting on the many things wrong with the frenzy-provoking promo material for Cartoon Network’s The Looney Tunes Show, but with the premiere of actual footage, and being a certified Looney Tunes whore, I can’t help myself.

1. The character designs are awful. Not to hurt feelings, but they are. Far worse officially sanctioned renderings of the characters exist (just look at just about any drawing in the 1970s or 1980s or anything Chuck Jones drew past 1980), but saying that they aren’t the worst ever isn’t a compliment. The classics were designed by seasoned professionals who had a grasp on what the animators could handle and use to the funniest effect. (Not to mention knowledge of perspective and anatomy, something lacking completely in these new designs.) I didn’t like The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries or Duck Dodgers (or know of anyone who actually did) but they at least looked like professionals attempting to get the classic look (but still failing – sincere charm is an underrated element in Warner animation that nobody seems capable of capturing). This kind of stuff should be kept at Deviantart – end of story.

2. The CGI animation in the preview is also awful. Nobody is expecting The Incredibles, but at least make it look good if you actually want these things on the air forever.

3. Korean animation. I have serious problems with the whole overseas game, the major one being the sheer artlessness of it. These are the greatest cartoon characters of all time, and sending them to be animated 6,000 miles away by people who work on a piecemeal basis and don’t even speak English (psst… that’s why there’s no such thing as lip-sync anymore) is only a guarantee of failure.

4. Daffy’s voice. It doesn’t sound anything like him, and it’s definitely not Joe Alaskey or Jeff Bergman, who usually voice the character in new animations. I guess that brings me to my #1 reason why new Looney Tunes cartoons should not be made is the fact that Mel Blanc is dead and he’s not coming back. Blanc was inarguably attached to these characters and responsible for their popularity more than any other artist, and when he died, the characters died with him. It simply wasn’t the same with characters at other studios, except for Daws Butler. Therefore, doing a new Bugs Bunny cartoon makes about as much since as doing a new Chaplin or Laurel & Hardy picture. A voice actor who has done recreations of the voices (but not on this show) told me personally that “those characters should have been buried in the 50s.” So when it’s coming from somebody who gets income out of these rehashes, you know it’s true.

5. It’s not funny. And it won’t be funny. If this is what they’re picking to entice potential viewers, then it’s going to be very bad, face it. The Coyote clip is predictable, and the bit with Bugs and Daffy is just lame. Why would Daffy need to ask Bugs if “What’s Up Doc?” is his “thing” with their extensive history together? Is that their attempt at humor? Why would Daffy Duck be worried about “stepping on any toes” if he doesn’t have a gun to his head at the very least? If you’re going to work with the greatest cartoon characters of all time, be sure you know how to write. Then again, we already knew from the get-go you didn’t have to know how to draw, so I guess anything’s game.

My unseasoned, unprofessional advice: just put the old ones on and give artists money to do new things. To prove a point, here’s a recreated version of The Looney Tunes Show with two completely random classic clips chosen. Not even the best gags or lines. Place yourself as a four year old for just one second – which ad makes you want to actually watch these characters?

I’ll concede that I’m not the best example as I was not a normal child, but I bought all the Warner Consumer Products as a kid because I liked watching the originals on Nickelodeon, ABC, and TNT. If they want to make money off people buying crap based on classic characters again, they should start by showcasing the things that made them classic characters in the first place – not crap.

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Filed under crap, modern animation

by Thad | July 7, 2010 · 7:50 pm

Down to Girth

Here we have a Fox & Crow story drawn by Jim Davis that eerily predates modern dietary methods. This one gets extremely far-out, even for this series, with its gratuitous morbid obesity, cannibalism, and heads naturally made of iron. I’ve spent some time reacquainting myself with these guys lately, and most of the ones from roughly 1948-54 still hold up as the best funny animal comics DC published.