Meta: John Kricfalusi Writes...

Our cartoon heritage is quickly disappearing from history. You don't see many classic cartoons on television anymore- certainly not black and white cartoons. The Golden Age of Cartoons, classified by historians to be generally from 1928 to 1960 is dominated in most people's minds by Walt Disney's features and the Warner Bros. cartoons, which are often seen in "restored" edited, cut and recolored versions that don't look like the films as they were created by the original artists.

There's a lot more to the story... There were many lesser-known studios that contributed to the development of cartoons as well: the Fleischers, Terrytoons, Famous Studios, and Columbia. Wonderful cartoons made by these studios and many others are almost completely impossible to see anymore. You can find a few bad prints of public domain cartoons on cheapie DVDs, but the vast library of classics has practically vanished from history and worse, from the attention of new audiences that could enjoy them and young cartoonists that could benefit from them.

Animators today have a very hard time finding the best cartoons ever made to help them learn and be proud of their craft.



The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is coming to our rescue. Stephen Worth, with the help of private collectors, is amassing a huge collection of classic cartoons and logging them by studio and chronology to make these lost films available to the public, while the owners of the cartoons are just letting them collect dust in vaults.

At the Archive, not only can you view the cartoons, you can also see a great collection of cartoon related art- art that inspired many of the animators of the past. Children's book illustrations, comic books, comic strips... it's all there. ASIFA-Hollywood is also collecting interviews and articles about cartoonists, animators and illustrators to tell the history of animation through the stories of the artists who created it.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is something I wish I had when I was a kid. It's an invaluable storehouse of lost techniques from an artform that developed to its highest peak during the 30s to the 50s.

If you can't physically visit the Archive facility in Burbank, the Archive has a great blog that features samples of all the stuff and informative articles about the artists. The address of it is www.animationarchive.org.

To a cartoonist or cartoon fan, the archive is our Louvre! Thanks to Steve and all the collectors who have contributed and to all the good folks at ASIFA-Hollywood for making it happen!

John Kricfalusi

To contribute, please see the... Contribution Categories Page

Donate online using our PayPal button...

To join ASIFA-Hollywood, please see the Membership Page

Contributions can be sent to...

ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
2114 W Burbank Bl
Burbank, CA 91506

When contributing to this project, please write ARCHIVE DONATION on the subject line of your check.

Stumble It!