ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

Voice Acting: The Stan Freberg Show 1957

2009-11-03T17:44:00.000-08:00

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 4 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great biographies of important artists.

Daws Butler and Stan Freberg accept the
Emmy Award for "Time For Beany".
Archive supporter, Rich Borowy has been contributing some wonderful material to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Here's another one of his treasures... the premiere episode of the legendary short lived radio musical variety show created by Stan Freberg.

In the Summer of 1957, CBS debuted a comedy program to replace The Jack Benny Program. It starred Captiol recording artist Stan Freberg, with support from veteran voice artists like Daws Butler, Marvin Miller and June Foray. The show exhibited all aspects of Freberg's unique sense of humor from goofy cartooniness to biting satire. This episode contains liberal doses of both, and includes his classic riff on Cold War politics, titled "Los Voraces" ("The Greedy Ones"). Freberg's sharp wit and his refusal to accept commercials for cigarettes didn't endear him to advertisers, and the show was cancelled after only fifteen episodes. But it made an indelible mark on many fans in re-release on records.

This particular recording is unique, because it includes off-air introductions by Stan before the show and a pickup of a musical cue at the end. It's a tribute to the professionalism of the performers and the musical director, Billy May when you realize that this elaborate program was performed live from beginning to end in front of a studio audience.

Enjoy the genius of Freberg!

The Stan Freberg Show
(CBS Radio/July 9th, 1957)
(AAC Audio File / 90kbps-44.1kHz / Mono / 42 minutes / 30.25 mb)

Thanks for contributing this, Rich!

Fans of the great Stan Freberg won't want to be without this great four CD box set, The Tip of the Freberg, which includes many of his greatest recordings. Get it at Amazon!

If you enjoyed this article, you'll also want to check out these articles... Mel Blanc on Advertising, Profile of Carlo Vinci, John K on Flintstones Animators, Bugs Bunny In Coronet Magazine, Ward Kimball In Escapade Magazine, UPA Done Right, The Pencil Test of Art Babbitt's Best Scene, A Drawing Lesson From Walter Lantz, and Remembering Berny Wolf

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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FREE EBOOK: Zim's Cartoons and Caricatures Part 09 of 20

2009-10-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

Before we get to today's post, a couple of announcements... We will begin deleting the earlier posts in this series next week, so if you haven't downloaded them yet, do it now. Also, we have only 15 sets of the Zim Cartooning Course left. We may not be able to get more copies before Christmas, so if you hope to have them under your tree, order now. Thanks!

This is the ninth of twenty posts where we plan to post a complete set of high resolution scans of Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures, or Making The World Laugh (1910). These 100 pages are packed with great cartoons, helpful drawing tips, technical information and business advice for the aspiring cartoonist. Most importantly, Zim passes along his unique philosophy of life, and offers a shining example of how an artistic career as a caricaturist can be incorporated into a person's lifestyle. At the time this book was written, Zim had thirty years of experience under his belt, and had attained the highest level in his field. For more information, see the Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures page.

Every week, we will post five more pages, but they will be deleted from our server after 30 days, so download them while you can. To save the images to your hard drive, right click on the image (or CONTROL click if you are using a Mac) and select "SAVE IMAGE AS". To see all of the currently available pages, see the ZIMEBOOK Tag.

If you haven't downloaded previous entries, please do so immediately. I am going to start expiring links to earlier posts soon. Check back next week for more pages from this rare book.

If you enjoy this ebook and would like to see more, consider purchasing Zim's Correspondence School of Cartooning, Comic Art & Caricature, a complete course in cartooning available in two volumes. The books are beautifully printed and include more than 700 pages with nearly 1,000 B&W illustrations and 22 hand-tipped color plates. Proceeds from the sale of this course goes to support the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. For more information, see the Zim Online Exhibit page.
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Illustration: Bozo And His Rocket Ship

2009-10-25T18:16:00.001-07:00

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 3 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about 50s children's book illustrators.

In 1946, a young producer at Capitol Records, Alan Livingston was assigned the task of developing a children's line for the fledgling record company. He came up with the idea of a read-along record and book set featuring a circus clown named Bozo. The album, Bozo At The Circus sold over a million copies, and helped to push Capitol to the top of the charts.

Livingston went on to create read-along sets featuring DIsney, Lantz and Warner Bros characters, but the most successful line was the Bozo series. Voiced by Disney story and voice man, Pinto Colvig with music by Billy May, Livingston wrote and produced Bozo On The Farm, Bozo And The Birds, Bozo Under The Sea, and this one... Bozo And His Rocket Ship. All of the sets were re-released in the LP era, but this one was heavily edited, for obvious reasons. In this album, Bozo makes a survey of just about every ethnic stereotype imaginable. But that isn't the reason we're presenting it here. We're featuring the wonderful work of the illustrators, Norm McCabe and Cecil Beard.

McCabe was an animator at Warner Bros in the 30s and directed in the early 40s. After the war, he turned to commercial work and illustration. He returned to cartoon animation in the mid-1960s, animating the titles to The Pink Panther. He continued to work in the business until his death in 2006. Cecil Beard was an animator and story man at Disney and Columbia. He worked on the Fox & the Crow comic books with Jim Davis in the late 40s, and as an illustrator for Western Publishing in the 1960s. He passed away in 1986.

The most striking thing about these images are the compositions. Notice how the white of the page is used and how small windows in the backgrounds open onto other environments. There's some really clever use of perspective and depth cues here. Enjoy!

If you found this to be useful, see also... Rojankovsky's Frog Went A Courting, Tibor Gergely's A Day In The Jungle, Gustaf Tenggren's The Little Trapper, Uncle Remus Stories Part One and Part Two, Little Verses Part One, Part Two and The New Golden Song Book Part One, Part Two and Part Three, and Huckleberry Hound Builds A House.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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Filmography: Gandy and Sourpuss in Aladdin's Lamp

2009-10-23T12:49:00.001-07:00

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 7 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great cartoons to study.

Over at John Kricfalusi's blog, All Kinds of Stuff, John posted an appreciation Gandy Goose and Sourpuss- the cartoon comedy team that were one of the inspirations for Ren & Stimpy.

I've long thought that the Gandy Goose cartoons are underappreciated. They're funny, well animated and have a great deal of variety. The early ones, in particular "Doomsday", have lavish production values. "Aladdin's Lamp" is a typical wartime short featuring the duo, and it includes a great jitterbug dance sequence by Carlo Vinci. Vinci's hand is evident throughout this short.

Gandy Goose & Sourpuss in
Aladdin's Lamp (Terry/1943)
(Quicktime 7 / 14.5 megs)

PLEASE NOTE The text and media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood.

If you found this post to be interesting, you'll also want to check out our... Profile of Carlo Vinci, The Training Of A Golden Age Animator, Carlo Vinci Notes, The Terry-Toons Studio Tour, Tytla and Terry: Jeckyl & Hyde Cat, The Temperamental Lion 1940, Catnip Capers 1940, Jim Tyer's Barnyard Actor 1955 and Terrytoons Lobby Cards

Many thanks to John Kricfalusi for donating this great cartoon to our archive.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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Re: Online Drawing Lessons

2009-10-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

Recently, John Kricfalusi decided to make his blog available to be viewed by invitation only. I am working with John to make the lesson posts from his blog available to students who want to work from his articles. It will take a few days to work out the details, so please be patient.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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FREE EBOOK: Zim's Cartoons and Caricatures Part 08 of 20

2009-10-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

Before we get to today's post, a couple of announcements... We will begin deleting the earlier posts in this series next week, so if you haven't downloaded them yet, do it now. Also, we have only 15 sets of the Zim Cartooning Course left. We may not be able to get more copies before Christmas, so if you hope to have them under your tree, order now. Thanks!

This is the eighth of twenty posts where we plan to post a complete set of high resolution scans of Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures, or Making The World Laugh (1910). These 100 pages are packed with great cartoons, helpful drawing tips, technical information and business advice for the aspiring cartoonist. Most importantly, Zim passes along his unique philosophy of life, and offers a shining example of how an artistic career as a caricaturist can be incorporated into a person's lifestyle. At the time this book was written, Zim had thirty years of experience under his belt, and had attained the highest level in his field. For more information, see the Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures page.

Every week, we will post five more pages, but they will be deleted from our server after 30 days, so download them while you can. To save the images to your hard drive, right click on the image (or CONTROL click if you are using a Mac) and select "SAVE IMAGE AS". To see all of the currently available pages, see the ZIMEBOOK Tag.

If you haven't downloaded previous entries, please do so immediately. I am going to start expiring links to earlier posts soon. Check back next week for more pages from this rare book.

If you enjoy this ebook and would like to see more, consider purchasing Zim's Correspondence School of Cartooning, Comic Art & Caricature, a complete course in cartooning available in two volumes. The books are beautifully printed and include more than 700 pages with nearly 1,000 B&W illustrations and 22 hand-tipped color plates. Proceeds from the sale of this course goes to support the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. For more information, see the Zim Online Exhibit page.
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Biography: Milton Caniff and Norman Rockwell in Coronet

2009-10-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about comics.

The Milton Caniff Estate recently loaned the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive copies of two issues of Coronet magazine from 1942 and 1947 to digitize. Here are three articles of interest to cartoonists and illustrators...

AMERICA'S PIONEER JAP FIGHTER
By Howard Whitman

NORMAN ROCKWELL: The People's Painter
By Jack H. Pollack

CONFESSIONS OF A COMIC STRIP ARTIST
By Milton Caniff

Thanks to John Ellis and the estate of Milton Caniff for sharing this with us!

If you enjoyed this post, see... Coronet Magazine December 1945, Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon Sunday Pages, Steve Canyon Dalies, People On Paper, Byrnes' Complete Guide To Cartooning Part One- Meet The Men Behind the Comics and Part Two- Studying Comic Strips, Dispatch From Disney's Part One and Part Two, Propaganda Part One and Part Two, Dan Gordon's Superkatt, Rube Goldberg's Side Show and Alex Toth Model Sheets

STEVE CANYON TV SHOW

The Steve Canyon Special Edition DVD is out now! To order it and for more info on the Steve Canyon TV show, see... www.stevecanyondvd.blogspot.com

STEVE CANYON AT AMAZON

Fantagraphics has a great book on Caniff's career, and Checker has released year by year reprints of the classic Steve Canyon strip. Caniff was a master storyteller, and the first few years of Steve Canyon are examples of his genius at the height of its powers. Click on the pictures for more info.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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FREE EBOOK: Zim's Cartoons and Caricatures Part 07 of 20

2009-10-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

Before we get to today's post, a couple of announcements... We will begin deleting the earlier posts in this series next week, so if you haven't downloaded them yet, do it now. Also, we have only 15 sets of the Zim Cartooning Course left. We may not be able to get more copies before Christmas, so if you hope to have them under your tree, order now. Thanks!

This is the seventh of twenty posts where we plan to post a complete set of high resolution scans of Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures, or Making The World Laugh (1910). These 100 pages are packed with great cartoons, helpful drawing tips, technical information and business advice for the aspiring cartoonist. Most importantly, Zim passes along his unique philosophy of life, and offers a shining example of how an artistic career as a caricaturist can be incorporated into a person's lifestyle. At the time this book was written, Zim had thirty years of experience under his belt, and had attained the highest level in his field. For more information, see the Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures page.

Every week, we will post five more pages, but they will be deleted from our server after 30 days, so download them while you can. To save the images to your hard drive, right click on the image (or CONTROL click if you are using a Mac) and select "SAVE IMAGE AS". To see all of the currently available pages, see the ZIMEBOOK Tag.

If you haven't downloaded previous entries, please do so immediately. I am going to start expiring links to earlier posts soon. Check back next week for more pages from this rare book.

If you enjoy this ebook and would like to see more, consider purchasing Zim's Correspondence School of Cartooning, Comic Art & Caricature, a complete course in cartooning available in two volumes. The books are beautifully printed and include more than 700 pages with nearly 1,000 B&W illustrations and 22 hand-tipped color plates. Proceeds from the sale of this course goes to support the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. For more information, see the Zim Online Exhibit page.
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Meta: Over Three Million Served

2009-10-13T19:15:00.001-07:00

Today, our hit counter registered the three millionth visitor to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.

Advertising: Bob Kurtz Commercials

2009-10-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

Today, we had a visit from Director/Story Man/Designer Bob Kurtz. Bob started out working on The Alvin Show, Roger Ramjet and Linus the Lionhearted, and went on to a long and distinguished career directing commercials. He was kind enough to contribute copies of his commercials to our collection, and promised to come back again soon to do a taped interview for the blog. He's currently preparing a program on animated commercials for the Cinemateque in Hollywood. It's scheduled for early November. I'll let you know the specifics soon. In the meantime, check out this reel of great commercials from Kurtz & Friends...

Kurtz & Friends Historical Reel (1970s-80s)
(Quicktime 7 / 37.2 megs)

PLEASE NOTE The text and media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood.

Many thanks to Bob Kurtz for stopping by and sharing this with us.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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Animation: The History of the Chipmunks

2009-10-09T17:16:00.001-07:00

Two of my best friends, Michael Woodside and Danny Young, are hard at work at Rhythm & Hues putting the finishing touches on animation for the upcoming Alvin & the Chipmunks "squeakquel". I got my start in animation at Bagdasarian Productions producing the NBC Saturday morning series myself, so I've always been interested in the history of the Chipmunks. It's a real-life rags to riches story.

Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (who went by the stage name "David Seville") was an actor who appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and on Broadway in William Saroyan's Time of Your Life. He wrote novelty dialect songs, including Rosemary Clooney's huge hit "Come On-A My House", and released a few records but his successes never seemed to result in very much money in his pocket. He bought a tape recorder with his last $200 and played around with shifting the speeds, coming up with a novelty song titled "Witch Doctor". He got the single released and two weeks later, he found himself appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show performing the song.

The success of "Witch Doctor" gave him the idea of creating characters with sped up voices, so he quickly knocked out a Christmas demo titled "The Chipmunk Song" and took it to record executives Simon "Sy" Waronker, Theodore "Ted" Keep and Alvin "Al" Bennett at Liberty Records. The label was close to bankruptcy, but Bagdasarian convinced them that they might as well press Chipmunk singles with the leftover vinyl pucks and labels in their warehouse rather than just turn the unused stock over to the bank when the business went under. Production commenced and in just a few months leading up to Christmas of 1958, the record shot to the top of the charts, becoming one of the best selling singles of all time. Bagdasarian won two Grammy Awards, Liberty Records was saved from bankruptcy, and the Chipmunks became a household name with children all over the world.

In 1962, the string of successful Chipmunk LP records led to a television series produced by Format Films. Story man Leo Salkin was the Associate Producer, working closely with Bagdasarian and a team of story artists to sketch up animated adaptations of the record routines and new stories featuring the characters. In his youth, Bagdasarian would take road trips across country with his cousin William Saroyan, singing songs and coming up with wild stories the whole way. One eccentric character they came up with on one of these trips was Clyde Crashcup, an inventor who only invented things that had already been invented. Salkin expanded on the premise and created a regular feature for it on the show.

Ross Bagdasarian Sr. sat alongside Music Director Johnny Mann on the piano bench humming out tunes for Mann to pick out on the piano and write down as musical notation. Jules Engel was the Art Director for the series, creating simple stylized backgrounds that set the tone for the whole series. Alan Zaslove, Gil Turner, Rudy Larriva and Osmond Evans directed the series, substituting clever rhythmic timing and spirited poses for inbetweens and smooth animation.

Even though it only ran for one season, The Alvin Show was one of the best television cartoons of the era. It was unique because it didn't rely on the crutch of dialogue to make up for the limited animation. Instead, the show was built around music, clever timing and design. Like UPA's Gerald McBoing Boing Show, many of the musical segments featured abstract animation and modern background paintings. But unlike the Gerald McBoing Boing Show, The Alvin Show always remained entertaining and fun- never didactic or self important. The voice cast included Bagdasarian as David Seville and the Chipmunks and Shepherd Menken as Clyde Crashcup. along with June Foray, Don Messick and Joe Besser as incidental characters.

Ross Bagdasarian Sr. retired the Chipmunks in 1969, but by then he was a very wealthy man with a booming grape growing business. At one point, Bagdasarian's fields were the largest supplier of grapes to Gallo Wines. He passed away from a heart attack in 1972. His son, Ross Jr. took over the franchise in 1980, creating more records- including the album "Chipmunk Punk", an NBC television series, prime time specials, and an animated feature- The Chipmunk Adventure. The character designs have varied widely over the years. The current CGI models look similar to the first incarnation of the characters, which appeared on record covers in 1958 and 1959. This Christmas, Fox will be releasing a new Chipmunks movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

"Are you all ready, Chipmunks?" "OOOOOoooooKAYYY!"

ALVIN SHOW PRESSBOOK

Simon may have read the dictionary,
but he still can't spell "incidentally" correctly!

ALVIN SHOW GREETING CARDS

I've posted on this show here in the past, so I am pulling together links to some of that older material into this post to give you a passel of great Chipmunk stuff to enjoy. Click through and check out all the amazing art...

JULES ENGEL'S COLOR KEYS

ALVIN SHOW PILOT STORYBOARD

THE WHISTLER STORYBOARD
Thanks!
Stephen Worth
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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FREE EBOOK: Zim's Cartoons and Caricatures Part 06 of 20

2009-10-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

Before we get to today's post, a couple of announcements... We will begin deleting the earlier posts in this series next week, so if you haven't downloaded them yet, do it now. Also, we have only 15 sets of the Zim Cartooning Course left. We may not be able to get more copies before Christmas, so if you hope to have them under your tree, order now. Thanks!

This is the sixth of twenty posts where we plan to post a complete set of high resolution scans of Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures, or Making The World Laugh (1910). These 100 pages are packed with great cartoons, helpful drawing tips, technical information and business advice for the aspiring cartoonist. Most importantly, Zim passes along his unique philosophy of life, and offers a shining example of how an artistic career as a caricaturist can be incorporated into a person's lifestyle. At the time this book was written, Zim had thirty years of experience under his belt, and had attained the highest level in his field. For more information, see the Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures page.

Every week, we will post five more pages, but they will be deleted from our server after 30 days, so download them while you can. To save the images to your hard drive, right click on the image (or CONTROL click if you are using a Mac) and select "SAVE IMAGE AS". To see all of the currently available pages, see the ZIMEBOOK Tag.

If you haven't downloaded previous entries, please do so immediately. I am going to start expiring links to earlier posts soon. Check back next week for more pages from this rare book.

If you enjoy this ebook and would like to see more, consider purchasing Zim's Correspondence School of Cartooning, Comic Art & Caricature, a complete course in cartooning available in two volumes. The books are beautifully printed and include more than 700 pages with nearly 1,000 B&W illustrations and 22 hand-tipped color plates. Proceeds from the sale of this course goes to support the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. For more information, see the Zim Online Exhibit page.
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Fundraiser: Iron Giant Reunion

2009-10-06T19:13:00.001-07:00

ASIFA-Hollywood invites you to attend...

IRON GIANT REUNION
Friday, October 23, 2009- 7:30 pm
Steven J. Ross Theater
Warner Bros Studio Lot
Burbank, CA

ASIFA-Hollywood will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of the 1999 animated masterpiece “The Iron Giant”, with an evening of lively discussion with some of the animators and crew members on Friday, October 23, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., at the Steven J. Ross Theater on the Warner Bros studio lot, in Burbank, California.

Parking will be at the Grant Parking Lot, on Barham Blvd across the street from Gate 2, near the Smoke House. Entrance will require photo- ID for WB Security.

The Event is Sold Out, however, a limited number of seats may become available. Please check back at this site. Ticket purchases are not refundable. We will be notifying ticket holders with confirmations by email soon. Parking is free. Proceeds benefit the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. This event is made possible by a generous grant from the Walter Lantz Foundation.

About The Iron Giant Reunion

ASIFA-Hollywood will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Annie Awards winning 1999 animated masterpiece "The Iron Giant", with an evening with lively discussion with some of the animators and crew members on Friday, October 23, 2009.

Among the many artists expected to attend will be writer and director Brad Bird, background artist Anne Guenther, art director Alan Bodner, lead animator Steve Markowski, and artistic coordinator Scott Johnston. The panel will be moderated by animator Tom Sito.

"The Iron Giant is one of those rare films that flawlessly merged CG with traditional animation and represented superior storytelling," said ASIFA-Hollywood Vice-President Tom Sito. "ASIFA-Hollywood wants to showcase the individuals who made the iconic film, and the event will be extra-special with a rare appearance by Brad Bird."
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Golden Book: Tibor Gergely's Early Children's Books

2009-09-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

Tibor Gergely was born in Budapest, Hungary, and studied and taught in Vienna before the War. He escaped the Nazis and relocated to New York City in 1939, along with his wife. He became a well known illustrator, creating covers for the New Yorker and illustrating countless Little Golden Books. The subjects of his children's books were often anthropomorphic automobiles, trucks, trains or boats. In his free time, Gergely was a fine artist, sketching and painting the city and small seaport towns in New England. In his own art, he was fascinated by bridges, in particular the Brooklyn Bridge. Perhaps the feeling of being planted with one foot in New York City and the other in his native Europe had something to do with that.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is fortunate to have been contacted by the heirs of Tibor Gergely. They have a treasure-house full of artwork that they plan to share with us. Check back with this blog in the coming weeks for more soon. To start out, here are two of Gergely's earliest children's books. On the surface, they appear very simple, but there is a great deal of thought in these compositions. Today, many children's book illustrations are cluttered and packed with details. Gergely was at his core a storyteller, so he keeps the illustrations clear enough that even very young children can follow the story.

"WATCH ME" SAID THE JEEP

THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE AUTO

Many thanks to Terry and Linda for sharing these books with us.

For more of Tibor Gergely's work, see Tibor Gergely's Golden Books Part One and Part Two

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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FREE EBOOK: Zim's Cartoons and Caricatures Part 05 of 20

2009-09-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

This is the fifth of twenty posts where we plan to post a complete set of high resolution scans of Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures, or Making The World Laugh (1910). These 100 pages are packed with great cartoons, helpful drawing tips, technical information and business advice for the aspiring cartoonist. Most importantly, Zim passes along his unique philosophy of life, and offers a shining example of how an artistic career as a caricaturist can be incorporated into a person's lifestyle. At the time this book was written, Zim had thirty years of experience under his belt, and had attained the highest level in his field. For more information, see the Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures page.

Every week, we will post five more pages, but they will be deleted from our server after 30 days, so download them while you can. To save the images to your hard drive, right click on the image (or CONTROL click if you are using a Mac) and select "SAVE IMAGE AS". To see all of the currently available pages, see the ZIMEBOOK Tag.

If you haven't downloaded previous entries, please do so immediately. I am going to start expiring links to earlier posts soon. Check back next week for more pages from this rare book.

If you enjoy this ebook and would like to see more, consider purchasing Zim's Correspondence School of Cartooning, Comic Art & Caricature, a complete course in cartooning available in two volumes. The books are beautifully printed and include more than 700 pages with nearly 1,000 B&W illustrations and 22 hand-tipped color plates. Proceeds from the sale of this course goes to support the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. For more information, see the Zim Online Exhibit page.
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Comics: Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds

2009-09-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.

Last week, archive supporter Marc Schirmeister stopped by with a stack of rare fanzines from the late 1960s and early 70s. Included among them were two great issues of Graphic Story Magazine devoted to Wolverton.

Here is an article Wolverton wrote in 1948 for the Daily Oregonian...

ACOUSTICS IN THE COMICS
By Basil Wolverton

The so called comic strip on my drawing board showed a heavy horse stepping on a bozo's bean. The horse was tramping on the guy's head in a delicate way, of course, so the situation would be more entertaining than grusome- depending on the reader's sense of humor. But, like an old silent movie, the cartoon needed something, and that something was sound. There had to be a heavily lettered word oozing out from the exact point of contact between the horse's hoofs and the man's head. Thus the reader, pronouncing that sound word to himself, would actually hear within his mind the excitingly comical noise that would eminate from such action.

Summoning both brain cells hurriedly together, I tried desperately to imagine just what sort of sound would ensue if a nag were to step on someone's skull. The word CRUNCH popped into my mind. Then CRONCH. Then CRANCH. I settled for CRANCH because somehow it seemed more refined. But before I could letter the word on the cartoon, I suddenly recalled my latest unhappy interview with the person who publishes my comic strips.

"I want realism!" he had bellowed. "No more of this wild imaginitive stuff that's causing some people to want to ban our comic books! From now on, get that realism in there, and your strips will be horribly funny! Then the readers will go into hysterics and laugh like crazy, and our books will be acclaimed the most laugh provoking on the stands!" That meant that an imaginative word like CRANCH was taboo. It was up to me to get the real sound word. I looked furtively about as a preposterous plan permeated my pate.

It was easy to rent a horse. It wasn't as easy to argue my brother in law into placing his pan on the pavement, and letting me ride the nag over his noggin. "Horses are so heavy!" he foolishly kept countering. "Besides, I have a cold sore." As he waddled away, I realized my plan was hopeless- until he stumbled over something in the street. Before he could pull his chin out of the asphalt, I had steered the rented mare over him, and her hind hoof scored a bull's eye on his bare bean.

The sound? It was far from CRANCH. The real thing turned out to be SLORNK. It was a sort of a slippery liquid sound. That was probably because my brother in law has oily skin and a thin skull. With the noxious noise fresh in mind, I streaked into my studio and feverishly lettered the word SLORNK boldly across the cartoon.

Weeks later the fan mail began pouring in. They all said the same thing. In fact, both of them were worded the same. The first one read "I want to congratulate you on that completely true to life cartoon you drew of the horse stepping on a man's head. The word SLORNK describing the sound was absolutely accurate. I know, because I am always getting my head stepped on by some careless nag." The second letter was the same as the first, except for the signature. I figured when I wrote them that there should be some difference. Otherwise the publisher might get wise when I showed them to him.

He was dumbfounded when he saw them. After recovering, he slapped me on my sunburn and rammed one of his dollar cigars into my mush. Unfortunately, he stuck the wrong end into my mouth. Besides, he was smoking it. "Two fan letters in eleven years" he murmured incredulously. "My boy, you have arrived! It's just like I predicted," my publisher beamed, "your horribly realistic sound words are paying off!"

I leaped on his desk. "Then I'm ripe for a raise?" I queried. peering so anxiously and closely into his red-rimmed readers that I could detect his wife's fingernail scratches on his contact lenses. Anticipation was causing me to quiver like a rat terrier with radio-active fleas on a cold day. The suspense was terrible. Finally he opened his trap. He was grinning. This was the day for which I had waited eleven long years. "It does not!" he roared, brushing me off his desk. "I was merely feeling pleased that at last you may be worth almost as much as I've been paying you!"

While I gathered my teeth up off the floor, he pointed at me demandingly. "If you want a raise, every one of your sound effect words will have to be absolutely authentic! In other words, don't draw a single sound word into your strips until you've actually staged the cartoon situation with real people and things!"

(Incidentally, you readers should stop worrying about my brother in law. Ever since the day the horse stepped on his head, he has had nothing but good luck. Why shouldn't he, what with a horseshoe embedded in the back of his bean? Furthermore, he's the only living person who can slide his head inside those record-in-the-slot phonographs without crushing his ears.)

My publisher pointed at me demandingly. "If you want a raise, every one of your sound effect words will have to be absolutely authentic! In other words, don't draw a single sound word into your strips until you've actually staged the cartoon situation with real people and things!"

As for my publisher's demands, they resulted in my running out of friends and relatives within a week. Neighbors complained about howls and screams emanating from the studio. People sued. The ASPCA hounded me. My wife and fourteen kids swore sudden allegiance to the Progressive party, then fled to Siberia.

Meanwhile, however, I managed to catalog hundreds of authentic sound words- enough to last me for a lifetime of cartooning, and enough I thought, to cover any and all comic situations, regardless of how terrible. I was so proud of my achievement that I showed the lengthy list to my publisher. Here are some of the more subtle sound words describing various clashings, crashings, slashings, bashings, hashings, mashings, etc. Read the situation, then voice the accompanying sound word to yourself, and note how vividly the picture then comes to your mind:

Pinheaded person pullingg pate out of a pop bottle: FOINK!
Glass eye falling into tomato soup: PLOOP!
Glass eye falling into a pitcher of thick syrup: PLOFF!
Man sitting on short tack: SQUINCH!
Man sitting on long tack: SQUONCH!
Uppers dropping in gob of putty: FLUP!

Hungry cannibal filing eyetooth: FWATCH!
Man with calloused feet crossing rough linoleum: SKIRP! SKIRP!
Thumb gouging eye: SPOP!
Hot lava speweing on WCTU convention: FOOSK!
Hot lava spewing on Elks' convention: SSSCRISH!
Person skidding on hot stove in bare feet: SCREESH!
Beaver biting into wooden leg: CRASP!
Car crashing into large vat of frogs' eggs: SKWORP!
False teeth falling through skylight: TWUNK!
Sock in the face with Sears Roebuck catalog: PWOSH!
Sock in the face with Montgomery Ward catalog: PWASH!
Octopus slapping a tentacle on bald bean: SPOOP!

Man dragging toenails over No.2 grade sandpaper: SKARP!
Man falling on face in a barrel of wet teabags: FROMP!
Sock in the kisser with a wet codfish: SCHALAMPF!
Person socking wet halibut with his kisser: SCHLOOF!
Lowers falling into a bucket of cup grease: UNPH!
Man with small head drowning in a glass of tomato juice: GOIK!
Woodpecker hammering on human head: DUD-DUD-DUD-DUD-DUD!
Cannon ball landing in mush of toothless man: FWOCK!
Two bald men colliding headon: KROCK!
Garter snapping on varicose vein: SCHWIPP!
Single BB shot landing on a cow's udder: PWIP!
Person pulling ponderous pate through a puny porthole: SPOOCH!
Bear trap springing on human noggin: SPROCK!
Rat trap springing on person's big toe: SPACK!
Man falling into a garbage can full of spoiled caviar: CROFF!
Surgeon tossing gallstones into empty garbage can: KRANG!
Man with one hair getting a haircut: WHICK!
Person being kicked in the neck: PFWUMPFPH!
Person getting kicked in snappers: PWACK!
Measle germ snapping at skin: SCHLOPP!

If you've been able to struggle through the foregoing list of cartoon words, perhaps now your acoustical sense has been sharpened to the extent that you can readily guess a situation just by reading a sound word. To test your ability, hee is a list of cartoon words denoting various noises. If you can guess the action by which even one of them is produced, then your extremely something or other.

SNIKK / SPIRP / FAMP / SWORP / SPITCH / KANK / IKK / SPRATCH / PWOT / YOTCH / KZEEP / KLISH / FEEMP / SHZWOP / KOPYP

Now check your definitions with the following list. Even if you missed defining all the words, it's no reflection on your intelligence. Fact is, the more you miss, the brighter you probably are. On the other hand, the more you can guess, the better comic strip cartoonist you can become- unless, unfortunately, you're already one.

SNIKK: The sound made by an African pygmy idly snapping his fingernail against his skull
SPIRP: Nose being caught in an orange juicer
FAMP: Corpulent person falling on back in a vat of peanut butter
SWORP: Meteor hitting obese dame on back of neck
SPITCH: Man sticking his head inside huge dynamo in action
KANK: Crazed horsefly crashing into dome of empty-headed man
IKK: Person with protruding eyeballs falling face down

SPRATCH: Court plaster being yanked off polose chest
PWOT: Wet socks being tossed into the corner of the room
YOTCH: Post office pen forming the letter O
KZEEP: Man with rusty eyelid winking at gal
KLISH: Man falling on chin on thin crusted beetle
FEEMP: Mole (on chin) being hit with stray buckshot
SHZWOP: Obese dame's girdle splitting out
KOPYP: Skin pore snapping shut on contact with cold air

"Good work!" my publisher mumbled two days later, when he had finished reading the list. "Then I get the raise?" I gurgled hopefully. His brows knitted. (He was working on a pair of socks at the same time.) "Not until you complete that list by adding one more sound word! The word that's missing is the one that describes the sound of a railway train running over a cartoonist's conk!"

"That should be easy," I chirped. "I'll just-" Suddenly, the awful significance of his demand dawned on me. My publisher had conceived of this diabolical plan to prevent my getting a raise. But I would fool him.

A half hour later my noggin was resting uncomfortably on a railroad rail.

They told me later at the hospital that it wasn't too bad. Only 22 cars, plus the locomotive had been derailed. "The train crew wanted the day off anyway" my doctor said. "They will be up later to thank you." While he poured glue in the cracks in my conk, I struggled to recall the exact sound of the locomotive passing over my pate. I became frantic at the thought that it had eluded me. Then I remembered. How could I forget something that had been so forcefully crammed into my mind?

I raced out of the hospital and downtown to my publisher's office. When that man saw the Scotch tape on my skull, he blanched a little. "Did you find out what the sound of a train running over a cartoonist's head is?" he asked. "I did." I announced triumphantly. He leaned expectantly so far forward that his rear suspender buttons flew off, zipped out the window, and nailed a burglar who was ransacking a safe in an office across the street.

"What is the sound?" he asked shakily.
"It is GJDRKZLXCBWQ."
"GJDRKZLXCBWQ?" he queried doubtfully.
"No. It's GJDRKZLXCBWQ. The L is silent."

My publisher is not emotional. I have never known him to be moved to tears. But now his lips quivered violently. Or perhaps he was just trying to get something out of his teeth. "Now I have heard everything!" he blubbered.

"The raise." I reminded him. "How about it?" "The raise? Oh yes. To show my appreciation for collecting the most complete and authentic list of cartoonists' sound words, I'm going to double your salary!" Whereupon he reached into his wallet and tossed me twice as much as I had been getting previously per week.

Then I realized that my list of sound words wasn't quite complete until that moment. In all my life I had never heard that lush, lovely sound. It was a mild, whispery sound, barely audible.

Here it is: FMNW!

It was the sound made by my new doubled salary- two $1.00 bills brushing lightly together.

Thanks to Marc Schirmeister for sharing this with us.

For more examples of Basil Wolverton's genius, see Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper Also see... Virgil Partch's Wild, Wild Women Part One, Part Two and Part Three, Here We Go Again and Man The Beast, George Lichty's Grin and Bear It; Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics; and Milton Knight's Great Brown Pericord Motor.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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FREE Screening Friday At Woodbury

2009-09-22T16:51:00.001-07:00

FREE SUMMER SCREENING AT WOODBURY!

W. C. Fields, the comedian who broke all the rules to create one of the most vivid comic personas of the 20th century.
Pop Cultural Literacy 102
A Series of Summer Screenings
Friday, September 25th, 2009
Short Subjects Start At 7pm, The Feature Film Starts At 8:30.
Admission FREE to the animation community
Woodbury University
School of Business / Fletcher Jones Foundation Theater
7500 Glenoaks Bl
Burbank, CA 91510
(Click for printable map)

Lester Young
So far, we've screened some of the greatest musical performances of the 20th century, the granddaddy of all adventure films and the most anarchic comedy film ever made. This month we have a program featuring one of the most unique and under-appreciated film comics of them all. We'll be screening my personal choice for best comedy movie of all time. Don't miss it.

For more about the Pop Cultural Literacy programs at Woodbury, see...

Pop Culture 101: Famous Comedians

Pop Culture 101: Great Musicians

Pop Culture 101: Experimental Live Video Feed
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Happy Birthday June!

2009-09-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Director, Stephen Worth
and ASIFA-Hollywood President, Antran Manoogian
visit with June Foray at the 2008 Annie Awards after party
June Foray is the heart and soul of ASIFA-Hollywood. Everyone at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive would like to wish her a Happy Birthday. Here's wishing every day is just like your birthday, June!

FREE EBOOK: Zim's Cartoons and Caricatures Part 04 of 20

2009-09-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth of twenty posts where we plan to post a complete set of high resolution scans of Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures, or Making The World Laugh (1910). These 100 pages are packed with great cartoons, helpful drawing tips, technical information and business advice for the aspiring cartoonist. Most importantly, Zim passes along his unique philosophy of life, and offers a shining example of how an artistic career as a caricaturist can be incorporated into a person's lifestyle. At the time this book was written, Zim had thirty years of experience under his belt, and had attained the highest level in his field. For more information, see the Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures page.

Every week, we will post five more pages, but they will be deleted from our server after 30 days, so download them while you can. To save the images to your hard drive, right click on the image (or CONTROL click if you are using a Mac) and select "SAVE IMAGE AS". To see all of the currently available pages, see the ZIMEBOOK Tag.

(This image is linked properly now)

If you haven't downloaded previous entries, please do so immediately. I am going to start expiring links to earlier posts soon. Check back next week for more pages from this rare book.

If you enjoy this ebook and would like to see more, consider purchasing Zim's Correspondence School of Cartooning, Comic Art & Caricature, a complete course in cartooning available in two volumes. The books are beautifully printed and include more than 700 pages with nearly 1,000 B&W illustrations and 22 hand-tipped color plates. Proceeds from the sale of this course goes to support the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. For more information, see the Zim Online Exhibit page.
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Voice Acting: Mel Blanc on Advertising

2009-09-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Today, Jerry Beck posted the cover of this record over at Cartoon Brew, so it's a good time to rerun our MP3 of this great speech by Mel Blanc. Enjoy!

There's one aspect of animation that I haven't dealt with much yet- Voice Acting. My own research in this area is pretty limited. I hope sometime in the future, a specialist in this field will contribute their expertise to the Archive to curate this important aspect of cartoon filmmaking.

But that doesn't mean that we don't have any interesting material dealing with voice acting at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Eric Graf stopped by with a wonderful treasure the other day... An LP record pressed by the production company of legendary voice actor, Mel Blanc. It's a recording of a speech by Blanc at the 1966 Annual Awards Luncheon of the Station Representatives Association. Titled "Mel Blanc Takes A Humorous Look At Commercials: Past, Present and Future (Who The Hell Is Mel Blanc?)", this record is a hilarious glimpse at both the advertising industry and a little known aspect of the career of one of the most famous voice actors of all time.

Who The Hell Is Mel Blanc?
(Mel Blanc Associates/1966)
(AAC Audio File / 32kbps-44.1kHz / Mono / 25 minutes / 6.25 mb)

Thanks for bringing this by Eric!

If you enjoyed this article, you'll also want to check out our... Profile of Carlo Vinci, John K on Flintstones Animators, Bugs Bunny In Coronet Magazine, Ward Kimball In Escapade Magazine, UPA Done Right, The Pencil Test of Art Babbitt's Best Scene, A Drawing Lesson From Walter Lantz, and Remembering Berny Wolf

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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Illustration: Bugs Bunny in Coronet Magazine

2009-09-08T15:58:00.001-07:00

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for more jaw dropping examples of classic illustration.

Archive supporter, Rich Borowy stopped by to digitize some classic Stan Freberg radio shows for the archive database yesterday. Under his arm was a box of old Coronet and Omnibook magazines. Rich said that he was given the box at a garage sale that was closing down. I've never looked at these particular magazines, but they have wonderful illustrations and features. Here are highlights from the December, 1945 issue. Check it out. There's a big surprise at the end. Thanks for bringing these in, Rich!

Each issue opens with an inspirational message and illustration. This one is by illustrator, Vera Bock. Many issues contain the work of Arthur Szyk, whose book The New Order we featured last year. I'll be doing a whole post of Szyk illustrations from Coronet soon.

Next up is a retelling of "The Night Before Christmas" by Golden Book illustrator, Sheilah Beckett. Will Finn recently posted about her book on Gilbert & Sullivan Operettas. These pages strongly resemble the back of Little Golden Books. Do you think Sheilah Beckett designed that?

Here's a feature on the artists who created the Famous Artists Course... Stevan Dohanos, along with his illustrator friends Albert Dorne, Ben Stahl, Hardie Gramatky, Fred Ludekens and Dean Cornwall donated their services to decorate casts in the Halloran Army Hospital in New York.

And here's a feature on exotic superstitions and religious beliefs by Stevan Dohanos...

Here's a real surprise- The autobiography of Bugs Bunny! "A Hare Grows In Manhattan"...

If you enjoyed this post, check out... Little Verses Part One, Part Two and Part Three, Baby's House, Arthur Szyk's The New Order and Artzybasheff's Neurotica, Machinalia and Diablerie.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

FREE EBOOK: Zim's Cartoons and Caricatures Part 03 of 20

2009-09-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

This is the third of twenty posts where we plan to post a complete set of high resolution scans of Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures, or Making The World Laugh (1910). These 100 pages are packed with great cartoons, helpful drawing tips, technical information and business advice for the aspiring cartoonist. Most importantly, Zim passes along his unique philosophy of life, and offers a shining example of how an artistic career as a caricaturist can be incorporated into a person's lifestyle. At the time this book was written, Zim had thirty years of experience under his belt, and had attained the highest level in his field. For more information, see the Zim's Cartoons & Caricatures page.

Every week, we will post five more pages, but they will be deleted from our server after 30 days, so download them while you can. To save the images to your hard drive, right click on the image (or CONTROL click if you are using a Mac) and select "SAVE IMAGE AS". To see all of the currently available pages, see the ZIMEBOOK Tag.

(This image is linked properly now)

Check back next week for more pages from this rare book.

If you enjoy this ebook and would like to see more, consider purchasing Zim's Correspondence School of Cartooning, Comic Art & Caricature, a complete course in cartooning available in two volumes. The books are beautifully printed and include more than 700 pages with nearly 1,000 B&W illustrations and 22 hand-tipped color plates. Proceeds from the sale of this course goes to support the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. For more information, see the Zim Online Exhibit page.
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Life Drawing: Willy Pogany's Drawing Lessons

2009-09-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 8 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great art instruction posts.

Willy Pogany was one of the most important book illustrators and designers of the first half of the 20th century. His Rime of the Ancient Mariner and books based on Wagnerian opera are masterpieces, to say nothing of his editions of Mother Goose, Alice in Wonderland and Faust. While other illustrators were confining themselves to an occasional tipped in plate buried among page after page of identical text blocks, Pogany broke the mold, designing elaborate pen and ink illustrations that surrounded the text, ornate capitals for the beginning of each page and calligraphy that turned the words into art. He is probably the artist most responsible for establishing what we think of as modern children's book illustration.

He was also an author and teacher, with three books covering drawing, oil painting and watercolor. Today, I am presenting a section from his book Willy Pogany's Drawing Lessons titled...

FIGURE SKETCHING

One of the most fascinating subjects to draw is the human figure.

The fine proportions, beautiful modeling and delicate balance, and the infinite variations in movement and repose are such that there is no other living thing to compare with it.

Through countless ages artists of all races have drawn, painted and modeled the human form.

If you have never done any figure drawing, I would suggest that you start to draw the human figure in its simplest pose with little or no foreshortening. This is an upright standing position with arms close to the body and feet together.

Make up your mid before you begin, how large you want your drawing to be and mark on the paper the total length desired. Your drawing must be exactly the size that you have indicated on your paper.

Your next step is to draw a straight vertical line connecting the two marks. This will indicate the imaginary line of gravitation running from head to foot.

Now mark the center of the body by dividing the vertical line into two equal parts. Mark your proportions.

Draw in the oval of the head.

Measure the width of the shoulders compared to the length of the body. Draw in the shoulder line. Do the same with the hips.

To measure, use a pencil in your outstretched hand, first getting the width, then measuring vertically the number of times the width goes into the total length of the body. Now proceed to draw the masses of the chest, hips, legs, etc.

To check on your drawing, watch the shape of the background that surrounds the figure. See if these "left spaces" (or negative shapes) correspond with the outline of your drawing.

For instance, whatever the position of your subject, watch the shape and size of the space between the arms and the body; between the tilted head and the shoulder; between the two legs, etc, etc.

These will be your left spaces. Special attention to them will be of great help in making a correct drawing.

Drawing is a language, and it requires building a vocabulary to be eloquent. Students should carry a sketchbook with them wherever they go and draw everything they see- from people's heads in a late night coffee shop to fireplugs on the street. Everything you draw becomes part of your dictionary of imagery in the future.

Cartoons are about things that aren't real- pure imagination. But even here, it's important to have balance... A friend of mine, Louise Zingarelli once told me, "You can't draw crazy things until you can draw perfectly straight. Wonky perspective all over isn't weird or interesting- it's just ugly and dumb. You've got to have both, working right against wrong... just like working warms against cools in colors."

Willy Pogany was a children's book illustrator who specialized in fantasy subjects. At the end of the book, after the lessons, he presents a selection of his work sketches. Pogany was particularly eloquent, with a huge library of shapes and forms in his head. He also had an amazing sense of balance- making the fantastic seem real. This is truly great draftsmanship.

This classic book is still in print. Pick up a copy at Amazon for your reference library.

For more art instruction posts, see The $100K Animation Drawing Course, Fundamentals of Composition Part One and Part Two, Chad's Design for Television, Willard Mullin on Animals, Incorporating Natural Forms- Haeckel's Artforms in Nature, and Originality vs Imitation: Chaplin's Shadow.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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Review: Eddie Fitzgerald on Zim

2009-09-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

UNCLE EDDIE'S THEORY CORNER: The Outrageously Neat Zim Book

Order the Zim Books Now While They Last!
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Theory: Propaganda

2009-09-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

Today is the 70th anniversary of the beginning of WWII. So to mark the date, I am rerunning one of my favorite posts on propaganda posters from the first and second World Wars. I hope you take a moment to think about the sacrifices and strength of the "Great Generation". They're a good model for us in our own difficult times.

Back when I was in college, I was wandering through a junk shop and found a file folder that was stamped "Return To Louis Van Den Ecker, Technical Director". I peeked inside and found a pile of interesting clippings. It was a reference file dealing with propaganda posters from the First and Second World Wars. I bought the folder and brought it home and did some research on Louis Van Den Ecker. He turned out to have been an expert employed by the studios to insure that their depiction of particular times and places were accurate. He worked on the 1939 version of Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beau Geste, Adventures of Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo among many other films. I assembled his clippings into a logical order and mounted them into a scrapbook. Today, we scanned this book for the Archive.

The concept of propaganda is widely misunderstood. Many people automatically assume that it's a negative thing. But propaganda is just a tool that can be used for either good or bad. Propaganda involves bypassing the intellect and appealing directly to emotion to motivate a group of people to action. During the World Wars, time was of the essence and masses of people needed to work together for the common goal of defending the nation. It would have been too slow to talk each and every move out with the whole population, so governments used powerful imagery to bring everyone together in the war effort.

I'm not sure if it's just the bias of this particular collection, or if it was actually the case during WWI, but looking at these examples, one can see how inept the Germans were at using propaganda. The German posters in this collection seem to appeal to abstract concepts like national pride, flags and mythology; while the Allied propaganda goes straight for the heart with concepts like motherhood, security, and moral outrage. Look at the example above. The figure in the foreground represents the outrage of the nation at the sight of a sinking ocean liner and a sailor's hand rising from the surf begging for help. Even after nearly a century, the powerful imagery still makes its point.

Contrast that impact with the poster above... Abstract concepts are stacked up on top of each other... It's not a baby... it's a statue of a baby. And it isn't even a statue of a baby, it's a statue of a cherub. There is no eye contact, just empty eye sockets. The emotional impact of the bullet hole in the helmet is totally negated by its similarity to the baby's belly button! It's hard to imagine this image motivating anyone to give money to the cause.

Early examples, like the one above, were created by renowned artists, and the subjects required close inspection, reflection and thought to grasp.

As time went by, the images became more graphic and direct...

Sketches of children orphaned by the war were potent images...

National and religious symbols seem to be much less effective, even when they are more interesting from an artistic standpoint...

These last two are interesting because they show how the two sides saw themselves. The German soldier is idealized in a kitsch way, while the French soldier seems more real and down to earth...

Which side would you rather be on?

When the nations of the world entered into World War I, the methods and techniques of propaganda were naiive and innocent. But by the end of the First World War, the techniques of waging war in the hearts and minds of the public had entered the modern era. Propaganda had become much more sophisticated and powerful.

By WWII, leaders realized that battles could be fought and won on the homefront. Propaganda became an important part of motivating the population to work together toward the common goal of defeating the axis powers. Compare the WWI posters in this and the previous post to the examples from WWII presented here. Notice how the design and layout enhance the emotional impact of the concepts. Many of these posters still pack a wallop.

For more on this subject, see Alfred and Elizabeth Briant Lee's book The Fine Art of Propaganda: A Study of Father Coughlin's Speeches 1938.

Now you may be asking yourself, what does propaganda have to do with animation? Well... Think for a moment about the definition of propaganda, "bypassing the intellect and motivating an audience through a direct appeal to emotion" and then think about this image from an animated film I'm sure you're familiar with...

Can you think of any other plot devices used in animated features that operate on this primitive level?

If you enjoyed this post, check out... Walt Disney Goes To War, Dispatch From Disney's Part One and Part Two, Arthur Szyk's The New Order and Artzybasheff's Neurotica, Machinalia and Diablerie.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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