Fun Facts for April 30th

Animator Bill Plympton born

1952 - Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television

Animation History on April 29th

Michelle Pfeiffer born, who did a voice in Dreamworks animated feature The Prince of Egypt.

Jerry Seinfeld born, writer/director of The Bee Movie.

1989- Who Framed Roger Rabbitt won for Oscars at the Academy Awards.

Fun Facts for April 26th

Walter Lantz born

Eyvind Earle born.

1993- NBC announced former Simpsons writer Conan O’Brien would take David Letterman’s old Late Show spot.

2004 Disney CEO Michael Eisner made the list of Forbes Magazine's 100 Worst CEO's in Corporate America.

Fun Facts for April 25th

Disney animator, writer director Ron Clements born ( Little Mermaid, Princess and the Frog).

Voice actor Hank Azaria born ( The Simpsons, HOP)
1972- Witty, urbane actor George Sanders ( All About Eve, Samson & Delilah, Shere Khan in Jungle Book) had turned age 65.

He complained he had been famous and rich and was not looking forward to old age and having a nurse wipe his bottom.
So he committed suicide and left a witty, urbane note.
"Dear World: I am leaving because I am bored. Adieu, I leave you with your worries in this sweet cesspool."

Fun Facts for April 24th

Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday Steve Lisberger, the creator of TRON (1982)

1933-Ub Iwerk's "Fiddlesticks" the first Flip the Frog cartoon, done in a simple two-color process. Iwerks was the first designer and animator of Mickey Mouse, who had left Walt Disney to open his own studio.

Fun Facts for April 23

Animation director Michael Sporn born.

1867- William Lincoln patents the zoetrope, an optical toy predating motion pictures..

1896-THE FIRST PROJECTED MOVIES IN THE U.S.- The first projection of Thomas Edison’s kinetoscope film by means of Thomas Armat’s Vitascope at Koster & Bials Music Hall on 28th street and Broadway in New York City.. The movie show featured the sultry Annabella the Dancer and a boxing match, but the real hit of the evening was footage of Waves Hitting the Rocks on Shore, which made people instinctively duck to keep from getting wet.

Fun Facts for April 21st

1918- Baron Manfred von Richtofen ( the Red Baron) was shot down. No, it wasn't Snoopy who did it.

1938- Disney animator Bill Tytla (Dumbo, Chernobog) married artists model Adrienne LeClerc.

FUN FACTS FOR APRIL 20TH

Animator Bob Kurtz of Kurtz & Friends Studio born.

1925- Warner Bros Studio merged with Vitagraph, the company once owned by early animator James Stuart Blackton. Blackton became rich, then lost it all in the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

1939- When NBC President David Sarnoff dedicated the RCA pavilion at the Worlds Fair in NYC, he announced the event was being covered on something called Television. Sarnoff predicted that one day there would be a television set in every home!


1977- Woody Allen's masterpiece Annie Hall premiered. It featured an animated clip of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton as characters in Walt Disney's Snow White. The animation was done by former Disney animator Chris Ishii.

Fun Facts for April 19th

1925- Iwao Takamoto born. Iwao came out of a WWII Japanese internment camp to get a job at the Walt Disney Studios. He quickly rose to be the lead assistant for the Nine Old Men refining the animation for Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. He later moved to Hanna & Barbera where he became the most important artist there after Bill & Joe.  Iwao designed Scooby Doo, Penelope Pitstop, Hong Kong Phooey and Jabberjaw.

1987 Master Disney animator Milt Kahl passed away.

FUN FACTS FOR APRIL 18TH

1882- Leopold Stokowski born. Classical orchestra conductor was the co-star with Mickey Mouse in the film Fantasia.

1947- James Woods born, the voice of Hades in Walt Disney's Hercules and Reggie Belmonte in Sony's Surf's Up.

1983- The Disney Channel started up.