Animation Fun Facts for Weds 8/31/2011

1946- Looney Toon short 'Walky Talky Hawky' the first Foghorn Leghorn. The character was based on a Fred Allen radio character Senator Clayton Langhorn that poked fun at bombastic Southern conservative politicians.

1948- Disney's 'Melody Time' premiered, featuring Willie the Operatic Whale.

Animation Fun Facts for Tues, 8/30/2011

Cartoonist R. Crumb is 67

Cameron Diaz, the voice of Princess Fiona in Shrek is 38


1975- Ralph Bakshi's film "Coonskin". Bad boy Bakshi's portrayal of African-American urban violence was deemed so offensive that it caused the first riot ever at the Museum of Modern Art, and died at the boxoffice. The film was retitled on video "Streetfight".
When Ralph resurfaced he turned his attention to Sword & Fantasy films.

Animation Fun Facts for Monday Aug 29, 2011

1953-Warner's "Cat Tails for Two" introduces Speedy Gonzales. Warners had a drawing quota for assistants and Frank Gonzales was always first done and out of his chair to go flirt with the ink & paint girls. The other guys would say:" There goes "Speedy" Gonzales again. When Chuck Jones & designer Hawley Pratt were thinking of new characters, the rest as they say, was history.

1989- Walt Disney company announced it was acquiring Jim Henson's Muppets.

Animation Fun Facts for Sunday Aug 28th

Animation writer/historian Charles Solomon born.

1928-Walt Disney's Gallopin' Gauchos, one of two silent Mickey Mouse cartoons completed before Steamboat Willie.

Animation Fun Facts for Saturday Aug 27, 2011

1910- The first Tarzan the Ape Man by Edgar Rice Burroughs published.


1968- Former master animator Bill Tytla's request to return to Disney was turned down. The artist who animated Grumpy the Dwarf, Dumbo and the Devil on Bald Mountain even offered to do a free "trial animation test" to show he still had it. Disney exec W.H. Anderson wrote him:" We really have only enough animation for our present staff."
Tytla died later that year.

Animation Fun Facts for Wednesday Aug 24, 2011

Actor Steven Fry born.

1942- Walt Disney's Saludos Amigos premiered in Rio Di Janiero.

Animation Fun Facts for Tuesday Aug 23, 2011

Birthdays for animators Oscar Grillo, Lenord Robinson and Nik Ranieri.

1912- Ed Benedict born, the designer of Yogi Bear, Fred Flintstone and George Jetson.

1994- Jeffrey Katzenberg announced he was leaving Disney.

Animation Fun Facts for Sunday Aug 21, 2011

Isadore Friz Freleng born.

1921-On his first birthday, Christopher Robin Milne, the sone of a.a. milne, was given a teddy bear from Harrods. He later called it Winnie the Pooh.

Animation Fun Facts for Friday Aug 19, 2011

The British animated feature Valiant opened in the US in 2005.

Animation Fun Facts for Aug 17th, 2011

1984- The Walt Disney Company informed it’s chairman Ron Miller that they wanted his resignation. Disney had fallen to 14th in film box office by then. Miller had been Walt’s son-in-law and he was he was once a tight end for the LA Rams. Within two years of Roy Disney, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg taking power, Disney was number one.

1986- John Lasseter’s award wining short Luxo Jr, premiered at Siggraph’86 Dallas.

Animation Fun Facts for Aug 16th, 2011

Birthdays: Otto Mesmer the creator of Felix the Cat, Myron Grim Natwick the creator of Betty Boop, Hal Foster the creator of Prince Valiant, Alex Raymond the creator of Flash Gordon


1942- Happy Birthday Mighty Mouse. Terrytoon's short: "The Mouse of Tomorrow".

Animation Fun Facts for Sunday Aug 14th

Disney animator Dick Lundy born

2005 Top Hollywood Agent Michael Ovitz was named president of Walt Disney Studio, to replace Jeffrey Katzenberg. Ovitz contract was for 5 years, but after 14 months of wrangling fruitlessly for power, he quit.


2011 We just heard the great NY based experimental filmmaker and animator ROBERT BREER passed away 1926-2011.

Animation Fun Facts for Aug 13th, 2011

1942 Disney's Bambi opened in theaters nationwide. Today the film looks quaint but in its time artists felt it was as realistic as artists could attain.


1946- MGM cartoon Northwest Hounded Police, the short in which Tex Avery perfected the 'Tex Avery Take" - used since in films like Mask, Roger Rabbit and Casper.

Animation Fun Facts for Aug 12th, 2011

1951- Bob McKimson’s Warner Bros short Hillbilly Hare. The short includes the long routine animated by Emery Hawkins when Bugs Bunny takes over calling a square dance and uses it to torture the two twin brother Hillbillies who are after him.

Animation Fun Facts for Aug 11th, 2011

1991- Ren & Stimpy, the outrageous show by John Krickfalusi premiered on MTV.

Animation Fun Facts for Weds Aug 10th, 2011

2001- Warner Bros Osmosis Jones premiered.

Animation Fun Facts for Tuesday Aug 9th

Pamela Lyndon Travers born –the creator of Mary Poppins


1930- Max Fleischer's cartoon "Dizzy Dishes" introduces Betty Boop. A singing star named Helen Kane sued Fleischer claiming that they stole her distinctive Boop-Ooop-a-Doop from her, but the case was thrown out when it was revealed Kane had stolen it herself from another singer. Betty was supposed to be a dog character to match her male couterpart Bimbo. But Animator Grim Natwick had done a lot of drawing of girls in Paris and New York and turned the character into a saucy little flapper.

1942- Walt Disney's "Bambi" premiered.

Animation Fun Facts for Monday Aug 8th, 2011

Japanese anime director Mamoru Oshi is 60 ( Ghost in the Shell)






HEY GANG, IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND SIGGRAPH IN VANCOUVER, DROP IN AT THE AEF BIRDS OF A FEATHER DISCUSSION ON TUES Aug 9th . Last year was a great exchange of ideas, with our colleagues from around the world. 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Room Name: 116 (West Building) See you there!

Animation Fun Facts for Sunday Aug 7th, 2011

Animator Rudy Ising born.

animation and radio star Stan Freeberg is 85

1979- THE RUNAWAY WARS.-Hollywood Cartoonist’s Union went on strike against studios sending animation work overseas.



HEY GANG, IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND SIGGRAPH IN VANCOUVER, DROP IN AT THE AEF BIRDS OF A FEATHER DISCUSSION ON TUES Aug 9th . Last year was a great exchange of ideas, with our colleagues from around the world. 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Room Name: 116 (West Building) See you there!

Animation Fun Facts for Saturday Aug 6th 2011

1999- Brad Bird’s classic animated film the Iron Giant premiered.

Animation Fun Facts for Friday Aug 5, 2011

1986 - It's revealed painter Andrew Wyeth had secretly created 240 drawings & paintings of his neighbor Helga Testorf, in Chadds Ford, Pa

Animation Fun Facts for Tuesday Aug 2nd 2011

1920- Bill Scott born. Scott was best known as the voice of Bullwinkle in Rocky & Bullwinkle, but he was also a very funny show writer, co-founder of ASIFA/Hollywood and passionate organizer for the rights of animation people through the Animators Guild.

Animation Fun Facts for Monday Aug 1st, 2011

1950-Jay Ward's "Crusader Rabbit" the first animated cartoon show made for television.