Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Tom Sito's Animation Almanac for Sept. 20, 2023

Birthdays: Alexander the Great -357 BC, Upton Sinclair, Jelly Roll Morton, Jay Ward, Red Auerbach, Guy Lafluer, Fernando Rey, Ann Meara, Rachel Roberts, Jonathan Hardy, Pia Lindstrom, Gary Cole, Fran Drescher, George R.R. Martin is 75, animator Nancy Beiman, Sophia Loren is 89


1670- English poet John Milton published his last works “Paradise Regained” and “Samson Agonistes”. He was blind but dictated to a secretary who wrote down his poems. When he felt the inspiration he would call him by saying:” Come. I need to be milked.”


1839- The SS British Queen first brought news of the invention of Photography and the Daguerreotype process to the U.S. Soon everyone is happily snapping away.


1853- Elisha Otis revolutionized tall building construction by demonstrating his elevator that didn’t fall when the cable was cut.


1947- Tex Avery’s MGM cartoon Slap Happy Lion.


1952- CBS premiered the Jackie Gleason Show- The Honeymooners".


1952- Chuck Jones’ short Rabbit Seasoning, second of his Bugs-Daffy hunting trilogy.


1955- The Phil Silvers Show, originally entitled You’ll Never Get Rich” debuted on CBS. Silvers played con-man soldier Sgt. Bilko. Its been speculated that Hanna & Barbera based the cartoon Top Cat on this show.


1973- Musician Jim Croce (30) died in a charter plane crash near Natchitoches Louisiana.


1977- During the premiere episode of the 5th season of the show Happy Days, Henry Winkler’s Fonzi character water-skis in his trademark black leather jacket and jumps a ramp over a live shark. This caused writer Jon Hein to coin the term Jumping the Shark. It has come to mean pinpointing the moment a quality program or person descends into banal silliness.


1984- The Cosby Show premiered.



2001- Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away released in the US. The first Japanese anime film to win an Oscar.







No comments:

Post a Comment