Cartoons, Model Sheets, & Stuff

Colonel Bleep

2011-12-14T14:53:00.001-05:00

Here's a load of screenshots from a few Colonel Bleep cartoons. I usually have little to no interest in some of the early made for TV cartoons. I prefer cartoons that actually have movement, but I do love the art from this show. Thankfully since there's little to no actual animation you get to catch a good glimpse of it while watching the show. Colonel Bleep was the first color cartoon made for TV.

Homer Pigeon - New Funnies #172

2011-10-21T14:20:00.000-04:00

Here's a Homer Pigeon comic that features a pseudo Buzz Buzzard. I have no way of knowing for sure but I believe this is drawn by Dan Gormley. Whoever it may be it's fine cartooning!

I was going to stop posting here when Google forced the "Lightbox" photo viewer upon us all, but since they've added the option to not use it is as the image viewer I figured I'd keep the blog going for a while longer.

Pete Hothead - Four Wheels No Brakes

2011-09-13T10:41:00.003-04:00

This is the second Pete Hothead cartoon that UPA made. It was directed by Ted Parmelee and designed by Parmelee and Sam Clayberger.

Pat Matthews - "Jungle Jive" Animation

2011-07-27T12:17:00.004-04:00

This is a short clip of some of Pat Matthews' animation in the Shamus Culhane directed short "Jungle Jive". I love the way Matthews animates a character being surprised. A quick pop straight up with little to no inbetweening. There's a lot of that in his scenes from the Woody Woodpecker short "Banquet Busters".

Dan Gormley - "The Isle Of The Mechanical Men"

2011-07-20T16:33:00.007-04:00

This story is from Dell Four Color Comics #280, drawn by Dan Gormley. Great cartooning going on here.

Bruce Timm - "Lust For Life"

2011-06-10T15:24:00.004-04:00

Here's some great art by Bruce Timm. I'm not a fan of Vampirella comics but I am a fan of Bruce Timm. Any chance that some publisher will pay him loads of money so he'll quit Warner Bros. and draw comics full time? Probably not.

Famous Era Popeye Model Sheets

2011-05-25T14:32:00.005-04:00

Here's a few Popeye model sheets from the Famous studio days. I really like the Famous Popeye's made in the 40's but the series definitely ran out of gas in the 50s. Anyone know if that's Tyer handling the scene in "Mess Production" when Olive punches in at the timeclock? Looks like it to me.

Our Gang #46

2011-05-23T13:57:00.004-04:00

The interior covers of Our Gang with Tom #46 feature comics with a few of MGM's one-shot characters. The front interior features the two buzzards from Tex Avery's hilarious "What's Buzzin' Buzzard?" and the back stars the wolf, called El Wolfo here, from the Harman/Ising short "The Hungry Wolf". I don't have too many issues of Our Gang so I don't know if these guys made any other appearances or if any other characters were resurrected. Droopy usually gets the interior covers under the name Happy Hound. This comic if from 1948, about six to seven years after those two cartoons were released.

Fox and Crow - "Unsure Runts"

2011-05-16T10:21:00.003-04:00

Here's one of the better Fox and Crow shorts, "Unsure Runts" directed by Howard Swift. Grant Simmons was one of the animators on this one. I had a bit of a problem encoding this one, there's about 10 seconds beginning at 1:10 where it freezes. Sorry about that, just couldn't get it encode properly.

Andy Panda Comics

2011-04-29T22:41:00.005-04:00

Some slick inking, as usual, by Dan Gormley on these two pages from Dell #326.

Bob Cannon, Animator vs. Bob Cannon, Director

2011-04-08T20:48:00.005-04:00

I love Bob Cannon's animation, particularly the few cartoons he worked on with Tex Avery and the Fox and Crow UPA shorts. It's quite loose and energetic. His work under Chuck Jones is great, "The Dover Boys" being my favorite. Though it's interesting that as a director the animation is more conservative and organized. I suppose that the emphasis placed on design at UPA was in part to blame. I'm not knocking his UPA shorts, I'm quite fond of them. Well, most of them. "The Oompahs" is boring as hell. Here's a some clips to compare.

Bob Cannon Animator

Bob Cannon Director

Tom and Jerry - Rexall Magazine Cover

2011-04-02T07:52:00.002-04:00

Just to make up for yesterday's horrible Tom and Jerry post, here's a great picture of Tom and Jerry from the April 1949 issue of Rexall magazine.

Tom and Jerry - Filmation Goodness

2011-04-01T09:48:00.004-04:00

Of all the revivals of Tom and Jerry since Hanna and Barbera's original theatricals I have to say that the 1980 "Tom and Jerry Comedy Show" produced by Filmation is hands down the best. You could make the case that the shorts rival HB's MGM classics. The chase scenes look like they could have been animated by Irv Spence himself, they're so good. Enjoy some art from "The Great Mousini" and "Invasion Of The Mouse Snatchers". Fortunately, someone was kind enough to upload the cartoons to youtube.

The Great Mousini

Invasion Of The Mouse Snatchers

Owen Fitzgerald - Adventures Of Bob Hope #21

2011-03-17T14:24:00.009-04:00

A great Bob Hope comic by Owen Fitzgerald.

Bruce Timm - "Red Romance"

2011-02-20T13:29:00.007-05:00

This is a short story written by Joe Lansdale and art by Bruce Timm, from Flinch #11. It's far darker and violent than the more light hearted stories Timm works on. It was originally supposed to appear in an issue of Heart Throbs but it didn't quite fit the bill. Great art though as always.

"Little Rural Riding Hood" Layouts

2011-01-27T15:28:00.004-05:00

I posted two of these layouts a long time ago but I just realized that I didn't post three others that I had scanned. So here they are.

Colonel Shuffle Model Sheet

2011-01-16T22:26:00.005-05:00

Here's the Colonel Shuffle model sheet from the classic Chuck Jones short "Mississppi Hare".

"Little Orphan Airedale" Model Sheet

2010-12-13T14:04:00.003-05:00

I found this model sheet on my hard drive, don't know if I scanned it from a book or found it online somewhere. At first I wasn't sure what Charlie Dog cartoon it was from, I should have recognized the Porky Pig pose from the beginning of "Little Orphan Airedale". I noticed that Dave Mackey's site didn't have the production number listed for the cartoon and that this model sheet had it. "The Foxy Duckling" was production number 1031 and "Airedale", production number 1032 was released two months later. I'm sure this info is probably known to the hardcore animation geeks but I hadn't come across it anywhere. Dave's site is where I usually go for that type of info so I was suprised the number wasn't there as I assumed this model sheet has been published somewhere before.

Jim Tyer - "Hansel and Gretel"

2010-12-08T15:39:00.026-05:00

Here's yet another post on Jim Tyer. I just can't seem to get enough of his animation, even if it means sitting through some pretty bad Terrytoons. Not that I don't enjoy Terrytoons but sit through a cartoon like "Anti-Cats" and you've pretty much wasted 7 minutes of your life. Even Tyer's little bit of animation couldn't save that one for me. Thankfully, cartoons like the Mighty Mouse short "Hansel and Gretel" have a load of wild cartoony animation by Tyer. When Tyer takes over we get a good minute and a half straight of cartoon gold. I've spared you the rest of "Hansel & Gretel" and uploaded only Tyer's work. Plus, a short Tyer bumper from The Mighty Mouse Playhouse show. (I've re-uploaded them to youtube since Dailymotion has gone to crap.)

Marty Taras

2010-11-30T17:38:00.004-05:00

Here's a two page Baby Huey story by Famous Studios animator Marty Taras from Little Audrey #27. It's up for auction but the price is too steep for this guy.

Frank Frazetta - "Hucky Duck"

2010-10-08T16:25:00.004-04:00

Here's a two page comic by Frank Frazetta from issue 19 of Barnyard comics published in 1948.

Stephen DeStefano - "Lucky In Love"

2010-10-07T18:32:00.005-04:00

Stephen DeStefano and George Chieffet's new book "Lucky In Love" was recently released by Fantagraphics Books and I just received a copy courtesy of the artist so I want to plug one of my favorite artists working in comics and animation. As always Stephen's art is amazing. Pick up a copy today!
Check out Stephen's "Lucky In Love" related posts on his blog. You can buy "Lucky In Love" at Fantagraphics site or at Amazon.com and actual book stores with real people in them.

UPA - "Pete Hothead"

2010-10-05T20:28:00.006-04:00

I rather like this cartoon, though I can't seem to tell one animator from another. Pat Matthews along with Chuck Jones animator Phil Monroe.

Pete Hothead

Uploaded by klangley

Jim Tyer - Mighty Mouse #33

2010-09-21T12:10:00.004-04:00

Here's a short comic by Jim Tyer from Mighty Mouse Comics #33.

Mighty Mouse - "The Reformed Wolf"

2010-09-17T17:22:00.004-04:00

This is one of the more enjoyable Mighty Mouse cartoons. It's not the same old Oil Can Harry, Pearl Pureheart story that Terrytoons treated audiences to over and over. As usual the highlights for me is when Jim Tyer's scenes come on. Tyer takes over right after the sheep snowballing down the hill scene. There's also some nice Carlo Vinci animation in this one.

The Reformed Wolf

Uploaded by klangley

Bruce Timm - "Jungle Is Massive"

2010-09-02T16:17:00.007-04:00

Here's a short comic drawn by Bruce Timm from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #11. I sure wish he would quit Warner Bros. and just work on comics full time. These short five page or so comics he does/did have always been way better than the rest of the comics that they appeared in. Darwyn Cooke did a great run on The Spirit and I would kill to have a short run on Conan by Timm.

Owen Fitzgerald - The Adventures of Bob Hope

2010-08-25T15:52:00.008-04:00

This story is from Bob Hope #20. Great art by Fitzgerald, that's all I have to say.

Harvey Kurtzman - Mad Covers

2010-08-19T19:31:00.004-04:00

These are some great covers from Mad's early days by Harvey Kurtzman. I could look at these all day.

Mickey Mouse Model Sheets

2010-08-18T19:29:00.004-04:00

Here's a couple of Mickey model sheets I found hiding on my hard drive.

Fleischer Superman Model Sheets

2010-08-17T21:49:00.004-04:00

I was watching "Mechanical Monsters" the other day and was reminded I had these two model sheets.

Dan Gormley - Donald Duck

2010-08-16T16:47:00.003-04:00

I'm not positive but this looks like the work of Dan Gormley to me. Gormley drew a lot of covers for Dell Four Color Comics and maybe even some of the interior covers as well. I'm mostly familiar with his work on Walter Lantz's characters so maybe someone out there know for sure whether this page is by Gormley or not. This page is from Dell Four Color Comics #328.

Mighty Mouse - "A Cold Romance"

2010-08-12T15:23:00.005-04:00

Here's another Terrytoon with some cool Jim Tyer animation. Tyer handles the fight scene with Oil Can Harry about five minutes into the cartoon.

A Cold Romance

Uploaded by klangley

Heckle & Jeckle - "Steeple Jacks"

2010-08-01T14:45:00.004-04:00

Here's another Terrytoon with great Jim Tyer animation. Tyer's animation starts at about the one minute mark and he also animates the last scene as well. Tyer was without a doubt one of the funniest animators ever. I can't get enough of him.

Steeple Jacks
Uploaded by klangley

Ruff and Reddy

2010-07-22T17:19:00.006-04:00

It would seem that Hanna/Barbera "borrowed" the names Ruff and Reddy from this other dog and cat duo that appeared in Peter Porkchops comics. I don't know much of anything about who created these two but I doubt Joe Barbera had anything to do with them. I'm assuming they were created by Peter Porkchops creator Otto Feuer, the difference here is Ruff is the dog and Reddy the cat. This story is from Peter Porkchops #2 published in 1950. Anyone out there know more about these two?

Andy Panda - "Scrappy Birthday"

2010-07-12T13:52:00.004-04:00

OK, this will be the last Andy Panda cartoon I post for a while. It's also the last cartoon that Andy starred in for Lantz. He would show up again in the "Spook-A-Nanny" TV special and in "The Woody Woodpecker Polka". It opens with a great walk cycle by Fred Moore, at least I think it's Moore. I'm pretty sure that Ed Love handles some of the early fox hunting scenes.

Andy Panda - "Dog Tax Dodgers"

2010-06-28T16:40:00.005-04:00

I've been on a bit of an Andy Panda kick lately, so here's another Dick Lundy directed cartoon. There's some great animation by Fred Moore and Pat Matthews in this one. I've posted clips of Moore's and Matthews' animation at half speed. Matthew's scene has some great subtle timing that I found to be really effective. When Wally Walrus starts to yell at him watch Andy's reaction. It's like Wally's words are hitting him right in the face. What an underrated animator. The more I watch the last of the Lantz cartoons before he closed the studio the more I wish that he was able to keep the studio going and retain some of the great talent he had started to accumulate. People like Matthews and LaVerne Harding really developed into strong animators over the years at Lantz. Matthews in particular developed a stand out style that really got watered down during some of the cartoons he worked on later at UPA. (Sorry if the quality of the slow motion videos is crappy.)

Fred Moore

Pat Matthews

UPA - "Family Circus"

2010-06-24T16:41:00.004-04:00

Art Babbit directed and animated this 1951 UPA short. I'm not sure what to think of it. I don't dislike it but it's certainly not that great of a cartoon. I looks like a John Sutherland industrial film to me. Not that that's entirely a bad thing. The animation is good but the character designs and layouts are very conservative compared to what UPA was doing at the time. Sorry for the crappy copy but it's all I have and I haven't seen this one anywhere online so I thought I'd share.

Andy Panda - "Playful Pelican"

2010-06-16T12:33:00.003-04:00

I posted this model sheet from Dick Lundy's "Playful Pelican" but never the cartoon and since I was just watching it the other day why not repost it with the cartoon.

Dan Gormley - New Funnies

2010-06-14T13:42:00.011-04:00

I've been spending time drooling over Dan Gormley's art in some New Funnies comics lately. I know next to nothing about Gormley so I have very little info to share about the artist.

Harvey Eisenberg - Super Rabbit #12

2010-05-10T16:31:00.007-04:00

Here's a story by Harvey Eisenberg from Super Rabbit #12 published in 1948. I was unaware that Eisenberg drew for Timely Comics so this story was a real treat. Especially in comparison to the art in the rest of the comic. From the first page I could tell by the posing and staging that it was Eisenberg, only after looking up info on Super Rabbit did I find out he worked on some of the comics. Guess I'll have to start hunting down Timely comics now in hopes of finding even more of his work.

Tex Avery - "The Farm Of Tomorrow"

2010-05-03T13:16:00.011-04:00

I know this cartoon is weaker than the most of Tex's shorts at MGM. Some of the gags are so corny they're almost embarrassing. I think even Tex would have admitted that, why else end it with the "Hootenanny" gag. The best or worst (depending on your sense of humor) of the bunch. But what I do love about it is Gene Hazelton's designs. That alone is enough reason for me to watch it over and over.

UPA - "Hotsy Footsy"

2010-04-24T16:59:00.008-04:00

Here's a good Mr. Magoo short, "Hotsy Footsy" released in October of 1952. There's some great designs and background by Paul Julian. This is the last Magoo short that Pat Matthews animated, or least received screen credit for. I believe he only animated on 3 more cartoons before leaving UPA. I'm not sure what scenes are his though I assume Magoo's little dance in the beginning is probably his animation. Not quite as good as the first half dozen or so Magoo cartoons but I thought it was a pretty funny short.

Hotsy Footsy

Uploaded by klangley

Droopy/Happy - Our Gang Comics #49

2010-04-19T21:59:00.005-04:00

A couple of Droopy front and back inside cover comics from Our Gang Comics #49 from 1948. It wouldn't be until 1949 in "Senor Droopy" that "Happy Hound" would officially be known as Droopy.

Owen Fitzgerald - Winnie The WAC

2010-04-02T22:52:00.004-04:00

Now that April Fool's is over we can forget that abominable Droopy cartoon. How about I make it up to everyone with this great 1953 Winnie The WAC story by Owen Fitzgerald from Here's Howie #9.

Disco Droopy

2010-04-01T07:36:00.006-04:00

Anyone that reads this blog regularly knows of my love for Tex Avery's MGM cartoons. Those cartoons are some of the best ever created and for the most part his characters should be left untouched. Unless of course you're talking about Filmation's revival of Tex's beloved Droopy as part of the 1980 Tom & Jerry Comedy Show. Here's the classic "Disco Droopy". Much like Tex's cartoons the gags come at you one after another and the timing is razor sharp. The animation is top notch, yes there's reuse of animation but with good reason. Droopy's disco dance is so well animated why not use it in as much of the cartoon as possible. Hell, even Tex reused Preston Blair's animation of Red in "Little Rural Riding Hood." Slick Wolf lays down some pretty great dance moves of his own. I would love to know who animated those scenes. Anyway, enjoy this classic from one of the legendary cartoon studios.

Disco Droopy

Uploaded by klangley

Mighty Mouse - Beauty On The Beach

2010-03-27T16:07:00.005-04:00

I think most people would agree that Mighty Mouse cartoons have usually two things going for them. Carlo Vinci and Jim Tyer. "Beauty On The Beach" was released in November of 1950 and directed by Connie Rasinski. Tyer take over about 1:30 into the cartoons and the funhouse scene has some really extreme drawings. Check out the distortion in three of the drawings below. BTW, you may have noticed that most of the Warner Bros. cartoons are longer available. Dailymotion purged just about all of the WB shorts I had uploaded.

Beauty On The Beach

Uploaded by klangley

Randomness

2010-02-20T15:31:00.005-05:00

Just a couple of random things. A couple of those cool background paintings from the opening of the Mighty Mouse Cartoon "Stop, Look, and Listen". Plus a clip from "The Scarlet Pumpernickel" where (out of boredom) I sped up Sylvester's voice to match Daffy's and slowed down Daffy's to match Sylvester's.

Scarlett Pumpernickel-voice reversal

Uploaded by klangley

Al Taliaferro - Donald Duck

2010-02-17T22:54:00.003-05:00

Here's a few Donald Duck strips by Al Taliaferro

UPA - "Fuddy Duddy Buddy"

2010-01-25T21:50:00.007-05:00

Here's another early UPA short, the John Hubley directed "Fuddy Duddy Buddy". The opening scene of Magoo trying to convince Bottomley to play tennis is really well animated. I'm not sure but I think Pat Matthews animated the scene where the walrus charges the net during the game of tennis. I think the following shot of Magoo might also be Matthews but I'm not too sure. Of course, Paul Julian's backgrounds are great too.

Fuddy Duddy Buddy

Uploaded by klangley

Check out The Big Blog of Kid's Comics! for a comic adaptation of the cartoon drawn by Dan Gormley

UPA - "The Miner's Daughter"

2009-12-28T15:16:00.005-05:00

I love the animation in this Bob Canon directed short. I'm still trying to pick out Pat Matthews animation. There's a great run cycle with the miner's daughter that is very similar to one Cannon animated in "Out-Foxed" when he worked under Tex Avery briefly.

UPA-The Miner's Daughter

Uploaded by klangley

Chuck Jones - "Rocket-bye Baby"

2009-12-19T09:11:00.005-05:00

This 1956 Chuck Jones cartoon has some great layouts by Ernest Nordli.

1956-08-04 - Rocket-bye Baby

Uploaded by klangley

Quick Draw McGraw - "Chopping Spree"

2009-12-09T22:45:00.000-05:00

Here's a real funny Quick Draw short written by Mike Maltese. As much as love early Hanna-Barbera, not very many make me laugh out loud. This one is an exception. The villian kind reminds me of Wilbur Cobb from Ren and Stimpy. Of course Cobb's design is much funnier. For all things H-B be sure to go to Yowp's blog. It's the ginchiest. For some reason the sound goes out of sync towards the end. I've uploaded it twice and it keeps doing it. I guess when it gets re-encoded something goes wrong. Oh well.

Chopping Spree

Uploaded by klangley

Peanuts Model Sheets

2009-11-20T22:16:00.005-05:00

I know for me once Halloween comes around it's time to get into Charlie Brown mode to carry me on through 'til the holidays end. Here's some model sheets that I saw were up for bid on ebay recently. I assume they're mostly from the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show. Have a Happy Thanksgiving all!

Michael Lah

2009-10-07T22:30:00.007-04:00

Here's a reel I put together of Michael Lah's animation for Tex Avery at MGM. Lah is one of my absolute favorite animators. Funny as hell in most every scene he animated.

Michael Lah Reel

Uploaded by klangley

Grant Simmons

2009-09-28T00:23:00.002-04:00

Tex Avery's unit of Michael Lah, Walt Clinton, and Grant Simmons has to be my favorite of all time. Though Bob Clampett's unit with Bob McKimson and Rod Scribner and Manny Gould would be right behind them. So, I figured I'd try and put together some clips featuring each animator. I started with Grant Simmons, well I assume that this is all Simmons. It's mostly clips from cartoons with Spike as it's easier to spot by the way he draws him. Though this could very well be a Walt Clinton reel since I can say for sure which name should be attached to the animation. I'm going to stick with Simmons though. If you spot any clips by a different animator please point them out.

Grant Simmons

Uploaded by klangley

Tom Ford Painting For Sale

2009-09-27T23:26:00.005-04:00

I was asked if I could possibly help sell a background painting that was by Tom Ford, who was a background painter at Famous Studios. I don't know much else about Ford's career but if anyone knows anything please feel free to share it here. I'm not sure what cartoon it's from but Linda sent me a few shots of it and if you're interested just email me and I'll pass along your info to her.

Barney Bear - "The Flying Bear"

2009-09-23T22:17:00.006-04:00

Here's the Rudy Ising Short, "The Flying Bear" and a model sheet to go with it. I stumbled across the model sheet while reading Michael Barrier's book Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book.

The Flying Bear

Uploaded by klangley

Tex Avery - "King Size Canary"

2009-09-16T22:14:00.003-04:00

I posted the first model sheet once before but I don't think I posted the other one. If so it was a really low resolution copy. This one's much better.

Walt Kelly - Pogo

2009-09-08T15:48:00.004-04:00

Here's the first week of Walt Kelly's Pogo from the short lived paper the New York Star. I'm assuming that Pogo didn't appear in the Saturday editions as I can't seem to find any. Though I'm no authority on the subject. I noticed that Volume One of the Pogo collections from Fantagraphics is up for pre-order on Amazon but there's no date. The publishing date on the book info says November of '09 so maybe it will finally be released this fall. On the other hand I read on a forum that Fantagraphics will be releasing it closer to the 2010 San Diego Comic Con. Anyone out there have a definitive release date for the first volume?

Herman Model Sheet

2009-08-30T11:06:00.002-04:00

Here's an early model sheet of Herman from Famous Studios.

Hank Ketcham

2009-08-18T22:47:00.003-04:00

Here's a couple of comics from Hank Ketcham. These can be found in the book "Where's Dennis? The Magazine Cartoon Art of Hank Ketcham."

Bruce Timm-Conan

2009-08-04T21:12:00.003-04:00

I've been spending some time reading loads of old comics. Green Lantern and The Flash, some Justice League, but mostly, John Buscema's Conan and Silver Surfer. It reminded me of Cary Nord's run on Conan for Dark Horse and this really short story from Conan #18 drawn by Bruce Timm. I'd give my right nut, maybe even the left one too, for a Conan graphic novel by Timm. As long as no one else touches the art. Well, if Shane Glines inked it I'd have no problem with that. Oh well, one can dream.

Disney - "A Cowboy Needs A Horse"

2009-06-16T16:56:00.005-04:00

I'm posting this one mostly just for the backgrounds, it's worth the effort just for the first two shots of the apartment. As for the cartoon, meh. Not much going on in this one. The indian chief's design is pretty cool, along with the train conductor, but the kids are rather generic.

A Cowboy Needs a Horse

Uploaded by klangley

Jim Tyer - "A Merry Chase"

2009-05-16T08:25:00.012-04:00

Here's some screen shots of some amazing Jim Tyer animation from the Heckle & Jeckle short "A Merry Chase". I've also posted the cartoon itself and a clip of just Tyer's animation that has been slowed down so we can see each drawing in action. For the really wild animation I slowed it down to about 10% of the original speed. Check out the ass whoopin' Dimwit lays upon the bulldog near the end of the clip. Awesome!

Jim Tyer - A Merry Chase (Varying Speeds)

Uploaded by klangley

A Merry Chase

Uploaded by klangley

"Gerald McBoing Boing's Symphony"

2009-04-23T22:02:00.004-04:00

Though the original Gerald McBoing Boing short is by far the best I do enjoy this one as well. The story doesn't quite getting the handling that the original had but there's still great designs and animation. I particularly like the station owner's design.

Gerald McBoing Boing's Symphony

Uploaded by klangley

"Keep It Cool Baby"

2009-04-22T21:37:00.002-04:00

I came across this cartoon on Youtube written by Shamus Culhane and Ruth Kneitel (Max Fleischer's daugther) and rather enjoyed it. I didn't know what to expect as I'm really unfamiliar with the cartoons made at Paramount when Culhane was running the studio. I'm not too fond of the overly simple character designs but the voice acting is great.

Baby Huey Comic

2009-03-22T12:10:00.006-04:00

So, the other day I actually got off my ass and left my office during lunch to take a short trip up to the Museum Of Comics and Cartoon Art to check out he Harvey Comics exhibit. Not as large of an exhibit as I thought but the original art they had was amazing. A couple of pieces by Howie Post stood out immediately and a strip from Johnny Gentilella. I had my phone with me and snapped a couple of pics. Here they are along with a Baby Huey comic from Paramount Animated Comics #4.

I didn't notice how bad this Gentilella pic came out until after I left. Damn.

Art Lozzi

2009-03-16T20:19:00.010-04:00

I was watching some Yogi shorts last week that Art Lozzi had painted backgrounds for and noticed that even though different layout artists, Tony Rivera and Ernest Nordli, worked on the shorts the backgrounds were very similar in design. Below are some examples. This got me wondering how much leeway the background artist had when painting the backgrounds. I asked Art this very question and he was kind enough (as always) to respond. Here' what Art had to say.

Hey Kevin,

Great hearing from you, nice to close the gap.
It's a steady amazement to me that you, John K and others are still interested in backgrounds that I painted more than 45 years ago. Yes, I recognize the ones you attached, and swift memories shot by. I'll try to explain the routine.
Keep in mind that Hanna and Barbera was still a new company then. There were the old-timers from MGM who worked very close to eachother and followed strict patterns: layouts, and then backgrounds (usually Bob Gentle and what's-her-name who married Ollie Hanson, -Vera Ohman). The style was established and classic and Monte went in a gave them a hand occasionally.
At the new H-B studio there was not enough time to draw and redraw the layouts. They were being done fast, and by a lot of guys, to get it all done in time. It was a grind. I liked it because we -Monte and I- were given a wide leeway as to style. This is where I began using and developing my own. ..esp with the Flintstones, etc.
I still like the Yogi ones you sent me. Thanks.

Here in Greece, they don't show the HB cartoons. I have seen only about a dozen since I've lived here. They don't even know who Yogi Bear is. So I've been totally out of the picture and in the dark.
The answer to your question is Yes, I was able to exert more control -practically total- over the backgrounds, etc. The layout guys did not establish or instist on a particular style. They more or less sketched what had to be shown... fast, fast, fast... and left the rest up to us. Thank God for Ed Benedict however, who set the first Flintstones styles. Me, I stuck to it more or less. Great stuff, and great person. But the colors and painting techniques were mine.

Also, here's one of the shorts I was watching, "A Wooin' Bruin".

A Wooin' Bruin

Uploaded by klangley

Another Mickey Model Sheet

2009-03-09T22:53:00.004-04:00

Here's another model sheet of Mickey that I copy from in what seems to be my eternal quest to draw Mickey properly. Just can't do it. Maybe someday. I'll try and post more often but I've had little time to spare for blogging lately.

Jim Tyer Comics

2009-02-18T11:45:00.004-05:00

There's some really great and funny drawing in this Jim Tyer comic.

Tex Avery - "Field And Scream"

2009-02-09T21:09:00.007-05:00

Gotta love this cartoon for Ed Benedict's layouts alone and the loads of corny gags. Johnny Johnson's backgrounds are something else here too. He's just as good with more stylized backgrounds as he is with realistic ones. I suppose these are the types of backgrounds we could have seen in the early Hanna-Barbera cartoons had they had more time and money to spend on them.

Field & Scream

Uploaded by klangley

MGM - "The Hungry Wolf"

2009-01-28T23:04:00.007-05:00

"The Hungry Wolf" has some great animation in it, then again most of the MGM shorts from the Harman/Ising period on do. I love the scene when the wolf is chasing the mouse and tearing up the floor. Who incidentally, looks like a precursor to Jerry. Think Joe Barbera worked on this short? I don't know who animated that scene or any other for that matter. My knowledge of the Harman/Ising era is pretty limited and what I did know I have since forgotten. My books have been collecting dust in a box.

Looks a little like Jerry huh?

Hungry Wolf

Uploaded by klangley

Chuck Jones - "Scent-Imental Over You"

2009-01-22T21:48:00.005-05:00

I realized I rarely post anything by Chuck Jones. What's up with that? Though I don't find all the Pepe Le Pew shorts to be that great I enjoy "Scent-Imental Over You" mostly for the design of the scrawny little thing below.

Scent-Imental Over You

Uploaded by klangley

Harvey Eisenberg - Pete And Tweet

2009-01-13T20:30:00.003-05:00

Here's some more Eisenberg from Foxy Fagan #7. Great drawings.

Popeye Model Sheets

2009-01-06T21:32:00.007-05:00

I received the Popeye Volume 3 DVD as a gift and have been enjoying it immensely. I wasn't as familiar with the wartime era shorts so some of the cartoons are new to me. I forgot that I have model sheets that I haven't gotten around to posting. These were sent to me by the Masked Stinker so let's all give him a big thanks for sending them. THANKS! Update: Also, many thanks to Bob Jaques for sending me a much higher quality version of the model sheet below. The copy I had was a tease, you couldn't really make out the details on these great poses.

Hemo The Magnificent

2008-12-30T22:50:00.004-05:00

"Hemo The Magnificent" is an old educational film with animation produced by Shamus Culhane Productions. Though Culhane had probably little to no creative input as the animation was directed by Bill Hurtz. It features the voices of Mel Blanc, June Foray, Marvin Miller, and even an on screen appearance by Sterling Holloway. Here's the introductory scene from "Hemo". I have to say I love the background used in the first animated scenes.

Hemo The Magnificent-Intro

Uploaded by klangley

Sheldon Mayer - Dizzy Dog

2008-12-18T21:31:00.004-05:00

A funny comic from Sheldon Mayer with a cameo by the Crow. I forget what issue of Funny Stuff this is from and I'm too lazy to look through them.

Donald Graham

2008-12-17T21:10:00.006-05:00

I have been on a quest for some time to get a hold of Donald Graham's book "Composing Pictures" without paying an arm and a leg. Believe it or not, I've seen it on sale for as much as $400. Luckily, it turned up in a local library recently and I've been scanning it for a couple of weeks now. At a little over 400 pages it's quite a monotonous job. For those that don't know, Donald Graham was an instructor at Chouinard Art Institute and later commissioned by Walt Disney to instruct drawing classes for his animators. I found the few pages on storyboarding informative and thought I'd share.

Dick Lundy - "Bird-Brain Bird Dog"

2008-12-16T22:04:00.005-05:00

Another great Barney Bear short directed by Dick Lundy and animated by Walt Clinton and Grant Simmons. I've been way to busy to post but I'm going to try and pick up the pace a little over the next few weeks.

Bird-Brain Bird Dog
Uploaded by klangley

Tex Avery - "Jerky Turkey"

2008-11-25T21:07:00.007-05:00

I figured I'd post something with a Thanksgiving theme, so what better than a Tex Avery short. While "Jerky Turkey" might not be one of his best MGM shorts it's loaded with great gags. And who doesn't love a Jimmy Durante impersonation? So here's the short along with a couple of model sheets and animation drawings. Happy Thanksgiving.

Jerky Turkey

Uploaded by klangley

A Little Info On Pat Matthews

2008-11-06T22:24:00.009-05:00

I was lucky enough to have recently been contacted by the son of one of my absolute favorite animators Pat Matthews, who also happens to be Pat Matthews. Pat was gracious enough to share some background information about his father and his career. He was also kind enough to encourage me to share it with readers of this blog. Thanks Pat! He cleared up whether or not his father was actually the Abner Matthews that worked for the Fleischer's studio. Recently I caught the UPA short "The Miner's Daughter" on Animania and loved it. Pat Matthews animated on that one and I loved it. I can't believe I hadn't see it before. If anyone knows where to get a hold of a copy please email me. I'd love to see that one a few dozen times more. Here's what Pat had to share along with the "tribute" I made awhile back, "Robing Hoodlum" which Thad posted on his blog some time ago, and "Rooty Toot Toot". (Sorry for the lack of posts, I haven't had much time to post lately.)

Hello Kevin,

Thanks for the tribute. It's beautiful. My dad was actually named John Richard Matthews but he hated that name. He wanted to be called Pat. So when I was born that's what he named me. People at the studio always called me Pat Junior (he hated that too - I don't know why - I liked it).

My father is also on the imdb website and they've got it wrong. I don't know who Abner Matthews is but I'm sure he is somebody else. I don't believe my father ever worked for the Fleischer studio. He started out as in inbetweener at Walt Disney in 1938. He worked on Pinochio and has a credit at the end of the picture. Then the inbetweeners went on strike and he lost his job. He then went to Walter Lantz and became an animator. As you commented, Jimmy Culhane covered this area pretty well. Then he went to UPA.

At UPA he did do Rooty Toot Toot and also Telltale Heart, which I think are among the best cartoons ever made. My dad did not work on Gerald McBoing-boing.

There is an interesting story about how and why he left UPA. You also might find it interesting that my mother divorced dad in 1945 and married Frank Smith, another great animator, in 1949 (who DID animate Gerald McBoing-boing). I spent most of my early life with my mother and Frank but saw my father frequently.

Let me know if you are interested in more.

Hello Kevin,

First, about why he left UPA. Basically he got a better job. He was an animator at UPA and he wanted to be a director. UPA had a crowd of directors, all among the most brilliant in the business. Dad talked to a friend of his, Richard Tompkins (not sure of the spelling), who owned and operated RK Tompkins animation studio in Mexico City. Tompkins needed a director and hired dad. This happened in 53 or 54. Dad, who was fluent in Spanish, packed up and moved to Mexico City. He worked there until 56. I was 17 and on summer vacation from High School in 56 and went down to Mexico City to visit him. At the end of summer I flew back and he drove up to Hollywood. He got a job at Playhouse Pictures and stayed with them until, I think, around 59. I had joined the Coast Guard and was stationed in Alaska and didn't follow what the family was doing very well.

At RK Tompkins and at Playhouse Pictures, he worked on commercials, either for the movie theaters (in Mexico) or television (in Hollywood). Most everything he did after UPA was for TV.

Around 59 dad and my sister Carol, left for England. Didn't find any work there so they went to Spain. Didn't find any work there either. So they ended up in Melbourn Australia where dad was animation director for a TV studio.

I'll have to ask my sister about when they came back from Australia, but when he came back he went through a long period of disability. He had gradually lost control of his left side. His left arm was paralized and he walked with difficulty. He was right handed so he could still draw however.

In the middle 60s he went back to Mexico and married his fourth wife, Noemi. He was able to retire there in Ozumbia, a small town outside of Mexico City, receiving a Social Security Disability pension and a WW2 pension. He worked on and off from then to 1972 at the RK Tompkins studio. He was working on a Spanish language Seseme Street for Mexican television when he and Noemi were killed in an automobile accident as they drove in to the studio one morning. He was 56.

I don't think he had a favorite character but I know that he liked "The Telltale Heart" very very much. I don't know if he had a favorite studio. I know that he loved UPA and the studio in Mexico. He thought the Mexican artists were brilliant.

Pat Matthews

Uploaded by klangley

Robin Hoodlum

Uploaded by thadk

Rooty toot toot, John HUBLEY, 1952

Uploaded by shortanimatedworld

Animaland - "The Lion"

2008-10-12T11:10:00.007-04:00

Here's another from David Hand's Animaland series, along with some model sheets. I love the animation of the lion as a cub.

The Lion

Uploaded by klangley

Harvey Eisenberg - Foxy Fagan

2008-09-30T00:15:00.005-04:00

Here's some scans from Foxy Fagan #7 by Joe Barbera and Harvey Eisenberg. Every panel is perfectly drawn. Enjoy!

Dan DeCarlo Pinups

2008-09-27T14:59:00.002-04:00

Chuck Jones - "Often An Orphan"

2008-09-24T23:09:00.004-04:00

This Jones short will be on Volume 6 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection. I love Charlie Dog, he's hilariously irritating, like Gilbert Gottfried.

Often An Orphan

Uploaded by klangley

Fox and Crow - "Room and Bored"

2008-09-20T23:59:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite Fox and Crow shorts. I was spoiled until recently, watching Fox and Crow on Animania HD at the end of the Mr. Magoo show. For a few weeks the show would end with a F&C short. They've since starting ending with older Columbia cartoons. It was great to see "Robin Hoodlum" in HD. Hopefully they'll start running them again real soon.

Fox & Crow - Room And Bored (1943)

Uploaded by klangley

Tex Avery - "Doggone Tired"

2008-09-09T22:22:00.003-04:00

Here's a model sheet and layout drawing by Louie Schmitt from Tex Avery's classic "Doggone Tired". Yes, when you come here everything Tex did is considered a classic. There's some great animation from Bobe Cannon who worked for Tex briefly. I wish he had stayed with Tex. His animation in the few shorts he worked on at MGM is some of my favorite work by any animator.

Doggone Tired

Uploaded by klangley

Harvey Eisenberg - Petey Pinfeathers

2008-08-20T23:08:00.004-04:00

I thought I already posted this comic from Harvey Eisenberg but apparently I didn't. It's so well drawn that it almost makes me angry. Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I haven't had much time to devote to posting.

Preston Blair Swipe

2008-08-10T22:52:00.002-04:00

Looks like even Harvey Eisenberg (I think) borrowed from Preston Blair's book for a panel in Tom & Jerry #165.

Little Audrey Model Sheet

2008-08-04T22:53:00.001-04:00

These are for Kevin. I don't know what the Melvin model sheet is from. In fact, I don't even remember where I found these.

Harvey Eisenberg - Slapsy Squirrel

2008-07-23T23:58:00.003-04:00

Here's another beautifully drawn comic from Red Rabbit #5 by Harvey Eisenberg. Maybe it's just me but that Slapsy looks and awful lot like some other character. Well, if he was created by Joe Barbera.

Art Davis - "The Rattled Rooster"

2008-07-21T23:18:00.001-04:00

This Art Davis short may be a little weak on gags but the animation and the rooster character design help redeem it. Great stuff.

The Rattled Rooster

Uploaded by klangley

Dick Lundy - "Impossible Possum"

2008-07-18T23:41:00.004-04:00

I've mentioned before that Michael Lah is one of my favorite animators, and "Impossible Possum" has some great Lah animation in it. Particularly the dance scene. I might be in the minority on this one, but I really love Lundy's Barney Bear shorts. Maybe it's because it's basically Tex's unit.

Impossible Possum

Uploaded by klangley

Pixie and Dixie - "Puppet Pals" (w/ music IDs)

2008-07-15T23:44:00.003-04:00

I've always had a soft spot for the Huckleberry Hound show even in spite of the drop in the animation quality compared to what most of these guys were doing at MGM. Though this one has some better poses in it than others thanks to Michael Lah's layouts. Also, I've included IDs for the music cues used in this short, though it's mostly a few different ones reused over and over. I'm super nerdy when it comes to those old music cues. I spend way too much time listening to that stuff. "Puppet Pals" mostly uses cues from Jack Shaindlin, my favorite of all the stock music composers, and a couple of Loose/Seely cues. There is one cue that I'm not familiar with, I haven't come across it anywhere, and I have loads of this stuff. If anyone knows please feel free to share. I'm sure there's only a couple of other people out there that give a shit about this sort of thing. I'll move onto some Gumby cues next time.

Puppet Pals

Uploaded by klangley

Sheldon Mayer

2008-07-15T23:31:00.005-04:00

After reading Thad's post on Sheldon Mayer, I remembered that I had a bunch of Animal Antics, Raccoon Kids, and Nutsy Squirrel comics with his work in them. So I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and start sharing some of what I have. Here's a funny Dizzy Dog comic.

Disney's "Mother Goose Goes To Hollywood" Model Sheets

2008-07-11T23:48:00.004-04:00

"Mother Goose Goes To Hollywood" is probably my favorite of the Silly Symnphonies, mostly because the caricatures are so great. Here's some model sheets that I've had sitting on my hard drive.