How Uninteresting Was This Year's World Series?

I couldn't even bother to watch the Series this year. How dull are the Tigers and Cardinals? Maybe it's just the letdown of watching the Yankees bow out early and then seeing the Mets blow it, I really thought they were gonna take that last game. Can someone tell me when Jeff Weaver learned to pitch again? Why couldn't he have pitched the way he did in the playoffs when he was with the Yankees. Anyway, here's a model sheet from "Baseball Bugs".

Cartoons and Timing to Music

The timing of cartoons to music is a subject I've been spending a lot of my time on. I should really be drawing instead, but it's something I really want to learn and be able to put into practice. Here's some short scenes that I particularly like and have been studying closely, along with many others. I didn't include any Tom and Jerry clips only because I'm going to do a separate post on Bill Hanna, who is really one of the best at timing to music, at least in my eyes he is.

This first clip is Shamus Culhane's animation from the Disney short "Hawaiian Holiday". Culhane, to me is one the best at timing to music. I think a lot of his cartoons at Lantz Studios really stand out because of his feel for music. Watch this scene with the sound off and then with it on to see how effective his animation was.

Culhane-Hawaiian Holiday

Uploaded by klangley

This clip from Dick Lundy's short "Banquet Busters" is more subtle. The rhythym is used to accent actions. Watch when Wally Walrus first starts walking with the platter, even the steam puffs out on the beat. I wonder if Lundy indicated that on his bar sheets or of the animator worked that out on his own?

Banquet Busters

Uploaded by klangley

This dance from Milt Gross' "Jitterbug Follies" is just great. (Is this not one of the funniest cartoons ever?)

Jitterbug Follies

Uploaded by klangley

Another one from Dick Lundy, this one's from "Apple Andy". I could watch these apple cores dance all day without ever tiring of it. Even when they first scramble around and about is right on the beat. Could anyone tell my why every Culhane and Lundy short from Lantz isn't out on DVD!?!? I love them.

Apple Andy

Uploaded by klangley

This dance from "Mickey's Birthday Party", animated by Ken Muse (ID by Thad) just floors me. I think it's perfect, so entertaining. It actually made me like Mickey, who I disliked for many years.

Mickey's Birthday Party

Uploaded by klangley

I don't have to say anything about any scene from "Coal Black", it's just pure entertainment. Clampett certainly had a feel for jazz.

Coal Black

Uploaded by klangley

More Slap Happy Lion

Here's the rest of the pics I promised from "Slap Happy Lion". Each one is a really funny and cartoony drawing.

Slap Happy Lion

It's been about a week since my last post so I figured I'd start up again with some pics from Tex Avery's hilarious short "Slap Happy Lion". This cartoon is packed with some really great and wild animation, definetly some of my favorite of all time. The model sheet was drawn by Irv Spence but I'm not sure who drew the different animation drawings. I've also uploaded the scene that corresponds with these animation drawings, sorry for the crappy quality though. Check back later this week for the rest of the stuff I scanned from "Slap Happy Lion"

Slap Happy Lion scene

Uploaded by klangley

Milt Gross Reviews The News

I ran across these hilarious Milt Gross pages while combing the newsgroups and I just had to share. As always Milt's drawings are really cartoony and funny.

I'm taking a road trip to North Carolina with the family this week so I probably won't be posting anything until some time next week, but maybe I'll bring some cartoons down to upload.

Zoot Cat

I was going to do a post yesterday about one of my favorite Tom and Jerry cartoons "Zoot Cat" but I was too tired last night to stay up and upload a clip of Irv Spence's dance scene. I went to check out Thad's blog this morning and he beat me to it, even the same model sheet plus some others. This cartoon has some of my favorite animation from Irv Spence. Here's some animation drawings plus a different scene by Irv Spence. Sorry for the copycat post Thad.

Pete Burness

Irv Spence

Pete Burness

Ken Muse

Irv Spence-Zoot Cat

Uploaded by klangley

Goofy Giggles

Here's a funny page out of a Powerhouse Pepper comic by Basil Wolverton.

Chilly Willy-"I'm Cold"

Here's Tex Avery's first Chilly Willy cartoon that he directed at Lantz Studios along with Tex Avery's redesign of Chilly Willy. One of the things I like about Tex's shorts at Lantz is that the characters are drawn closer to Tex's drawing style. Check out the storyboard from another of his Chilly Willy shorts, "The Legend Of Rockabye Point" drawn by Tex. This is also the first appearance of Smedley, voiced by Daws Butler.

Tex Avery - I'm Cold - 1954-11-29

Uploaded by klangley

Bar Sheet Template

Someone left a comment on my post about timing to music asking if I could post a template of the bar sheets that I'm using. So here it is in PDF format, save yourself some time and just right-click and "Save As". I'm sure there's a better way to format a bar sheet but this has been working for me. Happy timing!

The Not So Little 'Tinker Post

I was listening to "All Or Nothing At All" by the Harry James Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra today and the first thing that came to mind was the "Frankie" scene, featuring the same song, from Tex Avery's "Little 'Tinker". I love this cartoon, it's great to see a bunch of Disneyesque bunnies swoon over 'Tinker in his Frankie get-up in the same way Tex's Wolf does over Red. I read that Tex sort of dismissed this one as a cutesy cartoon and it is a far cry from the cruelty of Screwy Squirrel but like all of Tex's cartoons it's loaded with great gags. Here's some model sheets and screen caps of some of the beautiful backgrounds.