When Tex Avery began directing animated shorts at Warner Bros. in 1935, he jumped headlong into a demanding production schedule. Though Avery’s was not the only unit producing cartoons for the Warner studio–two other units were headed by Jack King and Ben “Bugs” Hardaway (at least until the return of Friz Freleng, who had defected…
“Animation is the art of timing, a truth applicable as well to all motion pictures. And the most brilliant masters of timing were usually comedians: Keaton, Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Langdon–and Fred ‘Tex’ Avery.” –Chuck Jones, in the introduction to John Canemaker’s 1996 book Tex Avery: The MGM Years, 1942-1955 Tex Avery’s name looms large…
This week, True Classics will be dedicated to one Frederick Bean Avery, better known to the world at large as seminal cartoonist “Tex” Avery. Much like our week-long tribute for Chuck Jones’ centennial last year, once again we will turn our site over to one of the most talented and influential animators to emerge from…
Though his popularity lasted less than a decade, Felix the Cat remains one of the seminal figures in pre-sound animation. The mischievous, clever cat appeared in over 150 animated shorts throughout the 1920s, many of which served to influence an entire generation of animators to come. The origins of the character have long been questioned,…
We’ve talked previously on this blog about the influence of cartoonist/animation pioneer Winsor McCay, but I’m going to mention it again (and again and again and again), as it would be nearly impossible to overstate his importance in promoting animation as a viable artistic medium. Films like Little Nemo (1911) and Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) directly inspired countless…
Tomorrow evening on TCM, Robert Osborne and animation scholar/historian Jerry Beck will be co-hosting a six-hour block of classic, rare animation in prime-time. To say this is an extremely welcome night of entertainment is an understatement. Classic animation gets the short shrift nowadays. Sure, you can find hour-long blocks of Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry…
For the next week or so, posting here at True Classics will be somewhat sporadic (damn real life–always getting in the way of blogging). And because of that, we overshot our typical “first of the month” announcement post. But here ’tis now, chock full of five-days-late announcements and general information about the month to come…
By 1927, Adolph Zukor, the Hollywood mogul behind the rapidly-expanding Paramount-Famous Lasky Corporation, had built a veritable entertainment empire. The studio had moved into a new, multimillion-dollar twenty-six acre lot off Melrose Avenue. They had amassed a chain of nearly two thousand theaters across the country, called Publix Theatres, in which to screen their many…
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