Next week is “Star Wars Day” (May the 4th be with you!). When George Lucas’s seminal science fiction film debuted in 1977, no one could have predicted that Star Wars would not only eventually have its own day but also be ubiquitous in our pop culture and lexicon, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, sidequels, animated series and streaming shows,...

It’s the last week of classes here at the art college I teach, so things are a little short this week! In quick Thunderbean news: VERY briefly: Dave and Becky are continuing to work on getting the batch of special discs shipped, and I’m putting the finishing touches on Mid Century Modern 3. Luke is working on Felix and the Goose that Layed...

As animation began to find its niche in television mass production during the mid-to-lare 50’s and early ‘60’s, the circus still remained a prominent fall-back genre for screenwriters – sort of like a safety net for a trapeze artist – which would be turned to again and again on both big and small screens. For the theaters, there were still films...

The Van Beuren Cartoons seem to be enjoying a consistent improvement in quality during this period. The arrival of Burt Gillett and Ted Eshbaugh as directors ensured that the studio couldn’t get away with their ramshackle efforts of a few years earlier. Winston Sharples had the musical element of the films well in hand, though depending on his own...

Disclaimer: The Private Snafu cartoons, intended for viewing by the US Army, are products of American propaganda during World War II. Like many of the finished Snafu films, the story outline and script seen here exploit racial and gender stereotypes that are harmful today. The documents shown are presented unedited in the interests of cultural and animation...

Woody Woodpecker’s 1944 cartoon The Barber of Seville is a dizzying display of cartoon comedy and animation artistry. It’s easy to see why The Barber of Seville was counted among The 50 Greatest Cartoons in Jerry Beck’s 1994 book of the same name (Barber came in at number 43). In the book, contributor Joe Adamson wrote, “We can still ask the logical...