Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
William F. Buckley, Jr. 1925 - 2008
In honor of WFB's passing, I present an old cartoon from 1987. My political outlook owes much to the influence of Bill Buckley and National Review. As anyone who'd watched "Firing Line" way back in the day can attest, Buckley was always leaning over in his chair and his ties were usually loose. I knew that he received occasional ribbing from others regarding these poor habits, so I drew a cartoon and sent it to him. The top part is the beginning of my letter to him. He printed it, along with the cartoon, in December 1987.
Rest in peace, Bill.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
SH-H-H-H-H-H
Happy 100-th birthday to the King of Cartoons!
I already wanted to make a post about this cartoon earlier in the month, but today seems to be a good occasion to do it. SH-H-H-H-H-H is Tex Avery's last theatrical cartoon, produced during his brief return to Walter Lantz studio, where he began his career 25 years earlier, working on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Despite the low budgets, inferior animators and soundtrack (compared to his MGM films), Avery created an extraordinary and slightly disturbing cartoon. At the same time, it's for me a very sad cartoon to watch, because it gives me the similar feeling like listening to the last Beatles recordings - it marks the end of the brilliant and groundbreaking career that finished prematurely.
Enjoy these screenshots from SH-H-H-H-H-H, the final statement from one of the greatest and most innovative artists of the 20th century.
Happy Birthday Tex, and thank you for the legacy of laughter!
Here are the other Tex Avery cartoons featured on this blog so far (with promise of much more to come next month):
Miss Glory (1936)
The Isle of Pingo Pongo (1937)
The Little Red Walking Hood (1937)
All This and Rabbit Stew (1941)
Crazy Cruise (1942)
Blitz Wolf (1942)
Screwball Squirrel (1944)
Garden Gopher (1950)
Droopy DVD collection
And take a look at this nice tribute to Tex by David Germain:
David Germain's tribute to Tex Avery
David made a funny comic that features Avery (and the other two of the greatest cartoon directors), and also set up a wonderful collection of links to the large quantity of complete Tex Avery cartoons. Don't miss it!
I already wanted to make a post about this cartoon earlier in the month, but today seems to be a good occasion to do it. SH-H-H-H-H-H is Tex Avery's last theatrical cartoon, produced during his brief return to Walter Lantz studio, where he began his career 25 years earlier, working on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Despite the low budgets, inferior animators and soundtrack (compared to his MGM films), Avery created an extraordinary and slightly disturbing cartoon. At the same time, it's for me a very sad cartoon to watch, because it gives me the similar feeling like listening to the last Beatles recordings - it marks the end of the brilliant and groundbreaking career that finished prematurely.
Enjoy these screenshots from SH-H-H-H-H-H, the final statement from one of the greatest and most innovative artists of the 20th century.
Happy Birthday Tex, and thank you for the legacy of laughter!
Here are the other Tex Avery cartoons featured on this blog so far (with promise of much more to come next month):
And take a look at this nice tribute to Tex by David Germain:
David Germain's tribute to Tex Avery
David made a funny comic that features Avery (and the other two of the greatest cartoon directors), and also set up a wonderful collection of links to the large quantity of complete Tex Avery cartoons. Don't miss it!
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