Excuse the long hiatus... I have little to no internet access at the moment, so Animation Tidbits is taking a summer break and I'll be posting again in Autumn. Happy holidays everybody! :)
An Academy Award Nominee, this short tells about the rise and fall of Nelly's, a singing giraffe from Africa, career... though with a happy ending See it on YouTube or DailyMotion
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Data: Released: 30 December 1961 Directed by: Chuck Jones (Co-Directed by Maurice Noble and Abe Levitow) Produced by: David H. DePatie Animation: Richard Thompson, Ben Washam, Tom Ray, Ken Harris Story: Dave Detiege, Chuck Jones Music: Milt Franklyn Vocal: Gloria Wood, Mel Blanc, Ed Prentiss Songs: "Auld Lang Syne" (with substitute lyrics, see below) "The Flower of Gower Gulch" written by Michael Maltese "Voices of Spring" by Johann Strauß "Aloha Oe" by Queen Liliuokalani "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean" aka "The Red, White and Blue" Lyrics: [Auld Lang Syne] Should liver ailments be forgot And never brought to mind Should stomach problems be ignored Or a slipped disk in the spine Drink Algonquin Rutabaga Tonic, my dear And never have the measles Drink Algonquin Rutabaga Tonic, my dear It takes care of all diseasels
[The Flower of Gower Gulch] I'm the flower of Gower Gulch A cowpuncher's sweetheart true My looks don't amount to much 'Cause one of my eyes is blue But one thing you can reckon That when it comes to neckin' I'm the queen of the wild, wild west Links:
Based on Winsor McCay's comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, this movie went through a long production time. Names such as Ray Bradbury and Jean Giraud are credited for the story, though the plot turns out to follow rather loosely that of the original comic strips and is simpler and more child-like. Still, all the characters and places are there, even in the little background details, for appreciators of McCay's work to spot. (the whole movie's on YouTube)
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Data: Released: 15 July 1989 (Japan), 21 August 1992 (USA) Directed by: Masami Hata, William T. Hurtz Produced by: Yutaka Fujioka Distributed by: Hemdale Film Corporation Written by: Richard Outten, Chris Columbus, Bruce Schaefer. Story: Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, Yutaka Fujioka, from a concept by Ray Bradbury. Music: Thomas Chase, Steve Rucker.
[This wasn't scheduled for feature, but I need to gather screencaps for the next post, and I'm throwing this in now because I'm loving it at the moment!] ...Friz Freleng's jazzy takeoff on Three Little Pigs!
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Data: Released: 5 January 1957 Directed by: Friz Freleng Produced by: Warner Bros Animation: Gerry Chiniquy and Bob Matz Story: Warren Foster Music: Shorty Rogers Vocal: Stan Freberg Lyrics: Remember the story of the 3 little pigs One played a pipe and the other danced gigs The 3 little pigs are still around But are playing music with the modern sound 3 little pigs were in the groove Everything was running smooth The pigs were due for a big surprise For the wolf appeared with red rimmed eyes Oo you cool, oo you cool, oo you cool man cool Well sho he was friendly he shook their hands Announced he was joining up with the band Instead of starting an argument A 1 and a 2 and away they went The 3 little pigs were really gassed They’d never heard such a corny blast We’ve played in the west We’ve played in the east We’ve heard the most, but you’re the least Well the big bad wolf was really mad He wanted to play music and wanted to play bad They stopped me before I could go to town so I’ll huff and puff and blow their house down The house of straw was blown away The pigs had to find another place to play Dew Drop Inn the house of sticks 3 little pigs were giving out licks Well the piano playing pig was swinging like a gate Doing the Libarace on the 88 (I wish my brother George was here) The 3 little pigs were having a ball When the big bad wolf he entered the hall The big bad wolf he sat right down C’mon cats we’re going to town From the crowd came an angry shout Stop the music throw the square out the Big Bad Wolf was really sore If they’re going to get tough I’ll give them more They don’t know talent in this here town I’ll huff and I’ll puff and blow the place down Dew Drop Inn did drop down The 3 little pigs crawled out of the rubble This big bad wolf gives us nothing but trouble We won’t be bothered by his windy tricks The next place we play must be made of bricks Sturdy place this house of bricks Built in 1776 High class place with the high class crowd Sign on the door no wolves allowed The wolf was sore and fit to be tied He was sworn and determined to get inside He huffed and puffed at the house of bricks But the bricks are stronger than straw or sticks He huffed and puffed and bleeped and blooped And at 10:00 was completely pooped When all of the sudden came a ray of hope I could disguise myself, boy what a dope Well the big bad wolf took it all in stride He figured out the way to get inside I’ll show those pigs that I’m not stuck If I can’t blow it down I’ll blow it up Well the big bad wolf was really gone And with him went his corny horn Went out of this world with out a trace Didn’t go to heaven it was the other place The big bad wolf he learned the rule You’ve got to get hot to play real cool
Chuck Jones's last creation was a webtoon, Thomas Timberwolf. The series was discontinued after Chuck Jones's death and only 13 episodes have been completed. All the episodes are available online.
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Released: 24 October 2001 Directed by: Jeff DeGrandis, Steven Dovas, Stephen Fossati Produced by: Atomic Cartoons (released by Warner Bros) Animation: Victor Marchetti, Jeffery Agala, Charlie McKenna, Mauro Casalese, Bong Macarayan, Ridd Sorensen, Byron Leboe, Kenneth Chu, Karyn Dietrich, Benson Shum Voices: Joe Alaskay, Nancy Cartwright Story: Stephen Fossati, Chuck Jones, Philip Vaughn Music: Rob Wenner
Suggested by Fede, thank you! Winner of the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) and voted #29 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time, Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom explores the history of music through the four groups of instruments: brass, woodwinks, strings and percussion. It is the second, and last, short in the Adventures in Music series.
Data: Released: 10 November 1953 Directed by: Ward Kimball and Charles A. Nichols Produced by: Walt Disney Animation: Xavier Atencio, Marc Davis, Ward Kimball, Art Stevens, Julius Svendsen, Henry Tanous Voices: Bill Thompson, Thurl Ravenscroft Story: Dick Huemer Music: Joseph Dubin
I couldn't find online videos of either (except a couple excerpts that didn't seem to work properly). You can find both rather easily through torrents though >_>
edit: Melody is now on YouTube (thanks Tanglewood for letting me know!)
A remake of the classic tale of the Bremen musicians, Buster (dog), Gwendolyn (cat), Fred (donkey) and Tortellini (rooster) are hired to sing the tune of a popular brand of sausages in Bremen. A trailer is viewable on Amazon.com along with a rent donwload. Some videos of the songs on YouTube:
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Data: Released: 2 October 1997 Directed by: Michael Coldewey, Eberhard Junkersdorf, Juergen Richter Produced by: Biskop Film (distributed by Warner Bros) Screenplay: Bert Henry, George Reichelt, Dagmar Kekule Music: Peter Wolf Main characters voices (German): Hartmut Engler, Sandra Schwarzhaupt, Mario Adorf, Joachim Kemmer Main characters voices (English): James Ingram, B.B. King, Oleta Adams, Zucchero
Lorenzo is a Disney animated short about a pampered cat who is "dismayed to discover that his tail has developed a personality of its own." It originally appeared as a feature before the film "Raising Helen", it is not present in the dvd though (or any other dvd that I know of?); it was meant to be featured in "Fantasia 2006", now delayed. Only a teaser is available online:
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Data: Released: 28 May 2004 Directed by: Mike Gabriel and Baked Bloodworth Produced by: Walt Disney Pictures Animation: Georges Abolin, Pierre Alary, Marco Allard, Jean-Luc Ballester, David Berthier-Duverneuil, Bolhem Bouchiba, Borja Montoro Cavero, Patrick Delage, Eric Delbecq, Marc Eoche-Duval, Thierry Goulard, Juanjo Guarnido, Zoltan Maros, Catherine Poulain, Stéphane Sainte-Foi, Kristoff Vergne. Story: Mike Gabriel and Joe Grant Music: "Bordoneo y 900" by Juan José Mosalini
For my first feature, a short that's been among my top favorites since I was in kindergarden It is available on youtube or Movieflix.com (needs registration)
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Data: Released: 30 September 1935 Directed by: Ub Iwerks Produced by: Pat Powers Animation: Ub Iwerks Voices: Billy Bletcher Music: Carl W. Stalling Edward Elzear Confrey's "Buffoon" is used as backdrop in this short
Animation Tidbits is a place for me to showcase animation shorts and feature films trying to focus on the less known ones (but keeping the right to throw in the occasional popular cartoons if I feel like it) This is a blog for information, so I'll try to gather useful material, links, images, videos, I won't be commenting on the cartoons myself. Keep in mind though that I'm a cartoon enthusiast, not an expert! :P
Drop me a line if you have additional material! I'll be thankful :)
