Filmography: Terry-Toons' Temperamental Lion

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 7 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great cartoons to study.

Today, we digitized some great Terrytoons model sheets that Carlo Vinci's family loaned to us...






This one is particularly interesting to me...


...because it's from one of the very best Terrytoons of the time, "The Temperamental Lion". Connie Rasinski created the goofy Bert Lahr lion character as the "King of the Jungle" for the classic cartoon "Doomsday" (1938) as well as "The Nutty Network" (1939). The model was adapted a bit in the late 1940s for "The Lyin' Lion", a film that includes some funny Jim Tyer animation...


...but the character was never better animated than he was by Carlo Vinci in this short... Check out his great scene of the lion singing!







The Temperamental Lion (Terry/1940)
(Quicktime 7 / 14.5 megs)

PLEASE NOTE The text and media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood.

Many thanks to the Vinci family for sharing their treasures with us!

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

11.18.08
.

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Interview: Bob Givens- Grand Old Man of Animation

UPDATE: A 50 minute extended version of this interview has just been made available to members of ASIFA-Hollywood. Members, please check your email for downloading instructions.


This week, we were very fortunate to host a visit to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive by the legendary layout artist, Bob Givens. Will Finn, Mike Fontanelli, JoJo Baptista, Michael Woodside and I were treated to nearly three hours of fabulous stories relating to his six decades in the animation business.


At Warner Bros, Bob designed the character models for the first true Bugs Bunny cartoon, "A Wild Hare", as well as providing background layouts for countless Jones, Freleng, Avery and McKimson cartoons.


Givens' career continued to flourish throughout the television era. He worked on the first TV cartoon, Jay Ward's Crusader Rabbit, as well as Clampett's Beany & Cecil, Post Cereal's Linus the Lionhearted and Hanna Barbera's The Flintstones. Along with Bernie Gruver, Givens designed the classic "Raid Bug" spots for Cascade, and continued to work steadily into his 80s, retiring in 2001 after laying out Chuck Jones' Timber Wolf.


Here is a segment of the interview where Bob discusses his television career...


Bob Givens' Television Career (11.11.08)
(Quicktime 7 / 10 minutes / 24.4 megs)

PLEASE NOTE The text and media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood.

I have also posted another clip from this interview to YouTube. This one relates to Bob's work at Warner Bros...


Bob Givens on Warner Bros (11.11.08)
(YouTube / 10 minutes)

Feel free to embed this YouTube video in your own blog or website. Please link back to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive blog in case your readers would like more information.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be making available extended segments of this interview exclusively for members of ASIFA-Hollywood. The first 50 minute video file is now available for downloading. ASIFA members, please see your email box for downloading instructions. If you aren't a member yet, you should be.

Many thanks to Bob Givens for sharing his experiences with us, to Mike Fontanelli and Will Finn for taking time out of their busy schedules to speak with Bob, and to Michael Woodside and JoJo Baptista for producing this video.

Will Finn posts his impressions of the interview on his blog, Small Room.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

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Illustration: Mary Blair Song Book

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 3 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about 50s children's book illustrators.



Mary Blair is one of the most popular illustrators/color stylists among today's animation designers. This book was published in 1955, and it's a great example of Blair at the height of her powers. The full color illustrations are great, but check out the duotones and the page layouts... It's as if she can do no wrong! Her taste is impeccable. Check out the links at the bottom of this post for more beautiful images by Mary Blair.




































For more beautiful illustrations by Mary Blair, see... Little Verses and Baby's House.

If you would like to see more from this book, let me know in the comments below...

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

11.08.08
.

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