Two cartoon directors in Hollywood got screwed. One was Don Patterson, who showed his capabilities at the cost-conscious Walter Lantz studio...

“Inconsistency” describes the Walter Lantz cartoons of the early ‘50s. Even within a cartoon, characters can be rubbery in one scene, drawn ...

“Progress” was society’s watchword for the longest time and once something new was embraced, the old was discarded quickly. In 1955, everyon...

Tom tries to force Jerry out of his hole with cigar smoke in “Professor Tom” (released in 1948). It doesn’t work. First, the cat turns blue,...

Tex Avery’s “Wags to Riches” has a juxtaposition scene by Mike Lah where Spike shows opposing attributes listed by an executor (voiced by Pa...

Jack Benny had a reputation of being a tough editor of his radio scripts, and a gossip magazine gave a good indication of it in 1939. Radio...

One of the best things about the early sound cartoons made by the Van Beuren studio in New York City are the jumpy little scores put togethe...

Pointless dancing, objects-as-instruments and lots of rubber hose animation. That’s why the early Silly Symphonys are lots of fun. Oh, and d...

The Van Beuren cartoon studio lay in obscurity until Leonard Maltin wrote “Of Mice and Magic.” It really deserves to be the subject of a boo...

Puns can be handled two ways—either in dead earnestness, as if the teller truly thinks they’re funny, or with tongue-glued-in-cheek that the...