Mark Mayerson’s New TRIPP
Canadian animator/storyteller Mark Mayerson has a new Harvey Tripp adventure, “Tripp to Servility,” which you can enjoy when you click here. Who is Harvey Tripp? He’s a wanna-be diplomat whose career got sidetracked when he found disfavor with Chief of Security Travis Daggett. Why? He befriended a Repton dinosaur named Granjik. Now he and Granjik […]
Brad Bird on why the Looney Tunes were successful
From Cartoon Brew, 2010, Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ray Gunn director Brad Bird gave this observation: The “failure of every Bugs and Looney enterprise for the last twenty years” (only 20?) is caused by two very simple reasons– 1) The original cartoons were created in an environment where NO ONE WAS PAYING ATTENTION. As […]
What Happened to Cartoon Network?
Would you believe a solitary real world incident would significantly change the programming of an entire network? This morning on “X” a.k.a. Twitter, I noticed this post, recalling the misfiring of a publicity stunt on February 1, 2007: TRAFON(s Backup Account) @RiseFallNickBck 3:30 PM • Jan 31, 2024 • 191.6K Views The Adult Swim “Boston […]
Batman: The Animated Interviews–Progress Report 12-16-2023
From Los Angeles Comic Con, December 2, 2023, Los Angeles Convention Center, Heroic Fine Art Gallery, booths 1865/1867. Left to right: Kevin Altieri, Dan Riba, Brad Rader, Alan Burnett. Photo © W. R. Miller. I interviewed all of the above gentlemen for this project. Finally, the text for the Unofficial Batman: The Animated Interviews, all […]
DC Heroes of the CW at the WB Store
November 13, 2023 This afternoon a friend and I visited the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Burbank, where they were hosting their Annual Art Expo, mostly cels from Hanna-Barbera, Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and other images. The exhibit lasts/lasted from November 6 to November 19. If you […]
Dragons of the Day: September 14, 2023
The seventh season of Dragons: The Nine Realms premiered on Hulu and Peacock on September 14, 2023, with yet another opportunity to see hand-drawn characters at the end credits, except–they were the same ones shown at the end credits last season. At least there are parts where the text doesn’t obscure the art as much, […]
STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES — 50 Years Later!
Can it be it’s been 50 years since the animated Star Trek premiered on television? Yes, it’s true. To commemorate the anniversary, Michael Coate of The Digital Bits assembled a team of Trek experts to talk about it on his website, here. The speakers are myself, plus animation historian Jerry Beck, Michael and Denise Okuda, […]
The Passing of Arleen Sorkin
August 24, 2023 Arleen Sorkin, the original voice and inspiration for Harley Quinn, has passed away. Here’s an animated segment from “Harlequinade,” written by her co-creator, Paul Dini. Harley performs before a nightclub of gangsters singing “Say That We’re Sweethearts Again.” Play the video. Close your eyes. Listen to Sorkin’s performance. And you’ll know the […]
Proud of Her Eggs
It is a world of anthropomorphic talking animals, divided into carnivores and herbivores, all struggling to survive each other. But unlike Disney’s Zootopia, Beastars takes the conflict to R-rated levels, in a which the star wolf, Legoshi, has to fight his instincts to either eat–or love–a rabbit. Heavy drama aside, I consider these clips to […]
Pirates Attack THE DRAGON PRINCE Producers!
Saturday, July 22, 2023, 2:45 p.m. At the San Diego Convention Center, Room 6BCF has a seating capacity of 1500. Alas, it wasn’t enough space to accommodate everyone eager to learn about Season Five of The Dragon Prince. Those who could attend would be treated to not one, not two, not three, but four surprises. […]