BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
Animator Chuck Jones, who once worked for Ub Iwerks' studio, said it best. "Iwerks is Screwy spelled backwards."
Ub Iwerks was a two-time Academy Award winning animator who co-created Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney and was Walt Disney's collaborator in the formative years of Disney's studio (Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy).
Iwerks opened his own studio in 1930, under contract with MGM, producing Flip the Frog shorts, the Willie Whopper series and more. He later produced the independently distributed ComicColor Cartoons shorts.
Below is a ComiColor from 1934 without a talking animal in sight! This Happy Days cartoon is based on Reg'lar Fellers, a newspaper strip created by Gene Byrnes and syndicated from 1917 to 1949. The strip was a comic book in 1940 and a radio series in 1941.
(See the video on http://muskegononline.net/)
Iwerks Studios' Flip the Frog, below, may seem a little audacious, but so was Mickey Mouse in the early cartoons Iwerks produced with Disney. Flip is well behaved here, compared to some of his other exploits. Flip was funny, but didn't keep Iwerks Studios going. Flip was born in 1930 and over by 1933.
(See the video on http://muskegononline.net/)
Those interested in classic cartoons can visit the The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum, library and digital archive dedicated to serving the worldwide animation community. A project of ASIFA-Hollywood, the archive receives support from The Walter Lantz Foundation. Go to http://www.animationarchive.org and prepare to be entertained.
These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Celebrate Spring with Color Classics
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
We continue to celebrate spring with Max Fleischer Color Classics featuring ants and vegetables.
These cartoons, Ants in the Plants (1941) and The Fresh Vegetable Mystery (1939), were among the last Color Classics produced before the company moved on to make Technicolor cartoons starring their Gabby character from the full length 1939 feature Gulliver's Travels.
Don't expect the urban, jazz crazy tales of the Fleischer brothers' early years in these Color Classics. Although their Koko the Clown dominated '20s cartoon popularity and Fleischer Studios' Betty Boop was a household name, the enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934 kept Fleischer cartoons from the racey, dark, city-oriented subject matter that made their early cartoons unique.
The Color Classics, obvious nods to Disney's successful Silly Symphonies series, have their own visual charm, aided by the Stereoptical process developed by Fleischer Studios. If many of the backgrounds look real, it's because they are -- drawn animation cells were positioned in front of scale model, three dimensional dioramas, giving an amazing depth to many scenes.
The opening scene to Ants in the Plants is a good example of the Stereoptical process, as the camera pans downhill toward the ant village.
(Video at MuskegonOnline.NET)
Those interested in classic cartoons can visit the The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum, library and digital archive dedicated to serving the worldwide animation community. A project of ASIFA-Hollywood, the archive receives support from The Walter Lantz Foundation. Go to http://www.animationarchive.org and prepare to be entertained.
These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
We continue to celebrate spring with Max Fleischer Color Classics featuring ants and vegetables.
These cartoons, Ants in the Plants (1941) and The Fresh Vegetable Mystery (1939), were among the last Color Classics produced before the company moved on to make Technicolor cartoons starring their Gabby character from the full length 1939 feature Gulliver's Travels.
Don't expect the urban, jazz crazy tales of the Fleischer brothers' early years in these Color Classics. Although their Koko the Clown dominated '20s cartoon popularity and Fleischer Studios' Betty Boop was a household name, the enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934 kept Fleischer cartoons from the racey, dark, city-oriented subject matter that made their early cartoons unique.
The Color Classics, obvious nods to Disney's successful Silly Symphonies series, have their own visual charm, aided by the Stereoptical process developed by Fleischer Studios. If many of the backgrounds look real, it's because they are -- drawn animation cells were positioned in front of scale model, three dimensional dioramas, giving an amazing depth to many scenes.
The opening scene to Ants in the Plants is a good example of the Stereoptical process, as the camera pans downhill toward the ant village.
(Video at MuskegonOnline.NET)
Those interested in classic cartoons can visit the The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum, library and digital archive dedicated to serving the worldwide animation community. A project of ASIFA-Hollywood, the archive receives support from The Walter Lantz Foundation. Go to http://www.animationarchive.org and prepare to be entertained.
These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Jazz: The Hot and the Cool
In this story, first printed in Indie Comics Magazine in 2011, I try to capture the sense of loss lifetime musicians must have felt seeing their livelihood, and the jazz they devoted their lives and talents to, slipping away with the arrival of a new music. Little did anyone realize cool jazz would soon give way to the rockabilly kids were enjoying in the new suburbs, as explored with considerably more humor in last month's "Jazz: Rockabilly."
Read "Jazz: The Hot and the Cool" on MuskegonOnline.NET here.
Read "Jazz: The Hot and the Cool" on MuskegonOnline.NET here.
Springtime Cartoon Classics Full of Color
It's spring, a favorite theme for early animators.
Once color came to motion pictures, early animation artists loved playing with the design potential presented by spring: bright flowers, blue skies, butterflies, and cute, young animals.
The ComiColor Cartoon below was produced by Ub Iwerks Studio in 1935. Iwerks was Walt Disney's collaborator in the formative years of Disney's studio (Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy). The ComiColor cartoons take advantage of Cinecolor, the two color film process detailed in February's MuskegonOnline.NET. Watching them, it's hard to believe this is a two color process.
You might think characters in this short were based on designs from Disney's Fantasia, but Summertime was released a full five years before. Creatures from myth and legend have always been popular with cartoonists. Here, a young pan character ushers in spring, despite the objections of Jack Frost.
(Video at MuskegonOnline.NET)
Below we revisit Molly Moo-Cow from Van Beauren Studios. As discussed in last month's MuskegonOnline.NET, two Disney veterans were brought in to the Van Beauren Studio in 1934 to raise the style and quality of the company's cartoons. The result was the handsome Rainbow Parade series.
(Video at MuskegonOnline.NET)
Those interested in classic cartoons can visit the The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum, library and digital archive dedicated to serving the worldwide animation community. A project of ASIFA-Hollywood, the archive receives support from The Walter Lantz Foundation. Go to http://www.animationarchive.org and prepare to be entertained.
These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
Once color came to motion pictures, early animation artists loved playing with the design potential presented by spring: bright flowers, blue skies, butterflies, and cute, young animals.
The ComiColor Cartoon below was produced by Ub Iwerks Studio in 1935. Iwerks was Walt Disney's collaborator in the formative years of Disney's studio (Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy). The ComiColor cartoons take advantage of Cinecolor, the two color film process detailed in February's MuskegonOnline.NET. Watching them, it's hard to believe this is a two color process.
You might think characters in this short were based on designs from Disney's Fantasia, but Summertime was released a full five years before. Creatures from myth and legend have always been popular with cartoonists. Here, a young pan character ushers in spring, despite the objections of Jack Frost.
(Video at MuskegonOnline.NET)
Below we revisit Molly Moo-Cow from Van Beauren Studios. As discussed in last month's MuskegonOnline.NET, two Disney veterans were brought in to the Van Beauren Studio in 1934 to raise the style and quality of the company's cartoons. The result was the handsome Rainbow Parade series.
(Video at MuskegonOnline.NET)
Those interested in classic cartoons can visit the The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum, library and digital archive dedicated to serving the worldwide animation community. A project of ASIFA-Hollywood, the archive receives support from The Walter Lantz Foundation. Go to http://www.animationarchive.org and prepare to be entertained.
These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Apples to Apples: Buying Locally
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
Americans "vote" with their dollars with every purchase.
I'm at the grocery store buying apples. A quick look at the label shows apples imported from Chile in the bin next to apples grown in Michigan. They cost the same. Why should I buy the apples grown in Michigan? It benefits me, my family and my community.
While I have nothing against the fine people growing produce in Chile, I know my dollars, combined with the dollars of other Muskegon consumers, makes a difference in this county I call home.
Americans invest in businesses with their purchases every single day. We "vote" for products with our money every time we buy them, and we "vote" for the business selling the product. "Voting" as a group, our capitalism is every bit as powerful as voting for our politicians, perhaps even more powerful, because we don't wait four years to "vote" with our money -- we do it every time we make a purchase.
All it takes to invest in your county, your state and your country is reading labels and buying from local businesses.
The benefits to communities and residents are well-documented. Studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned business, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms. This strengthens the community economic base. Economic impact studies repeatedly reveal that locally-owned businesses generate a premium in enhanced economic impact to the community and tax base.
Small businesses are the backbone of our national economy, creating and providing jobs. Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know shoppers. If we're interested in customer service we should shop local businesses.
Our shopping habits also contribute to our range of choices. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
Owners who live in our community are more invested in the community's future. Non-profit organizations also benefit from local and regional shopping, making our own community a better place to live. Town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.
Where we shop, eat and play keeps our community unique. One-of-a-kind businesses give our area a distinctive character and add to our sense of home. Tourism also benefits from this, as people on vacation seek out businesses that give them a sense of being somewhere, not just anywhere.
Local purchases requiring less transportation also reduce our environmental impact. Town centers contribute less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.
Buying locally spurs the regional economy, benefits non-profit organizations, helps keep our area unique, reduces environmental impact, increases customer service and contributes to our range of product choices. I encourage everyone here in Muskegon County to explore your regional buying options: county, state and nation.
You've already begun! Muskegon Online.NET is locally owned and produced, and our advertisers are local businesses. Just by coming here monthly to enjoy our free magazine, you are contributing to the quality of life in Muskegon County, Michigan, USA. Your friends and neighbors thank you!
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
Americans "vote" with their dollars with every purchase.
I'm at the grocery store buying apples. A quick look at the label shows apples imported from Chile in the bin next to apples grown in Michigan. They cost the same. Why should I buy the apples grown in Michigan? It benefits me, my family and my community.
While I have nothing against the fine people growing produce in Chile, I know my dollars, combined with the dollars of other Muskegon consumers, makes a difference in this county I call home.
Americans invest in businesses with their purchases every single day. We "vote" for products with our money every time we buy them, and we "vote" for the business selling the product. "Voting" as a group, our capitalism is every bit as powerful as voting for our politicians, perhaps even more powerful, because we don't wait four years to "vote" with our money -- we do it every time we make a purchase.
All it takes to invest in your county, your state and your country is reading labels and buying from local businesses.
The benefits to communities and residents are well-documented. Studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned business, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms. This strengthens the community economic base. Economic impact studies repeatedly reveal that locally-owned businesses generate a premium in enhanced economic impact to the community and tax base.
Small businesses are the backbone of our national economy, creating and providing jobs. Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know shoppers. If we're interested in customer service we should shop local businesses.
Our shopping habits also contribute to our range of choices. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
Owners who live in our community are more invested in the community's future. Non-profit organizations also benefit from local and regional shopping, making our own community a better place to live. Town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.
Where we shop, eat and play keeps our community unique. One-of-a-kind businesses give our area a distinctive character and add to our sense of home. Tourism also benefits from this, as people on vacation seek out businesses that give them a sense of being somewhere, not just anywhere.
Local purchases requiring less transportation also reduce our environmental impact. Town centers contribute less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.
Buying locally spurs the regional economy, benefits non-profit organizations, helps keep our area unique, reduces environmental impact, increases customer service and contributes to our range of product choices. I encourage everyone here in Muskegon County to explore your regional buying options: county, state and nation.
You've already begun! Muskegon Online.NET is locally owned and produced, and our advertisers are local businesses. Just by coming here monthly to enjoy our free magazine, you are contributing to the quality of life in Muskegon County, Michigan, USA. Your friends and neighbors thank you!
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
Jazz: Rockabilly
WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
Gary Scott Beatty's full color, Xeric Grant awarded book Jazz: Cool Birth is available on Amazon.com.
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
Gary Scott Beatty's full color, Xeric Grant awarded book Jazz: Cool Birth is available on Amazon.com.
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day Month with Little Men in Van Beuren Cartoons
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
This month we celebrate St. Patrick's Day with two Van Beuren Studio cartoons from the 1930s featuring leprechaun cousins.
With offices across the street from Fleischer Studios in New York (see last month's Color Classics article), the Van Beuren Studio produced a steady stream of oddly unfocused, stream-of-consciousness cartoons for the blossoming black and white film market in the late '20s and early '30s.
As the Walt Disney Studio became the cartoon market leader in style and popularity it became necessary to up the quality of Van Beuren cartoons.
Producer Amedee Van Beuren decided to hire two Disney veterans to up the cartoons' quality. In 1934 he brought in Burt Gillett, who had recently directed Disney's highly popular The Three Little Pigs, and Tom Palmer, who had worked for virtually every studio in town.
The result was the handsome Rainbow Parade series. Parents, caution: this cartoon features beer drinking in quantities!
Molly Moo Cow and Rip Van Winkle here.
The Sunshine Makers is a cartoon from Van Beuren Studio sponsored by Borden's Milk. The message appears to be drinking milk (or being doused in it) will make you happy.
The Sunshine Makers here.
Those interested in classic cartoons can visit the The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum, library and digital archive dedicated to serving the worldwide animation community. A project of ASIFA-Hollywood, the archive receives support from The Walter Lantz Foundation. Go to http://www.animationarchive.org and prepare to be entertained.
These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
This month we celebrate St. Patrick's Day with two Van Beuren Studio cartoons from the 1930s featuring leprechaun cousins.
With offices across the street from Fleischer Studios in New York (see last month's Color Classics article), the Van Beuren Studio produced a steady stream of oddly unfocused, stream-of-consciousness cartoons for the blossoming black and white film market in the late '20s and early '30s.
As the Walt Disney Studio became the cartoon market leader in style and popularity it became necessary to up the quality of Van Beuren cartoons.
Producer Amedee Van Beuren decided to hire two Disney veterans to up the cartoons' quality. In 1934 he brought in Burt Gillett, who had recently directed Disney's highly popular The Three Little Pigs, and Tom Palmer, who had worked for virtually every studio in town.
The result was the handsome Rainbow Parade series. Parents, caution: this cartoon features beer drinking in quantities!
Molly Moo Cow and Rip Van Winkle here.
The Sunshine Makers is a cartoon from Van Beuren Studio sponsored by Borden's Milk. The message appears to be drinking milk (or being doused in it) will make you happy.
The Sunshine Makers here.
Those interested in classic cartoons can visit the The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit museum, library and digital archive dedicated to serving the worldwide animation community. A project of ASIFA-Hollywood, the archive receives support from The Walter Lantz Foundation. Go to http://www.animationarchive.org and prepare to be entertained.
These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).
Editor and Publisher Gary Scott Beatty has been working in printing and publishing for over 35 years, including editing Muskegon's On the Shore magazine and typesetting Muskegon Magazine. In 2008 he won a Xeric Foundation Grant to publish Jazz: Cool Birth, a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with illustrations inspired by '50s album cover design. This and his other Aazurn Publishing books can be purchased through Amazon.com. Worldwide, he edits and publishes Indie Comics Magazine, 64 pages of the best story and art from today's independent comic book creators.
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