GAC books

[A. Flea]

Does anyone know a informative, yet historical book about the GAC.

But I don't want a boring book like Micheal Barrier's book. I couldn't even read one page.

Can any of you guys suggest some kind of book?

Thanks
A. Flea

[nickramer]

Four words: Of Mice and Magic.

[Bugsmer]

Four words: Of Mice and Magic.

I'll second that.

[Leviathan]

Five more words: Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.

Four more words: The Warner Bros. Cartoons

Five more words: Tex Avery by Joe Adamson

[Fibber Fox]

Four words: Of Mice and Magic.

Nick's right; that's probably a good basic book to learn the background behind all the major studios.

F. Fox.

[zavkram]

Nick's right; that's probably a good basic book to learn the background behind all the major studios.

F. Fox.

It is a great book with which to start (it was the first book I ever read on the subject), but be warned that it does contain a few mistakes in some of the filmographies. Also, in the chapter devoted to the Walter Lantz Studio, Maltin erroneously refers to "Smedley" from the Chilly Willy cartoons as a "bear".

[zavkram]

Here are a few more titles which may be of interest (in no particular order):

That's All Folks by Steve Schneider

That's Not All, Folks! by Mel Blanc with Philip Bashe

Bugs Bunny: Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare by Joe Adamson

The Disney Films by Leonard Maltin

Tunes for 'Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon by Daniel Goldmark

The Cartoon Music Book (edited by Daniel Goldmark and Yuval Taylor)

Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston

The Fleischer Story by Leslie Cabarga

Out of the Inkwell: Max Fleischer and the Animation Revolution
by Richard Fleischer

Living Life Inside the Lines by Martha Sigall

Chuck Amuck by Chuck Jones

The Walter Lantz Story by Joe Adamson

Before Mickey by Donald Crafton

Some of these books are OOP, but used copies occasionally can be found on Amazon

[SheckyGrey]

Also, in the chapter devoted to the Walter Lantz Studio, Maltin erroneously refers to "Smedley" from the Chilly Willy cartoons as a "bear".

Is he supposed to be a dog? I thought he was a bear too.

[Marty26]

The only one I read is Bugs Bunny - Fifty Years And Only One Gray Hare by Joe Adamson.

[dendawg]

I don't want a boring book like Micheal Barrier's book. I couldn't even read one page.

Can any of you guys suggest some kind of book?

You really should give the Barrier book another try. Yes, it is a struggle to read, but very informative, indeed. (I'm a poet and I don't know it! :p)

[Matthew Hunter]

Is he supposed to be a dog? I thought he was a bear too.


Well, some later Chilly Willy cartoons DID have Chilly Willy palling around with a polar bear. I forget his name, but he was a different character from Smedley altogether. Smedley the Dog was normally Chilly Willy's nemesis, standing between him and warmth, food, shelter, etc.

[Fibber Fox]

Well, some later Chilly Willy cartoons DID have Chilly Willy palling around with a polar bear. I forget his name, but he was a different character from Smedley altogether.

But weren't they designed pretty much the same?

F. Fox

[Ratso]

I'm about a third into Michael Barrier's Hollywood Animation and am throroughly enjoying it. I doubt anyone has researched the industry to the extent that he has. Every quote and fact is diligently sourced. I feel I'm in great, authoritative company.

I knew nothing about Barrier until I was searching for information on Ralph Bakshi's Fritz the Cat. Based on his exhaustive article (http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Funnyworld/FritzPartOne/FritzIntro.htm) about the production reposted on his blog (http://www.michaelbarrier.com), I bought the animation book.

I haven't read any of the other books posted above. Can anyone vouch for the scholarship of those titles? For instance, what would be the Looney Tunes book to buy if I'm looking to learn more about their production and the personalities involved?

Thanks!

[David Gerstein]

But weren't they designed pretty much the same?

F. FoxRegardez:

http://www.chillywillyfan.com/videopics/sledfriends.jpg

The guy on the far left is the polar bear, who debuted in THE LEGEND OF ROCKABYE POINT and was later named Maxie in 1960s cartoons. In the older comics he was called Bully Bear.
The guy on the far right is Smedley. (And that's Al the Looney Gooney with them, just so we've named everybody.)
As far back as the 1970s people have been erroneously remembering/picturing/writing up Smedley as a polar bear. While his face and body do look a bit bearlike, he's got the wrong kind of ears for a bear, the wrong kind of tail for a bear, and the wrong color for a polar bear.

Conclusion: Smedley is NOT a bear.

[Jack G.]

You really should give the Barrier book another try. Yes, it is a struggle to read, but very informative, indeed. (I'm a poet and I don't know it! :p)
I was initially put off by Barrier's critical tone.
But it's the most informative, well researched book on classic theatrical animation out there.
If you want a book that probes deep, reading this book will reward you with some effort.

Maltin's book is balanced in the sense that he gives all the studios a chapter of their own.
He talks about some their best cartoons.

[CueBallCat79]

Regardez:

http://www.chillywillyfan.com/videopics/sledfriends.jpg

The guy on the far left is the polar bear, who debuted in THE LEGEND OF ROCKABYE POINT and was later named Maxie in 1960s cartoons. In the older comics he was called Bully Bear.
The guy on the far right is Smedley. (And that's Al the Looney Gooney with them, just so we've named everybody.)


Yeah but...who is the penguin fella?

[Jack G.]

I haven't read any of the other books posted above. Can anyone vouch for the scholarship of those titles? For instance, what would be the Looney Tunes book to buy if I'm looking to learn more about their production and the personalities involved?

Thanks!That's All Folks by Steve Schneider -
Lots of stills and production art. The history's there but it's not too deep.

Bugs Bunny: Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare by Joe Adamson -
Another with lots of art and light text.

The Cartoon Music Book (edited by Daniel Goldmark and Yuval Taylor) -
I was dissappointed in this. The interview with Carl Stalling is good but the rest of the book
just states very obvious things: "Fleischer used jazz music". No s#$% Sherlock.

Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston
- Lots of art and knowledge on how Disney did it. Some get annoyed with certain bias in the book;
like Disney being the only studio that made a contribution to animation.

The Fleischer Story by Leslie Cabarga -
Good. Lots of production art.

Before Mickey by Donald Crafton -
Another hard read, but the best source for the silent era.

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald -
contains plot summaries and credits for every classic Warner Bros cartoon.

[zavkram]

Is he supposed to be a dog? I thought he was a bear too.

In the Woody Woodpecker cartoon, After the Ball (Paul J. Smith, 1956), there is a character who apparently is a bear and who has a similar Daws Butler voice-characterization... so that might be the reason for the confusion; since the Smedley character (who is a dog, make no mistake) also appeared in a few of the Woody Woodpecker cartoons like The Careless Caretaker.

Getting back OT, I agree that the Barrier book is very well written...

Despite their inconsistencies and generalizations, the Goldmark books are still valuable because currently there aren't many decent books out there on the subject of cartoon music from the Golden Age. I remember reading one general book on film scoring (I forget the author, but it was published by WW Norton) in which the author erroneously listed composer Winston Sharples as having been employed by "Associated Artists Productions" rather than Famous Studios (or, earlier, at Van Beuren). he also erroneously made reference to an MGM Tom and Jerry cartoon that was in reality an MGM Tex Avery cartoon.

What I would like to see, eventually, are individual, authoritative biographies of Carl Stalling, Scott Bradley and Sammy Timberg.