The “Modern Stone-Age Family,” a Marvel superhero and a character out of the newspaper comics all walk into Saturday morning. There’s no punchline here; this was an offbeat combination produced by Hanna-Barbera for Saturday morning television – Fred and Barney Meet The Shmoo. In their book Saturday Morning Fever: Growing Up With Cartoon Culture,...

You know what’s funny? Everyone I know, my close friends anyway, almost all have a bunch of irons in the fire at the same time, ALL the time and, as I write this, I’m thinking about all my own current irons. So many irons! I’ve always thought about this work as really fun in so many ways, and still do. That said, the work can be overwhelming at...

Today, we continue with some Disney afternoon and Saturday morning offerings in a circus setting, and also manage to find room for some brief coverage of DIC, and a pair of episodes from Garfield and Friends. Stormy Weather (Talespin, 6/17/90) – An engaging story worthy of the quality standards of the Disney Afternoon. Returning from a cargo run,...

It’s the 43rd Anniversary of the book on the left – the 1981 first edition of the Warner Bros. cartoon filmography by Will Friedwald and myself. And this year also marks the 35th Anniversary of the 1989 completely re-written second edition Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide To The Warner Bros. Cartoons (center). But most...

This post today is an out-and-out plug for my panel appearances at San Diego Comic Con (aka Comic Con International) later this week. The annual event is July 24-28 at the San Diego Convention Center in downtown San Diego. It’s been sold out for months – over 150,000 people will be invading the area. The complete programming schedule is HERE. I hope...

In his book, Chuck Reducks: Drawing from the Fun Side of Life, legendary director Chuck Jones wrote, “Witch Hazel is a vivid example of the fact that beauty is, thankfully, deeper than skin and that outward appearances can, in her case, be trusted.” The giddy, cackling, and fiendishly funny Witch Hazel made her debut seventy years ago this month...