Felix the Cat was the first animated superstar, and these early shorts reveal the source of the character's phenomenal popularity. Animator Otto Messmer created Felix for "Feline Follies," a one-shot cartoon designed to fill a gap in an installment of the Paramount Screen Magazine. Messmer had learned how to use mime and expressions by studying the films of Charlie Chaplin, and even in his…
After the visual bombast of many contemporary CG and motion-capture features, the drawn characters in The Princess and the Frog, the Walt Disney Studio's eagerly awaited return to traditional animation, feel doubly welcome. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin), The Princess and the Frog moves the classic fairy tale to a snazzy version of 1920s New Orleans. Tian…
Princess Mononoke ~ Princess Mononoke
Dollsville Stars & Stripes Box Little Lorenzo gets Rescued Stitch Project Mars Luma the Oda Bird Little Angel Taxiride Whatever Happened to that Mars Probe? Desmond Jaws in 60 seconds The Pig Keeper Richland Horace The Shapes of Movement by Dan McLaughlin Sarong Spell Pinhole Pigmalion Stairway to the Cresent Astronomical Proportions Old Knives Tales It’s Not the End of the World Sucker Rhyth…
Before Wallace and Gromit, before Gumby and Pokey, Hungarian-born animator and director George Pal (1908-1980) created the stop-motion shorts he dubbed "Puppetoons." Arnold Leibovit has assembled an affectionate tribute to Pal that includes animation from 11 "Puppetoons." Twelve other films are included on the DVD version, although there's some overlap. Pal used his charming little figures in …