Revisiting Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) as a forty-year-old Okay now lets break this play down: Almost thirty years after seeing it as a teenager, what resonates with me the most are the deeper themes and performances that I didn’t fully appreciate the first time around. Watching it with grown-up eyes, the same elements—tragic…

Release Date: Marvin Flag is a series of 2020 and 2021 Looney Tunes Cartoons gag interstitials. About thirty seconds long (7 gags in total), each plays between other shorts in the HBO Max packages.Each Gag Airdate:27 May 2020 (#1–3)21 January 2021 (#4–6)29 April 2021 (#7) Director: Chuck Jones Overview: We meet Marvin the Martian here—calm,…

How I Stumbled Upon Hank Azaria’s Essay "Can Characters Come Alive Without People? An essay by Hank Azaria Feb 4, 2025" I was recently introduced to Cartoon Brew—a fantastic site for anyone curious about animation and the industry behind it. Growing up in the 80s, it was a near-sacred family ritual to gather around the…

Time to dip our spoons into the wonderful world of animated cereal commercials. While there are so many new and old ones to choose from, I decided to look at some old Rice Krispies commercials because, as a kid, I loved the ads—especially the three elves. My mom wouldn’t buy sugary cereals, so Rice Krispies,…

Television Premiere: The episode aired on September 12, 1970 broadcasted on CBS as part of Saturday morning children's programming. Something we haven’t seen thus far as we have traveled through the years is a laugh track, a relatively new feature for cartoons at the time. There was no solid proof I could find that stated…

How was it made? Musical Score take a listen to on this video clip Characters Plot Narrative  Structure When people talk about The Flintstones, they usually think of it as just another cartoon, but it was actually built more like a sitcom than a short animated film. The show is all about everyday life and…

How was it made?  Theatrical Release  released theatrically as a short subject, shown before feature films in cinemas, which was the standard practice for animated shorts at the time.  Distribution Its part of the Noveltoon series produced by Famous Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures  Characters  Plot & Narrative Structure  The cartoon follows a classic…

Script/Research/Reference Links Well, hello! My name is Nicole Cherry, and today I’m thrilled to share my interviews with two distinguished Walt Disney employees: Clarence Nash and Ben Sharpsteen. But let’s kick things off by diving into the world of Clarence Nash. Most people know Donald Duck—thanks to that one-of-a-kind voice! This iconic character has been…

How was it made?  Characters Narrative Structure  Plot  In this cartoon, Tom the cat and his nemesis, Jerry the mouse, are at it again. Spike just wants to take a nap, but Jerry, that little devil of a mouse, is causing chaos with all sorts of loud noises. The cartoon kicks off with Tom chasing…

How Was It Made? As with most animated shorts during this time, “Room Runners” was created using cell animation—also known as traditional hand-drawn animation. Materials: Animators sketch each frame on animation paper. Once the drawings were finalized, they were traced in ink onto transparent celluloid sheets (cels) and painted by hand. Film Stock: The final…

How Was It Made?  “All Wet” was created using cell animation—also known as traditional hand-drawn animation. Here’s how it all came together:  Materials: Animators sketched each frame on animation paper. Once the drawings were finalized, they were traced in ink onto transparent celluloid sheets (cels) and painted by hand. The backgrounds were painted separately from the…

By Nicole Cherry  Animation has always fascinated me because of its incredible ability to visually convey a character, a story, or a message in so many creative ways. Whether the tone is fun and adventurous, comical, dramatic, or even serious and sad, animation gives storytellers the freedom to approach almost any subject with a unique…