XMAS CARTOONS AND SELECTED SHORTS.

 Christmas is the perfect time to watch these cartoons which are not readily available on TV or on the main streaming services but can be found navigating the internet, principally on YouTube and Vimeo. I remember watching all of these when I was very young and television was just gaining momentum, (mid-50s, early 60s). Needless to say, it was a veritable nostalgia trip when I found them after all those years.

CHRISTMAS NIGHT (1933) starring Oscar E. Soglow's The Little King.

Ub Iwerks' THE BRAVE TIN SOLDIER  (1934)

THE SHANTY WHERE SANTA CLAUS LIVES (1933)  

WB Merrie Melodies Directed by Rudolph Ising

 

SANTA'S WORKSHOP (1932) -  A Walt Disney Silly Symphony

GIFT WRAPPED (1952) WB Looney Tunes -  Directed by Friz Freleng

TOY TINKERS (1949) Walt Disney

PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE (1952) Walt Disney

And these are my selected shorts, which I watch whether it's Christmas or not:

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in BIG BUSINESS (1929) 

Directed by James W. Horne and Leo McCarey

THE FIXER-UPPERS (1934) Directed by Charles Rogers

"Jingle bells, jingle bells

coming through the rye.

I wish you a merry Christmas

even as you and I"

And without further ado, I bid you farewell and a Merry Christmas to you!

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION DAY!

From Wikipedia:

This day commemorates the first public performance of Charles-Émile Reynaud's Théâtre Optique at the Grevin Museum in Paris, 1892. In 1895, the Cinematograph of the Lumière brothers outshone Reynaud's invention, driving Émile to bankruptcy. However, his public performance of animation entered the history of optical entertainments as shortly predating the camera-made movies. In recent years, the event has been observed in more than 50 countries with more than 1000 events, on every continent, all over the world. IAD was initiated by ASIFA, International Animated Film Association, a member of UNESCO. During International Animation Day cultural institutions are also invited to join in by screening animated films, organizing workshops, exhibiting artwork and stills, providing technical demonstrations, and organizing other events helping to promote the art of animation. Such a celebration is an outstanding opportunity of putting animated films in the limelight, making this art more accessible to the public.

THE GREAT MOVIE CARTOON PARADE!

This is an excellent (and long out of print) book about cartoons and cartoon characters, written by John Halas and David Rider. It was first published in 1976 by Triune Books in the UK and Bounty Books in the USA and I don't think there were any further editions. The text is quite informative and the BIG sized pages (14.75" x 10.25") are beautifully illustrated with some truly nice pictures of many cartoon characters, some of which are really obscure but nevertheless worthy of a glance. From Mickey Mouse to the Pink Panther, it covers many studios and eras and the sheer size of the images alone make it an attractive addition to any cartoon collector's library.

The book's price back in 1976 was $9.95!

                        

                            

    Due to its large size, the only real problem for me was finding a good fitting place for it in my bookshelf!