The late cartoonist Al Kilgore is perhaps best remembered for being a founding member and guiding spirit of The Sons of the Desert, the Laurel and Hardy appreciation society. (He named the group and designed its delightful escutcheon.) But from 1962 to 1965 or thereabouts, he did something at least as interesting–he drew the unsuccessful, [...]

He’s a cat (six to nine weeks old) named after yours truly by my friend and former colleague Richard Baguley.

I’ve never been a big fan of shills, but I loved Tony the Tiger even though I also didn’t care for the cereal he hawked. And I was probably responding mostly to Thurl Ravenscroft’s voice–so deep, so kind, so trustworthy-sounding. He not only sang with a group called the Mellomen; he was, himself, a mellow [...]

In the very, very early days of David Letterman’s NBC Late Night show, I watched it nearly every night. Letterman’s choices of guests were far more ideosyncratic than they’d later become, and he repeatedly had on a middle-aged woman named Alba Ballad, who dressed her pet parrots in themed, hand-made costumes. Alba was charming, the [...]

Well, what can I say? Jerry Beck’s ASIFA-Hollywood Scrappyland event at the AFI in Hollywood, which took place last Saturday afternoon, was a joy. We may not have had a full house, but the attendees (which included animation-history notables such as Mark Kausler, Milton Gray, Will Ryan, David Gerstein, Ray Poynter, Jere Guildin, Earl Kress, [...]

I’m still working on my recap of Saturday’s bizarre and unforgettable Scrappyland event in Hollywood. I should have a report with photos up tomorrow, but in the meantime, please check out Larry Loc’s excellent blog posting.