What’s up, doc? Well, for one thing, they are now showing classic Bugs Bunny cartoons on Turner Classic Movies.
I first saw these seven-minute miracles back in the 1960s on The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Hour. By the time I was in high school, I used to take the subway downtown in Toronto to check out 16mm screenings of cartoons from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s that were exhibited at various venues by Reg Hartt. This was long before films could be called up on demand digitally or even seen on VHS or DVDs.
When I wanted to read more about them there were two guys who had the scoop: Leonard Maltin and Jerry Beck. These two lifelong friends have been telling the story of Termite Terrace and other animation legends ever since.
Beck’s wonderful web site, Cartoon Research.com, is the place to get information on everything from Gertie the Dinosaur to Dino the Dinosaur and beyond. A professor at CalArts School of Film/Video, he has written 15 books on animation including “The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons” (2020).
He also shares some exciting news about a long-awaited book about a Warners legend that finally has a release date. Hear all about that as well as Beck’s daring rescue of a lost TV treasure from the 1950s on a very animated episode of brioux.tv: the podcast.
To listen to this hour-plus episode, simply click on the white arrow in the blue dot above.
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