Cartoon Modern

Through the end of August, the Tobey C. Moss Gallery (7321 Beverly Boulevard, LA, CA) has on display a show of animation artwork by Jules Engel. It’s a fairly small selection of artwork but includes pieces from Engel’s work on Disney’s Fantasia, UPA and Format Films color keys, and drawings from his personal short films. This Thursday, August 2, I’ll be doing a signing of Cartoon Modern in conjunction with the show. We’ll also be doing a short screening that highlights his UPA work and includes rare interview clips with Engel. Brew readers who’d like to attend can rsvp by tomorrow either by sending an email to tobeymoss [at] earthlink.net or calling the gallery at (323) 933-5523.

Michael Sporn has posted a great 1952 LIFE MAGAZINE article about the UPA educational film MAN ALIVE!, produced for the American Cancer Society. There are fifteen stills in the article, and though the images are tinted and don’t reflect the actual colors of the film, the character design and layout are terrific and well worth studying. But the best part of all this is that you can actually see a beautiful 35mm print of MAN ALIVE!, on the bigscreen, on March 26 at the Egyptian Theatre in LA. That’s the evening of the UPA tribute, which is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. If you’re in LA or anywhere within a couple hundred miles, you’ll want to be at the Egyptian. Not only will you be able to see classic UPA films up on the bigscreen—the way they can best be appreciated, but there’s going to be an incredible group of UPA artists attending the event including Willis Pyle, Alan Zaslove, Bill Melendez, Sam Clayberger, Fred Crippen, Bob McIntosh, and others. Imagine, watching GERALD MCBOING BOING and then hearing from two of the film’s lead animators—Melendez and Pyle. It’s going to be a special evening. Check out the program HERE.

Finally, here’s a few film stills from MAN ALIVE! that give a sense of how the film’s actual colors look. Also is a still that lists the film’s credits. The director was Bill Hurtz.

(click on image for larger version)