Many enduring Hollywood careers have begun inauspiciously, but legendary voice actress Lucille Bliss’s tenure in Toon Town began by being taken for a ride…literally. Lucille is, of course, renowned as the voices of Crusader Rabbit, the first cartoon character created specifically for television, and Smurfette. Back in 2003, I chatted [...]

Twenty-twelve is shaping up to be such a year of plenty for high-profile animated features—originals, adaptations and franchise sequels—that it is starting to remind one of the old days of the “Toon Boom.” [not to be confused with the popular 2D animation software] For those who don’t remember or weren’t [...]

Stating that the animation biz has changed big-time over the last two decades could probably earn one the Nobel Prize in Obviousness. But animation is still a part of the overall show business industry, and within the toon trenches or without, there is one thing that has not changed: the [...]

Here’s a pop-quiz for pop culture geeks: what do Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, and Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, from NPR’s Car Talk, all have in common? Give up? They all started out as radio stars, and at one point or other they were transformed into cartoon form; [...]

Once upon a time (as all good fairy tales start) animated features offered audiences original images, stories and characters that moviegoers could not see anywhere else. Similarly, there was also a time when big summer tentpole movies by their nature offered audiences the promise of something new and fresh. Well, [...]