Youtube Anniversary: Rare Treat

Today marks exactly two years that I have been posting videos to YouTube and nearly 3 years that I have been a member there. All of you following my videos will notice that the quality of them has varied but of late improving thanks to my purchase of a 16mm transfer machine a few months back. Like postings here on the blog, video uploads are sparse or sporadic but will be added to in the future.
Today's treat for you guys is a short clip from a Little Orphan Annie cartoon. I'm not exactly sure of its origin (yet) but it was distributed to the home movie market in the 1940s and probably dates to the 1930s. It may have been made with sound but this is a silent print. Also note, I received the film in an extremely "light" copy and did all the tweaking I could on iMovie to make it watchable even though it is still partially unintelligable. Gain from it what you may, but it's certainly a forgotten and orphaned film.

Although it's barely visible in the video, here is a decent composite frame from the opening shot that I was able to tweak...

Comic Con in Retrospect

Well, NY Comic Con '09 was my first comic convention and an enjoyable one at that. Lots of endless browsing dealer's tables, meeting people and gasping at all the strange costumes.
As mentioned earlier, yours truly was involved with a special panel on the history of New York animation hosted by J.J. Sedelmaier and Howard Beckerman. It was a very gratifying experience and I'm very thankfuly to J.J. for his kind words regarding my efforts and what I'm doing to preserve and share early animation. For your enjoyment, some pictures of this panel event follow...first, Howard Beckerman and myself followed by screenshots of my video presentation being screened.







Also, check out this nice brief review: http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=28411

NY Comic Con '09

It is only appropriate that I mention the NY Comic Con '09 here. On Saturday Feb. 7th, 2009 there will be a special panel event hosted by J.J. Sedelmaier and Howard Beckerman, both veteran animators. The panel is very directly related to the "It All Started Here!" exhibit as discussed here on the blog in that it is a presentation on the roots of New York Animation. So, if you're in the area or maybe you're already going- please stop by 1A07 (Saturday 2/7/09 4PM) in the Javits Center (visit www.nycomiccon.com for info) for:
A presentation by J.J. Sedelmaier and his co-curating cohort Howard Beckerman, telling the story of the New York area's place in the animation industry's history. That's right folks, cartoons started in NY not on the West Coast! Sedelmaier and Beckerman have organized an exhibit in conjunction with the Westchester Arts Council, The Jacob Burns Film Center, and The Picture House in Pelham, chronicling this very subject, and they're at New York Comic Con to show highlights of the exhibit and shattering the misconception that cartoons call only California home.
I've compiled a collection of clips encompassing the silent and early sound eras of animation as they occured in NY, including footage from several rare cartoons. It would be great to have you there and see it in person although I will probably make the short video available online afterward. See you there!