Scrooge McDuck & Money

I'm posting this, mainly because I don't remember ever seeing it before. I've known about the short for years but never thought it was worth watching until cartoonbrew.com made mention of it. Although I liked the Scrooge McDuck character in Mickey's Christmas Carol, I loathed the miserly fellow in Ducktails.
This was because I was never a fan of the latter Disney television product. I always saw Disney Television productions as Bastardized Disney. This tainted my view of old Uncle Scrooge...until now.
Scrooge McDuck & Money was a 16 minute short subject released in 1967 and is pleasantly entertaining. Written by Bill Berg and Directed By Hamilton Luske, it has some nice animation by Art Stevens, Charlie Downs, Julius Svendsen and (mostly in part two) features some cool animation by Ward Kimball. This short, pretty much in the same vein as Donald & The Wheel, is one of Disney's neat Edutainment shorts and was shown in schools for years. I'm pleased to present it here.

Dog and His Master....

Here's some drawings of a cartoon series I was developing for myself.
As you can see, I was deliberately going for a Tex Avery, Hanna/Barbera look with funny looking designs and weird facial expressions. I think this would have worked when Funny Cartoons were appreciated, but sadly, if it can't play like an average live action sitcom, most of the execs wouldn't buy it.
Maybe I'll still produce it as an internet cartoon though...

Hurrah! More Disney Treasures on DVD

If some people didn't take action, these Disney Treasures (pictured left) may have been the last to be released. Fortunately, Disney reversed their decision and decided to release three more Disney collections on December 11th.
From the look of the advance reviews, these three sets are pretty terrific.
The first of the three features another grouping of Donald Duck cartoons from the late 40's-Early 50's. In my humble opinion, these Donald cartoons are fast, violent and probably the funniest of the Donald series. They're great cartoons directed by Jack Hannah with great comic timing. These Duck cartoons will likely sell out fast.
The second collection features Walt Disney's Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. If you asked me a few years ago if Disney would ever release a set of Oswald cartoons from the 20's, I would have thought that you were nuts!
The fact that this set exists is an absolute miracle. Included in this set are a few classic Mickey Mouse Cartoons and The Ub Iwerks feature length documentary by Leslie Iwerks.
And if you're a Disneyland fan like me, the third set is Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic and it's chock full of terrific goodies including vintage Disney TV shows about the park, behind the scenes footage of the construction of Disneyland and a feature length documentary about the history of the park. A rarely seen theatrical film, Disneyland U.S.A. in Cinemascope is alone worth the price for the DVD set.
I believe the retail price for each is $32.99, but I found Best Buy here in New York selling them as a two-fer deal for $40.00! I'm kind of curious if I can get them cheaper if I buy three.
I know this seems like a huge plug, but I think that these Treasures are a great value and I urge all three of you who read this blog to go out a buy a bunch. Give em out to friends and family. Keep some spare sets for yourself when you wear out the others! Use them as coasters!
It's important to support this series if we wish to see more of 'em.
I'm buying a couple hundred myself!