Watch Two Versions of "STEAMBOAT WILLIE" Here

Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.[2] It was produced in black and white by Walt Disney Studios.  It is considered the debut of both "Mickey Mouse" and "Minnie Mouse," although both characters appeared several months earlier in a test screening of Plane Crazy, an animated silent short film.  Steamboat Willie was the third of Mickey's films to be produced, but it was the first to be distributed.

Steamboat Willie entered the public domain on Monday, January 1, 2024 because its copyright expired.

Top: the edited seven-minute and twenty-two seconds (7:22) version. Bottom: the seven-minute and forty-six seconds (7:46) version.

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Amazon has a Steamboat Willie page.

Nickelodeon Announces "Intergalactic Shorts Program"

Nickelodeon Launches New Animated Shorts Program

Nick’s “Intergalactic Shorts Program” Designed to Identify Next Generation of Animation Talent Around the World
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nickelodeon is setting out to develop the next generation of animation talent through the launch of its new Intergalactic Shorts Program. With new leadership at Nick Animation, and a newly installed team driving its search for new talent, the Intergalactic Shorts Program is designed to identify original, comedy-driven content and nurture the voices and passionate storytellers behind them in a creative-led environment.

    “Our shorts program is intergalactic because we want to create a universe of new stars ready to make the next big animated hits of the future”

Ramsey Naito, Nickelodeon’s Executive Vice President, Animation Production and Development, will oversee the program. Newly hired Conrad Vernon (Sausage Party) has joined Nickelodeon as the program’s executive producer, with Derek Evanick ("Harvey Beaks") and Diana Lafyatis ("Adventure Time") serving as part of the program’s creative braintrust. International pitches and ideas will be welcomed by Nina Hahn, Senior Vice President International Production and Development, Nickelodeon.

Said Naito: “Our shorts program is intergalactic because we want to create a universe of new stars ready to make the next big animated hits of the future,” said Naito. “Our doors are open to the best ideas out there and around the world, and we can’t wait to get started building this new home for visionary talent.”

In line with Nickelodeon’s co-viewing strategy to offer content appealing to all members of the family, the target demo for content submitted to the Intergalactic Shorts Program is Kids 6-11, with a secondary focus on content appealing to Adults 18-49, as well. Ideas will be accepted from a broad pool of creative talent from all quarters, including artists, designers, writers, directors and comedians. Creators will be provided with the necessary artistic and production support teams to help them complete their fully animated short. These shorts will have opportunities to air on different platforms and be developed for potential long-form animated series. Details surrounding submissions will be available this summer.


About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 40th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

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56 Become 10 for 2013 Best Animated Short Oscar

10 Animated Shorts Advance in 2013 Oscar® Race

BEVERLY HILLS, CA —The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 10 animated short films will advance in the voting process for the 86th Academy Awards®. Fifty-six pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

“Feral,” Daniel Sousa, director, and Dan Golden, music and sound design (Daniel Sousa)

“Get a Horse!” Lauren MacMullan, director, and Dorothy McKim, producer (Walt Disney Feature Animation)

“Gloria Victoria,” Theodore Ushev, director (National Film Board of Canada)

“Hollow Land,” Uri Kranot and Michelle Kranot, directors (Dansk Tegnefilm, Les Films de l’Arlequin and the National Film Board of Canada)

“The Missing Scarf,” Eoin Duffy, director, and Jamie Hogan, producer (Belly Creative Inc.)

“Mr. Hublot,” Laurent Witz, director, and Alexandre Espigares, co-director (Zeilt Productions)

“Possessions,” Shuhei Morita, director (Sunrise Inc.)

“Requiem for Romance,” Jonathan Ng, director (Kungfu Romance Productions Inc.)

“Room on the Broom,” Max Lang and Jan Lachauer, directors (Magic Light Pictures)

“Subconscious Password,” Chris Landreth, director (National Film Board of Canada with the participation of Seneca College Animation Arts Centre and Copperheart Entertainment)

The Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting at screenings held in New York and Los Angeles.
Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in December.

The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Review: "King-Size Canary" is a Tex Avery Classic (Remembering Tex Avery)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 101 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

King-Size Canary (1947) – animation
Running time:  8 minutes
DIRECTOR:  Tex Avery
WRITER:  Heck Allen (story)
PRODUCER:  Fred Quimby
ANIMATORS:  Ray Abrams, Robert Bentley, and Walter Clinton
COMPOSER:  Scott Bradley

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY

The subject of this movie review is King-Size Canary, a 1947 animated cartoon short film directed by Tex Avery and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).  In 1994, animation historian Jerry Beck conducted a poll of animators, film historians, and directors, and King-Size Canary was the voted the 10th greatest cartoon of all time.  Pinto Colvig performed the voice of the “Cat” and Frank Graham the voice of the “Mouse,” but did not receive a screen credit.

King-Size Canary starts with a mangy cat on the verge of starvation.  The feline gives an itty-bitty, scrawny canary some “Jumbo-Gro” fertilizer, which in turns makes the canary grow to monstrously large yellow bird.  Thus, the cat has to engage the colossal canary in a pitched battle to see which will end up the other’s meal.  A vicious bulldog and a wily mouse also join in on a madcap comic adventure of gigantic proportions.

If there is a quintessential Tex Avery cartoon, King-Size Canary makes the short list.  In animated cartoon shorts, Fred “Tex” Avery is the most revered name next to Chuck Jones.  Everything that marked Avery’s cartoons, the quasi-normal realities, the series of sight gags – sometimes each more outlandish than the next, and the other improbably elements are all in ample supply in a cartoon that has less than eight minutes of narrative time.

Avery always wanted to make his cartoons wild and wooly, and he does here.  From a dog whose right eye becomes a searchlight to funny animal behemoths chasing each other across the country, King-Size Canary is a feast of gag comedy.  Much of that material would never make it into today’s cartoons, especially the gag in which the cat pours a bottle of sleeping pills down the dog’s mouth to knock him out.  This is a classic short and a superb example of cartoons for big kids, from a time when cartoon shorts were shown in theatres to entertain adults as much as children.

9 of 10
A+

Friday, May 12, 2006

Updated:  Monday, August 26, 2013

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Animated Short Review: "Baby Buggy Bunny" is One of the Great Bugs Bunny Shorts (Happy B'day, Mel Blanc)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 163 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Baby Buggy Bunny (1954)
Running time: 7 minutes
DIRECTOR: Charles M. Jones
WRITER: Michael Maltese
PRODUCER: Edward Selzer
ANIMATORS: Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Lloyd Vaughan, and Ben Washam
LAYOUT ARTIST: Ernest Nordli
BACKGROUND ARTIST: Philip DeGuard
COMPOSER: Milt Franklyn

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: (voice) Mel Blanc

The subject of this review is Baby Buggy Bunny, a 1954 animated short film directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. This animated film is part of the “Merrie Melodies” series of cartoon shorts from Warner Bros. Pictures. The film stars Bugs Bunny, as he takes on an orphaned baby who is definitely more than he seems.

In Baby Buggy Bunny, Baby-Faced Finster (aka Ant Hill Harry) (Mel Blanc) robs a bank, but his loot ends up in Bugs Bunny’s (Mel Blanc) home (the hole in the ground, rabbit hutch). Finster disguises himself as an orphaned baby, and perches himself on Bugs’ doorstep as an orphaned infant, left with a note by the missing mother in which she ask Bugs to care for Baby Finster. Bugs takes Finster in, but finds the baby quite ornery. Soon, Bugs figures out that Baby Finster is really Baby-Faced Finster, hot off a bank robbery, and Bugs is determined to see justice done.

Although there are so many Looney Tunes animated shorts that I could call a favorite, Baby Buggy Bunny stands out because the entire cartoon is top-notch – from the stylish character designs and quicksilver animation to the superb sketch comedy and gag writing. This is one of the Looney Tunes that is as much for adults (if not more so) as it is for children.

Classic Bugs Bunny cartoons usually set the rabbit up against worthy adversaries; in the case of Baby-Faced Finster, the short film has a nasty and sneaky creep who is as malevolent as he can be in Looney Tune cartoon. A good villain really kicks Bugs Bunny’s smarts and luck into high gear, and Finster certainly does that. Outside of cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny vs. Daffy Duck or Yosemite Sam, Baby Buggy Bunny is one of the better fight Tunes.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Review: "Vincent" is Short, But Long on Delights (Happy B'day, Tim Burton)

(A screen capture from Vincent, copyright Walt Disney Productions).

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 23 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Vincent (1982) – animated and B&W
Running time: 6 minutes
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tim Burton
PRODUCER: Rick Heinrichs
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Victor Abdalov
ANIMATOR: Stephen Chiodo
COMPOSER: Ken Hilton

SHORT/ANIMATION/FANTASY with elements of comedy and horror

Starring: Vincent Price (narrator)

Vincent is a black and white, stop-motion animation film short from director Tim Burton and Walt Disney Productions. The short film is essentially Burton’s directorial debut – basically his first professional film. Vincent is included on both the Special Edition and Collector’s Edition DVDs of Nightmare Before Christmas.

Narrated by Vincent Price, the film tells the story of Vincent Malloy, a seven year-old boy fascinated (or obsessed) with Vincent Price. He constantly daydreams, imagining horrific events he wishes would occur in his life: having a dead wife that calls to him from her grave, boiling his aunt in wax, and turning his dog into a zombie, among other things. Soon, his imagination gets the best of him, and he looses himself in his macabre daydreams, and it annoys his Mother that he doesn’t know where reality begins and the horror ends.

Next to La Jatee, this is best short film I’ve ever seen. Both brilliant and biographic, it hints at many of the visual elements and themes that Burton would use in his most personal and signature films: Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride, in particular. Filmed in a shadowy black and white photography, the film’s design (by Burton) is as imaginative and as vivid as most color animated films; in fact, he uses black and white as the color of the film. Price’s narration is a subtle mixture of Dr. Seuss, Edgar Allen Poe, and oral folk storytelling. Not only does Vincent Malloy resemble Tim Burton, but also the film is obviously a quasi-biography and film essay on Burton’s own passion for Vincent Price, for the macabre, and for Gothic-inspired cartoons and illustrations.

10 of 10

Monday, January 30, 2006

Review: Mel Tormé Brings Life to "The Night of the Living Duck" (Happy B'day, Mel Blanc)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Night of the Living Duck (1988)
Running time: 7 minutes
WRITERS/DIRECTORS: Greg Ford and Terry Lennon
PRODUCER: Steven S. Greene

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY with elements of horror

Starring: (voice) Mel Blanc and Mel Tormé

The Night of the Living Duck is a 1988 animated short film starring Daffy Duck. It also appears as the opening sequence of Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters.

The Night of the Living Duck (a Merrie Melodies) was the second theatrical animated short produced by Warner Bros. after a 20-year dry spell, and it also appeared theatrically with the film Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey. It was also the last Warner Bros. cartoon short to feature the voice of Mel Blanc.

Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc) is reading a monster comic book that ends in a cliffhanger. While rifling through his bookcase for the next issue, an ugly, decorative stone idol falls from the shelf and conks him on the head. Daffy, of course, falls into a dream in which he is a lounge singer at a nightclub for monsters. The club patrons include such classic Universal Monsters as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, as well as other film maniacs such as Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Godzilla. When Daffy finds that the customers aren’t happy with his act, he sprays his throat with Eau de Torme and entertains his audience with a rendition of “Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives” in a voice that sounds just like Mel Tormé’s!

Like its predecessor, The Duxorcist, The Night of the Living Duck is actually quite entertaining. In terms of story, it isn’t as good as the best Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies, but it would make the B-list. The animation, however, is only as good as the least of Warner’s theatrical shorts, but the truth is that the art of classic hand drawn animated shorts is lost. Still, The Night of the Living Duck has its moments. While Mel Blanc’s voice was worn down by the time he worked on this short, Mel Tormé’s turn as Daffy Duck’s singing voice is priceless and is the element that keeps this cartoon from being run-of-the-mill.

7 of 10
B+

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Animated Short Review: "The Wrong Trousers" is the Right Thing

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 83 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers (1993) – animated
Running time: 30 minutes
DIRECTOR: Nick Park
WRITERS: Bob Baker and Park
PRODUCER: Christopher Moll
EDITOR: Helen Garrard
Academy Award winner

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY/MYSTERY with elements of sci-fi

Starring: (voice) Peter Sallis

Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers is a 1993 stop-motion animated short film. In 1994, the film, also known as Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, won an Oscar for “Best Short Film, Animated” and the BAFTA Award for “Best Animated Film.” Directed by Nick Park (who would go on to co-direct 2000’s Chicken Run for DreamWorks), the film is animated in stop-motion animation using clay figures. The public is familiar with this kind of animation under the brand name “Claymation.” This is the art of modeling characters and props out of clay and using stop-motion photography to give the illusion of the figures and props moving.

Wallace (voice of Peter Sallis) is the oddball inventor with an obsessive appetite for cheese and crackers, and Gromit is his nonchalant and patient dog, the smarter one of this duo. Wallace obviously loves his dog to the point of treating him like a spouse or a third hand (as if Gromit were a Wallace to Wallace’s Sherlock Holmes). Gromit actually keeps things organized and moving in the house.

In this film, Wallace discovers that he is low on finances, so he takes a tenant into his large home in order to get some extra money. However, his lodger, a beady-eyed penguin, is really the thief, Feathers McGraw. Soon, the sly, and silent penguin has moved into Gromit’s room, and has come between master and canine. McGraw’s real plan is to use the enormous mechanical, walking pants that Wallace gave Gromit for his birthday to rob a museum. It’s up to Gromit to save his master from these horribly wrong trousers and a scheming penguin.

There is no one reason to love the Wallace & Gromit cartoons. From the seamless stop-motion animation and to the smooth and easy pace of the story and from the instantly endearing leads to the unflustered way they tackle difficulties, there is something that just rings right about director Nick Park’s fabulous little animated shorts. Maybe, it’s because Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers is just practically perfect in every way.

10 of 10

NOTES:
1994 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Short Film, Animated” (Nick Park)

1994 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Animated Film” (Christopher Moll and Nick Park)

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Animated Short Review: "A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 84 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit (1989) – animation
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK
Running time: 23 minutes
DIRECTOR: Nick Park
WRITERS: Steve Rushton and Nick Park
PRODUCERS: Rob Copeland and Soozy Mealing
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Nick Park
EDITOR: Rob Copeland
Academy Award nominee

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY/SCI-FI

Starring: (voice) Peter Sallis

Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out is a 1989 animated film short. It is the first in the series of Wallace and Gromit short films that use the stop-motion animation process. A Grand Day Out earned an Oscar nomination for “Best Short Film, Animated,” while winning the BAFTA Award for “Best Animated Film.”

A Grand Day Out follows Wallace (Peter Sallis), the wacky inventor, and Gromit, his exceedingly patient and brilliantly resourceful canine. The duo builds a rocket ship that takes them to the moon so that Wallace can sample the different cheeses of which the moon is made. However, this “cheese holiday” isn’t free of trouble when they encounter a stove-like contraption. This moon resident wants to go back to earth with them so that it can ski.

A Grand Day Out is a bit technically inferior to the Wallace & Gromit films that would follow it, but its charm lies in the short’s imaginative settings and the fantastical execution of its scenario. There is lots of charm here, and Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out (also known as A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit) shares something with the great fantasy films like The Wizard of Oz and classic Disney animated films, which is a sense of wonder that can capture the heart of young and old viewers alike.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
1991 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Short Film, Animated” (Nick Park)

1990 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Animated Film” (Nick Park)

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2012 Academy Award Nominations: Best Short Film, Animated

Best Short Film, Animated Nominees:

Dimanche (2011): Patrick Doyon

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011): William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg

La Luna (2011): Enrico Casarosa (Pixar)

A Morning Stroll (2011): Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe

Wild Life (2011): Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby