jerry beck interview

8/13/2019 Jerry Beck Interview

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this guy and talk to him. e ended up becoming best )riends, and we are very good )riends today. 4worked with him on the book ) ice and agic, which came out in 9:;'. That was really one o) the )irst

books to look at all the animation studios )rom the !olden Age o) Hollywood. By working on that book,my own personal interest in classic cartoons just magni)ied 9,'''I.

4 really haven=t stopped researching cartoons since that time. 3ou would think that doing a book like that,that=d be the end. E(lose the book, it=s done. There it is.= But there has been so much more in)ormationthat keeps coming out. Thanks to the internet, there=s even more in)ormation coming out now more

research and observation than ever be)ore, on these great cartoons )rom the !olden Age.

Jerry Beck 7le)t8 speaks with samu E/ather o) Anime= Te>uka, in 9::

7(lick to view high-res version8

+ot only that, there are so many good things that have been happening in the last @' years, wherethere=s been sort o) a renaissance in isney animation and T% animation a real renaissance in good-looking cartoons, )unny cartoons, cartoons that are not just aimed at children but aimed at all audiences,anime4 mean, there=s so much to e*plore. 4t=s a rich )ield. 4=m just immersed in it.

A%# How were you introduced to oody oodpecker and 0opeye the 2ailorC

JB# "ike everybody else, on television. 3ou know, 0opeye was the

biggest character o) the 9:'s people )orget that. They rememberisney, 2now hite and Three "ittle 0igs, but 0opeye was bigger thanall o) that. 0opeye was the biggest character. He superseded ickeyouse, who was the biggest character )rom 9:@;-9:. But 0opeyecame on and really became a sensation. That=s why they made twentyyears o) theatrical cartoons. Then, in 9:&G, they put them ontelevision. hen they did that, there was a second renaissance o)0opeye. 0opeye was the biggest cartoon character in the late =&'s intothe =G's. 0eople )orget that.

That=s when 4 was growing up as a small child. 4 saw 0opeye on T%, as a kid, and 4 loved those cartoons.6veryone who grew up in that period knows how great they are. 2o many things about them are great.

4n the intervening years, 0opeye slowly disappeared. The people who controlled the characters hadcompletely )orgotten what made the character great. 4t was the original comic strip and original /leischer

cartoons. 3ou may have grown up with 0opeye 1 2on or some redone version that Hanna-Barbera mayhave done in later years. But that=s not 0opeye. That=s not the 0opeye we grew up with )rom the earlier

days. 2o 4 just wanted to see these things come back out. 4t=s hard to believe they were on ice )or twentyyears.

oody oodpecker also had a show in the 9:&'s and =G's. All these cartoons that were made )ortheaters were heavily displayed on television in the =&'s and =G's. 4) you didn=t grow up with them in the='s, =K's and =&'s, you saw them as a kid in the =&'s, =G's and ='s. They were just ubiLuitous. Theywere all over the place.

hen (artoon +etwork started in 9::@, they had nothing but their library, which was Turner=s library, sothey ran all the Hanna-Barbera, "ooney Tunes and 0opeye cartoons. Those cartoons were introduced to a

nice group o) people who grew up in the early to mid =:'s. 4t=s hard to believe that=s a long time ago now,but it=s over ten years ago. All those kids who were ;, : and 9' are now 9;, 9: and @', in the work)orce,

and 4 think they would like to see and have on video these cartoons they saw when they were kids. 4t=snot just us old-timers who are into these old cartoons. 4t=s even people in their twenties.
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4t=s the end o) an era, because throughout my li)etime, these classiccartoons, such asoody oodpecker, 0opeye and "ooney Tunes, have

always been on television. 4n only the last & - years have theystopped running these old classic cartoons on T%. 2ome o) them are

still on Boomerang, or here and there. But a lot o) them have reallygone o)) the )ace o) the earth. 2o it=s kind o) like the real mission now

is to keep these classic cartoons alive. therwise, they=re going to bee*tinct. 4t=s just a matter o) people who are at the right studios to

make these things available.

A%# hy do you )eel some o) the later cartoons )or characters likeoody and 0opeye le)t something to be desiredC

JB# ell, things have certainly turned around in the last 9& years. But there was a period somewhere in

the =G's, ='s and =;'s where animation in general was really at a downturn. That had to do with a lot o))actors. 4t had to do with all the outlets )or animation. The outlets )or animation in the =G's, ='s and

early =;'s were simply television. e had no cable, internet, % or %H2. The only outlet that anybodycould make animation )or was basically 2aturday morning television.

There were some e*ceptions to the rule. There were some animated )eatures here and there. There weresome T% specials. There were occasionally shorts. But mainly, it was )or T%. T% dictated, in previousdecades, the cartoonists=-created cartoons. The artists and animators at arner Bros. came up with BugsBunny and Tom 1 Jerry, and isney with ickey ouse. The early T% cartoons were also creator-driven,

as we say today, when we had things like Beany 1 (ecil,Alvin 1 the (hipmunks, ?ocky 1 Bullwinkle andthings like that. Those were kind o) clever things that were done back in the early T% era.

But by the late =G's, the animators wanted to keep working. They were all getting older. +o young peoplewere coming into the )ield. 4t was the same people who were making cartoons in their K's, &'s and G's.

By the point, they were getting older, and they just wanted to keep their jobs. They wanted to be able tokeep their homes. They just said, E"ook, you=re the network. 4=m bringing in stu)) to pitch to you. 3ou=re

not happy. hat do you wantC= As soon as they said, Ehat do you want,= networks started telling themwhat they wanted.

hat the networks wanted was lame ideas. 4t=s not that they wantedlame ideas. They just didn=t have any ideas. They weren=t creators.They said, Ehy don=t you do an animated show based on Happyays or 4 ream o) JeannieC How about a 2uper ?obotic Three

2toogesC= 4t was just stupid things that didn=t make any senseF6verything was very derived. nce they would hit on an original idea such as 2cooby-oo, possibly the last o) the original ideas )or T%cartoons they would endlessly copy it, doing ten other derivedversions o) the same kind o) show. E"et=s combine 2cooby-oo withtheArchie=sF e=ll do the Hardy Boys or !oober 1 the !host (hasersF=They were coming up with all these things that were just lame.

The animation Luality was horrible. 4t all had to be done between arch or April and 2eptember,

when it had to air. 2o you had si* months to do 9 hal)-hours. 3our Luality is going to go way, way down.That=s what happened. Things turned around with +icktoons and (artoon +etwork. nce they started

original cartoons, they brought back the creator-driven sensibility. 6ven the worst cartoons today lookgreat. They move really well. 2o we=re at a very good level o) T% animation today. 4t=s not what it used to

be.

A%# "et=s talk about your time working with the recent oody oodpecker and /riends (lassic (artoon(ollection. (ould you e*plain your involvement with that projectC

JB# Through the grapevine, someone told me last year that they had heard

$niversal was thinking o) doing something with oody oodpecker )or @''.hen 4 heard that, 4 didn=t know i) there was any truth to it, but 4 decided to,

just out o) the blue, contact the president o) $niversal Home %ideo. 4 just wrotethe guy an e-mail, told him who 4 was and what 4 had done with arner Bros,

and that i) they were going to do something with oody oodpecker, 4 would behappy to take a look at what they were doing and give them some advice )rom

the collector=s point o) view. They took me up on it and ended up hiring me as aconsultant.

$niversal had a certain point o) view on how they were going to do the set. 4

came in and basically said, EThis is what 4 would do.= To their credit, they decidedto try it out and go with what 4 had suggested. 4=m very happy about that. 4=m ahappy boy, because 4 was able to in)orm them o) a )ew things they didn=t knowthey owned things that ended up as bonus )eatures on the set. 4 wanted to


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see the swald ?abbit, 2wing 2ymphony and Te* Avery cartoons4 wanted to make sure that certainthings were there.

4 wanted it to be a killer set, containing the best oody oodpecker cartoons, in basically chronologicalorder, )rom the =K's up. 4t=s like, i) they were only going to put out one set o) oody oodpecker, and i)it came out and bombed, at least this set with all o) these great cartoons would have been out there. 3es,there are more great cartoons that can come out, i) they do a %olume @. e don=t know i) they will yet.But 4 always looked at this as the one shot )or releasing $niversal=s cartoons. 2o 4 took advantage o) that.

4 wanted it to be the best it could possibly be, so that would )ans would be happy, and even i) youweren=t a )an, you might become a )an by looking at this set. 4 wanted it to getgood reviewsandhope)ully sell well, so that $niversal would release more oody oodpecker volumes. 4 )eel very proud o)thatD 4 )eel like we accomplished a goal there.

A%# 3ou also worked on 0opeye the 2ailor# 9:-9:;, %olume 9. How did you become involved with that

% setC

JB# hen 4 was in +ew 3ork (ity, where 4 grew up, one o) my very )irst jobs was working )or $nitedArtists, in the late ='s. 4 was so happy to be working in the movie business, because 4 was ,''' miles)rom the real movie business. But it was wonder)ul to have a main o))ice in +ew 3ork, at $nited Artists.

$nited Artists had the rights at the time to the old 0opeye and "ooneyTunes cartoons. That was, o) course, great )or me. 4 worked in an department

that dealt with those cartoons. 2o 4 was really in hog heaven, at the time. /rom

that time )orward, home video )inally came in, around =;, =: or =;'. 4 wasinvolved then with helping to advise. Because o) my knowledge o) the cartoons,4 would help $nited Artists in putting out cartoons on video.

There was a problem with the 0opeye cartoons at the time. 4t was a legalproblem between ed

the 0opeye cartoons sometime around 9:;', 4 think maybe it was a little later than that, such asaround =;K. hat happened then in history is that Turner ultimately started (artoon +etwork and put

0opeye cartoons on there. But it was later merged with arner Bros. arner Bros. acLuired his library,which included the early "ooney Tunes cartoons. They already had, o) course, their later "ooney

Tunescartoons )rom the =&'s and =G's. But now arner Bros. has all o) its "ooney Tunes cartoons backa)ter a bunch o) years. Then, they also got the 0opeye cartoons, but they couldn=t put them out on video.

2o it took years )or arner Bros. to make a deal.

y involvement stems )rom the )act that 4 have always stayed in touch with the people who put out thesecartoons. y reputation grew throughout the years as someone they could talk to about what cartoonsshould go on these discs and things like that. 4 had been working with the Turner people and then thearner Bros. people on the "ooney Tunesseries and some other %s. Then, when arner Bros. was

getting very, very close with e that deal to make 0opeye available, 4 was alreadythere. 4 was already involved, working on the "ooney Tunes !olden (ollection.

4=ve been working on those % sets as a consultant. 4 don=t work )or

the company )ull-time. But 4 do work as a paid consultant on theanimation material. 2o that=s kind o) how 4 got involved. They asked

me early on, E4) we were to do 0opeye, how would you see doing itC=?eally easily, 4 just said, Eh, in this case, you=ve got to go

chronological. 0ut the )irst G' on.= 4 looked at how many cartoons therewereD 4 knew how many cartoons you could )it on )our discs. 2o we

decided on G' )or the )irst set. The second set, which will be out ne*tyear, will be the rest o) the black-and-white cartoons )rom =; to

around =K@. Then, the third set will be mainly the color cartoons o) the=K's. Then, the )ourth set will be the color cartoons o) the =&'s. There

will be surprises, really great e*tras and all kinds o) ni)ty things on each subseLuent volume.

2o basically 4 was the general, overall watchdog and consultant on this 0opeye % set, making suresome )actual things were done correctly. 4 only had so much control, but 4 did what 4 could to get it to the
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level that it is. The people at arner Bros. are great, but i) there weren=t somebody around like me whoknows the collection, you might end up with colori>ed cartoons or an unrestored print. 4 was sort o) there

to make sure everything was done the way we collectors would want it.

A%# 4t sounds as i) the sets might have been pretty di))erent i) you hadn=t been involved with them. (ouldyou describe some o) the changes you helped makeC

JB# 4n the case o) oody, they were going to do something along the lines o) the 0ink 0anther bo* set

that came out. ?emember that set that had all the 0ink 0anther cartoonsC They were going to do

something where they were just going to include all the oody oodpecker cartoons. bviously, )or acollector, that=s an interesting thing. 4 wouldn=t mind having that.

2o 4 went and spoke to the man and had a nice meeting with him. 4asked, Eell, what about Andy 0andaC hat about (hilly illyC hatabout these other charactersC= They had done their marketingresearch, and the research said that nobody knew who thosecharacters were. There)ore, they weren=t going to put out anythingwithout just oody oodpecker. E0eople know who oody oodpeckeris, so oody oodpecker is all we=re going to do.=

Basically, my job, which 4 succeeded at, was to convince them not toput all the oody oodpecker cartoons out in one shot. A)ter all, let=s

say you did that, and it was success)ul, you would have nothing else to

put out in %olume @. 2o at least i) you put a third o) them, which iswhat we did, and it=s success)ul, then you have a chance )or a set M@ and a set M.

At the same time, the collectors are getting these other cartoons, such as (hilly illy and Andy 0anda,which is the eLuivalent in the studios= language to bonus material. 4) 4 hadn=t been involved, there mighthave been a E(omplete oody oodpecker= set out. /or anybody that=s crying about the )act that they=renot getting the 9:G@ oody oodpecker cartoons, don=t worry, they=ll be coming soon. 4 think we got abetter deal here.

4n the case o) 0opeye, 4=m not sure e*actly how di))erent that would have been. They might have donesomething where they mi*ed it up. /or instance, they might have done themes. They might have done

something where isc 9 was E0opeye=s Travels= and isc @ was E0opeye=s Tasks.= They would have donesome kind o) thematic thing, perhaps. They also might have used the colori>ed cartoons or maybe more

than a )ew o) them by accident. They would have maybe used some o) the original prints o)) the shel)that were )aded in color.

That=s how 4 think my standing in the doorway kept things on track )or what the collectors wanted. 4 wasvery insistent about the 0aramount ones being restored, even though the set was being released byarner Bros. and


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+ow, coincidentally, $niversal decided to release oodyoodpecker right at the same time. 4 don=t think the release date )or

the set had anything to do with the 2an iego (omic-(on being thatsame week. 4t was a coincidence. Actually, i) 4 had to have picked a

release date other than one at the end o) the year, it would have beenduring the (omic-(on. 4 know that, obviously, arner Bros. took

advantage o) the (omic-(on. They had a panel set up, which 4 was onto promote the 0opeye %. That was a good promotion.

The oody oodpecker % set didn=t get that sort o) promotion atall. (omic-(on had absolutely nothing to do with $niversal deciding torelease the set at that time. 4 think, in the case o) oody, they justwanted to do it as a summer set. They had in mind all along )rom a year ago that they wanted it to comeout this past summer. 4t could have had something to do with people vacationing at $niversal themeparks. 4t could have been any number o) reasons as to why they )igured the summer was anadvantageous time to release a great collection o) classic animation.

4 actually think it=s kind o) great that the sets both came out within a week o) each other, because, in

theory, we got some articles that would promote both sets, as opposed to a guy saying, Eell, 4 don=tknow i) 4 should write about thisoody oodpecker set= But the )act that oody and 0opeye came out

at the same time, it gives two reasons to promote an article about classic cartoons. 4 don=t think thestudios themselves would go out and pitch to a reporter. But 4 think it=s help)ulD 4 think both can help

each other. 4 know a lot o) the people buying oody are buying 0opeye, and vice versa. 4 think it canonly help.

A%# hat was your main goal )or the oody oodpecker and 0opeye % collectionsC

JB# y goal )or any o) the % sets that we work on is, )irst, to make the cartoons accessible. These

cartoons are inaccessible. They=re not on the (artoon +etwork right now. They=re not on video anywhere.They=re not allowed to be on 3ouTube or the internet. They haven=t been o))icially put out. They=re just

locked away in the vaults. 2o my )irst goal is to have the cartoons accessible.

+umber two is to have them accessible in the original )orm that theywere released. Throughout the years, these cartoons have beenchopped to bits )or editing due to content pertaining to violence,racism, se*ist attitudes, smoking, or this or that. There are so manyreasons these cartoons have been cut or are not shown anymore,

because they re)lect America back in the 9:'s, =K's and =&'s. Theydon=t re)lect the way America is today. They=re not e*actly child-)riendly. They=re not e*actly per)ect kids= )odder, as people rule on stu))to be.

eanwhile, the studios are doing their own new cartoons today, suchas The 0owerpu)) !irls or 2pongebob 2Luarepants. 2o they don=t really

need these old cartoons. The cartoons are locked away. The problem is that the studios )orget that thesecartoons are classic )ilms. They=re not just old kids= shows. They=re classic movies. That=s something 4 like

to remind people about, on these sets.

2o my goal was to make the cartoons accessible in their original )orm with their original studio logos anduncut in any other way, restored so they look brand-new. 2ome o) the cartoons look brand-new, like theywere made yesterday. There=s no e*cuse )or cartoons looking old. (artoons don=t date the way live-action)ilms do. 4) you restore them right, they=ll look like they were made yesterday.

4 want the collections to look as though they were done with some class. 4 like, )or e*ample,

the 0opeye bo*. This is the one place where 4 have no control, un)ortunately. 4 have no control over theartwork or the menus on the "ooney Tunes,Tom 1 Jerry, oody oodpecker and 0opeye % sets.

?eally, that has to do with marketing. They have a whole other department that deals with marketing.4=m involved more with the content o) the discs.

4 always try my best to help in)luence the % packaging. The closest 4=ve comewas with the0opeye set. 4 can=t really take any credit )or it, but 4 did have ameeting once where they asked me what kind o) packaging 4 thought we shouldgo )or. y whole thing was to make sure it didn=t look like the public domainvideos that are out there. 4t had to stand apart )rom the other animationcollections. 4t had to have some class. 4t had to be adult. Eon=t make it looklike a kiddie show. ake it look like this is a classic character and these are

classic cartoons.= There are ten other ways the 0opeye packaging could havegone. But what was released is pretty good looking. 4 really like it. 4t respectsthe content inside.


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$n)ortunately, 4 cannot say that every animated % collection respects its content. 2ometimes, a set ismarketed more toward moms and kids. 4 do not know i) it is correct to aim some o) the sets at those

targets, though. ith a lot o) these older cartoons, moms and kids do not even know who the charactersare anymore. There)ore, when it comes to marketing % collections )or classic animated titles, 4

respect)ully advise the studios, E!o )or the collectors, a group )ar larger than just some guy in abasement.=

3es, there is a huge audience )or classic cartoons. But the shows have to be marketed the right way. 4)

they are marketed simply toward children, part o) the potential audience is cut o)).4 really have to convince a lot o) people to check out certain animated % collections. $n)ortunately, 4know some people who are simply turned o)) by the set=s bo* artwork. 4 have spoken with people who

said, EBoy, the bo* art doesn=t look encouraging to me.= y response is, Eell, don=t judge the set by itsbo* artF 4t=s what is inside the bo* that is )antasticF=

A%# 4s there anything else you wish studios in general had done di))erently about some o) the classicanimation sets that have been releasedC

JB# ell, let=s see. 4 can=t complain too much about content. 4 mean, there are glitches and problems,minor things here and there. There are some little mistakes that happen when they=re putting these

things together that 4 wish weren=t there. 4 wish 4 could go back and remaster the whole darn thing.ith Tom 1 Jerry, they put in some edited cartoons by mistake, and then they had to go back and do

replacement discs )or people who complained. They wouldn=t have to do that in the )irst place, i) they had

somebody like me who was doing Luality control up)ront. /irst thing, 4=m not hired to do that. They don=tallow me to come in to advise on that regard. 4 see a lot o) this stu)) when it=s too late, maybe two weeksbe)ore it=s going to come out.

But 4 love the bonus materials. 4 love the )act that the cartoons are outthere. 3ou know, when )ans on the internet complain about this orthat, 4 call it Enitpicking.= That=s okay, 4=m glad they=re catching theseboo-boos, these little things that are wrong. But they=re looking at theglass as hal)-empty instead o) hal)-)ull. 4 live in a world where these%s once didn=t e*ist.

There is still a lot o) stu)) that still isn=t out there. e=re living in aworld now where2ong o) the 2outh isn=t out yet. 4 want 2ong o) the

2outh to come out. Hope)ully, it will be a great trans)er, and there willbe nothing to complain about. But you know what, there will be people

on the internet who will )ind some boo-boo, or somebody who=s goingto go, E3ou know, the Japanese laserdisc ten years ago was a lot better.= 3ou know what, they can

complain all they want. 4 am just delighted to sit here and be able to put these cartoons that 4 love onany time 4 want, in great-looking copies, with the studios= complete cooperation. 4 can=t really complain

about some o) the little things that aren=t really worth complaining about. 4=m looking at it as that we=reliving in a wonder)ul time where the studios are actually releasing this stu)).

y biggest problem with studios are the ones who don=t release stu)). %iacom and 0aramount ownTerrytoons# ighty ouse, Heckle 1 Jeckle, ighty Heroes, ippity og 4 could go on and on. They ownthe rights to Betty Boop and "il= Audrey. 4 mean, they have all these things that haven=t come out yet. 4t=salmost an endless list. The classic r. agoocartoons )rom the theaters, not the T% ones. here are allthe good $0A cartoons that were made in the 9:&'sC There are so many wonder)ul things in the librarieso) these Hollywood studios that they=re just sitting on, because they )eel there is no audience )or thismaterial. They )eel there would be no sales. 4t=s not worth N@&,''' per cartoon to restore each cartoon

and release a set o) G' or :' cartoons. That=s cost prohibitive. They=re not going to make their moneyback. That=s their point o) view. 2o there are a lot o) issues.

4 try to look )or opportunities. /or instance, 4 believe that there are

going to be new r. agoo cartoons )or +ickelodeon 4=ve heard that,but 4 don=t know i) it=s true or not. hen 4 hear something like that, 4

like to go over to the people at (olumbia 0ictures and say, E3ou know,this series is coming out. 4t=s going to be on +ickelodeon. 3ou really

should be thinking about doing a bo* set )or the classic r.agoo cartoons.= 4 try to get them interested in doing it, when we

know an old classic cartoon character is going to be in a new movie orseries. 4 try to )ind a way to tie-in their library to that new movie. Eh

yeah, there=s going to be a ighty ouse movieF e should put out theold ighty ouse cartoonsF= nce the studios even begin to agree to

that, 4 then e*plain, Ekay, well, here=s what you should do. 3ou should put out the ighty ouseset, ighty ouse 1 /riends, and let=s put Heckle 1 Jeckle on there.= Because i) you don=t say it, the

studios are never going to do it. They=re never going to put out that other stu)), because they don=tperceive the value o) those other characters.


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4 only care about having the stu)) accessible and out there. 4 have no )inancial gain )rom it. The companyhas all to gain, in licensing, selling the %s, etc. They have all to gain in promoting those classic, iconic

characters that they own the rights to. 4=m just a )an. 4=m just sitting at home, wanting to be able to turnmy T% on and watch some o) these old cartoons again. That=s my goal just to help make these cartoons

accessible.

A%# hy do you think studios still use %+? 7igital %ideo +oise ?eduction8 on classic cartoons, eventhough )ans and in)luential people such as yoursel) want otherwiseC

JB# ell, they use it because they don=t understand. 4 would have said, EThey don=t care,= but that=s nottrue. They don=t want to put out a product that=s )aulty. "ike anybody else, 4=m a la>y person, believe it ornot. 4t=s like you want to do the easiest thing that you can do. 2omeone came up with a system to clean

up live-action )ilms. This process is an electronic one that takes out dust and dirt )rom )rames. 2o you runa )ilm through it, and you can claim it=s Eigitally (leanF igitally ?emasteredF=

The problem with %+? is that it doesn=t work with animation. 3ouknow, when you=re in these big companies, and you=re doing *-numbero) movies per year, and you=ve got a couple o) animation releases, itseems that it doesn=t pay not to do it. E?un them all through thecleanup system, because we know it=s really greatF 4t will remove thatspeck in that one )rameF= $n)ortunately, it removes lines )romanimation, because it thinks that a line on a character that is onlythere )or one )rame is dirt, so it removes the line. 2o some o) the

studios just kind o) don=t get it. They just don=t understand.

4t=s actually e*tra trouble at this point notto do %+?, because the

studios are set up to use it. To not do it, it=s special it=s like EBurger


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we=ve slowly crawled back. 6ven the worst shows on (artoon +etwork really look great. The worst showstoday are miles ahead o) the kind o) junk that used to piddle out in =&'s, =G's, ='s and =;'s. 4 think we=re

actually in good shape here, and 4 think we=re even going to get better.

4 think in 0i*ar, we have a true creative leader in animation right nowthat 4 don=t know i) we=ve had )or a long time. isney was sort o) it inthe =:'s. But 4 think 0i*ar is the real deal 4 mean a real creativeleader in the classic mold o) alt isney, a* /leischer, (huck Jones,

Te* Avery 0i*ar is truly innovating and leading, and people are)ollowing them. 4 think they are making really great )ilms.

e have a lot o) stu)) going on in cable television, whether it=s adult

animation on /o* or (omedy (entral. 4 think we=re making end-roadsthere. 4 think anime has been accepted. Again, 4=ve lived through a

li)etime where anime was ignored.

espite all the cable animation, direct-to-video animation and internet animation, the one big hurdle isstill the perception that animation is a children=s medium, by the large majority o) people in the $nited2tates not around the world, but the $nited 2tates. e still have that hurdle to go across. 4 think we=remaking end-roads there. But the )act that people perceive animation as a children=s medium is whypeople use %+?. 4t=s why bad animation is produced. Because people who are saying Eyes= to thesethings don=t care. They=re just trying to make a buck. They=re just trying to create a product. Eh, it=s akid show. ho caresC=

4t=s why you don=t see classic cartoons like ighty ouse, Baby Huey or Heckle 1 Jeckle on video. 3oudon=t see these classic cartoons on % or anywhere, because the attitude by the people who have the

rights to them is, EThese are old kids= )odder. e have no place to put these shows. They=re dead as adoornail. They=re like old sitcoms )rom the =&'s you know, like 4 arried Joan or y "ittle argie.

They=re black-and-white, nobody knows who the people are in them, and they=re out-o)-date. They haveno value to distribute anymore.= That=s how some studios consider old theatrical cartoons. And the same

goes )or old T% shows. ore and more, 4=m hearing )rom people grew up in the ='s and =;'s, who areasking me about various shows that they grew up with little shows that were only on )or a year. Ehat

happened to that showC 4 loved it when 4 was a kidF= There=s no perceived market, because even thoughit=s a kids show, it=s perceived as an old show and one that has no value.

3ou know, like arner Bros. and this is nothing against arner Bros. the old, classic arner Bros.cartoons, the ! cartoons, etc. are divvied. They divvy up the library )or people to work on at !,

$nited Artists and arner Home %ideo. Because their cartoons are considered children=s products, thecartoons go to the )amily group.

0opeye and "ooney Tunes have been specially taken care o) thanks to !eorge/eltenstein, who is the president or vice president o) what they call the Ecatalog=,

which includes the old movies such as !one with the ind and (asablanca./eltenstein is a cartoon )an. He cares. Actually, that=s one o) the reasons why, on

the arner releases o) old movies, you=ll always )ind one cartoon as a bonus)eature. He=s a guy who loves cartoons. He happens to be in that position.

0eople have asked me )or years, Ehy is it that on the same day a "ooney Tunes!olden (ollectionset comes out, something called the "ooney Tunes 2potlight(ollection, which doesn=t have any o) the bonus material and only two discs, alsocomes outC hat=s the point o) thatC= ell, that=s thanks to the )amily group,which actually controls these things. They say, Ekay, we=ll let you put out a

special set aimed at adult collectors, the !olden (ollection. e=ll put out whatwe would do with it, the 2potlight (ollection, aimed at moms and kids shopping at al-art.=

The thing is, we have proven with sales numbers that the !olden (ollection is what people want and that

there is an adult audience )or these animations. 4t=s something that companies haven=t learned. Theydon=t want to spend any e*tra marketing dollars going a)ter that crowd. They only know that cartoons sell

to moms and kids at stores. 2o that=s why they )ocus everything in that direction. 3ou know, it=s theEmom test.= They=ll actually go out and survey people in malls. EHave you ever heard o) The !et-Along

!angC= EHave you ever heard o) Herman 1 (atnipC= A lot o) people have )orgotten about Herman 1(atnip. 2o when those people answer E+o,= then the studios go, Eell, we=re not putting this out.= 4) there=s

high awareness o) the cartoon, they will put it out.

A%# hat can you tell us about your upcoming projectsC

JB# bviously, on a daily basis, 4 try to blog at (artoonBrew.com. 4t=s what 4 wish 4 could do )ull-time.e=re trying to create a revolution somehow at (artoonBrew.com and (artoonBrew/ilms.com. However,li)e, work and earning money get in the way. 2o until we can make (artoon Brew into something that canpay the bills, 4 have to do other stu)). 4 get to work on a lot o) other )un projects. 4=m going to give you asbig o) a list as 4 can.
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/http://www.cartoonbrew.com/


10/11

4=m doing a series o) introductions to a line o) books 4=m very proud o), )or arkHorse (omics. These are reprints o) Harvey (omics books )rom mainly the

9:&'s and =G's. The )irst one, )ocusing on (asper the /riendly !host, came outin August. The ne*t one, with ?ichie ?ich, will arrive in ctober, while the

)ollowing edition will deal with Hot 2tu)). e=ll be doing more o) the comics ne*tyear. 4=m doing these with "eslie (abarga, who=s another animation historian.

He=s actually the editor, physically putting these together. The reason 4=minvolved with this is because 4 actually loved these comics )rom the =&'s. 4 won=t

go too )ar with you on it, but one o) the reasons 4=m doing it is that these areanimation-related. (asper and these Harvey (omics were originally, in the =&'s,

drawn by the animators at 0aramount 2tudios in +ew 3ork. They look likecartoons on the page. These haven=t been reprinted since the =G's at least. They

were just lying around. (ompanies reprint (asper stories )rom the =G's or ='sor whatever, but here, they reprinted the ones )rom the ones )rom the =&'s,

which were really cool. They look like animation on the page. 4 just love them.4=ve been collecting them )or years. 2o we )inagled, talking everybody into reprinting these things. 4 want

the world to see them.

4 have three other books coming out. They are mainly picture books. But 4=m happy with the way theylook. They=re really )un books. The thing about me is 4 tell people 4 write books that are )un. 4occasionally do heavy, scholarly things, like The Animated ovie !uide. But 4 like to do books that aregoing to be )un to look at, because 4 love animation.

4=ve got a book on Hanna-Barbera coming out, called Hanna-Barbera Treasury. 4t=s a very cool book. 4t=s

illustrated mainly with either production art or cool, )unky merchandising art )rom the =&'s and =G's. 4tdoesn=t cover Hanna-Barbera past 9:G:. 4t=s just mainly the television work o) Hanna-Barbera )rom

around =&-=G:. 4t doesn=t really cover anything in-depth. 4t=s like a scrapbook o) )un Hanna-Barbera stu)).

4 also did a book called +icktoons. 4t=s basically a super-illustrated, giant co))ee table book that celebrates well, 4 don=t think it=s an anniversary. 4 was going to say the )irst 9& years o) +icktoons, but 4 don=teven think it is 9& years. 4t=s more like an awkward 9G years. 4 think +icktoons started in =:9. e=re in@''. 2o it=s some oddball number such as 9G. The book covers everything )rom ?en 12timpy and oug all the way up to shows that are coming on in the )all, like ighty Band Barnyard. 4thas little interviews with creators and a lot o) production art. 4t=s a very cool, strange book.

The third book is one o) those Art o) books# The Art o) Bee ovie. That=s the Jerry 2ein)eld5reamorks

)eature that will be coming out in +ovember. This is one o) those books that celebrates the pre-production

art that goes into making one o) these )ilms. 4t=s the same publisher and )ormat as the 0i*ar books,like The Art o) The 4ncredibles and The Art o) /inding +emo. 4t=s just as good as all those books, so 4highly recommend it.

There=s also my television pilot, Hornswiggle, which 4 have neglected)or the last si* months. 4 did this pilot last year with +ickelodeon and/rederator. 4t=s going to air, but 4 don=t know e*actly when. 4 personallythink it will air either in the )all or early spring o) ne*t year, as part o) anew show on +ickelodeon called ?andom (artoons. 4n )act,?andom(artoons is actually in my +icktoons book. 4t gets a )ewpages. ?andom (artoons is a show )or +ick, but it isn=t on the air yet.4t=s completely )inished, though. 4t=s 9 episodes o) : pilots really, butit=s being marketed as : di))erent Erandom cartoons.= The thingabout Hornswiggle is that the rights revert back to me, i) they don=t

pick it up in the series. 2o when my rights revert back to me, in ctober, 4=m planning topitch Hornswiggle around and sell it as a series to somebody else.

4=m also working on some other %s, but 4 can=t actually talk about all o) that. But 4 will say that 4=mworking on 0opeye# %olume @, "ooney Tunes !olden (ollection %olume &, ne Hundred And ne

almatians 0latinum 6dition and many other e*citing % plans. 4=m working with a lot o) studios. 4=mtrying to get their material out, but 4=m not allowed to talk about that. 2till, people should just know that

4=m on the case, and things are happening. 4t=s not like nothing is happening. There is a lot o) good stu))coming out this )all and ne*t year that=ll have everyone e*cited.

A%# 3ou also recently launched a new podcast, CartoonDump, didn=t youC

JB# 3esF 4 have done, )or the last several years at the 2an iego (omic-(on, a program called the orst

(artoons 6ver. 4n it, 4 take a hand)ul o) T% cartoons, mainly )rom the late =&'s and into the =G's, thathave been mostly )orgotten and are not on % or 3ouTube. They are really rare ones that most people

can=t believe were ever made. 4 show a bunch o) these really bad cartoons. They=re bad but they=rehilariously bad.
http://www.cartoondump.com/http://www.cartoondump.com/


11/11

0eople can=t believe it. They think, E3ou had an animator make thatF= y answer is, E+o, no, noF This is areal cartoon that was actually onF= 4 don=t even have to say anything about them. 0eople just start

laughing at them, because they=re just so pain)ully bad.

4=ve been doing that )or )ive years at the (omic-(on. 4 had actuallydone that well, people tell me 4=ve been doing it )or @' years. 4 know4=d been doing it a )ew years be)ore that, at other venues.

2o 4 just recently teamed up with a partner, /rank (onni)), who was

one o) the regulars on ystery 2cience Theater. e created a podcast,which debuted in early August. 4t=s called (artoon ump. 6ach podcast)eatures one o) these hilariously bad cartoons. 4t=s book-ended by a

live-action kid show parody a really, really down-and-out kids show,the kind that would show these bad cartoons. 4t=s pretty dark

humored. 4t=s also pretty strange humored, )eaturing a live-action cast.

4n Hollywood, where 4 live, we=re actually also per)orming this kids show as a regular monthly live event.e=re doing it the )ourth Tuesday o) every month. 6ach live show we do is completely di))erent.

4=m e*cited, because 4 love using these bad cartoons in some new, creative, )un way. 3es, we=re hoping

someone will notice us and help )und and produce more podcasts or even take it to television. But rightnow, we=re doing it )or )un, in Hollywood, as a live show and a limited-run podcast.

4) anybody=s interested, they can go check out (artoonump.com. Actually, 4 should

say (artoonBrew/ilms.com that=s where we=re originating the podcast. There is also a(artoonump.com, though, where people can )ind more in)ormation.

A%# 4 noticed on ikipedia and o) course, we know they=re always right

JB# 3esF They=re always right unless 4 didn=t write itF

A%# OlaughsP 4 read that at one time you were working on )ilm adaptations

)or ighty ouse andThe 2tinky (heese an. 4s that trueC

JB# 3es, that was about ten years ago, in 9::. /or three years, 4 was involvedwith +ickelodeon as vice-president o) +ickelodeon ovies. e weredeveloping 2tinky (heese an,ighty ouse and a whole bunch o) other stu)).

/or the 2tinky (heese an adaptation, 4 met with the book=s creators. Theywere totally on board with creating the )ilm. "ane 2mith was going to be the

director. 4t was going to be very cool. This was be)ore 2hrek. 2tinky (heesean would have been the )irst one o) these animated )eatures to make )un o)

)airy tales. 4t would have been great, with it=s own uniLue style. 4t might haveused (!, but it wouldn=t have looked like 2hrek at all. 4t would have been a

uniLue look that we had in mind.

There are reasons why those projects at +ickelodeon ovies didn=t happen. That=s a whole long otherstory. aybe that=s another interview )or another time.

3ou know, )i)teen years ago, 4 was involved with distributing anime )ilms, such as Akira, )or movietheaters. 4t seems every couple o) years, 4 have a new adventure in animation. Hope)ully, the cumulativee))ect o) all that stu)) will pay o)) someday. 3ou know, 4 spend hal) o) my time creating my ne*t job. Thereis no Eh, they are looking )or somebody to do this.= +o, 4 never )ind that. 4 basically have to come upwith a book idea, a % idea, a compilation-o)-comics idea. Then 4 go out and try to convince people to

do it. 4 do that a lot.
http://www.cartoonbrewfilms.com/http://www.cartoonbrewfilms.com/

jerry beck interview

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