Pre-order The Art of Jay Ward Productions!
Although the book won't make its official debut until November 15th at the CTN Animation Expo, you can now pre-order the book at www.artofjayward.com. Local purchasers can be the first to get their...
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IT'S HERE!!!!!
At long last, The Art of Jay Ward Productions is here! The book is jammed with art and photos, 980 to be exact, and fills 352 pages. It's also heavy, weighing in at over 4 lbs! Some images from...
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Jane Kean 1923-2013
By now, I'm sure most have heard of the passing of Jane Kean, best known for playing Trixie against Art Carney's Ed Norton, on the 1960s version of The Honeymooners. Here at this blog, we know...
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David Weidman 1921-2014
By now, most of you will have heard of the passing of David Weidman, who painted backgrounds on Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, did color styling on numerous Fractured Fairy Tales and also painted for...
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Where have I been?
Marketing, promoting and selling The Art of Jay Ward Productions, that's where! Most of the spring and early summer was spent making the rounds of the various LA animation studios with Ward artist Sam...
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Lee Orgel and Morey Amsterdam
When you start digging into the history of animation, you never know what you'll find. Lee Orgel's daughter, JoAnn, recently uncovered a few more items from her father's career, including a previously...
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Happy 65th birthday, Mr. Magoo!
On this day in animation history, the first Mr. Magoo cartoon, a Jolly Frolic called Ragtime Bear, was released by Columbia Pictures. Written by Millard Kaufman, laid out by Bill Hurtz and directed by...
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Lea Orgel, 1925-2014
Lea and Lee Orgel shortly after their arrival in California.It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Lea Orgel, the wife of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol creator, Lee Orgel, who left us...
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Mr. Magoo and The Features That Never Were
Those who read this blog or who are up on their animation history will know that Mr. Magoo starred in an animated feature, the 1959 release, 1001 Arabian Nights. But how many are aware that it was not...
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Pitching The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo
Pitch art for Robin Hood, artist unknownMy last post, Mr. Magoo and the Features That Never Were, featured some rare UPA pitch art for the studio's unproduced Mr. Magoo features. Considering the...
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Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, revisited
As the Christmas season is upon us, it seems only fitting that I should start out the month of December with a new post sharing some recent discoveries from Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. I learned many...
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Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, live
Douglas Sills, who will be performing the role of Magoo/Scrooge.It's been talked about for years, doing a live, theatrical version of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol and here's what might be the first...
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A visit by the Ghost of Christmas Past
Followers of this blog will recall the much anticipated re-broadcast of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol for the special's 50th anniversary in December of 2012 and the unanimous disappointment with NBC's...
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Lee Orgel and The New Three Stooges
While it couldn't be considered a high point in either Lee Orgel's or The Three Stooges' career, this minor series, which was both developed and produced by Lee, might be the first animated TV series...
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Sam Clayberger, designer at UPA
Sam Clayberger painting at UPAI first met designer and painter Sam Clayberger as part of my research for my book, The Art of Jay Ward Productions. As it eventually turned out, Sam became quite a...
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Commercials at UPA
My last post featured Sam Clayberger's color work at UPA for some of the theatrical Magoo cartoons. Concurrent with those shorts, UPA was also producing a high volume of television commercials and in...
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D-Day, 71 years later
Victor Haboush at Disney, photo courtesy of Amid AmidiSince tomorrow is the 71st anniversary of the D-Day invasion in World War II, it seems appropriate to commemorate the event with this post. During...
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Gerard Baldwin, a life in animation
Readers of either of my books, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, The Making of the First Animated Christmas Special or The Art of Jay Ward Productions will instantly recognize the name Gerard Baldwin....
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Activities on the Art of Jay Ward blog
As you may have noticed, updates on this blog are few and far between. As new information or artwork comes in, I will post on this blog but in the meantime, check out my sister blog,...
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The making of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
Welcome to my 100th post on this blog! It's been 6 years since I published the first edition of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol: The Making of the First Animated Special, which recounted the virtually...
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What's new on the Jay Ward blog
This has nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Magoo or Christmas but if you're a fan of Jay Ward you might want to check out the latest post at artofjayward.blogspot.com where I show very rare images from...
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Bob Inman, 1927-2016
I'm sorry to report that Bob Inman, one of the two main background painters on Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, has passed away. Bob was one of animation's unsung talents, largely because he spent his...
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Rocky & Bullwinkle in Mexico
Frank Hursh, head of background dept at GammaIf you grew up with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, it's a good bet you watched Rocky & Bullwinkle and all the rest of Jay Ward's series. For the next few...
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Back in print!
After 8 years of being out of print, I'm pleased to announce that my book on the making of the first animated Christmas special is back in print! But wait, there's more! This edition is softcover...
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Marie Matthews 1934-2024
Sad news to report, Marie Matthews, the singing voices of Young Scrooge and the Cratchit daughter in Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, and the last surviving cast member, has passed away after a long...
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