Animation & Cartoons

Charles Solomon is the author of Enchanted Drawings: A History of Animation. His book traces the art form from the magic lantern shows of the 1600's through the silent films of the 1920's to such modern-day phenomena as Roger Rabbit and the California Raisins.

Film critic Owen Gleiberman (gly-ber-man) reviews the new Walt Disney animated movie, "The Little Mermaid."

Animation director Chuck Jones talking About the Road Runner, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Pepe Lepew.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews a few of the current crop of summer movies - "Great Balls of Fire," "Lethal Weapon II," and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."

Cruikshank's newest work, Face Like a Frog, is now playing at film festivals. It features a soundtrack by composer Danny Elfman. She joins Fresh Air to talk about some of her earlier works, and what it takes to make a career in cartoons.

Computer animator Steven Segal. Segal does his programming on his home computer, unlike most computer animation which is composed on complex processors. His entry in a national computer animation festival is titled "Dance of the Stumblers."

Greg Ford and Terry Lennon, the writer and director of "The Duxorcist," the first "Looney Tune" to feature Daffy Duck since 1964. The cartoon will play before Warner Brother's theatrical releases. It comes on the 50th anniversary of Daffy Duck's debut.

Ralph Bakshi, who did the animation work for the cult hits "Fritz The Cat," and "Heavy Traffic." He's turned his attention away from animation to concentrate on oil painting.

Phil Tippett worked on TV ads before creating stop-motion animation for feature films. He says there was no demand for his skills in the industry until recently, in part because the technique was associated with B-movies. His credits include Return of the Jedi, Dragonslayer and RoboCop.

After watching the re-release of Disney's classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, critic Stephen Schiff says the movie is a powerful story about a girl's sexual awakening--only without the sex. He recommends it for it for viewers of all ages.

Film critic Leonard Maltin has two new releases. The first is an updated and revised edition of his "T.V. Movies," an index of films shown on television. The second is about silent cartoons and animations and is titled "Of Mice and Magic." He joins the show to discuss both.