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April 1st, 2022

Member Appreciation Month Free Downloads

Animation Resources is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization dedicated to serving the self study needs of animators, cartoonists and illustrators. If you are a creative person with an interest in the field, we hope you will choose to become a member of Animation Resources. Every other month, members are given access to a high resolution e-books, still framable animated films, podcasts and documentary films— all curated by the Board of Animation Resources.

This sample Reference Pack is designed to give you an idea of what Animation Resources has to offer its members, and this is the best time to join. Here is what you’ll get when you join…

Every other month, you will receive a brand new Reference Pack which consists of high resolution downloadable e-books packed with fantastic artwork, rare animated films from our collection, documentaries, podcast discussions and more!
For our annual members, we have an exciting announcement. Up to now, we have rerun past RefPacks three times a year in our Bonus Archive. But beginning in 2023 we will be upping that… we’ll share a rerun RefPack in alternate months between the new ones. This means that every year, as an annual member you will be receiving 12 full Reference Packs a year, instead of just 6! This only applies to General and Student membership, not Quarterly members. So if you are on a quarterly billing cycle, you might want to consider cancelling your Quarterly membership and re-joining as a General member.
We also host “Animated Discussions” Events as live-streamed video programs. Past Podcasts are archived along with our Reference Packs and on the Bonus Archive page for annual members.
Every year or two, Animation Resources provides more benefits for its members, and we occasionally raise our dues a little to allow us to continue to expand our offerings. But if you join today, we promise that General Membership dues will never increase as long as you maintain your membership.
General Membership is just $95 a year. For students and full time educators, it’s just $70. Are the annual dues too much to spend all at once? We also have a Quarterly Billing Option where you are billed $30 every three months. You can cancel your membership at any time on the Membership Account Page.(Quarterly Membership does not include the Bonus Archive.)

Every other month, you will receive a brand new Reference Pack which consists of high resolution downloadable e-books packed with fantastic artwork, rare animated films from our collection, documentaries, podcast discussions and more!
For our annual members, we have an exciting announcement. Up to now, we have rerun past RefPacks three times a year in our Bonus Archive. But beginning in 2023 we will be upping that… we’ll share a rerun RefPack in alternate months between the new ones. This means that every year, as an annual member you will be receiving 12 full Reference Packs a year, instead of just 6! This only applies to General and Student membership, not Quarterly members. So if you are on a quarterly billing cycle, you might want to consider cancelling your Quarterly membership and re-joining as a General member.
We also host “Animated Discussions” Events as live-streamed video programs. Past Podcasts are archived along with our Reference Packs and on the Bonus Archive page for annual members.
Every year or two, Animation Resources provides more benefits for its members, and we occasionally raise our dues a little to allow us to continue to expand our offerings. But if you join today, we promise that General Membership dues will never increase as long as you maintain your membership.
General Membership is just $95 a year. For students and full time educators, it’s just $70. Are the annual dues too much to spend all at once? We also have a Quarterly Billing Option where you are billed $30 every three months. You can cancel your membership at any time on the Membership Account Page.(Quarterly Membership does not include the Bonus Archive.)

Best of RefPacks 1 to 50

Over the past decade, Animation Resources has shared 50 Reference Packs with our members. To celebrate this anniversary, we have assembled two e-books and two video podcasts highlighting a few of the treasures our members have been able to download. During Members Appreciation Month, we will be sharing these e-books and podcasts with the general public. We hope they inspire you to join us and be a part of building the foundation for the future of animation.

DOWNLOADING INSTRUCTIONS: Below are the links to the sample Reference Pack. To download the files, RIGHT CLICK on the link (Mac users OPTION CLICK) and select SAVE TO DISK. We are delivering high resolution files to you. When you click, it might take several minutes to finish the download, so please be patient. If the link doesn’t work, refresh this page and try again. It’s best to download the files one at a time, rather than all at once. This will avoid timeouts.

PLEASE NOTE: This material may be protected by copyright and is provided to supporters of Animation Resources under Fair Use provisions for critical analysis, educational and reference purposes only. Permission to copy and print is granted for personal use only and these files are not to be distributed or shared with others. All rights reserved. After the period of availability, these files will be deleted from the server and may never be offered again. Downloading of this material constitutes agreement to these terms.

PDF E-BOOKS:
Best of 25

Best of The E-Books

A Sampler of the First 10 Years of RefPack E-Books

The creative world of animation has its roots in the art of cartooning, and the history of cartooning extends back centuries. Over the past decade, Animation Resources’ e-books have included thousands of pages of classic cartooning, illustration and art instruction, ranging from 16th century woodblocks to newspaper comics from the 1920s, to powerful political cartoons from around the world, to complete courses teaching the fundamentals of cartooning and caricature… all designed to broaden the horizons of both professional and student artists.

This pair of e-books gather together some of the highlights from the first 50 members only e-books. It is provided to the general public to give prospective members an idea of what they will receive when they join. Members and volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization and we appreciate everything that the hundreds of people who have contrinuted to our efforts have accomplished. These e-books are dedicated to them.

Best of RefPack 1-25 E-Book

Adobe PDF File / 377 Pages / 1.56 GB Download

Best of RefPack 26-50 E-Book

Adobe PDF File / 187 Pages / 530 MB Download

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

VIDEO PODCAST:
Best of 25

Best of Videos 1 to 50
Sampler Reels of the First 10 Years of RefPack Animation Videos

Some people are under the mistaken impression that animation is a genre, best suited for children’s cartoons. They think that specific established styles and techniques are the only way cartoons should look. It’s easy even for animators to fall into the trap of making cartoons that look just like all the other cartoons on TV and in theaters. But Animation Resources encourages film makers to think of animation as a medium, capable of breaking new ground by doing innovative and great things. We encourage our members to think outside the box by sharing unique examples of powerful animated film making that exploit the best aspects of the medium.

In the past decade of Reference Packs, Animation Resources members have had an opportunity to see rarely seen films of all types, from century old silent shorts, to stop motion puppet films, animation from China, Poland, Japan and Russia; animated commercials from the early 1950s; classic theatrical cartoons; experimental animation and rare industrial training films… Our intent is not to bring back a “golden age” of animation. We encourage artists to build on the past as a foundation for surpassing it.

This pair of reels gather together some clips of the highlights from the first 50 members only Reference Packs. They are provided to the general public to give prospective members an idea of what they will receive when they join.

Best of 25 Video Reel

M4V Video File / SD / 48:06 / 456 MB Download

Best of 50 Video Reel

M4V Video File / HD / 1:48:43 / 2.58 GB Download

PLEASE NOTE: These video files are large. Please download them one at a time to avoid timeouts.

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

During alternating months between Reference Packs, we’ll be including a bonus video or e-book from one of our past Reference Packs for our annual members (General and Student Memberships only). This time we are sharing a book and two rare wartime training films!

PDF E-BOOK:

Jack Cole’s

Plastic Man

Issues Nos. 1, 2 & 3 (1943)

Jack Cole’s “Plastic Man” debuted in Police Comics in 1941 and was an immediate hit. Cole’s offbeat humor and Plastic Man’s ability to take any shape gave the cartoonist the opportunities to experiment with text and graphics in groundbreaking manner, helping to define the medium’s vocabulary, and making the idiosyncratic character one of the few enduring classics from the Golden Age to modern times. Plastic Man gained his own title in 1943.

This PDF e-book contains the first three issues of Plastic Man comics and includes a biography of Jack Cole. It is optimized for display on the iPad or printing two up with a cover on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper.

REFPACK001: Plastic Man

Adobe PDF File / 183 Pages / 245.5 MB Download

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

DVD QUALITY VIDEO:

Private Snafu Gas

REFPACK001: Private Snafu in Gas

Army/Navy Screen Magazine (1944)

The Private Snafu training cartoons were produced by Warner Bros for the War Department during WWII. “Gas”, which deals with the importance of having an operating gas mask handy, was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Ted “Dr Seuss” Geisel. The voices were by Mel Blanc and Billy Bletcher.

REFPACK001: Private Snafu in Gas

M4V Video File / 4:43 / 77.5 MB Download

This DVD quality MP4 file is provided courtesy of Thunderbean Animation and is included in HD on Private Snafu Golden Classics.

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

DVD QUALITY VIDEO:

Van Beuren Circus Capers

Aesop’s Fables: Circus Capers

Van Beuren Studios (1930)

Disney admitted that in the 1920s, his goal was to produce cartoons as good as the Aesops Fables series. However after the Fables introduced a boy and girl mouse that bore a strong resemblance to Mickey and Minnie, Disney filed suit and had the cartoons pulled from theaters. This cartoon is one of the most blatant Mickey ripoffs, and one of the funniest.

REFPACK001: Circus Capers

M4V Video File / 9:13 / 230.5 MB Download

This DVD quality MP4 file is provided courtesy of Thunderbean Animation and is included on Uncensored Animation from Van Beuren.

PODCAST SCHEDULE

Animation Resources will be live streaming the Best of 1-25 and Best of 26-50 Podcasts several times during Member Appreciation Month. Here is the info on the live streams…

LIVE STREAM DATES

The Best of 1-25 podcast will be live streamed on these dates and times:
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 9th 7pm (PST) / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11th 5pm / TUESDAY FEBRUARY 14th 2pm (PST 5pm East Coast Time) / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18th 12am (PST-5pm SATURDAY Japan Time) / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18th 8am (PST-5pm Europe Time) / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18th 2pm (5pm East Coast) / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18th 5pm / WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 22nd 5pm / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 24th 5pm / WEDNESDAY MARCH 1st 7pm / WEDNESDAY MARCH 8th 5pm / SATURDAY MARCH 11th 2pm (PST)

The Best of 26-50 podcast will be live streamed on these dates and times:
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 10 7pm (PST) / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11th 7pm / WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 15th 2pm (PST 5pm East Coast Time) / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18th 7pm / WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 23rd 5pm / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25th 12am (PST-7pm SATURDAY Japan Time) / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25th 8am (5pm Europe Time) / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25th 2pm / SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25th 7pm /SUNDAY FEBRUARY 26th 2pm / THURSDAY MARCH 2nd 7pm / SATURDAY MARCH 4th 7pm / THURSDAY MARCH 9th 5pm / SATURDAY MARCH 11th 4pm (PST)

LIVE STREAM LOCATIONS

The Cartoon History podcast will be live-streamed simultaneously to these locations. Please note that the Best Of videos will not stream to YouTube. We recommend using Animation Resources’ own live streaming page to avoid disconnects by third party sites.

Animation Resources Live Stream Page

(Also to Facebook)

DISCORD SUNDAY HANGOUTS

JOIN US At The Animation Resources Discord Server
HOSTED BY DAVEY JARELL WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 19th 5:30 pm (PDT):
A Discussion About The Best of RefPack 1-25

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 26th 5:30 pm (PDT):
A discussion on our Best of RefPack 26-50

For more info on all of Animation Resources’ online events for February, see our February Event Schedule Page.

It’s Members Appreciation Time again at Animation Resources, and For the past decade, Animation Resources has been serving artists working in the fields of animation, cartooning and illustration. Our volunteers and members have pulled together to raise the bar for our art form, and it’s time to celebrate… It’s Members Appreciation time again!

During the month of February, Animation Resources expresses our appreciation for to members with a very special Reference Pack, and we invite you to become a member too. For the next 30 days, we will be sharing reasons why you should join us. Our benefits of membership far exceed the cost of our annual dues. You can find out what our members get at the Member Appreciation Page. It’s easy to join. Just click on this link and you can sign up right now online…

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

Animation Resources depends on your contributions to support its projects. Even if you can’t afford to join our group right now, please click the button below to donate whatever you can afford using PayPal.

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Posted by Stephen Worth @ 9:38 am

April 1st, 2022

LAST CALL! RefPack044: More Than Ever Before As A Thank You To Our Members

YOU MISSED IT! The new RefPack is available now. Click on MEMBERS CLICK HERE to check it out.

Every other month, Animation Resources shares a new Reference Pack with its members. They consist of e-books packed with high resolution scans video downloads of rare animated films set up for still frame study, as well as podcasts and documentaries— all designed to help you become a better artist. Make sure you download this Reference Pack before it’s updated. When it’s gone, it’s gone!

MEMBERS LOGIN To Download

JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content

Our members are responsible for making everything at Animation Resources possible. Every February, we set aside time to thank them and invite more people to join. This year, we are pulling out all the stops to make RefPack044 the biggest and best one yet. This one RefPack is worth the entire year’s dues! Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll find when you log in to the members only page…

First up is a new e-book on a cartoonist you probably haven’t heard of before— Leo O’Mealia. He was a sports cartoonist for The New York Daily News in the 1950s. He wasn’t syndicated as widely as his contemporary, Willard Mullin, so he is largely forgotten today. But he was an amazing artist with an animator’s eye for breaking down action into exaggerated key poses.

Next up is a pair of short films by U.P.A. courtesy of our Advisory Board Member, Steve Stanchfield. The reputation of U.P.A. was built upon its simple, modern style. It reflected the tastes of the early 1950s by adopting elements of contemporary art and sophisticated cartooning from magazines like Esquire and The New Yorker.

The films produced by the studio looked and sounded nothing like the products of any other studio at the time. The two examples we are sharing show how unique U.P.A’s films were.

In our International section, we conclude the five part Russian animated feature based on Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Directed by Roman Davydov independently of Disney’s version, the film takes a much darker and more serious approach to the story than Disney’s version. It’s notable for some superhuman animation and brilliant draftsmanship.

MEMBERS LOGIN To Download

JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content

Next up is a Russian propaganda film titled "Mr. Wolf". Even though it was produced in isolation behind the Iron Curtain, it resembles the simplified style of the late 40s Columbia cartoons and Halas & Bachelor’s Animal Farm.

Also from Russia is a gentle satire called "Peter And Little Red Riding Hood". At the time this film was being made, Soyuzmultfilm had reached a peak with its hand drawn and puppet animation. It exhibits tremendous style and draftsmanship. The personality animation of the main character Peter stands out through well observed gestures and specific types of walks. Milt Kahl couldn’t have done better.

Continuing in the International section, we feature a film called "Goal! Goal!" which is a perfect integration of design, staging, posing and timing. Created by Boris Dyozhkin in 1964, this was part of a series of films on sports by Soyuzmultfilm.

Next up is another episode of Koziolek Matolek produced by Studio Miniatur Filmowych in Krakow, Poland. The focus is on funny movement and expressions, all while maintaining an admirable level of clarity and economy. This series is a model of what web cartoons could be.

Then in our Early Anime section, curator JoJo Baptista shares two rare half hours of Japanese TV animation. Kaibutsu-Kun is a series about a boy named Tarou Kaibutsu and his monster friends, Dracula, Wolfman and Franken.

Gutsy Frog is a series from the mid 1970s which has some fascinating spacing and timing theories that haven’t been seen much in Western animation.

MEMBERS LOGIN To Download

JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content

In our Slapstick section, we conclude the three part documentary on Charlie Chaplin called "The Unknown Chaplin". In this episode the focus is on Chaplin’s feature film work, and there are several fascinating reconstructions of sequences to show how Chaplin developed his stories and gags.

Die Muskete

We’ve just updated our Annual Member Bonus Archive! Only General and Student members have access to this. If you are a quarterly member, you will want to consider upgrading to an annual membership to get access. This time, we are featuring a Viennese caricature journal from 1910 with some amazing illustrations.

Comedy A Serious Business

Also in the Bonus Archive is a fantastic documentary on Slaptick comedy produced by the BBC. This documentary has been unavailable for many years and it includes interviews with major silent film comedians.

Felix The Cat

Rounding out the downloads in the Bonus Archive are a pair of cartoons featuring Felix the Cat. Feline Follies was the very first Felix cartoon, and Felix Dines and Pines includes some amazingly surreal sequences. Log in to the Annual Member Bonus Archive to access these three downloads.

Weight

And that’s not all! Animation Resources Board Member, David Eisman shares breakdowns on the theme of Perspective Turns. David breaks this complex technique down to its nuts and bolts and helps you understand when to use (and most importantly, NOT use!) moving camera shots.

And our Director of Programming, Davey Jarrell has a new Animated Discussions podcast for us all. This one features Educator Taber Dunipace and Producer Stephen Worth answering the question, "Is Using Reference Constructive Or A Crutch?" The crew outlines how reference can be used for both practical purposes and for feeding your creative spirit. You’ll definitely want to make time to listen to this one!

Whew! That is an amazing collection of treasures! At Animation Resources, our Advisory Board includes great artists and animators like Ralph Bakshi, Will Finn, J.J. Sedelmaier and Sherm Cohen. They’ve let us know the things that they use in their own self study so we can share them with you. That’s experience you just can’t find anywhere else. The most important information isn’t what you already know… It’s the information you should know about, but don’t know yet. We bring that to you every other month.

Haven’t Joined Yet?

Check out this SAMPLE REFERENCE PACK! It will give you a taste of what Animation Resources members get to download every other month!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD A Sample RefPack!

Animation Resources is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization dedicated to providing self study material to the worldwide animation community. If you are a creative person working in animation, cartooning or illustration, you owe it to yourself to be a member of Animation Resources.

MEMBERS LOGIN To Download

JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content

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Posted by Stephen Worth @ 9:30 am

March 9th, 2022

BONUS002: Annual Members Archive Updated- Die Muskete, Hollywood and Felix

As a special thank you to our annual General and Student members, we have created a special page where we will archive past Reference Packs. There will be at least three reruns of complete RefPacks per year.

If you are currently on a quarterly membership plan, consider upgrading to an annual membership to get access to our bonus page with even more downloads. If you still have time on you quarterly membership when you upgrade to an annual membership, email us at…

membership@animationresources.org
…and we will credit your membership with the additional time.

ANNUAL MEMBER BONUS ARCHIVE

Available to Student and General Members

PDF E-BOOK:
Die Muskete

Die Muskete

Volume 10 Nos. 236-252 (April-July 1910)

The center of the arts at the beginning of the 20th century was Vienna, Austria, so it is natural that a great humorous arts magazine would come from that city– Die Muskete (The Rifle). The principles behind Die Muskete were initially quite different than either Jugend or Simplicissimus, its principle competitors from Berlin. Die Muskete was a humorous “men’s magazine” aimed at military officers and veterans. It still made fun of bureaucratic excesses, military inefficiency, social mores, the battle of the sexes, and religion, as well as political corruption, while remaining steadfastly loyal to the Emperor of Austria.

The staff consisted entirely of local artists like Fritz Schönpflug, Karl Wilke and Franz Wacik. Each one brought something different to the table. Schönpflug specialized in military caricature, gently poking fun at the men who made up a large part of Die Muskete’s subscriber base, Wilke excelled at drawing pretty girls with a nouveau flair. And Wacik specialized in a wide range of fantastic subjects- strange creatures and fairy tale settings. Working along side them were the political cartoonist Josef Danilowatz, fashion artist Heinrich Krenes, and the brilliant caricaturist Carl Josef. These artists were well matched as a team to provide a variety of images and stylistic approaches. During World War I the focus of Die Muskete shifted from being a humor magazine to being a magazine for soldiers in the trenches. The tone became more political and the focus shifted to demonizing the enemy. But the level of artistry remained at a high level until many of the original team of artists began to leave the magazine in the mid 1920s.

It’s important to remember that in the heyday of caricature journals like Die Muskete, the artists didn’t identify strictly as cartoonists. For instance Franz Wacik was a designer for the theater, he painted frescos and murals, and he illustrated children’s books. Most of the cartoonists at Die Muskete were fine artists as well as being cartoonists, and this is typical of their contemporaries at other caricature journals as well. Thanks to JoJo Baptista for sharing his collection of these rare magazines with us.

Click to access the…

Annual Member Bonus Archive

Download expires after June 2022

DVD QUALITY VIDEO:

Comedy A Serious Business

Hollywood: Comedy- A Serious Business

(Thames TV/1980)

The animators of the golden age all expressed a debt of gratitude to the silent comedy film makers who paved the way for the cartoonists that followed their lead. At Disney, Don Graham led action analysis classes for the staff breaking down the pantomime of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. Chuck Jones once expressed regret that he was born too late to work alongside the great slapstick comedy directors. The writing techniques at almost all of the animated cartoon studios of the 30s and 40s were derived from principles developed at Mack Sennett and Hal Roach’s studios. These films may seem ancient to us today, but they are far from irrelevant.

At the time this documentary was made, silent films were long gone from public view. In fact, if they were presented at all, they utilized beat up incomplete prints projected at the wrong frame rate. For the Hollywood series, film historian Kevin Brownlow assembled the best prints, transferred them on a state of the art variable speed telecine rank, and interviewed surviving cast and crew members to create the definitive documentary series on this seminal era in the history of movies. This episode deals with the comics- Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd and explains how they created their films. Unseen since the VHS era, Animation Resources acquired a transfer of this important documentary from a rare set of laserdiscs, and now we share it with you.

Recently, blu-rays and DVDs have breathed new life into these important films. If you are unfamiliar with the movies discussed in this documentary, jot down the titles and look them up. You’ll find a lot to study and learn from silent films.

Click to access the…

Annual Member Bonus Archive

Download expires after June 2022

DVD QUALITY VIDEO:

Felix The Cat

Two Silent Felix The Cat Shorts

“Felix Dines And Pines” (1927) “Feline Follies” (1919)

Felix the Cat was the most famous cartoon character of the silent era, and his popularity remains strong to this day. Messmer related the details of Felix’s creation in 1919 to animation historian John Canemaker like this…

Sullivan’s studio was very busy, and Paramount, they were falling behind their schedule and they needed one extra to fill in. And Sullivan, being very busy, said, “If you want to do it on the side, you can do any little thing to satisfy them.” So I figured a cat would be about the simplest. Make him all black, you know—you wouldn’t need to worry about outlines. And one gag after the other, you know? Cute. And they all got laughs. So Paramount liked it so they ordered a series.

Feline Follies was the first Felix the Cat cartoon. Originally named Thomas, the cat was eventually renamed Felix on the suggestion of a Paramount executive because the name suggested the words “felis”, the Latin word for cat and “felix” meaning “lucky”. By the time Felix Dines And Pines was produced in 1927, Felix’s star was on the wane. But the cartoons remained innovative, incorporating wild surrealism and sophisticated personality animation to tell its stories.

Animation Resources Advisory Board Member, Steve Stanchfield has done considerable research on Felix the Cat’s filmography and he shares these rare transfers from 35mm original prints with us. Even though the nitrate is deteriorating, they give a clear indication of why Felix is still the World’s Most Famous Cat.

Click to access the…

Annual Member Bonus Archive

Download expires after June 2022

Haven’t Joined Yet?

Check out this SAMPLE REFERENCE PACK! It will give you a taste of what Animation Resources members get to download every other month!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD A Sample RefPack!

MEMBERS LOGIN To Download

JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content