----------------------------Original message---------------------------- On 1/10/95 Barbara Bernstein wrote: >Can anyone guide me toward classic animated shorts that refer in some way >to movies or moviemaking? I'm thinking of cartoons that contain caricatures >of stars, scenes of moviemaking or of Hollywood life, the use of >catch-phrases (how many of us first heard the line "Tell me about the >rabbits,George" in a Warners cartoon?), the cartoon characters referring to >their own status as culture heroes, etc. Most helpful would be the actual name >of the cartoon, but any leads, as specific as possible, will be appreciated. This is a huge topic: this particular phenomenon permeates animated cartoons from the very beginning. Don Larsson gave an adequate thumbnail overview suggesting general areas to review, so I'll just add a few specific references which might be helpful: Concerning self-referentiality in silent cartoons: TITLE: Felix : the twisted tale of the world's most famous cat / John Canemaker. EDITION: 1st ed. PUBL.: New York : Pantheon Books, FORMAT: xi, 177 p., (8) p. of plates : ill. ; 25 cm. DATE: 1991 ISBN: 0679728090 067940127X : TITLE: Winsor McCay, his life and art / by John Canemaker ; foreword by Maurice Sendak. EDITION: 1st ed. PUBL.: New York : Abbeville Press, FORMAT: 223 p. : ill., ports. (some col.) ; 34 cm. DATE: 1987 ISBN: 0896596877 TITLE: Before Mickey : the animated film, 1898-1928 / Donald Crafton. PUBL.: Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, FORMAT: xx, 413 p. : ill. ; 21 cm. DATE: 1982 ISBN: 0262030837 [There is a videotape anthology available of many titles discussed in the text.) TITLE: Walt in wonderland : the silent films of Walt Disney / Russell Merritt, J.B. Kaufman. The silent films of Walt Disney. EDITION: Rev. English ed. PUBL.: Pordenone, Italy : Giornate del Cinema Muto ; Baltimore : Distributed by Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, FORMAT: 164 p. : ill., ports. ; 29 cm. DATE: 1993 ISBN: 8886155026 For a variety of essays/anecdotes/capsule reviews giving some insight into this and other aspects of the sound cartoons: TITLE: Looney tunes and merrie melodies : a complete illustrated guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons / by Jerry Beck & Will Friedwald. EDITION: 1st ed. PUBL.: New York : H. Holt, FORMAT: (390) p. : ill. ; 23 cm. DATE: 1989 ISBN: 0805008942 TITLE: Of mice and magic : a history of American animated cartoons / $Leonard Maltin ; research associate, Jerry Beck. EDITION: Rev. ed. PUBL.: New York : New American Library, FORMAT: ix, 485 p., (8) p. of plates : ill. ; 23 cm. DATE: 1987 ISBN: 0452259932 TITLE: The American animated cartoon : a critical anthology / edited by Danny Peary and Gerald Peary. PUBL.: New York : Dutton, FORMAT: x, 310 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. DATE: 1980 ISBN: 0525476393 : And in particular for Hollywood figures appearing in cartoons, see: Donald Crafton, "The view from termite terrace: Caricature and parody in Warner Bros. animation" FILM HISTORY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, vol. 5, no. 2, 204-230, 1993. All of these (even the most scholarly: Crafton and Merritt & Kaufman) are very readable, and none require a backbground in semiology, deconstruction, or other contemporary schools of abstruse theory. This list will give you a good basis for further inquiry into self-reflexive cartoons. --Richard j. Leskosky Richard J. Leskosky office phone: (217) 244-2704 Assistant Director FAX: (217) 244-2223 Unit for Cinema Studies University of Illinois