Thursday, December 26, 2019 at 2:00 & 7:00 PM

Rather than heading to the mall on the day after Christmas, or sitting at home shopping for bargains on your phone, tablet or computer, consider spending a fun-filled afternoon or evening in Glendale’s historic Alex Theatre with friends and family, enjoying the 9th edition of The Greatest Cartoons Ever!. Many of your favorite animation characters will appear on the big Alex screen, including Popeye and Olive Oyl, Porky Pig, Tom & Jerry, Mighty Mouse, and of course Bugs Bunny. Plus some special segments that you won’t see anywhere else. Please join us at the Alex on Thursday, December 26th for fun the entire family can share together — shows at 2:00 and 7:00 PM.

Highlights from this year’s lineup:

SHALL WE DANCE? – A Compilation of Animation With Live Action

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was not the first film to pair actors with cartoon characters. Here are segments from legendary Hollywood feature films (ANCHORS AWEIGH, DANGEROUS WHEN WET and MY DREAM IS YOURS) partnering live-action and cartoon stars.

SHE SICK SAILORS (1944, Seymour Kneitel)

Discovering that Olive is fascinated by her Superman comic books, Bluto disguises himself as the super hero. When Olive discovers the ruse, Popeye must become a real hero to save her.

THE INVISIBLE MOUSE (1946, Hanna-Barbera)

While escaping from Tom, Jerry falls into a bottle of “invisible ink” and becomes invisible himself. This “unforeseen” (pun intended) circumstance allows Jerry to give Tom a riotous taste of his own medicine.

WOODY DINES OUT (1945, Shamus Culhane)

Woody reads a sign that says “We Specialize In Stuffing Birds.” Thinking its a restaurant, he goes in, but soon finds out that he’s on the menu of a taxidermist looking for a $100,000 payday.

DEDUCE YOU SAY (1946, Chuck Jones)

The Warner Bros. directors loved to use Daffy Duck to parody popular fiction. (Robin Hood Daffy, Duck Dodgers, Duck Tracy, etc.) In this outing, Chuck Jones partners Daffy as Dorlock Holmes and Porky Pig as Mr. Watkins, his trusty and much smarter sidekick, on the case to stop the notorious Shropshire Slasher.

Plus Mighty Mouse, Bugs Bunny, a James Thurber adaptation, and more from Tex Avery and Chuck Jones!

(Lineup is subject to print availability)

Our Onstage Hosts for the Program

Frank Gladstone

This is Frank Gladstone’s 46th year working in the animation community. First operating his own Emmy award-winning studio, Persistence of Vision, Frank has held management positions for Disney, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks, among others. Now CEO of Gladstone Film, directing, producing and consulting on animation, filmmaking and story structure at major studios, Frank also continues to teach animation, film history, production techniques and cinematic fundamentals at secondary schools, universities and professional organizations world-wide. Currently, Frank teaches animation history at CalState Long Beach. A past commissioner for the City of Glendale Arts Council, Visual Effects Society alternate board member and ASIFA-Hollywood board member and past president, Frank is ASIFA-Hollywood’s executive director, and executive producer of the industry’s annual Annie Awards.

Jerry Beck

Jerry Beck is a well-known animation historian and cartoon producer. His twelve books on the subject include The Animated Movie Guide; Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide; and The 50 Greatest Cartoons. He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney, and is currently a consulting producer for Warner Bros., Universal and Disney for their classic animation DVD compilations. Beck has programmed retrospectives for the Annecy and Ottawa Animation Festivals, The Museum of Modern Art and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He is currently teaching animation history at Cal Arts and at Woodbury University. He is also the editor of two animation blogs, Cartoon Research and Animation Scoop.

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Thank you, Three Stooges fans!

The Alex Theatre rocked with laughter as the largest audience in many years turned out for the 22nd edition of this annual holiday event. The mayhem extended to the theatre’s forecourt, where our Stooges lookalikes made merry with the crowd.