Spend Boxing Day at the Alex Theatre

What better way is there to spend the day after Christmas than sitting in Glendale’s historic Alex Theatre with friends and family, enjoying the 8th edition of The Greatest Cartoons Ever!. This year we’ll feature a celebration of Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday. In addition, many of your favorite animation characters will appear on the big Alex screen, including Popeye and Olive Oyl, Porky Pig, Jerry of Tom & Jerry, and of course Bugs Bunny. Please join us at the Alex on December 26th for fun the entire family can enjoy — shows at 2:00 and 7:00 PM.

Among the animation classics to be screened this year:

PLANE CRAZY (1928, Walt Disney, Ub Iwerks)

Mickey Mouse’s first cartoon – Here he tries to imitate ace pilot “Lucky Lindy” and takes Minnie Mouse on a dizzy airplane ride.

THRU THE MIRROR (1936, David Hand)

One of the best Mickey Mouse color spectaculars – here he dreams himself into an “Alice Through The Looking Glass” situation, dancing like Fred Astaire with caricatures of Greta Garbo and Charles Laughton as the King and Queen of Hearts.

PROTEK THE WEAKEREST (1937, Dave Fleischer)

Popeye is forced to take Olive’s little pup for a walk and runs into Bluto with his vicious bulldog. Be sure to look for the 3-D backgrounds.

TO SPRING (1936, Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, William Hanna)

A rarely seen “Happy Harmonies” cartoon. The trolls who live underground prepare the Earth for the arrival of Spring.

CRAZY MIXED UP PUP (1955, Tex Avery)

Sam and his dog are given blood transfusions which get mixed-up, causing Sam to act like a dog and Rover to behave as a human!

Plus these classic titles…

• KITTY KORNERED (1946, Bob Clampett)
• MOUSE IN MANHATTAN (1945, William Hanna, Joseph Barbera)
• A PEST IN THE HOUSE (1949, Chuck Jones)
• HIGH DIVING HARE (1949, Friz Freleng)

Our Onstage Hosts for the Program

Frank Gladstone

This is Frank Gladstone’s 45th 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.

The Perfect Holiday Gift

Since this show is suitable for the young and the young at heart, a gift of tickets to The Greatest Cartoons Ever! may be the perfect solution for rounding out your holiday shopping list. Tickets are available online or at the Alex Theatre box office – click here for details.