Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955, in New York City) is an American

animation historian While the history of animation began much earlier, this article is concerned with the development of the medium after the emergence of celluloid film in 1888, as produced for theatrical screenings, television and (non-interactive) home entertai ...

, author,

blogger A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''

The 50 Greatest Cartoons ''The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals'' is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck. Criteria It consists of articles about 50 highly regarded animated short films made in North America and other notable ca ...

'' (1994), ''The Animated Movie Guide'' (2005), ''Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons!'' (2007), ''The Flintstones: The Official Guide to the Cartoon Classic'' (2011), ''The Hanna-Barbera Treasury: Rare Art Mementos from Your Favorite Cartoon Classics'' (2007), ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Experience: A Deep Dive into the World of Bikini Bottom'' (2013), ''Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide'' (2005), and ''Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons'' (with

Will Friedwald Will Friedwald (born September 16, 1961) is an American author and music critic. He has written for newspapers that include the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''New York Times'', ''Village Voice'', '' Newsday'', '' New York Observer'', and ''New Yor ...

, 1989) alongside ''The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons'' (2010). He is also an authority on the making of modern films, with his books detailing the art of ''

Mr. Peabody and Sherman ''Mr. Peabody & Sherman'' (also known as ''Peabody's Improbable History: The Movie'' in the working title) is a 2014 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film based on characters from the '' Peabody's Improbable History'' segments ...

'', DreamWorks' ''

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

'', and ''

Bee Movie ''Bee Movie'' is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film co-produced by DreamWorks Animation SKG and Columbus 81 Productions, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner (in the fo ...

''. Beck is also an entertainment industry consultant for TV and home entertainment productions and releases related to classic cartoons and operates the blog "Cartoon Research". He appears frequently as a documentary subject and audio commentator on releases of A&E's ''Cartoons Go to War'' as well as DVD collections of ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'', ''

Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by ...

'' cartoons, on which he serves as consultant and curator. He is married to voice actress Cheryl Chase.

Career

Writing

Early in his career, Beck collaborated with film historian

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

on his book ''Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, Revised and Updated Edition'' (1980). In 1987, Beck was instrumental in the creation of ''

Animation Magazine ''Animation Magazine'' is an American print magazine and website covering the animation industry and education, as well as visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outsi ...

''. He went on to write for other magazines including: ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', ''The Whole Toon Catalog'', ''Animation Blast'', ''Animator'', ''

Wild Cartoon Kingdom Christopher Patrick Gore (born September 5, 1965) is an American speaker and writer on the topic of independent film. Life and career Gore was born in Big Rapids, Michigan and attended Kimball High School in Royal Oak, Michigan. Gore is the head ...

'' and ''Animation World Network''. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''

, 1989) alongside ''The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons'' (2010). He is also an authority on the making of modern films, with his books detailing the art of ''

'', DreamWorks' ''

'', and ''

''. In 2004, Beck and fellow animation historian and writer Amid Amidi co-founded the blog

Cartoon Brew Cartoon Brew is an animation news website created by Amid Amidi and animation historian Jerry Beck that was launched in 2004. Cartoon Dump It also created ''Cartoon Dump'', a weekly podcast showing poorly made TV cartoons featuring ''Mystery Sc ...

, which focused primarily on current animation productions and news. Beck sold his co-ownership in Cartoon Brew in February 2013 and started an

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

blog, ''Animation Scoop'', for reports on current animation while continuing to write about classic animation at Cartoon Research.

Teaching

In the 1990s, Beck taught courses on the art of animation at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, and

The School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

. Through 2018 he also taught animation history at

Woodbury University Woodbury University is a private university in Burbank, California, with a satellite campus in San Diego. History The school was founded in 1884 as Woodbury's Business College by its namesake, F. C. Woodbury, formerly a partner in Heald's Busi ...

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

. As of 2020, Beck teaches in the Character Animation department of

CalArts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

School of Film/Video.

Producing and consulting

Jerry Beck co-produced or was a consultant on many home entertainment compilations of

, MGM Cartoons,

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Home Video, Betty Boop, and others. In 1989, he co-founded Streamline Pictures and brought anime films, '' Akira'', ''

Vampire Hunter D is a series of novels written by Japanese author Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano since 1983. As of April 2022, 40 novels have been published in the main series, with some novels comprising as many as four volumes. They ha ...

'', and

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

's '' Castle in the Sky'' to the United States. He also compiled collections of cartoons from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by ...

, and the Fleischer Studios. As vice president of

Nickelodeon Movies Nickelodeon Movies is the film production arm of American children's network Nickelodeon and the family film distribution label of Paramount Pictures launched on February 25, 1995 and based in Los Angeles, California. The division has earned n ...

, he helped develop ''

The Rugrats Movie ''The Rugrats Movie'' is a 1998 American animated comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series '' Rugrats''. It was directed by Igor Kovalyov and Norton Virgien and was written by David N. Weiss & J. David Stem. The film int ...

'' (1998) and

Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character was originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''The Mouse of Tomorro ...

. In 2006, Beck created and produced an animated pilot for

Frederator Studios Frederator Studios is an American animation television production studio which is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc. It was founded by Fred Seibert in 1997 with its first series launching in 1998. (Seibert resigned from Frederator in Augu ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

. That cartoon, '' Hornswiggle'', aired on

Nicktoons Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...

Network in 2008 as part of the ''

Random! Cartoons ''Random! Cartoons'' is an American animated anthology series that aired on Nicktoons. Much like '' Oh Yeah! Cartoons'', it was created by Fred Seibert and produced by Frederator Incorporated and Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It premiered on De ...

'' series.

Volunteering

In 1993, Jerry Beck became a founding member of the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

advisory board and he currently serves as Vice President of the

ASIFA-Hollywood ASIFA-Hollywood, an American non-profit organization in Los Angeles, California, United States, is a branch member of the "Association Internationale du Film d'Animation" or "ASIFA" (the International Animated Film Association). Its purpose is to ...

board.

Speaking

On a regular basis Beck moderates panels at various venues (festivals, conventions, premieres, museums, screenings, etc.) along with hosting programs/retrospectives of classic cartoons at same. In the past this included shows at the now shuttered

Cinefamily The Cinefamily was a non-profit cinematheque located in West Hollywood, California, at the historic Silent Movie Theatre. The Cinefamily's mission statement was to "reinvigorate the movie-going experience by fostering a spirit of community and a ...

and

Cartoon Dump ''Cartoon Dump'' is an online comedy web series/video podcast created by Frank Conniff (formerly of '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'') and animation historian Jerry Beck. A live version was making monthly performances at the Steve Allen Theate ...

monthly live Hollywood performance. His presentations include: * Worst Cartoons Ever! program at

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

* Greatest Cartoons Ever! program the day after Christmas at the

Alex Theatre The Alex Theatre is a landmark located at 216 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, California, United States. It is currently owned by the city of Glendale and operated by Glendale Arts. The theater’s capacity is 1,400. Architecture The Alex The ...

(co-hosted by Frank Gladstone) * Monthly Cartoon Club at the

New Beverly Cinema The New Beverly Cinema is a historic movie theater located in Los Angeles, California. Housed in a building that dates back to the 1920s, it is one of the oldest revival houses in the region. Since 2007, it has been owned by filmmaker Quentin Tar ...

* A semi-annual show at the Old Town Music Hall

Bibliography

*Maltin, L. & Beck, Jerry (1980). ''Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons''. New York: Penguin. *Friedwald, W., & Beck, Jerry. (1981). ''The Warner Brothers Cartoons''. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press. *Beck, Jerry, & Friedwald, W. (1989). ''Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons''. New York, NY: Holt. *Beck, Jerry. (1994). ''The Fifty Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals''. Atlanta: Turner Pub. *Beck, Jerry, & Friedwald, W. (1997). ''Warner Bros., Animation Art: The Characters, The Creators, The Limited Editions''. Miami, FL: Warner Bros. *Beck, Jerry. (2003). ''Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide''. London: Dorling Kindersley. *Beck, Jerry. (2003). ''Outlaw Animation: Cutting-edge Cartoons From the Spike & Mike Festivals''. New York: Harry N. Abrams. *Beck, Jerry. (2004). ''Animation Art From Pencil Ti Pixel, The History of Cartoon Anime & CGI''. Harper & Row. *Beck, Jerry. (2005). ''Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town''. New York: DK Publishing. *Sigall, M. & Beck, J. (2005). Forward for: ''Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales From the Golden Age of Animation''. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. *Beck, Jerry. (2005). ''The Animated Movie Guide / The Ultimate Illustrated Reference to Cartoon, Stop-motion, and Computer-generated Feature Films''. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. *Beck, Jerry. (2007). ''Nicktoons!'' New York, NY: Melcher Media. *Beck, Jerry. (2007). ''The Art of Bee Movie''. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. *Cabarga, L. & Beck, J. (2007). Introduction for: ''Casper the Friendly Ghost''. Milwaukie, Or.: Dark Horse. *Cabarga, L. & Beck, J. (2008). Introduction for: ''Hot Stuff''. Milwaukie, Or.: Dark Horse. *Cabarga, L. & Beck, J. (2008). Introduction for: ''Baby Huey: The Baby Giant''. Milwaukie, Or.: Dark Horse. *Beck, Jerry. (2008). ''The Art and Making of Madagascar''. San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions. *Beck, Jerry. (2008). ''The Flintstones''. San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions. *Beck, Jerry. (2008). ''Tom and Jerry''. San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions. *Beck, Jerry. (2009). ''The Hanna-Barbera Treasury''. San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions. *Beck, Jerry. (2011). ''The Flintstones: The Official Guide to the Cartoon Classic''. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press. *Beck, Jerry. (2013). ''SpongeBob SquarePants Experience''. Insight Editions, Div Of Palac. *Beck, Jerry, (2014). Essay for: ''Felix the Cat Paintings: A Collection of Paintings From the Prolific Imagination of the Felix the Cat Guy''. San Diego, CA: IDW Publishing. *Beck, Jerry, Burrell, T., Ward, T., & Minkoff, R. (2014). ''The Art of Mr. Peabody & Sherman''. San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions. *Beck, Jerry, & Maltin, L. (2020). ''The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons''. San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions.

Awards

In 2008, Beck was the recipient of the

June Foray Award The June Foray Award is a juried award given to individuals in recognition of a significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation. The award is given by the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood ...

. In 2014, Beck received the

Independent Publisher Book Award The Independent Publisher Book Awards, also styled the IPPY Awards, are a set of annual book awards for independently published titles. They are the longest-running unaffiliated contest open exclusively to independent presses. The IPPY Awards ar ...

for Popular Culture. In 2015, Beck was the recipient of the Comic-Con International

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...

. Beck was the 2019 honoree of the Los Angeles Animation Festival.

References

External links

CartoonResearch.com

Animation Scoop.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Jerry 1955 births Historians of animation American film historians American male writers Living people Writers from New York City American male bloggers American bloggers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Historians from New York (state) Inkpot Award winners