Jacques Kapralik

 

I think my favorite celebrity caricature artist is Jacques Kapralik. I looked into his work a few months ago and admiring it. Some of the movie posters (I guess when it comes to it's theatrical releases), you can notice his artwork, like Silk Stockings and Designing Woman.

These are so cute. Just imagining an animated version of these people. Sorta stop-motion-ish.

These type of pictures in particular are all movies from the MGM studio. 

I like how here below, with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, there's neat details of the beds. I like how Hepburn is reading one of her movies.

It has appealing backgrounds. It's simple but very adorable. I can easily recognize most of the actors. I wouldn't say I suck at drawing caricatures but just like with cartoon characters that have alot of construction so as the facial features, and overall distinctive looks of Old Hollywood actors.

Kapralik was just masterful.

I think at best his posters are frankily better advertising than the original movie posters. 

I would assume Kapralik was easily appreciated back then. I would've liked his work if I was living during the Golden Age of Hollywood as well.

Do jobs like creating an illustration and promoting it for holidays still exist?

Here's a couple more of his illustrations but it's probably hand-drawn. I still like it. 

Chuck Jones Cartoon Expressions

 

I love how Chuck Jones's cartoons looked back in the 50s. This below is an expression I've been thinking about lately. I just love these reactions by Wile E Coyote.

From the same cartoon, The Coyote sure looks exhausted and overwhelmed. I'm not a fan of gag-to-gag cartoons so him trying to catch the Roadrunner, I have a bare minimum for how I enjoy these type of cartoons.

But I still enjoy how well-drawn it is. There's easily likeable action and the gags are very funny.

The Scaredy Cat trilogy is great, Jumpin' Jupiter is a very underrated Jones cartoon in particular and this is by far my favorite part of the film.

Marc Anthony delivers some of the cutest and saddest expressions in 1952's Feed The Kitty.

Bugs and Daffy in their infamous cartoon pairing, Rabbit Fire.

Lastly, I have a few scenes from The Wearing Of The Grin, not my favorite cartoon, but it's probably my favorite in terms of it's atmosphere. I love how Porky wears a fedora and coat, and some of these stills of the leprechauns are very cool.

I would like to share some Clampett and McKimson but I'm more or so inspired by Jones nowadays. I still like both of them, so I'll think about it.

Re-Telling Blue Cat Blues from Tom and Jerry

I made it no secret that this is easily my least favorite of the Tom and Jerry cartoons period, yes I consider this worse than the clip-shows and the re-used animated shorts from the Cinemascope era because even though those shorts were more stock, there's no way a short film discussing depression and making fun of it is just insulting. 

There was a time in my life where I wanted to give up on something so easily, and tackled difficulties with not alot of optimism, but that didn't mean I could want to somehow do what both Tom and Jerry are freaking doing in this utter disaster. 

Sometimes I get under my skin when it comes to something I visit. But films and the art form in particular I have the most sense in, because I've been inspired by the medium ever since I was a child and throughout, you can create something that grasps people's emotions and amusement. Tom and Jerry was the first cartoon series from The Golden Age I ever felt captivated to even before Bugs Bunny. It was more reliant on liking the timing of the slapstick and wit. I don't mind these characters getting a moody, ambiance cartoon once in a while, I mean my favorite of the Tom and Jerry shorts is Heavenly Puss, and that relied on the atmosphere for the most part. 

Here, I just dislike it because it gives off a bad moral to those who are looking for love, and have mental health, and none of the gags feel like they are worth a laugh the more you think about it.

Even for it's majority of the runtime being dry jokes and weirdly odd things happening, there is some positives I have to say about this cartoon and that's mainly Jerry himself. I like his sense of remorse towards Tom, and the beginning (no not where they show that terrible train scene) where it's starts off a normal day for Tom and Jerry, they look as if they're enjoying themselves than straight up a wild chase like they do in 1000+ episodes at this point. I really like it, it's a guilty pleasure for me.

Then it get a whole lot worse. This is where the awkward stuff happens where the white cat just doesn't seem to do anything but only seems to care about what Butch has to offer. I guess if you take the clips out of context, they're kinda funny but then again, the more you think about the actual context of this cartoon it rather feels pathetic. 

Poor Tom...

At an instant while Tom is drinking milk, Jerry steps in to check on him, but Tom still tired and depressed shoves him off.

I honestly like Jerry's role being supportive, instead of just laughing at Tom's knockabouts.

Oh yeah, another major concern, Jerry also has a girlfriend for some reason who looks like Tom's girlfriend, but then all the bad luck happens to him too? This only leads to the finale. One of the most uncomforting cartoon scenes in history. 

I was a little too critical about Blue Cat Blues but that's mostly because I don't think it deserves the attention that these wonderful timeless characters CAN do. People in the community stated that this is the final Tom and Jerry episode even though that statement is unorthodox. No it's not the final film. 

But I will say this, what if I retold the cartoons ending? Despite being gloomy and cruel altogether, I decided to make the conclusion more satisfying yet heartwarming. 

I decided that Tom and Jerry were both pals, and Jerry decides to take courage and save Tom's life from the train tracks only to be splashed underwater, Tom spits water out until he catches a bubble inside his mouth like bubble-gum. He notices that Jerry is not an easy-swimmer and instantly sinks back underwater only for Tom to save him. Tom sees a cheap lifeboat and both get on. Tom still feeling overwhelmed, Jerry shakes hands with Tom and whispers that they'll have better lives when they seek a new city. 

I hope you like this alternative ending to an otherwise classic to others but something I didn't appreciate. This was a fun concept I wanted to do on this blog. It was actually inspired by Phantomstrider's video on fixing the worst cartoon episodes of all time. I respect his channel, and I really like what he says about animated movies in particular. 

And even though there are films I watch that are bad, they aren't the worst experience. It may be a film but even with flaws this icky, I like discussing them. 

Animated Controversy In The 1930s - Disney Cartoons

 

I saw this recently of an obscure newspaper page. Now I don't agree with everything that's published, it's not possible that way but this honestly surprised me. It's from the earliest years of Disney's Golden Age from 1934. 

Yeesh, drawing Disney with wild-hair and creepy eyes while showing us the most saftest, most tamest wolf design ever created is going too far.

This is coming from someone as an artist who understands appeal and what's useful to the demographic, some of these viewpoints I relate to even today, even though humor doesn't only come from daily comics anymore.

I mean how would you feel if there was a film only centering around wolves, rats and wasps? You may think that sounds unpleasant but what if the wolf had a good personality, the rats were helpful and wasps were just centered as background characters? 

I seen enough of the Disney shorts at this point, and my experience to these characters were just tolerable. I honestly think that the wolves from Beauty And The Beast were more terrifying in my opinion and heck alot of people grew up with that movie during their childhoods. 

I wasn't particularly a Disney kid until I fell for the classics as a teen. From there, I was inspired by some of these classics. The Pied Piper (1933) was one I forgotten about though, and when I saw they mentioned the rats from that film, I was like what did they do to poor Piper?! And guess what? They just ate food and became Piper's followers. I know a little about the fable, in fact my first experiences to it were from Garfield And Friends apparently. 

Yeah, too many rats is often uncomforting for a younger audience. I wouldn't like it if it was a ton of bugs though. Also I actually haven't seen The Steeple Chase. I like the Mickey Mouse shorts when they're full of action and competition. I like some of his more heart-warming cartoons too like with Mickey's Good Deed but I was surprised to hear about this one.

To me, I always had a small theory on this type of humor where it's similar to slapstick you see in old comedies, but it's alot more rubbery and chaotic. It came from watching a quick scene from Sullivan's Travels, where Sully and the rest of the audience laughs at the flypaper gag from Playful Pluto. It's honestly such a beautiful scene to me because it represents joy and pleasure in a manner to leave the realities of the world. I'm not an escapist, but it was enjoyable, and this scene of the wasp stings looks really painful, but hey so as most of Tom and Jerry. I reread the bit and it wasn't as truly upsetting to McCord's viewing of something like The Big Bad Wolf. 

I think now that 2D animation is slowly losing less popularity, and there's more knowledge to be learnt like kid's programming now that theatrical shorts are not primarily scaring everyone anymore? Gosh, this is a weird topic. Would anyone still enjoy a little bit of a detailed creepy villain like this?

Even if you can't have a villain, or teeny tiny creatures in a cartoon, you can catch upon some stuff that isn't suitable to everyone. 

Some of the best cartoons from it's Golden Age didn't have a bad guy, or villainous scheme.

I think even when it comes to entertainment, there should be enough value and elements to challenge someone just like reality can. I think filmmakers do a really good job at it. I don't feel like it's perfectly ok to show a kid a film like Secret of NIMH or an Old Hollywood movie but there should be variety to films in particular like strong and individual characters, and dark atmospheric imagery at times, that's why Disney, Don Bluth and some of my favorite films do it so well.

Well that was bizarre. A modern perspective on old Disney animation being menacing is something else.

My Top 4 Worst Posts On My Blog

 

Oooookay, let's talk about something I have unplanned until now. 

Posts that I just couldn't stand to look at today. It was interesting for me to look back at some pretty outdated projects and opinions I just felt like having to delete or not care about even in the slightest.

I regret roasting or making fun of just even the simplest most innocent of art media's out there nowadays and hey we can all learn for the better. So let's just begin the worst of worsts!

Also why 4 because when it comes to the other not-so great but not so bad posts I created they don't bother me than what I discussed here. 

4

Days At School

To be honest, I shouldn't share my extremely personal life experiences at all. I actually done a couple and I simply got rid of them entirely. They were just so depressive and hurtful especially whereas I just send a bunch of Dutcher and Ben Obvious sketches that explain nothing about Dutcher being annoyed at Ben for having to sneeze or drool. It's not good behavior but it's better than violent behavior for sure.

The real problem with the post was my chaotic writing. I since deleted it a few months ago and still I remembered it being very unpleasant and uncomfortable to read, like teachers would somewhat not care about their students and only their jobs. Being a teacher is very hard work and there's over 20 students in each classroom so I can understand not focusing on every student in the class at once.

Honestly I just want to wipe away every bad memory from my senior year because there were actually some great moments. 

3

The Chuck Jones Early Cartoons Were Better?!

This is far worse than the previous entry on this list for main reasons. It more based on a timeless classic cartoon series, and #2, these opinions are extremely outdated and botched-up as heck! 

Nowadays, Chuck Jones is one of my favorite directors. He made such classics as my personal favorite cartoon, Scaredy Cat also behind Duck Amuck. Made wonderful creative characters like Marvin The Martian, Gossamer, Coyote, Roadrunner and Michigan J. Frog. Also his humor and timing was unbeatable. I honestly prefer him over Clampett. He was just a genius.

There's actually some Chuck Jones's shorts I actually do like from the late 30s, for one thing I do like the animation of the Sniffles shorts, even if they weren't that compelling. But with all the elements mixed, I liked shorts like Daffy Duck And The Dinosaur and The Night Watchman but otherwise, besides the good animation, they're perfectly fine. I just don't get as to why I made fun of this man's extraordinary talent, maybe it was just something to poke at back then I don't know!

Even when I was talking about the 60s era, it felt like I was too ignorant about the issue, saying that the animation was stiff and there were more slowly paced scenes. These are bad things? There's just no excuse. I also somehow check-marked more appeal in The Curious Puppies and X-mark on the Martian from Martian Through Georgia, they're both average characters though but man, this was a weak post that actually existed on my blog.

2

EVERY "APPEALING AND UNAPPEALING" Comparison post I ever made.

Back then I was obsessively inspired by commentary videos on the internet and was complaining about how the medium is getting worse, but somehow in real time, we don't even get to be amused or do stuff like that anyway. My writing was messy, stuff like "Ooooh, gross or garbage like Cocomelon or Peppa Pig..." shows that honestly aren't the most recommended of kids programming but are far more better suited than more unstructured content. 

Here's proof that this type of writing is just to boor my viewers off with my media cynicism. The final sentence is pretty good though.

Honestly I felt like this was a way to ripoff some of the poor influence of bloggers where they just post appeal that appealed to them most and say immediate garbage on what they didn't grew up with. I posted a countryside vs a smoky dull environment and to be honest, I don't get it. I posted random images that mean or feel nothing. 

Oh and honestly I kinda cringe to what I had to say about anime back then. I both have an influence on animation and anime nowadays. 

And finally...

1

When my depression state was over, I felt like I was back feeling positive about what I talk about and create, and it all comes to the passionate soul. I became more appealed to lighter, meaningful and emotional depth stories. I was learning more from the best of letterboxd reviewers, and it gave me a better understanding of what's right and pleasurable in a film.

We wanted to see characters achieve, and have relatable scenes in them.

I felt like pushing away from only cartoons, was one of the many best decisions I ever made period. It felt like a whole new world when I watched old movies, and revisiting more likeable animated films. 

If there was ever a reason as to why I liked Home On The Range, Dinosaur, and Chicken Little at first viewing. Wow, it doesn't hold up a year later. Like at all. 😐

Behold the worst post I ever did on my blog is...

My Idea For The Ugly Duckling.

This is the only post on this list that I still kept safe. And that's for a matter of reasons, I dislike everything about this post. I regret ever bringing up ideas this simplistic and dull ever again. 

So back then, I had a pleasure for making kids fables into supposedly adult theme, dark comedy? From where this project was headed, I'm glad it was canceled. To take down Coyote vs ACME, and Bye Bye Bunny was already a bad decision amongst Warners. Maybe it was the studio's budget letdown, but even for an actually tolerable idea as those, so as some of the worst animated films in history, I just don't have anything positive to say about MY work. That may go for you too if you had some poorly planned ideas in the past. I know I certainly have lots. 

Actually you know, maybe as to why this idea went off so easily it's because of just a singular Disney cartoon! That's right why haven't you told me? OH WAIT... I told that myself. Honestly Disney's cartoon is far more respected to the source material, also I was bickering about it's original 1931 short for some reason, but let's just get onto the actual drawings and STORY. Hoho the story...

Honestly even in worse attempts like Blue Cat Blues, Demolition Doofus, and Jungle Jitters have a tint of quality to them. But this I put one of the worst elements in film excluding the throne of grotesque.

Meet the family, Harold and Marsha. 

As I gave information to them, Harold is a disciplinarian. What do you mean he is? He looked as if he was too proud at his job, and took all the worst of believing in discipline and giving it less intelligence and offense to actual discplinarians. Sickening.

And Marsha, the emotionally stable mother. She needed a better husband, and teaches a bad lesson on parents being tear-jerkers all-time, being cowardly when you know that none of those traits that wives act is TRUE. 

It's not like every family member I met was like this. Barely!

Then, the story, the story stinks. Put it simple. 

I'm not saying that the original Ugly Duckling fables is my favorite story but there's more of a morality to it's themes, there's a good message about accepting yourself and that you shouldn't let judgements and cruelty define who you are. Here it's just bickering, and arguing! I swear when it comes to the rest of the conclusion, everything just turns back where it started and maybe the duckling... will still be made fun of- eerrrgh. Question is, that my ideas were to "fight the censors" when this is even worse than adult cartoons. 

Also great final line to this otherwise disastrous creation.

Phew... that was tough to make, but I say I improved my posts ever since the end of school and as we reached into 2026. It's been remarkable and I love how I've been inspired by more humble and creatively beautiful people. There's still hope out there and I'm certainly part of that community as well.

Feel free to take a breather and view other posts that feel more my style. 

If you dare to click on The Ugly Duckling post, just don't agree with it. It's bad. Really BAD. 

Hope you guys have a good rest of your day. Peace. ✌️