I love lobby cards from old theatrical films. My first experience from them were from actual Looney Tunes lobby cards.
These are extremely appealing and worth checking out. I grabbed these from MovieStillsDB.com. They literally have every movie worth exploring the cool pictures.
Here's a ton of lobby cards from movies I watched that I definitely enjoyed!
When I first heard about It's Always Fair Weather (1955) it was that one scene with Gene roller skating. That scene honestly makes me cry happy tears because of how sweet and normal society really was back then. Those people smiling at Gene's talents was just beautiful. But when I saw Baby You Knock Me Out, it was one of the most powerful dance numbers I ever saw.
This movie is a masterpiece. I would highly recommend it!
Gene is outstanding in every single movie he's in whether it would be a musical or something different. Look at his joyful expression. Love it!
Here's another movie he's in. I pretty sure everyone knows this gem.
You can't say no to Singin' In The Rain. It's iconic because it's funny, really well-written and also tear-jerking but in a good way.
Another great dancer is Fred Astaire, the colors in this card are unique to me. Easter Parade is also a one of a kind classic.
I suspect this is what Hellzapoppin' would've looked like if it was in Technicolor since the previous cards I showed you had accurate color styling.
I keep on coming back to this movie, it's simple and the introduction is one of the best. Should I watch more of Olsen and Johnson's comedies? Maybe. I also think Mischa Auer is an underrated and overlooked actor. He was in East Side of Heaven (1939) a movie I also remembered watching, he was funny in that film.
Now onto Crosby's films. I remember watching Anything Goes (1936) after I finished my first day of 12th grade. Good times, pretty solid movie entirely. The card is gorgeous.
I also wanted to watch White Christmas so badly and thankfully I bought a DVD at the flea market, it was a great film. All of the songs were outstanding. I also felt secretly inspired by this movie.
I don't know why but the way Danny dances in some of the music sequences, keep getting in my mind after watching this film for the first time. They hired the right actors for this film and to be honest, is the true christmas movie for it's time.
I found the story especially the introduction and final act to be impeccable and mature to watch. So much emotion yet entertaining all on it's own. It's not trying to get right into high spirit until it really wants to.
I was originally going to only post live action movies, but ey Old Disney is just awesome. You all know my love for both these films. The advertising for Ichabod and Mr. Toad was insane back then. You can notice the quote on the top left.
"BING and WALT wake up Sleepy Hollow with a BANG!"
I think it's funny and an amusing way to promote your movie in my opinion.
This is one of my favorite of the Three Caballeros lobby cards. This is adorable.
I started to like Crosby's work back in April of 2023, but my first movie I ever experienced from him was a somewhat public domain movie Road to Bali (1952). Just looking at the lobby cards from that movie already gives me nostalgia. It's a hilarious movie. It sucks I haven't watched all 7 of their movies. I only seen Bali, and Rio that's it. I had a huge influence on these movies because the humor and scenarios were easy to appreciate.
I recently re-watched Road To Rio and it feels so weird that it's in B&W considering how gorgeous Road to Bali looked in Technicolor but I still enjoyed alot of the comedy.
I knew little about Lassie, besides actually having an illustrated book of the character. I didn't realize they made feature films of her. I actually really liked the 1943 movie. It was wholesome.
The last lobby card for now. An American In Paris is a movie I'm planning to watch this week as of writing this. It looks like a movie I'll definitely enjoy!
This is a quirky but fun idea I wanted to make as a post.
You may have known these familiar famous faces, I know I certainly have, in fact, all of these people you see here are people I find legendary in pop culture. These are unique and rare photos I caught on the internet.
First is Mel Blanc meeting with Clarence Nash. As you might already know Blanc is known for voicing Porky Pig and Nash most famously voices Donald Duck. So what did you expect? It actually happened.
This is a great picture.
Who'll win?
Disney or Looney Tunes?
I'm an extremely huge fan of Bing Crosby. I had a huge influence on him for about 2 1/2 years. He has teamed with incredible people. This is him meeting with Glenn Miller. Both are music legends. I was astounded when I first discovered this photo.
With other people he has met, he definitely has met Sinatra, I loved his radio shows with Judy Garland, and Ella Fitzgerald.
I also love this picture of Bing and Nat King Cole.
He also teamed with Walt Disney, the studio was working on The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad, in which he is the narrator in the Sleepy Hollow segment. He truly made that movie a masterpiece.
Recently, I watched some clips of Bing and Fred Astaire and they are truly wholesome and sweet. These were mostly made in promotion to their own album together. This was back in 1975. Have a watch.
Here's two more you'll be destined to be impressed by.
Lastly, is Nat King Cole and Betty Hutton, the most underappreciated collaboration ever witnessed.
I'm a big fan of both Nat and Betty, but this was surprising to me because I never expected these two to get together, they even perform so well. Let me just say it was a blast. I know the title of this video says Part 2, but it's way longer and Part 1 only had Betty sing herself in that video.
Your going to love this one. They do their own version of Anything You Can Do, which is a creatively magnificent song and as always Hutton is just as goofy and entertaining as she was born to be.
Enjoy! 👍
There is a slight possibility a Part 2 might come out. But I have no idea yet.
I'm willing to take a dive to talk about one of my favorite classic hollywood idols, I love lots of them.
When it comes to people that influenced me it's always the animators because I love to draw, but when I experienced real people for the first time, I was totally missing out and wanting to explore more around them especially on social media platforms. It's the only way to get good entertainment since streaming services avoid the classics nowadays which is a real shame.
It's a smart move to experiencing talents like Gene Kelly, Glenn Miller, The Andrews Sisters, The Three Stooges and The Marx Brothers.
The one that stood me out the most is the first classic hollywood actor I ever admired.
This is the individual who sang the classic christmas songs and impacted millions including me. He has one of the best personalities in film history.
I recently watched Little Boy Lost (1953) and this scene in particular is one of my favorites. I love everything about it to the dreamy and calm song, and facial expressions.
I first watched some of his films in 2023, when I was like 15 or so, and when I first watched the movies, I was immediately drawn to his laid-back easy persona and unique expressions. Reasons why I have a bit of a crush on him.
His films can sometimes be a little too dramatic or otherwise too long in my taste, but whenever he's on screen, I stay awake from it.
These expressions are easily memorable in my opinion. I love them. Usually I'm more drawn to animators especially in it's golden age, Ward Kimball, Rod Scribner, Preston Blair, Bill Roberts, all of those people inspired me to become a better animator. But if I can think of a person that draws me that isn't in the animation industry is Bing Crosby alongside The Three Stooges and Gene Kelly.
You may think I only watched a few of his films. No. I went through experiencing his short films, I watched a fantastic documentary simply called Bing - Going My Way that explains everything in his lifelong journey, and knowing alot of the names to the movies he appeared in even though I haven't fully watched all of them.
White Christmas is another clear example as he's dancing along with Danny Kaye in the Sisters segment.
That's a funny expression. Great pose too!
For a successful singer, he needs more recognition for his acting career. What's fantastic about this person is that he doesn't need to be a cheery optimist or the annoyingly talkative. This is the perfect personality in history.
Can't we just all imagine us being relaxed and natural as Bing is in his films?
That would be a miracle.
Definitely says alot to my characters and drawings.
Whenever someone asks me I should do an actual TV show, I would absolutely love to make one.
You know those shows where they would showcase live performances or have a show where they showcase variety of different shorts?
I want to do that type of stuff.
That's like what the Bugs Bunny show mostly does. They would have new animated scenes here and there and would show you a theatrical short from their library.
Mainly, having a show with different created characters and longer form of story-telling doesn't fit well for me.
Having complexity and deeper character development ruins the original feel to my artwork.
🎶 THEME SONG 🎵
Mostly every show has a theme song, unless every show should have some sort of opening.
My idea for my theme song to this show is to have a jazzy, upbeat tone to it.
Some instruments include saxaphone, drums, and flute would be nice. 🎷
The first 5 seconds will have some sorta broadcasting company as the presentation.
And in the ending, the announcer says, "It's The Artmania Show!"
"Filled with music, comedy and stories!"
During the intro, my 3 main characters would rush through and have their names shown in italics.
FIRST 5 MINUTES AND GUESTS
What's important to a show, is introducing the characters. The pilot is just straightforward. But I want it to be at least interesting somehow.
Usually after the theme song, there will be a curtain and my 3 boys will say their names like this.
Phillips- Hiya, welcome to the show, I'm Phillips
Szac - I'm Szac.
Dredd - And Dredd is my name, absolutely!
One of the 3 men will talk about what they will show for us, either it would be a high-spirited musical number, short film or introducing new and interesting characters.
I already came up with some already.
John Softmore - A young fella who comes by and meets with the gang on stage after his day at high school. He showcases what he learned in one of his classes.
The Ninja Brothers - A spoof of The Nicholas Brothers, these two martial art masters show us their amazing trained skills to the audience.
K.R Pinley - He's described as one of the best modern entertainers in the Artmania world. He's a piano master player, and sings alot of classic and funny songs.
Hotti Jyotti - An island bird who can shape-shift into anything he wants. Kinda almost like Aladdin's Genie, and acts like The Aracuan Bird.
Usually these segments last for about 3-5 minutes long. There usually as long as live performances are. Usually some reality shows they would have guest stars perform their usual stuff and I think that's awesome.
Now let me get into the 3 men in charge of the show.
I don't only want these characters to be talking and doing wacky, fun stuff on the screen. I want them to be lively just like real people.
Cartoon characters tend to be fictional and not always human. I want my artmania characters to have more personality and feel less goofy and unconnected.
You can look at one of my 3 characters and they rarely have similarity to characters like Pink Panther or Oggy.
FASHION CHOICES
I wanted my characters to wear those fine suits people wore back in the 50s-60s.
WHAT'S NEXT?
I have one additional thing I'll mention with this ideal show.
Each episode will probably be about 30 minutes long. It will air at evenings and will have custom commercials like the 3 mania men promoting a cereal or something.
This show will also have special features to it like having my favorite songs as my interest in art and entertainment.
I'm a fan of big band, and swing music, mostly stuff from the 40s.
I'm all for the classics. Heck I have a few songs you can freely listen to right now on this blog.
(All rights belongs to the original user)
Hopefully you found those songs to be really energetic and fun to listen to!
Not only does animation feel fun and appealing but music just has a sense to feel even happier.
The 40s was simply the best time in music history. Nowadays and even in the past, music always seemed to be an interesting experience, nothing too special but had personality.
What was so special to me about music from the 40s was how revolutionary and free you could be with it, not only that but the sound quality was also at it's most attractive.
I can understand why people enjoy the newer stuff more than the old, but I don't quite think it's as in your face as the 40s.
I grew up with such shows as Jack's Big Music Show, The Backyardigans and Yo Gabba Gabba and they all had a fair share of music relation.
I guess that's why this decade was unbeatable.
You can not go wrong with artists such as Nat King Cole, Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway, Tommy Duncan, Bing Crosby and many others.
I'm actually proven to have great music taste, definitely quite rare in some cases.
When I started my blog I always wanted to talk about what inspired me to make artmania in the first place.
These are my characters. You can tell they're appealing to classic animation fans alike.
My style of drawing is mostly characters. I like the designs to be simple and memorable for audiences. Outlines are firmly smooth and well-drawn, the colors are not too bright but not too dark either, overall average and decent for kids and adults to enjoy.
What I love to draw most is cats and dogs. It's probably because they are more or so pets. Pets are by far the easiest to draw. Even Looney Tunes knows it.
I was so drawn to cartoon characters, old fashion and attractive expressions. I definitely wanted to make my art my personal likes in life.
These are my two most popular characters, Szac and Dredd The Moose.
Szac's name is weird when you first know it but it sounds memorable a few days later. I wouldn't want to name him Zachary or other lame boy names.
When I first drew Szac, he sorta related to the style of The Muppets. He also had sorta an abstract design. What is he? Is he a bird? Who knows?
Dredd The Moose was the dimwitted type like Bullwinkle. His facial expressions takes likes from Daffy Duck, and my own young self. I remember when I was 10 I was doing a dimwitted Patrick Star voice and it has drawn to me ever since and I wanted Dredd to sound like him.
I was instantly influenced by classic animation like Warner Bros, MGM, Disney and Fleischer.
Out of all the 4 I admired, Warner Bros. impacted me the most. My favorite Warner Bros. Cartoons were mostly the ones starring Bugs, Porky and Daffy. I also like the musical ones like Coal Black, Three Bops, and Katnip Kollege.
My favorite one is The Great Piggy Bank Robbery. Daffy Duck's expressions had influence on my drawing and it had such a fantastic plot and good color schemes.
I think what I secretly loved about Disney animation back then was just how vibrant and lively it was. Looney Tunes and MGM were just comedic funny cartoons, Disney was huge with stuff like musicals and environment.
You can look at The Three Caballeros and admire it for it's dancing, and Fantasia for it's masterful backgrounds.
I grew up having a passion for art and movement that I mostly day-dream about it all the time. Even when I'm at school or waiting for an appointment, I think about cartoons, and dancing and what I plan to do with my drawings. I also look into certain aesthetics that peak my interest.
Something like this can hit me immediately.
When it comes to characters and acting, that's what I'm going for. I want my characters to be alive and relate to the audience.
For instance, take Donald Duck (at least the classic era) His personality is timeless and relatable to audiences. You can feel something with him but also like his short-tempered but sensible environment. He's real and doesn't come off as bland or extremely annoying. I love his cartoons with Pluto, Pete, and his nephews. Something like Chip and Dale is bad but everything else about him is wonderful and aim to pretty much everyone.
Bugs Bunny is also my favorite characters of all time for his cleverness and wise voice. I like almost every single one of his cartoons. Someone like Daffy can be a little annoying, but I never get sick of Bugs Bunny. His personality is so easy to capture.
These types of cartoons are my favorites and by far better than the modern stuff we get today. But I don't think all of it is bad. I like how the modern cartoons go for a more deep story and emotional characters but that seriously doesn't fit my style. I'm glad animation is becoming more important in history and people can do whatever they want with it.
I know there are some cases you can't make a cartoon like the classics anymore, but for it's aesthetic and simplicity, I want this style of animation to come back.
I seriously don't want to make a cartoon that is about bland as a piece of white bread.
Buildings are growing nowadays and businesses are being too greedy nowadays.
We can still get good talent and entertainment in our lives, we've been doing it since prehistoric times with seeing the wonderful nature and dinosaurs. I know the world can care about people somehow.
Alright, let's move on to more classics I was influenced by. Now with animation being talked about. What are my inspirations from the real world like?
Classic movies from the 30s-50s are my favorites. I also love the actors too. There's something more unique about them than today.
When I look at the modern actors, they may be talented, and work perfectly for Hollywood today, but in my opinion, something about Classic Hollywood hits more with me. The names of the people are more recognizable.
I don't know maybe in 2090, the modern actors will be remembered and recognized just like the classics.
The classic actors I was influenced by the most were The Three Stooges. These guys were legends and became an immediate inspiration. I love how they were a three-men team. When I see them on screen, they instantly distract me. I especially like Moe's poses in these classic shorts. My character, Szac is inspired by him.
I think what I loved about The Three Stooges shorts the most were the starts. Sometimes in the beginning, they would show people besides the stooges in it. I love these types of films where in a film, they don't just screen the main characters.
That's what Abbott And Costello does for the most part, and I love Abbott And Costello. I really like their simple and funny dialogue. I started watching their 50s television show about a month ago and it is hilarious. There's something about shows my great grandparents grew up with that have more spirit than the comedy shows today.
Laurel And Hardy are also my favorite comedy duo. I love Hardy's personality and Laurel is absolutely funny. When I was watching The Music Box (1932) I really liked some of the pauses. Some people might not like it but for this type of old comedy, it's really watchable.
I love the comedy stuff. I like when it's smart and clever. But I'm not only drawn to comedy. I also love the more normal stuff and music involved.
When it comes to personality, voice, and movies, I have a soft feeling for musicians.
Bing Crosby for example, he's had a huge influence on my art for almost 2 years. His personality is timeless and relatable to alot of people including me.
Before I first experienced him, I was laid-back, and loved doing these quirky expressions and when I finally saw one of his movies, I was drawn to it immediately.
His voice was also extremely pleasent. I started listening to his songs a few months after I watched his films for the first time.
Seriously, I love everything about him. His fashion is memorable, his songs are surprisingly catchy and his facial expressions fit my personality so well.
I can show you some drawings I made that resemble Bing's expressions.
He was the first classic hollywood actor I admired. Which makes sense because he's really underrated nowadays. He was one of the most successful actors and singers of the 20th century.
Next, I experienced Billy Gilbert. He was important. His acting was absolutely chaos. He could yell at anything and it would still sound perfect.
When I watched The Music Box (1932), it was just pleasant and peaceful until he came and his voice saved the entire short.
When I heard him saying his full name and a bunch of letters, especially "FFF and F" it immediately exploded my mind. I was laughing so hard. He was one of the most powerful actors in entertainment history.
I also loved his cameos in the Three Stooges shorts. He was such an overlooked forcible human-being.
Do you know who else was powerful like Billy Gilbert?
Cab Calloway.
This person was a genius. He was really the coolest black musician out there. He could dance, and jump for joy. He was fearless and enthusiastic. His voice is also so much fun too. His singing is unique, and full of personality.
He could hire the best people to play instruments and he would dance along with it.
Man, what a legend.
The Andrews Sisters are also one of my favorite musicians. They were popular in the 40s. They were energetic just like Cab. You may be proud with one person being so passionate with great music, but what about 3 people? You get The Andrews Sisters.
But then, we get the very best...
Glenn Miller was magnificent. One of the magnum-opuses of music. He was the guy that paved the way for energetic songs. He made In The Mood, his more iconic ones. But also made Chattanooga Choo Choo, my #1 best songs, as well as I've Got A Gal In Kalamazoo, American Patrol, and Moonlight Serenade.
All of his music is either chill or will awaken your soul.
Just like with Cab, he was powerful, and had fantastic band members, but he never could record his singing. But whenever he tries to hire a vocalist, it always sounds awesome.
One of the singers I love the most is Tex Beneke. He's one of the best singers in music history. His singing is so catchy and memorable it sounds natural.
The music videos as well also inspired me. I have a passion for people dancing especially in a 4:3 aspect ratio. It's really comfortable.
Lastly, I want to talk about Gene Kelly. Because he's easily the best dancers in cinema history. I remember seeing a clip of him in rolling skates and it felt like a miracle to watch.
I watched Singin' In The Rain and it was a masterpiece. The songs were all impressive. Just watching Gene Kelly, makes me appreciate entertainment and life even more.
I'm planning to watch his movies with him and Sinatra next. I seen him dancing with Jerry Mouse and it was absolutely fantastic.
Even if I don't make Artmania a successful piece of art, I still have my drawings and my blog to make people happy.
