The "Man of 1000 Voices," Mel Blanc was the lungs behind Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, Tweety, and hundreds more. Arguably the most influential voice-actor of all time, Blanc is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery where his headstone reads eloquently, "THAT'S ALL FOLKS." more ›

Jerry Beck is an LA-based animation and cartoon historian who's authored or co-authored many books on the subject, including Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons, The Art Of Bee Movie, The Hanna Barbera Treasury and Nicktoons. more ›

the Rabbit of Seville, with a "cameo" by Leopold Stokowski more ›

If Wagner was still alive today, he would have just celebrated his 195th (!) birthday yesterday. His influence was felt by many including Baudelaire, Freud, Joyce, Nietzsche, and any/every important contemporary of his. Some recent adaptations in mainstream media that come to mind include a terrible Tristan + Isolde movie and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy (based off of Wagner's Ring cycle). more ›

There's no doubt about it, Pasadena is an arts town. Local "old money" patronize the cultural arts in these parts and it shows. Talk about the season opener for the Pasadena Symphony, you can't go wrong with these three composers. Known as Mexico's most distinctive musical voice of the 1930's, Silvestre Revueltas is a madman of a composer -- colorful, energetic and all over the place. "The Homage to Lorca conflates two seemingly incompatible... more ›

Besides exposure for new and upcoming music, SXSW also serves as a launching pad for products, companies and shows like MTV's upcoming Human Giant. Starring funny men Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer, the show kicked off a sneak preview party last night at Friends on 6th St. We ran into Sam Grossman, development exec at MTV. He talked about the new sketch comedy show with us over beers. “There’s a Bugs Bunny... more ›

Like any form of propaganda, the sights on display in Hollywood Hell House (a Hasidic Jew roasting in a cauldron, an Arab forced to suffer an eternity of oral surgery) can seem silly and ridiculous to non-believers. It's easy to laugh while watching the show, but it's hard not to be affected by it, too. Although the ludicrous, over-the-top depictions of things like raves, school shootings and RU-486 are cartoonishly misinformed, Hell Houses wouldn't be so successful unless a large part of the intended audience took them as the gospel truth. more ›