The 50 Greatest Cartoons

Here is a list of the 50 greatest cartoons ever made, as compiled in 1994 by animation historian Jerry Beck and voted on by animation professionals. Even better than the list itself are all of the links to the actual catroons.

If you've never seen Bambi Meets Godzilla or Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs, here's your chance, along with plenty of other classics by Warner Bros. Disney, MGM and many more.

Of course, you'll see One Froggy Evening, a personal favorite as my profile photo indicates, and many other Chuck Jones cartoons. (What's Opera, Doc?, of course being #1 on the list)

Hours of online viewing fun, friends.

First Look at the Silver Surfer

Here's a first look at the Silver Surfer, herald of Galactus, as he appears in the upcoming Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which opens in June 2007.

The trailer is being shown this weekend in front of Night at the Museum, and will likely be online before the end of the weekend.

USA Today offers a little more info about the movie here.

Updated: Stephen King Talks "Dark Tower "Comic

UPDATE: Marvel has created a mini-site for its Dark Tower series that includes a trailer, screensaver and more.

Announced over a year ago, the first issue of Stephen King's comic adaptation of his Dark Tower series, the seven-issue The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, finally hits stores in February. USA Today talked to him about the project, which focuses on the untold origins of untold origin of Roland Deschain:

"I had a lot of involvement in casting the course of the narrative," King says. "Beyond that, I wanted to give a lot of control over to these other imaginations, which I had come to respect. The first few issues, I should add, are almost entirely drawn from the books. Readers will recognize them and hopefully be as thrilled as I am."

A Very Clickable Christmas

The Christmas Spot is a site that compiles 101 Christmas shows -- everything from Christmas episodes of sitcoms old (Ozzie and Harriet) and new (The Office), to stop-motion Christmas classics (Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town) and even superhero cartoons (Justice League, Batman).

You'll even find the rare, universally panned Star Wars Holiday Special and much more (commercials, music videos, specials). Heat up a mug of hot chocolate and enjoy some Christmas past.

RIP Joe Barbera

Joe Barbera, half of the legendary animation team, that created Tom and Jerry, and revolutionized TV animation in the 1960s, has passed. He was 95. His partner, Bill Hanna, died in 20o1.

Together, they created Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, the Flintstones, Jetsons, Scooby Doo and many more famous cartoon characters and series.

According to Animation Magazine:

The animation industry has lost another legend with the passing of Joseph Barbera, who teamed with William Hanna to create famed cartoon studio Hanna-Barbera Prods. in 1944. At the age of 95, Barbera was still an active member of the Warner Bros. Animation team and was listed as exec producer for series such as What's New Scooby-Doo? and Tom and Jerry Tales. In 2005, he wrote, co-storyboarded and co-directed the new Tom and Jerry theatrical short titled KarateGuard. He died Monday of natural causes at his home in Studio City, Calf. with wife Sheila at his side.