Showing results by author "Jeff Lenburg" in All Categories

As any actor, producer, director, or screenwriter can attest, working in the movie business isn't easy. After Jack Nicholson filmed his first screen test for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, studio mogul Louis B. Mayer politely told him afterwards: "I don't know what we can use you for, but if we ever do need you, we'll need you real bad.” In the late 1960s, Paul, John, George, and Ringo–better known as The Beatles–were set to star in a movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings, until Tolkien objected over the loudness of their music.

Best known for creating Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney is one of the 20th century's most honored and important icons of animation. Nominated for 63 Academy Awards, he produced many cartoons and feature films considered classics today. Walt Disney: The Mouse That Roared delves into this man's colorful life, explaining the inspiration for his classic creations and revolutionary animation techniques.

For over seven decades, fans have roared with laughter at the wild, two-fisted, knockabout antics of The Three Stooges performing their classic comedy mayhem in 200 comedy shorts, 25 features, and thousands of television and stage appearances. Chronicling the success of these beloved cinematic clowns, The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer - daughter of Three Stooges founder Moe Howard - and Greg Lenburg is a highly entertaining tribute to the trio's enduring popularity and lasting legacy.

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the world's most respected Japanese animation filmmakers. He is known for creating compelling characters, engaging stories, and breathtaking animation, all of which have earned him international acclaim while setting box-office records. Miyazaki, who began his career in 1963 as an in-betweener for Toei Doga studio, soon found his true calling as an anime and manga artist, working on classic Japanese features and television series and writing the best-selling manga, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

At the age of seven, Genndy Tartakovsky moved with his family from Russia to the United States, where American cartoons and comic books soon captivated his imagination and inspired him to become an artist. Known for fast-paced, action-packed stories and a distinctive animation style, he created the animated sensations Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack and worked on the breakout hit, The Powerpuff Girls. He then directed the animated microseries Star Wars: The Clone Wars and created the original series Sym-Bionic Titan.

Matt Groening is a cartoonist, animator, and producer best known for creating The Simpsons, television's longest-running primetime animated series. Although it debuted as a series of cartoon shorts for another television show in 1987, The Simpsons launched on its own in 1989, making the dysfunctional family of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie famous almost overnight.

For more than six decades, Joe Besser brought gales of laughter to millions—in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio, in motion pictures, and on television. From his days working as a bumbling assistant to the world-famous Thurston the Magician, he carved out success with his own act—that of a childlike sissy who brandished his foils with a flick of the wrist and such hilarious verbal assaults as “Ooh, you crazy you!” and “Not so f-a-s-t!

Luke Beckett is anything but your average Hollywood vice squad detective. A cop who refuses to play the game, he is like some Avenging Angel always quick to judge, and to punish with his rock-hard fists those who don’t see his way. Forced to resign after a prostitute bust goes awry, he accepts a police lieutenant position in that God-forsaken place, Palm Springs, where there is hardly enough action to keep his blood circulating.

In the 1940s, Veronica Lake stirred a nation of filmgoers into a frenzy with her memorable screen performances and famous hairdo draped over one eye. The sultry blonde bombshell rocketed to stardom for Paramount Pictures only for it all to spiral out of control and be over in a flash. By age twenty-nine, Veronica was washed up with her career on the ash heap of movie history.

Legendary entertainer Gary Owens draws upon his four decades in radio, TV, film, and animation to show you how to break into the voiceover business and carve out a million-dollar niche for yourself with your voice. Sprinkled with priceless anecdotes and tips throughout from well-known actors, producers, and agents, Owens gives you the inside track on becoming a successful DJ, newscaster, announcer, sportscaster, commercial or cartoon voice, or other type of voice artist.

Twentysomething ex-swimsuit model turned television news anchor Lori Matrix wants to prove her producers wrong: She can do hard news. The tall, blonde, blue-eyed journalist, hired to boost her station's ratings, gets her chance when legendary actor Rex Hampton turns up dead at the first gathering of six Hollywood movie legends during the screening of his favorite movie.

Animation is everywhere - from the Internet to the silver screen - and due to the rapid growth of animation in virtually every field and industry, so are animation jobs. Fueled by the worldwide explosion of film and television productions, new and original animated films, and apps and videos for mobile computing devices, the fields of animation and special effects, video games, and e-learning are all expected to grow.

A two-time Academy Award-winning director and animator, John Lasseter is a founding member of and the creative force behind Pixar Animation Studios. Pixar is responsible for ushering in the age of computer-animation and revolutionizing the industry, having produced blockbuster features such as Cars, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc., and Wall-E.

Ten-time Oscar-nominated Walter Lantz was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors and producers of animation. Over six decades, his studio produced more than 800 cartoons, including over 600 theatrically released cartoons, more than any other Hollywood animation studio, and set high standards for the art of animation in its fledgling years. Lantz is renowned for producing cartoons starring the world-famous Woody Woodpecker.

Tex Avery, considered the father of screwball animation, was one of the most influential animators of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Creator of such classic characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Droopy, he directed many cartoons for Warner Bros., MGM, and Walter Lantz Productions and was nominated for six Academy Awards.

The seven-time Oscar-winning team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera created or produced some of film and television's most beloved cartoon characters, including Tom and Jerry, the Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Jonny Quest, the Jetsons, and Scooby-Doo. They also pioneered and revolutionized television animation with a less-expensive style of animation that allowed them to produce the hundreds of memorable cartoon series still shown today around the globe.