The Wexner Center For the Arts is usually a place for cutting edge, contemporary art, showcasing the work of talented artists. Thursday night, talent took a back seat to Jerry Beck as he unleashed some of the “Worst Cartoons Ever” to a crowd gathered at the Film and Video Theater in the Wexner Center.
Some of these terrible ‘toons included “Super President,” which featured the president of the United States whose superpower is the ability to turn into any form of matter, and Beck’s favorite of the worst, “Mighty Mister Titan,” a fitness superhero, which Beck described as similar to an Andy Warhol film.
“I’m not here to celebrate these films or look at them in a new context, I’m here to bury them. Or burn them, burn them into your brain actually,” Beck said with a laugh, as he misread from his notes.
Some of the other clips Beck showed came from “Rocket Robin Hood,” “Johnny Cypher” and “Paddy the Pelican.” These cartoons came from the ’50s and ’60s featuring terrible animation and corny plots, leaving one to wonder what the creator was thinking. Beck said these cartoons were bad because they were made when TV was in its early stages and producers were trying to make cartoons with limited budgets. While the cartoons might have been terrible, they were still entertaining, as the audience laughed throughout Beck’s presentation.
Beck is probably one of the last people cartoon fans would associate with bad animation. This is because Beck is an expert in the history of animation. He has written many books about animated cartoons such as “Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide,” “The 50 Greatest Cartoons” and the more recent “The Art of Bee Movie.”
Beck has worked as a consultant for Walt Disney, was vice president of animation for Nickelodeon and has held several other positions with the animation industry. In addition to this, Beck, along with Web site partner Amid Amidi, keeps fans updated about the latest news and trends in animation with their site Cartoon Brew.
“I loved comic books as a kid and animation was the perfect cross between movies and comics,” Beck said. “I love everything about animation. It’s fun, fun is the word.”
Dave Filipi, who teaches the history of animation at Ohio State and is the curator of film at the Wexner Center, was responsible for organizing Beck’s visit.
“I’ve always been a fan of Jerry’s work,” Filipi said. “He’s a great advocate of cartoons.”
Lucy Caswell, curator of the Cartoon Research Library at OSU, which collects and documents print cartoons, said she considers Beck a kindred spirit, and his work to document and make available animation that might not otherwise be accessible is worthwhile.
“Anybody that raises understanding and appreciation of a popular culture form benefits others because it helps people to understand that yes, this is pop culture, but that it reflects a wider part of the culture,” Caswell said.
“I think that was obvious in some of the things we saw in these bad cartoons,” she said. “It gives us more to think about than might be obvious the first time we go through it.”
While Beck loves his work, he said he thinks animation and cartoons are still considered a medium for children and he wants to spread a different message.
“Cartoons aren’t just for kids, they’re for everyone.”
For more information about Beck and “The Worst Cartoons Ever,” visit cartoonbrew.com.
David McNeely can be reached at [email protected].
