Animation Artifacts &Commentary &Illustration &Layout & Design &Top Cel 16 Jan 2013 08:23 am
Top Cel – 1
- Over the years I’ve found that a number of animation personnel saved their copies of Top Cel, the u-nion newspaper. However, we’re not talking every copy of Top Cel, we’re focused on the Ed Smith years. Ed was the editor for a number of years, and his issues were filled with great graphics done by local members.
I have a complete collection from the late forties up to the final years. That collection has been in storage for the entire run of this Splog, or I would have been posting these sooner. However, there among the Vince Cafarelli collection was a couple of the Ed Smith years’ papers. Starting with July 1960 and running through May 1968, there are a lot of papers. I hope to post the graphics from these and wil pick out particular stories or images within to give an idea of what was happening in the business. I don’t want to post the entire thing, since many of the articles pertain specifically to u-nion business, and it seems pointless in its outdated nature.
We’ll start with the first 10 issues:
1July 1960
Artwork by Mordi Gerstein
1a 
1b
(Click any of these frames to enlarge to a more legible size.)
2
August 1960
This issue, like many others, has to be turned clockwise to properly read.
For the sake of these covers, I am turning the image 90° c/w
for you to read and will do this for all subsequent covers.
Artwork by Ed Friedman
2a 
2b
2c
3
Sept 1960
This cover was also turned 90° c/w.
Artwork by Spipol (? I have difficulty reading the name ?)
3a 
3b
3b CU
This cartoon, by Ed Smith, makes fun of the fact that the fashionably popular
HuckleberrynHound and Yogi Bear were being advertised as “Adult” cartoons.
3c
Within this larger issue, there were two pages of photos taken at
the Annecy Animation Festival to which a number of members went.
The left page is posted above, the right page is posted below.
3d 
3e
Reports about the Festival by two members, Dick Rauh and Hal Silvermintz.
4
October 1960
The front cover of this issue.
Artwork by Karl Fischer
4a 
4b
The back cover
5
Nov 1960
Artwork by Mordi Gerstein
5a 
5b
6
Jan 1961
Artwork by Len Glasser
6a 
6b
6c
This back page had the contacts of all contracted studios in NY.
I love that P.Kim & L.Gifford have
different contact info from Gifford-Kim.
7
February 1961
Turned 90° c/w.
Art by Edwin R. Smith J.R. (Ed’s son?)
7a 
7b
7c
8
March 1961
Turned 90° c/w.
Art by Hal Silvermintz
8a 
8b
8c
9
April 1961
9a 
9b
9c
10
May 1961
I think the artwork is by Arnie Levin
Front cover
Back cover is an extension of the front.
Attached they look like this.
Inside is a 2-page promotion for the Hubley show at the
Beekman Theater. This was the premiere of their feature, Of Stars & Men.
This was the 2nd page of the promo.
There also must have been a middle page of text which is lost from this copy of the issue.
Attached the program looked like this.
This was my first viewing of the Hubley works. I had never seen a Hubley short
prior to this program. I was a Sophomore High School student at the time.
I went back a couple more times, and my world was changed forever.
To see some copies of Top Cel which were issued in 1945 and 1946, Richard O’Connor and his company’s blog Ace and Son has ostd quite a few of these issues. By going here, you’ll find 8 or 10 documents.
on 16 Jan 2013 at 10:08 am 1.Bill said …
Wow, Michael! Another jaw dropper of a post, page 6c is for the history boooks!
on 16 Jan 2013 at 2:00 pm 2.anik said …
Beautiful drawings!
on 17 Jan 2013 at 4:23 am 3.Yowp said …
Michael, I’ve read the earlier ones on other sites and I always appreciate someone posting them. They fill in all kinds of blanks about who was working at what studio. And they mention commercial studios I know nothing about. These ones are especially nice because of the artwork.
I wish someone would do something similar with old newsletters from the West Coast.
on 07 Aug 2018 at 1:52 am 4.Short Thoughts Vol. 1 – A Pocket Full of Scratch said …
[…] saw a blog post that included a comic making fun of the idea that Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear were “adult […]