It’s the mid-1990s. You’re an elementary school-aged kid, and you’re rushing home on a Friday afternoon. The sun is warm on your shoulders. You clutch your plastic lunch box, adorned with your favorite animated characters. Your heartbeat keeps time with the slap of your Converse on the sidewalk.
Finally, you reach home. You shed your backpack, letting it thud to the floor behind you. You have homework, but it can wait; there are weightier matters to attend to. How can you do long division when there are cartoons to be watched?
You stop at the kitchen for a quick snack, and then you fly into the living room like you had wings on your sneakers. You plop onto the couch, spilling your Doritos, and turn on the TV. You switch to your favorite TV animation block, and you settle in for a few hours of heaven.
Which block did you choose? There was Kids’ WB, Fox Kids, and PBS Kids, and they were all great. Many will argue, however, that the cream of the crop was The Disney Afternoon. They make a compelling case; after all, with shows like TaleSpin, Gargoyles, Goof Troop, and DuckTales, how could it not be the best?
If you’re one of those people who love The Disney Afternoon (or any Disney animated series, for that matter), then Tim Van Hal has a treat for you! For the past two years, Van Hal has been gathering all the information he can find about Disney television animation. Inter-company memos, development sketches, storyboards, show pitches…you name it; Tim Van Hal has studied it. That’s not even mentioning the 200 hours (and counting) of interviews that Van Hal has conducted with Disney’s television animation veterans.
Now, after all that info-gathering, Van Hal wants to share that information with us fans. Recently, he announced his plans to publish a multi-volume book series chronicling the history of Disney television animation! How cool is that? There’s only one hiccup: the artwork Van Hal wants to publish carry heavy licensing fees. That’s where we animation lovers come in!
Van Hal has launched a Kickstarter campaign, hoping to raise the $10,000 he needs to pay the fees. He’s made it easy for fans to contribute, making each contribution level reasonable and budget-friendly. There are many fine rewards to be had too: books autographed by animation veterans; DVDs and Blu-Rays stuffed with story reels, alternate theme songs, and interviews; original model sheets; and so on!
If you have any extra money, definitely consider supporting this project. It would be a major step toward chronicling a major part of animation history!
If contributing sounds like something you’d be interested in doing, you can do so here!
What do you think? Are you interested in the History Of Disney Television Animation project?
Edited by: Kelly Conley
