Hello!

Yet another Joe Dante steer to a an excellent webpage … A site called Animation Obsessive has an article up from April 12, 2026, with the inside story of a mini-studio whose output we hold dear: United Productions of America, or simply UPA.

UPA is much more than Gerald Mc Boing Boing cartoons. We reviewed a sensational  DVD Collection years ago that came with good text on the company, but AO’s coverage in this article puts the subject in a new light. There’s even a downloadable full book available — on the company that began as an alternative for animators, away from the control of the Disney studio.

The photos from the early 1950s are really impressive. All these crazy-talented creatives come to work dressed as if for an architectural firm. Here’s the link:

Just a bit of poking around reveals an even more CineSavant-friendly article from Animation Obsessive, this one from April 25, 2026.

It’s about another UPA masterpiece that I remember seeing more than once at kiddie cartoon matinees around 1960 —  The Tell-Tale Heart. If the designs look familiar to Roger Corman fans, it’s because the artist-animator Paul Julian also put together several title sequences for Corman’s early pictures. On his own, Julian animated the creepy political fable  The Hangman as well.

Also, the article appears to answer the fan speculation about a 3-D version of The Tell-Tale Heart: it says that the 3-D version was finished, and describes an (exaggerated?) account of a screening. But Columbia ‘forced UPA to scrap the 3-D version.’  Interesting.

The article has the whole story, nicely illustrated:

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson