Daffy Duck tries to escape from Witch Hazel as she shops for duck brains for her Halloween brew.

The legendary cartoon and radio voice man offers a behind-the-scenes chronicl of his many-voiced career, detailing his creation of world-famous voices and his work with the best-loved cartoon characters and radio personalities.

Animated films often bring to mind images of Saturday morning cartoons on television, but at one time, animated films, both long and short, were found mostly on the silver screen as part of the featured program. In 1977, George Lucas even specially requested a cartoon to open Star Wars-"Duck Dodgers and the 241⁄2 Century," featuring Daffy Duck. In its rich history, cinematic animation has developed from silent monochrome images to sound-filled shorts that ran with newsreels and adventure serials-to animation sequences used to enliven commercials or live-action films-and finally to feature films like Fantasia and Cinderella. This encyclopedia covers all English language animation from the crucial first eighty years of its history. From the popular to the obscure, from Bugs to Mickey, from the short to the feature, nearly 7,000 items are covered. Each entry includes production information, date, running time, and a synopsis. Much of the information compiled here is rare. For example, character voices once considered "anonymous" are here identified, and animated films now lost because they were once considered expendable are here given the attention they deserve. A complete index allows multiple points of access.

This is an exploration of the potent blend of Arthurian legend, cartoon animation, and cultural and artistic trends from 1933 to the present. In more than 170 theatrical and televised short cartoons, televised series and specials, and feature-length films from The Sword in the Stone to Shrek the Third--all covered in this book--animators have repeatedly brought the Round Table to life. Although these productions differ greatly in tone and intent--spanning spectra from comic to sober, fantastic to realistic, and entertaining to edifying--they share in the proof of Camelot's continuing relevance in the modern world.