The LA Times has a story on animation pioneers United Productions of America and how their unique style continues to inspire animators today. Up director Pete Docter said, “Seeing the UPA films was was almost like learning a different language because their approach to movement, design and filmmaking was so graphic and so different from the Disney or Warner Bros. films. Their approach to movement was based on feelings, rather than anatomy — the way you’d feel performing a movement, as opposed to what happens anatomically.” Others adding their thoughts include Genndy Tartakovsky, Pixar’s Ralph Eggleston, and Disney’s Mike Giaimo.

If you’re in the area, on Friday, March 30th LACMA will host “Madcap Modernism: Mid-Century Cartoons from UPA and Beyond” featuring “visually-exciting and rarely seen cartoons in 35mm”. Also in attendance will be Adam Abraham, author of When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA, and animation historian Jerry Beck.