GOLDEN AWARDS BANQUET – APRIL 9th

Here’s an update on the Golden Awards Banquet that The Animation Guild is holding on April 9th, 2005 at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank, California.This event honors animation veterans with fifty years in the industry of screen cartooning and related fields. This year’s honorees began their careers between 1943 and 1955. The list of honorees includes:

John C. Ahern, Frank Andrina, Gerard Baldwin, Robert Balser, Carole J. Barnes, Kathy Barrows, Vincent Bassols, Howard Beckerman, Oliver “Lefty” Callahan, Paul Carlson, Rudy Cataldi, Cornelius Cole, Janis Cornell, Fred Crippen, Tissa David, Gene Deitch, Robert Dranko, John Emerson, Edward Faigin, Becky Fallberg, Ray Favata, Eve Fletcher, Rita Giddings, Lee Guttman, Victor Haboush, Ed Hansen, Martha Harrison, Bud Hester, Willie Ito, Sam Jaimes, Chris Jenkyns, Don Jurwich, Louie Kachivas, Darlene Kanagy-Brown, Sammi Lanham, Don Lusk, Bill Matthews, Burny Mattinson, Peggi R. Matz, Charles McElmurry, Jimmy T. Murakami, Ann Oliphant, Lew Ott, Doris A. Plough, Lloyd G. Rees, Rick Reinert, Robert Allen Revell, Beverly M. Robbins, Phil Roman, Joanna Romersa, Carmen Sanderson, Mel Shaw, Marcia Sinclair, Charlene Singleton, Ken Southworth, John Sparey, Herb Stott, Iwao Takamoto, Cliff Vorhees, Manon Washburn, Merle Welton, Robert “Tiger” West, Gwen A. Wetzler, John Wilson, Alan Wilzbach, Fred Wolf. Special Award: June ForayUnderline denotes those honorees whose attendance has been confirmed as of 3/14/05.

If you want to attend the banquet, tickets are $37.50 each with a choice of New York Steak, Chicken Marsala or a Vegetable Plate. Please note: Last day to buy tickets is next Wednesday, March 23rd, so if you’re thinking about attending, you’d better hurry. They are expecting an attendance of 300+.Presenting awards will be Floyd Norman, Mark Kausler, Tim Walker, Tee Bosustow, Scott Shaw, Tina Price, Leonard Maltin, Gary Owens and yours truly, Jerry Beck. MC Tom Sito is preparing a 4-minute introductory film with clips from cartoons and vintage footage of the period. Floyd Norman is preparing a series of short film clips to be interspersed throughout the evening, showing documentary footage, vintage TV commercials, rare home movie footage and other surprises.Photographer Moses Sparks will be photographing every aspect of the event from arrivals to departures, and all his pictures will be online and available for purchase on the internet about a week after the banquet. Martha Sigall’s new book, Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age, will premier at the banquet and will be available for signing at Stuart Ng’s tables in the back of the room. Animation-related books, magazines and DVDs will be available at Stuart’s booth at the back of the room. The 64-page program book will be crammed with good reading, including a great 3,000-word article on the era by Tom Sito. Quite a few people have been very generous with the use of their vintage photos. Bios on each of the honorees will take up 17 pages of the booklet, and the usual sprinkling of cartoons and ads will fill out the program book.For further ticket information, please contact Dave Brain. Any questions, suggestions or if you’d like to advertise in their program book, please contact event organizer Bob Foster at bfosterla@aol.com or check the Animation Guild website.