Anifest 1996 - Conclusion

Left to right: Joe Bev, Matt Hurwitz, Corey Burton, June Foray and Lee Harris in the Rocky and Bullwinkle live voice show.

There were two live shows featuring voice artists putting on "radio show" versions of classic animated cartoons. In one of the two shows, Joe Bev, Matt Hurwitz, Corey Burton and Lee Harris did classic Hanna-Barbera characters based on a children's record that Daws Butler, Don Messick and the other voice artists from the H-B of the late '50s-early '60s cut. In the other, the same voice actors were joined by "Queen of Cartoons" June Foray as they ran through some classic Bullwinkle and Rocky, Dudley Do-Right and Fractured Fairy Tales scripts.

June Foray performing Ms. Foray has been involved with Anifest from the very beginning, when it was just a cel sale in the back yard of her San Fernando Valley home. She brought the same magic to the live show that she did to her original voices for the cartoon series, including Rocky, Natasha Fatale and Nell.

Jim Smith and John K. John K. and Jim Smith from Spumco took the stage after the Rocky and Bullwinkle voice show, bringing clips from recent Spumco work like the Barq's Root Beer commercial, the commercial for Aoki's Pizza in Japan, and some live action footage which will be combined with Spumco animation in a video for Bjork. They also detailed plans for the future, including the long awaited followups to last year's Spumco Comic Book, which will be published by Dark Horse Comics beginning the end of the year.

All in all, Anifest 96 was a big success. The convention's new home at the Universal City Hilton Tower was much more comfortable than years past, although the parking price annoyed. The convention happens every year around July, so make plans to visit next year. Watch the ASIFA/Hollywood home page at http://home.earthlink.net/~asifa/ for details. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll even make a childlike fool of yourself like I did!

Michelle and friend
Photo by Charles Butler