Black Character Revolution Exhibition Press Coverage
Trib Live Funky Turns Forty Wednesday, Jan 18 10:00a at The ToonSeum, Pittsburgh, PA The ToonSeum and the Museum of Uncut Funk present Funky Turns Forty, an exhibit celebrating the legacy of the first wave of positive Black animated characters of the 1970s. Funky Turns Forty presents a retrospective of original production cels and drawings from this turning point in cartoon history where Black and White animators created positive Black characters and Black-centric stories for all to enjoy.
Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership Funky Turns Forty Date: Wed, January 18th 2012 - Sat, March 31st 2012 Time: 10:00am Venue: The ToonSeum Admission Info: $5 for adults/children 13 & up. $1 for children 6 to 12.
Funky Turns 40 at the ToonSeum, a Celebration of African American Animated Characters By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 2:46 pm | AWN News From a ToonSeum press release. Until the Civil Rights movement of the late 1950s and 60s, African-Americans were treated as secondclass citizens. While prevalent in music and popular culture, Blacks still faced extreme political, economic, and social prejudices. In comics and animation, Blacks were largely ignored or were depicted in broad, derogatory stereotypes. But as laws and attitudes began to shift, the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s became a direct conduit of social change, introducing a host of new Black characters. For the first time, audiences were exposed to positive, relatable images of Black life through animated series like Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Jackson 5ive, Josie and the Pussycats, I Am The Greatest, The Harlem Globetrotters and Star Trek: The Animated Series. Funky Turns Forty presents a retrospective of original production cels and drawings from this turning point in cartoon history where Black and White animators created positive Black characters and Black-centric stories for all to enjoy. A special exhibit in the Lou Scheimer Gallery at the ToonSeum will focus on the art of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Fat Albert was animated by Filmation and produced by Pittsburgh native and gallery namesake Lou Scheimer. “The ToonSeum is proud to showcase this important period in animation history,” said ToonSeum Executive Director Joe Wos. “This is a unique opportunity to highlight the role that animation has played in promoting diversity, equality, and pathos.” Funky Turns 40 is co-curated by Pamela Thomas of the Museum of Uncut Funk. The exhibition runs January 18th Through March 10th. For more information visit www.toonseum.org Or call 412-232-0199 ToonSeum is located at 945 Liberty Avenue, in Pittsburgh’s downtown Cultural District. Admission: Adults and Children 13 and older $5 Children 6-12 $1 Children 5 and under are free
Animation Magazine January 4, 2012 by Ramin Zahed
Pittsburghʼs ToonSeum is offering a unique retrospective of original production cels and drawings from the 1970s that promoted positive African American characters and storylines. Titled “Funky Turns Forty,” this special exhibit chronicles how the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s became a direct conduit of social change, introducing a host of new characters in shows such as Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Jackson 5ive, Josie and the Pussycats, I Am The Greatest, The Harlem Globetrotters and Star Trek: The Animated Series. A special exhibit in the Lou Scheimer Gallery at the ToonSeum will focus on the art of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Fat Albert was animated by Filmation (1972-1985) and produced by Pittsburgh native and gallery namesake Lou Scheimer. “The ToonSeum is proud to showcase this important period in animation history,” said ToonSeum exec director Joe Wos. “This is a unique opportunity to highlight the role that animation has played in promoting diversity, equality, and pathos.” Funky Turns 40 is co-curated by Pamela Thomas of the Museum of Uncut Funk. The exhibition runs January 18th Through March 10th. For more information visit www.toonseum.org.
Funky Turns Forty ToonSeum [ venue info ] 1/18/2012 through 3/10/2012 This exhibition celebrates the legacy of the first wave of positive Black animated characters of the 1970s. Until the Civil Rights movement of the late 1950s and 60s, African-Americans were treated as second-class citizens. While prevalent in music and popular culture, Blacks still faced extreme political, economic and social prejudices. In comics and animation, Blacks were largely ignored or were depicted in broad, derogatory stereotypes. But as laws and attitudes began to shift, the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s became a direct conduit of social change, introducing a host of new Black characters. For the first time, audiences were exposed to positive, relatable images of Black life through animated series like "Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids", "The Jackson 5ive", "Josie & The Pussycats", "I Am The Greatest", "The Harlem Globetrotters" and "Star Trek: The Animated Series". "Funky Turns Forty" presents a retrospective of original production cels and drawings from this turning point in cartoon history where Black and White animators created positive Black characters and Black-centric stories for all to enjoy. For more information, call (412) 232-0199.
Na-Na-Na Gonna Have A Good Time At The ToonSeum ToonSeum [ venue info ] 1/27/2012 8pm Don your hippest tie-dyed shirts and bellbottom jeans to experience the exhibit "Funky Turns Forty," which celebrates the legacy of the first wave of positive Black animated characters of the 1970s. Fat Albert, the Jackson Five the Harlem Globetrotters and all your favorite '70s animated characters will be on display in the ToonSeum's Lou Scheimer Gallery. Beer, wine and other refreshments will be served. Admission to this age 21+ party is $5 for museum members and $10 for non-members. For more information, call (412) 232-0674.
Pittsburgh’s ToonSeum Hosting Exhibit Highlighting Positive Black Animated Characters of the 1970s By Chris Arrant January 3, 2012 3:39 pm
The ToonSeum and the Museum of Uncut Funk present Funky Turns Forty, an exhibit celebrating the legacy of the first wave of positive Black animated characters of the 1970s. Until the Civil Rights movement of the late 1950s and 60s, African-Americans were treated as second-class citizens. While prevalent in music and popular culture, Blacks still faced extreme political, economic, and social prejudices. In comics and animation, Blacks were largely ignored or were depicted in broad, derogatory stereotypes. But as laws and attitudes began to shift, the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s became a direct conduit of social change, introducing a host of new Black characters. For the first time, audiences were exposed to positive, relatable images of Black life through animated series like Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Jackson 5ive,
Josie and the Pussycats, I Am The Greatest, The Harlem Globetrotters and Star Trek: The Animated Series. Funky Turns Forty presents a retrospective of original production cels and drawings from this turning point in cartoon history where Black and White animators created positive Black characters and Black-centric stories for all to enjoy. A special exhibit in the Lou Scheimer Gallery at the ToonSeum will focus on the art of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Fat Albert was animated by Filmation and produced by Pittsburgh native and gallery namesake Lou Scheimer. “The ToonSeum is proud to showcase this important period in animation history,” said ToonSeum Executive Director Joe Wos. “This is a unique opportunity to highlight the role that animation has played in promoting diversity, equality, and pathos.” Funky Turns 40 is co-curated by Pamela Thomas of the Museum of Uncut Funk. The exhibition runs January 18th Through March 10th. For more information visit www.toonseum.org or call 412-232-0199 ToonSeum is located at 945 Liberty Avenue, in Pittsburgh’s downtown Cultural District. Admission: Adults and Children 13 and older $5 Children 6-12 $1 Children 5 and under are free
The Museum of Uncut Funk presents a great Black Animation Exhibit! The fine folks over at the Museum of Uncut Funk have an impressive animation collection which includes original production cels and drawings, limited edition cels, publicity cels and collectibles featuring Black animation characters from 1970's Saturday morning cartoons, television shows, films and feature films. Peep this brief video that puts the 70's era black cartoon revolution in historical cultural context... Artwork from the The Museum Of UnCut Funk collection is currently on tour as a part of the Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution Exhibition. To learn more about this traveling exhibition, please click here. If you are interested in bringing this exhibit to your town, contact the curator here.
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What to Do: Old as Funk If Joe Wos is right, then I am, indeed, as old as Funk. Older, actually, since "Funky Turns 40" opens at the ToonSeum this week and is celebrating with a huge exhibit opening and par-tay following the Gallery Crawl on January 27th, and I turn 41 in mere weeks and it will largely be a non-event. So, to re-cap, Funky is younger, cooler and has more friends than I do. Seriously, ToonSeum's latest exhibit, according to Wos, celebrates "the legacy of the first wave of positive Black animated characters of the 1970's." He adds, "Until the Civil Rights movement of the late 1950s and 60s, African-Americans were treated as second-class citizens. While prevalent in music and popular culture, Blacks still faced extreme political, economic, and social prejudices. In comics and animation, Blacks were largely ignored or were depicted in broad, derogatory stereotypes. But as laws and attitudes began to shift, the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s became a direct conduit of social change, introducing a host of new Black characters. For the first time, audiences were exposed to positive, relatable images of Black life through animated series like Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Jackson 5ive, Josie and the Pussycats, I Am The Greatest, The Harlem Globetrotters and Star Trek: The Animated Series." Undoubtedly a reason to celebrate. "Funky Turns 40" is co-curated by Pamela Thomas of the Museum of Uncut Funk. The exhibit runs January 18th Through March 10th. The ToonSeum will open at 8pm on Saturday, January 27th for the event, which runs until 10:30. Tickets are $5 for ToonSeum members, $10 for non-members, and a special $50 Donor admission will get you a free gift! You can purchase tickets here. Attendees must be 21. Can't make the it? Consider making a donation, so the ToonSeum can continue to offer great events like this in the future.
For more information contact: ToonSeum 945 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412-232-0199
I am a proudly serving member of the ToonSeum Board of Directors. Ask me how you can get involved!
In fact, let’s broaden out from “webcomics” by pointing out that Pittsburgh’s ToonSeum has an interesting show opening next week, one whose press release scared the crap out of me because the subject line read Funky Turns 40 at the ToonSeum which immediately made me think it was an exhibit of Funky CancerCancer. In fact, it’s about the first wave of positive black animated characters in the 1970s, which means one thing: Fat Albert, possibly including the early episodes which borrowed heavily from Cosby’s standup routines4. Funky Turns 40 is cocurated by Pamela Thomas of the Museum of Uncut Funk, which is the greatest name for a museum ever; the show opens 18 January and runs until 10 March.
“Na-na-na Gonna Have a Good Time!” at the ToonSeum After-Crawl Party!
EVENT DATE/ TIME
Jan 27, 2012 8:00 pm until 10:30 pm
DESCRIPTION
The ToonSeum is about to get funky! Join us from 8-10:30 p.m. Jan. 27 as we celebrate the opening of the ToonSeum's newest exhibition, “Funky Turns 40: The Black Character Revolution.� Fat Albert, the Jackson Five, the Harlem Globetrotters and all your favorite '70s animated characters will be on display in the ToonSeum's Lou Scheimer Gallery. As the Gallery Crawl comes to an end in the Cultural District, the party at the ToonSeum will be just beginning with DJ Orlando BusCrates Marshall spinning classic funk! We also will be screening classic '70s cartoons in the main gallery. Wear your '70s best (or worst). Beer, wine and other refreshments will be served. Attendees must be 21. Tickets are available at www.funky40.eventbrite.com
COST
$10 for non-members; $5 for members
LOCATION
Toonseum 945 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA View map Âť
ADDITIONAL INFO
PHONE 412-232-0199 CONTACT NAME Mandi Bridgeman CONTACT EMAIL mandi@toonseum.com WEBSITE http://www.toonseum.org
Funky Turns Forty Friday January 20, 2012 - Monday April 2, 2012 from 10:00am - 3:00pm Toonseum 945 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15215 Get Directions The ToonSeum and the Museum of Uncut Funk present Funky Turns Forty, an exhibit celebrating the legacy of the first wave of positive Black animated characters of the 1970s. Until the Civil Rights movement of the late 1950s and 60s, African-Americans were treated as second-class citizens. While prevalent in music and popular culture, Blacks still faced extreme political, economic, and social prejudices. In comics and animation, Blacks were largely ignored or were depicted in broad,
derogatory stereotypes. But as laws and attitudes began to shift, the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s became a direct conduit of social change, introducing a host of new Black characters. For the first time, audiences were exposed to positive, relatable images of Black life through animated series like Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Jackson 5ive, Josie and the Pussycats, I Am The Greatest, The Harlem Globetrotters and Star Trek: The Animated Series. Funky Turns Forty presents a retrospective of original production cels and drawings from this turning point in cartoon history where Black and White animators created positive Black characters and Black-centric stories for all to enjoy. A special exhibit in the Lou Scheimer Gallery at the ToonSeum will focus on the art of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Fat Albert was animated by Filmation and produced by Pittsburgh native and gallery namesake Lou Scheimer. “The ToonSeum is proud to showcase this important period in animation history,” said ToonSeum Executive Director Joe Wos. “This is a unique opportunity to highlight the role that animation has played in promoting diversity, equality, and pathos.” Funky Turns 40 is co-curated by Pamela Thomas of the Museum of Uncut Funk. The exhibition runs January 18th Through March 10th. For more information visit www.toonseum.org Or call 412-232-0199 ToonSeum is located at 945 Liberty Avenue, in Pittsburgh’s downtown Cultural District. Please go to www.toonseum.org to see our days/hours of operation. THE TOONSEUM IS CLOSED MONDAY & TUESDAY
“Na-na-na Gonna Have a Good Time!” at the ToonSeum After-Crawl Party! Friday, January 27, 2012 from 8:00 PM to 10:30 PM (ET) Pittsburgh, PA
Spreading the Gospel of Comics POSTED ON DECEMBER 6, 2011 BY CAITLIN
Spreading the Gospel of Comics ToonSeum reaches out to the Pittsburgh community with gallery expansion
“I have the power!” bellowed the opening theme from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe as the crowd cheered during the opening ceremony of the Lou Scheimer Gallery downtown. Pittsburgh’s ToonSeum welcomed back local animation superhero Lou Scheimer and his family on November 12th for the christening of a new gallery honoring the legacy of his career. Scheimer is best known for his production and voiceover work on Fat Albert, He-Man, She-Ra and many others. Erika Scheimer, Lou’s daughter who has been voicing and directing cartoons with her father for more than 20 years, accompanied him on the trip. The two cut the ribbon together— symbolizing the opening of the gallery—with sword replicas from the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons. “We were very honored when we found out that [my dad] was chosen,” Scheimer said. “I was glad that he finally found his legacy at home in Pittsburgh.” Lou Scheimer was raised in the local borough of Homewood until he moved to California to begin his career in animation. He worked on the Bozo and Popeye cartoons before founding animation production studio Filmation in 1963.
Founder and Executive Director Joe Wos of the ToonSeum wanted the gallery addition to be an opportunity to honor someone. “We looked at a list of legendary cartoonists that had come from Pittsburgh and Lou Scheimer had such an impact on my childhood,” Wos said. “Whole generations grew up on his cartoons. So, we realized this is the right thing to do, this is the one we need to recognize.” Scheimer’s Saturday morning cartoons often communicated moral and educational themes that left strong impressions on their viewers. Mandi Bridgeman, the Assistant to the Director at ToonSeum, remembers watching Scheimer’s cartoons as early as three years old. “I loved She-Ra because she was a female superhero and a very powerful woman, someone I could look up to as a role model,” Bridgeman said. “You don’t really see that in cartoons anymore— female superheroes—they’re normally just regular people.” The expansion of the ToonSeum will include more gallery space, including the Lou Scheimer Gallery, expanded event space and storage areas, as well as a comics reading courtyard. The Sprout Fund of Pittsburgh will sponsor the comic courtyard and Starkist will sponsor another gallery.
The additional space was needed with the success that the museum has been having. It has completely transformed since it opened as a small cartoon gallery inside the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum in 2007. “We’ve been here in the Cultural District for two years and are currently expanding,” Wos said. “It seems that every two years something new and big happens with us.” The new gallery will be in the adjoining building to its current 945 Liberty Avenue location. The second gallery will allow the small cartoon museum to triple in size. “It will really allow us to explore a lot more of our permanent collection and display some of the things that people expect to see when they come to a cartoon museum,” Wos said. “When people come to a cartoon museum, they expect to see a SpongeBob production cel and sketches or they expect to see Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny. We will have that, but it will also give us the advantage of being able to create an area where we can do more adult-oriented material.” The ToonSeum has been hard at work planning upcoming events and exhibits. The launch of the Lou Scheimer Gallery will jumpstart utilization of the expansion with the events for the year.
Early next year, the ToonSeum will feature an exhibit on comic strips called One Fine Sunday, another on African American animation called Funky Turns Forty, and an exhibit of work created by Will Eisner, a prominent graphic novelist. The museum even has plans to have a cocktail party that will feature a Playboy exhibit. The ToonSeum has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Village Voice. They’ve also been invited to present panels at the San Diego Comicon and the New York Comicon. “We are clearly taking our message beyond our four walls, we are spreading the gospel of comics,” Wos said. Pittsburgh, New York and San Francisco are currently the only cities in the United States with cartoon art museums. “It puts us in the same unique company with the Andy Warhol museum and the Mattress Factory, which I think are the other two museums that are uniquely Pittsburgh,” Wos said. “If you think of what they represent, it’s that Pittsburgh is pop culture, and I think that’s what we represent too.”
Class clowns get to make ‘em laugh January 19, 2012 By ANDY GRAY Tribune Chronicle , Tribune Chronicle | TribToday.com
As someone who grew up in the '70s watching ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,'' a new exhibition at Toonseum in Pittsburgh has a nostalgic tug for me. ''Funky Turns 40: The Black Character Revolution'' looks at the animated portrayals of black characters, which were all but nonexistent until the 1970s. The changes caused by the Civil Rights movement of the '50s and '60s could be seen in many places, including the Saturday morning cartoons of the '70s. In addition to ''Fat Albert,'' children watched ''Josie and the Pussycats,'' and animated versions of The Harlem Globetrotters, the Jackson Five and Muhammad Ali during the decade. ''Funky Turns Forty'' features original production cels and drawings from those animated series. The exhibition runs through March 10 and Toonseum (located at 945 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh) is celebrating the opening with a "Na-na-na Gonna Have a Good Time!" party from 8 to 10:30 p.m. Jan. 27. The event will feature screenings of '70s cartoons and classic funk from DJ Orlando BusCrates Marshall. Tickets are $5 for Toonseum members and $10 for non-members. Andy Gray is the entertainment writer for the Tribune Chronicle. Write to him at grayareas@ tribtoday.com
“Na-na-na Gonna Have a Good Time!” at the ToonSeum After-Crawl Party! Friday, Jan 27 8:00p at The ToonSeum, Pittsburgh, PA Price: $10 for non-members; $5 for members Phone: (412) 232-0199 The ToonSeum is about to get funky. Join us as we celebrate the opening of the ToonSeum's newest exhibition, “Funky Turns 40: The Black Character Revolution.” As the Gallery Crawl comes to an end in the Cultural District, the party at the ToonSeum will be just beginning with DJ Orlando BusCrates Marshall spinning classic funk. We also will be screening classic '70s cartoons in the main gallery. Wear your '70s best. Beer, wine and other refreshments will be served.
Opening January 18th Funky Turns 40 The ToonSeum and the Museum of Uncut Funk present Funky Turns Forty, an exhibit celebrating the legacy of the first wave of positive Black animated characters of the 1970s. Until the Civil Rights movement of the late 1950s and 60s, African-Americans were treated as second-class citizens. While prevalent in music and popular culture, Blacks still faced extreme political, economic, and social prejudices. In comics and animation, Blacks were largely ignored or were depicted in broad, derogatory stereotypes. But as laws and attitudes began to shift, the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s became a direct conduit of social change, introducing a host of new Black characters. For the first time, audiences were exposed to positive, relatable images of Black life through animated series like Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Jackson 5ive, Josie and the Pussycats, I Am The Greatest, The Harlem Globetrotters and Star Trek: The Animated Series. Funky Turns Forty presents a retrospective of original production cels and drawings from this turning point in cartoon history where Black and White animators created positive Black characters and Black-centric stories for all to enjoy. A special exhibit in the Lou Scheimer Gallery at the ToonSeum will focus on the art of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Fat Albert was animated by Filmation and produced by Pittsburgh native and gallery namesake Lou Scheimer. “The ToonSeum is proud to showcase this important period in animation history,” said ToonSeum Executive Director Joe Wos. “This is a unique opportunity to highlight the role that animation has played in promoting diversity, equality, and pathos.” Funky Turns 40 is co-curated by Pamela Thomas of the Museum of Uncut Funk. The exhibition runs January 18th Through March 10th. For more information visit www.toonseum.org Or call 412-232-0199