Of all the posthumous get-togethers I’ve thought up for this strip, this is the one I most eagerly wish to join.

Tex Avery’s quick wit and absurdist invention (especially during his time at MGM) has made me cry of laughter innumerable times, and Chuck Jones‘ Roadrunner is the best Albert Camus-approved antidepressant in the world. Some of you may be less familiar with Ward Kimball, but he’s a personal hero of mine. As the most idiosyncratic of the legendary Nine Old Men, he introduced 50s modernism to Disney, without ever losing a healthy appetetite for old-school “hurt gags” (which his über-modern peers at UPA so despised). Shorts like Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (1953) and Mars and Beyond (1957) belong to the very best animation ever produced.

Click on the titles for more information on Waltz With Bashir, Persepolis and Wall-E. Honorable mention: Sita Sings the Blues.

As far as Alan Smithee’s soft spot for a certain CGI Barbie is concerned: the less said the better.