Michael Hirsh, co-founder and head of three of the animation industries’ biggest companies–Nelvana, Cookie Jar Entertainment, and WOW! Unlimited Media, has written a memoir about the founding of the companies in Animation Nation: How We Built a Cartoon Empire.
The book also delves into the stories behind some of the companies’ most popular creations– the animated segment from the Star Wars Holiday Special that introduced the character of Boba Fett, as well as the Saturday morning animated Star Wars series Droids and Ewoks, Babar, Inspector Gadget, Caillou, The Magic School Bus, The Care Bears Movie, The Berenstain Bears,The Adventures of Tintin, Franklin, and many more.
The book arrives on July 23rd, and Michael will be making an appearance at San Diego Comic Con on July 25th in a panel at 10am, followed by a book signing at Stuart Ng Books Booth (#5012) at noon.
Michael talked about the book in a fantastic interview with Cherry the Geek TV. He told stories of how some of his most popular programs got made, talked about the making of the Star Wars cartoons and his relationship with George Lucas, spoke about working with iconic personalities like Mr. T and Roseanne, and how he gave up the rights to an animated Batman to get the rights to make an animated version of Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, which won him his first Emmy.
You can watch the full interview by clicking on the link below:
Animation Nation: How We Built a Cartoon Empire is available from Sutherland House Books.
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