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Desert Island Series....Be sure to bring a power source for TV!

Clare Kitson, John Coates, Gerry Travers, Fred Seibert, and Phil Roman

When I reflect on autumn and what it means to me, I think of the season's beauty, fuzzy sweaters, kid's lunch boxes (with plenty of twinkies), and what I look forward to most--the new toons to hit the tube! International Television is this month's focus, so I spoke to the executives that graciously make it happen day in and day out: Clare Kitson, Commissioning Editor for Animation at Channel 4 in the UK; John Coates founder of TVC, in London; Gerry Travers, Marketing and Distribution Manager for Energee Entertainment, in Sydney; Fred Seibert, President, Hanna Barbera and Phil Roman, President, Film Roman, both in Los Angeles.

DesertIs3.gifCrapston Villas. Courtesy of Channel4. DesertIs1.gifThe Yellow Submarine. © TVC-London.

Clare Kitson's top 10 picks...OK, she couldn't resist--12 picks....

1. Some Like It Hot by Billy Wilder2. The Major and the Minor by Billy Wilder3. One, Two, Three by Billy Wilder (a big Wilder fan as you see)4. Singin' In the Rain by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen 5. The Lady-Killers by Alexander Mackendrick (the only British entrant, how sad)6. The Lady With the Dog by Joseph Heifitz7. No End by Krzysztof Kieslowski8. The Street by Caroline Leaf9. The Big Snit by Richard Condie10. The Tale of Tales by Yuri Norstein11. The Wrong Trousers by Nick Park12. The Cow by Alexander Petrov

John Coates'...

"We grew up at TVC making TV commercials--nearly 1,500 of them-- and it wasn't until we made The Yellow Submarine that I realized that it was really fun to entertain people. By Christmas this year, we will have completed one cinema feature, two TV features, and thirteen half-hour TV specials in the past fifteen years. Hopefully they will have entertained millions of people around the world and we have certainly had a lot of fun making them."

1. The Go Between by Joseph Losey2. Au revoir les enfants by Louis Malle3. Blow Up by Michelangelo Antonioni4. North by Northwest by Alfred Hitchcock5. Casablanca by Michael Curtiz6. Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa7. Pinocchio by Walt Disney8 The Man Who Planted Trees by Frederic Back9. Granpa by Dianna Jackson10. The Wrong Trousers by Nick Park

Gerry Travers'...

1. The Wizard of Oz by Victor Fleming2. The Manchurian Candidate by John Frankenheimer3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Walt Disney4. Crocodile Dundee by Peter Faiman5. F Troop (series) produced by William T. Orr & Hy Averback6. Fritz The Cat by Ralph Bakshi7. The Jungle Book by Walt Disney8. Droopy cartoons by MGM

Fred Seibert's...

"Working with cartoons has been amazing. The talented animators and the people who support them are the best kind of colleagues to have. Traveling around the world and watching people laugh with films I've been lucky enough to touch is one experience that can not be duplicated."

1. Rock n Roll High School by Alan Arkush2. Car Wash by Michael Schultz3. Bringing Up Baby by Howard Hawks4. The Godfather (all three) by Francis Ford Coppola5. The Dick Van Dyke Show (series) produced by Carl Reiner6. Missing by Costa Graves7. A Hard Day's Night by Richard Lester8. Looney Tunes by various directors9. North by Northwest by Alfred Hitchcock10. The Fugitive (series) produced by Quinn Martin

Phil Roman's...

1. Bambi by Walt Disney2. The Wizard of Oz by Victor Fleming3. It's A Wonderful Life by Frank Capra4. Some Like It Hot by Billy Wilder5. Singin' in the Rain by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen 6. Pinocchio by Walt Disney7. Doctor Zhivago by David Lean8. Who Framed Roger Rabbit by Robert Zemeckis9. Roman Holiday by William Wyler10 The Last Emperor by Bernardo Bertolucci

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