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John Maher

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John Maher is senior news and digital editor at Publishers Weekly and has written about animation, books, and culture since 2014. In 2021, with Vulture's Eric Vilas-Boas, he won the New York Press Club's 2021 Critical Arts Review Award for Internet Writing for “The 100 Sequences That Shaped Animation”.

  1. somewhere out there
    Don Bluth’s Animated Feature Films, RankedThe Anastasia director trusts kids to process life’s dark moments.
  2. summer preview
    13 Animated Films and TV Shows We Can’t Wait to See This SummerThe Belchers and Buzz Lightyear hit the big screen, while South Park continues its streaming-special blitz.
  3. viewing guide
    A Guide to the Pre-Ghibli Work of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao TakahataAnd where to stream them — if you can.
  4. animation
    Cartoon Network Studios Has Some New Ideas for Getting New IdeasAmid a scorching market for animation, the revered studio wants to reassert its place as a destination for innovators.
  5. viewing guide
    A Guide to the Anime Auteur Satoshi KonThe brilliant and bizarre works of the late filmmaker are streaming for free through April 10.
  6. best of 2021
    The Best Animation of 2021The medium had a year as rich and remarkable as any in recent memory.
  7. backstories
    New Rugrats Is Making New ‘Traditions’A modernized revival of the animated series is determined to honor the franchise’s legacy — including its beloved holiday specials.
  8. close reads
    Infinity Train Outgrew Its Audience — and Grew Better for ItThe animated series’s cancellation over the lack of “a child entry point” underestimates what audiences of all ages are capable of enjoying.
  9. own things
    FAYE VALENTINE JET BLACK EDWARD & SPIKE SPIEGEL COWBOY BEBOP: TENGOKU NO TOBIRA (2001)
    10 Eye-Popping Deals on Animation DVD and Blu-ray Box SetsHD remasters and hours of special features make these Amazon Prime Day specials enticing.
  10. now streaming
    Watch These Anime to Fill the Bloody Castlevania-Shaped Hole in Your HeartNetflix’s action-packed gorefest has ended, but there’s a whole world of sanguinary anime out there to slake your bloodlust.
  11. animation
    Craig McCracken Talks Taking on Serialized Superheroics in Kid CosmicFor his first streaming series, Netflix’s new Kid Cosmic, animator Craig McCracken didn’t want to just make “another campy parody of superheroes.”
  12. vulture recommends
    Winter Time Is Hilda TimeThe Netflix series is the hygge of all-ages animation.
  13. how everything works
    How to Make an Animaniacs Song That Truly Captures Life in 2020More than 100 people and 240 hours went into the catchy opening segment of the revival.
  14. hardest things
    The Hardest Thing I Ever AnimatedSixteen animators and artists from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, BoJack Horseman, Rick and Morty, Toy Story, and more recall their toughest gigs.
  15. animation
    What a Cartoon! Allowed a Generation of Animators to ‘Take Back Our Cartoons’The anthology series and talent incubator What a Cartoon! tapped animation’s past to push the form into a new ’90s golden age.
  16. animation
    10 Tragically, Irretrievably Lost Pieces of Animation HistoryFrom Disney’s Martha to a Russian version of The Hobbit, some of the most intriguing cartoons have vanished into history’s great scrap heap.
  17. good cries
    Movies About Life Are Movies About Death. Ask the Director of Land Before Time.Don Bluth on depicting life’s tragedies alongside its moments of tenderness and joy.
  18. vulture lists
    The 100 Most Influential Sequences in Animation HistoryFrom Bugs Bunny to Spike Spiegel to Miles Morales, retracing 128 years of an art form that continues to draw us all in.
  19. close reads
    Steven Universe: The Movie Is All About Doing the WorkLike the beloved series that precedes it, the movie is a beautiful, ambitious users’ manual for those learning to love themselves and others.
  20. profile
    Kristen Arnett, Queer Meme Master, Does Not Want to Explain Ravioli to YouThe internet’s favorite librarian talks about her debut novel, Mostly Dead Things.
  21. kids these days
    For the Country’s Best Teen Poets, Poetry Is ActivismHonorees of the National Student Poets Program, threatened under Trump, fight for the personal and political power of verse.
  22. money
    Michelle Obama Memoir Continues to Steamroll Every Other Book Released This YearAnd more tour dates were added.
  23. on the books
    Did Michelle Obama Really Sell 2 Million Books in 15 Days? An Investigation.The former First Lady’s book is already this year’s biggest seller. But how do we know the exact numbers?