Russell Merritt is an adjunct professor in film studies at UC Berkeley and author, with J.B. Kaufman, of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies.

Intrigued by the idea of seeing her drawings move, Sally Cruikshank learned to animate while in college. Her love of surreal 1930s cartoons, as well as her desire to make her own amusement park, is evident in her wildly colorful and wonderfully detailed films. The psychedelic Quasi at the Quackadero, named to the National Film Registry in 2009, and other exuberant vehicles star a recurring cast of animalesque characters, one voiced by Cruikshank, and were made while she lived in San Francisco. In addition to a selection of her animation films, Cruikshank will also present short music animations she made for Sesame Street.