Brew reader Chris Olson found an old issue of POPULAR MECHANICS with a behind-the-scenes look at the making of PINOCCHIO, and he was kind enough to make scans of the article for other Brew readers to see. The PM issue (volume 1, no. 73) was released in January 1940, a month before the film was released. The article emphasizes the technical aspects of the production, and includes some bizarre and incredible photos, such as the “mad scientist”-looking sound fx guys above. Other photos show people mixing cel paint dyes, toying around with electrical equipment, painting puppets and doing all types of things that one doesn’t typically associate with an animated production.

It’s also interesting to note that not a single artist is identified in the photo captions or article. The only person named is Walt Disney. I’ll try to right that wrong by identifying a few of the individuals. The story artists on the title page are (left to right) Ted Sears, Otto Englander and Webb Smith. The animator at top of page 6 is, of course, Bill Tytla, and the woman painting the model of Pinocchio on page 7 is Helen Nerbovig (who also happened to be the wife of background painter Bob McIntosh). If you can identify other people, let me know.

UPDATE: Michael Sporn writes that the animator looking at the fox on the second page is Norm Ferguson.

UPDATE #2: Jeff Peterson writes that the model maker with the clock at the bottom of page 7 is Bob Jones. There was an interview with him in Issue 37 of THE E TICKET.

(click on images for bigger versions)

Starting tomorrow, Frederator Studios establishes ReFrederator.com, a daily vintage cartoon video podcast - and you don’t even need an iPod to enjoy it. ReFrederator will feature classic public domain cartoons with Mighty Mouse, Daffy Duck, Betty Boop, Little Lulu, Felix the Cat, and many many more favorites as well as numerous miscellaneous ComiColor shorts, Merrie Melodies and Rainbow Parades.New episodes will appear daily Monday through Friday, grouped into weekly themes. The first week features a Mother Goose theme, beginning with a 1935 Humpty Dumpty cartoon from Ub Iwerks, followed by Mighty Mouse in Wolf! Wolf! (1945) and the Oscar-nominated Pigs in a Polka (1943) by Friz Freleng. The week will wrap up with Poor Cinderella (1934) the only color Betty Boop cartoon, and Foney Fables (1942) a parody of Disney fairy tales.Programming for ReFrederator is headed by producer Eric Homan and illustrator, cartoonist, and scholar Dave Kirwan. For a free subscription, search ReFrederator in the iTunes Podcast Directory, or visit ReFrederator.com and click “subscribe.” They also have a dandy ReFrederator Store featuring a cool Leslie Cabarga logo on a variety of shirts, backpacks and undergaments.

Disney got Oswald from NBC-Universal - now NBC gets revenge in this brilliant parody telecast last night on NBC’s Saturday Nignt Live. Watch it now before Disney sues SNL, and NBC yanks it fron Youtube.(Thanks, Rick Ewing)

Two very good animated shorts, both nominated for an Oscar in 1995, have turned up on YouTube. In the short but amusing BIG STORY, a stop motion Kirk Douglas argues with himself. The film was directed by David Stoten and Tim Watts.

Michael Dudok de Wit’s THE MONK AND THE FISH is a beautifully designed and animated short by an artist who understands how to use the animation medium to tell a story. I’m sure many have already seen this short, but if you haven’t, here’s your chance.

MEET THE ROBINSONS trailer here.

There’s a solid animation lecture series currently happening at London’s Science Museum in conjunction with the Pixar: 20 Years of Animation exhibition. The series - Talk Animation! - continues through June 9. Upcoming speaker highlights include directing duo Smith & Foulkes, Philip Hunt of Studio aka, and stop motion director Barry Purves. More details HERE.

The Tale of How is a mostly CG animated short produced by the South African animation collective Blackheart Gang. Credits are Marcus Wormstorm (music, writer), Cherie “Ree” Treweek (design/illustration), Jannes Hendrikz (creative director/2D animation and compositing) and Justin Baker (lead CG animator). According to the filmmakers, the story is about an octopus named Otto, “and he’s an island that all the Piranha birds live on. His broken heart has made him mean, and he eats piranhas even though he’s not hungry.” The lush, densely layered visuals look completely unlike anything else out there. Blackheart Gang doesn’t fall into the all-too common trap of using computer animation to make photorealistic art, instead creating a fluid and organic world that draws upon the tradition of illustrators like Rackham, Nielsen and Beardsley.
(Thanks, Craig Clark)

Here’s some fresh talent. Two young Dutch animators, Joost van den Bosch and Erik Verkerk (Ka-Ching Cartoons), have posted a test section of their new film, a clever, well designed CG piece produced to look like paper cut-outs in stop-motion animation. Bosch and Verkerk developed this idea as a concept for a television series during their graduation at the Arts Academy in Rotterdam. According to them:

“It comes from an old tradition in the Netherlands of young children using old shoeboxes to make small theatres from cardboard figures. Through one small round opening on one side of the box one can look at the small motionless stages in 3D. The lid of the box can be used for lighting the ’stage’. It is called a ‘kijkdoos’, a looking-box. Like a 3D drawing. In our animated series, thirteen short adventures come to life in ’shoebox’ style.We are both very big fans of the old 30’s cartoons and wanted to make something that was influenced by that era - and hopefully can create films that will be as timeless funny as they are. At the same time we thought it would be nice to combine it with this old dutch tradition of making these lookingboxes which pushed us into the style it is right now. At the moment we are in production on our graduation film, which will be the pilot for the series, and will be finished at the end of June. The producers at il Luster Productions already are making plans to develop it into a real televison series.”

The completed film is going to be about ten minutes (six minutes of animation and four minutes of live action). We wish them luck. More information on their website.