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Remember when animation used to be lively? Full of verve? Even – dare I say it – playful? I’m back with another sterling example of the genius of John and Faith Hubley; this time it’s 1958’s The Tender Game, about the process of a young man and woman falling in love. There is a wealth of wonderful things to celebrate here, so let’s start with the music: Ella Fitzgerald sings the beautiful ballad, “Tenderly,” backed up and extended by The Oscar Peterson Trio. Um, wow. Bob Kurtz and I have been searching in vain for years for a clean recording of this track, which features these stellar talents at their jazzy prime. Apparently, this track was recorded during the same 1954 sessions Hubley had for his sadly uncompleted feature film, Finian’s Rainbow, where he not only had Ella and Oscar, but also Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra, and a host of other jazz and big band legends. But that’s another story…..

Then there’s the design. Abstract, offbeat, amorphous shapes, rendered in a style more far more painterly than cel paint, that somehow still manage to convey life, personality, and, especially, emotion. This is ably supported and abetted by fantastic character animation by the likes of Bobe Cannon, Emery Hawkins, Ed Smith and Jack Schnerk. (“Who?” I hear you cry.) Jack Schnerk was a veteran animator with a resume from both Hollywood and New York, and I had the pleasure of watching him work on Raggedy Ann and Andy in the mid-70’s. When I first saw this film, it was a 16mm print that Mike Sporn showed me from his private collection. As it unspooled, we got to the piece-de-resistance scene of the two lovers awkwardly sitting on the couch and eventually breaking down their defenses. It knocked me out then, and it still does now. Mike said, “Jack Schnerk animated that scene.” Milt Kahl it’s not. Charming, funny, honest, sensitive, and beautifully timed and observed it is. Cannon’s and Hawkins’ animation of the guy and girl trying to get each other to notice in the park is nothing short of breathtaking: funny, elegant, non-realistic, fluid, sensual, giddy, graphic, playful, expressive, and accessible – despite the abstraction, there is never a moment when we don’t know who is who or what they are feeling. The Hubleys were the absolute masters of this type of animation, and no one ever did more to marry the concepts of jazz, modern art, and the animation medium. This, and The Adventures of *, are my all-time favorite films of theirs.

I could go on and on, and usually do. But action, of course, speaks louder than words so hit the screen below and see what I’m raving about in glorious sound, color and movement.

13 Comments »   posted in Animators

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How to Draw “Fleischer”

December 27, 2008 12:40 pm

Comic art collector Eric Sack is an old friend who has perhaps the finest collection of original underground comix art in the United States – and he has recently post most of it online.

Of specific interest to Cartoon Brew readers is Sack’s original art to what I consider a Holy Grail item: a mid-30s illustrated book by two ace Fleischer Studio animators, Tom Johnson and Bern E. Wolf (aka Bernie Wolf): CARTOONS: How To Draw ‘Em and Make ‘em Move. The art is chockfull of examples of how to make funny drawings, Fleischer style. Was this thing ever published?

But that’s NOT all! Sack has accumulated all kinds of stuff on the periphery of 30s animation. Check out the material listed erroneously under Terrytoons, featuring pinback button art for super-obscure characters like Van Beuren’s Waffles and Al, and Boyd La Vero’s Marty Monk! Also click on this background from Lantz and art created by my buddy Leslie Cabarga. Great stuff all – Thanks, Eric!

5 Comments »   posted in Classic

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Roger Ebert Raves about Sita Sings the Blues

December 26, 2008 10:09 am

Roger Ebert has discovered Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues and he’s written a lengthy piece raving about how wonderful it is. Among other things, he writes:

“I am enchanted. I am swept away. I am smiling from one end of the film to the other. It is astonishingly original. It brings together four entirely separate elements and combines them into a great whimsical chord.”

and

“One remarkable thing about “Sita Sings the Blues” is how versatile the animation is. Paley works entirely in 2-D with strict rules, so that characters remain within their own plane, which overlaps with others. This sounds like a limitation. Actually, it is the source of much amusement. Comedy often depends on the device of establishing unbreakable rules and then finding ways to cheat on them and surprise you. The laughs Paley gets here with 2-D would be the envy of an animator in 3-D. She discovers dimensions where none exist.”

I think it also says a lot about Ebert’s passion and love for cinema that he’s written such a long piece about a film that nobody can currently see and which has no shot at commercial distribution because of copyright issues. Ebert is not only writing about how much he likes it but has also arranged for it to screen at his personal film festival in April 2009 at the University of Illinois. We’re delighted at Cartoon Brew that Ebert is putting his weight behind the film since both Jerry Beck and myself feel that it’s an incredible accomplishment within the animation art form.

Read Roger Ebert’s article here.

UPDATE: Nina Paley has just posted her distribution plan.

33 Comments »   posted in Feature Film, Flash

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The Fine Art of Animator Len Glasser

December 26, 2008 7:13 am

Did you know that legendary animation director Len Glasser is also a prolific fine artist. This video shows examples of his metal sculptures, paintings and furniture designs.

Though Glasser spent years working in commercial animation and live-action film, he studied fine art in school. During the 1950s while attending the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, he had an impressive group of art and design teachers including Armin Hofmann, Franz Kline, Melville Price and S. Neil Fujita.

Here are a couple examples of Len’s TV commercials:

4 Comments »   posted in Animators

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Huck, Yogi and Magilla Gorilla at Disneyland

December 26, 2008 12:36 am

Reader Keith Bryant made this unusual observation while watching the Disney Treasures DVD Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic:

There’s an old episode of The Wonderful World of Color, “Disneyland Around the Seasons” (1966), where they show the Disneyland Christmas parade. If you look closely at Santa Claus’ float you’ll see dozens of generic toys and NONE of them seem to be licenced Disney character toys (although, a large teddy bear is wearing a t-shirt that says “Winnie the Pooh but the bear doesn’t look at all like him). However, if you look even closer, you can see a fairly large plush Magilla Gorilla. Imagine that, a Disneyland parade (circa 1966) and a Hanna-Barbera toy is on the float! Could you imagine that happening today?!? Howze that for Disney Christmas trivia?

Not bad! I spotted what looks like a Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear doll as well (see blow-up below). I agree, Santa would never get away with that today.

9 Comments »   posted in Disney

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