9 Comments »   posted in Animators, Feature Film

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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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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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Christmas Cards by Ollie Johnston

December 25, 2008 11:55 am

Check out this rare collection of holiday cards by Disney legend Ollie Johnston from the 1980s and ’90s. They’re from the collection of Pete Emslie.

4 Comments »   posted in Animators

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A Blog for Animation Legend Fred Moore

December 16, 2008 11:52 am

This Spanish blog is a one-stop source for Freddie Moore animation drawings, girlie sketches and photos filched from around the Internet. There’s two Moore drawings I posted a while back on Cartoon Brew which still haven’t been added to the collection.

And here’s a question I have for all you Fred Moore historians out there. In some recent research I’ve been doing, I discovered that Moore was freelancing outside of Disney between 1942 and 1943 for Swan Soap. He apparently created a character called “Betty Lou” as well as some gag cartoons. Does anybody know what these are? I’ve looked online at Swan Soap ad campaigns of the period and can’t find anything that suggests Moore’s artistic involvement with the company.

(Moore blog link via Michael Sporn)

11 Comments »   posted in Animators, Disney

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MGM Shorts Story

December 15, 2008 3:00 am

Here’s something you may not have seen. During the 1930s, MGM published a bi-monthly in-house magazine, MGM Shorts Story devoted to its numerous short subjects. Distributed primarily to its exhibitors and Loews Theatre managers, the oversized slick magazine devoted many of its pages to its latest cartoons and occasionally featured a cover story related to its animation studio. The November-December 1939 issue took a closer look at Harman Ising with this article below.

This is basically a studio publicity piece, but its interesting to note Harman and Ising defending their use of animal characters (over humans) and the spin that having no “star characters” frees them to experiment with different ideas. (Click thumbnails below to read):

5 Comments »   posted in Animators, Classic

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