Here’s another historical curiosity courtesy of animator Mike Kazaleh.

Songwriter Mel Leven (“Cruella de Vil” for 101 Dalmatians) wrote many songs which were turned into mini-musicals for UPA’s Boing Boing Show (1956). Two of his most famous were Three Horned Flink (Fred Crippen animated and directed, above, from a design by Jimmy Murakami) and Fight On For Old (dirty print transfer embed below, directed by Ernest Pintoff, designed and animated by Fred Crippen).

The Boing Boing Show came and went in the late 50s, but Leven apparently felt his songs were worth another shot. In 1959, with UPA’s approval, Verve Records released a single featuring “Fight on for Old” backed-with “Three Horned Flink”. Says Kazaleh:

“These were recorded in 1959 after the “Boing Boing Show” was finished. Notice these are different arrangements from the versions used on the show. While researching UPA and Bobe Cannon, I had several visits with Mel Leven. On one of the visits he loaned me his copy of the 45rpm. I took it home and taped it, now I’ve digitized it for your pleasure.”

Once again, neither song attained mass popularity. In fact, both the films and the record are some of the most obscure productions UPA ever made. They shouldn’t be – Leven’s tunes (and his voice on Flink) are quite charming. You can see the original UPA versions above and can hear both sides of the 1959 single after the jump:
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16 Comments »   posted in Classic, Ernest Pintoff, Fred Crippen, Mel Leven, UPA

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Rare Terrytoon Draft for “Indian Pudding”

January 9, 2011 12:05 am

Here’s one for the historians.

Colleagues like Hans Perk have long celebrated and studied rare animators drafts (aka “dope sheets”) from Disney films. With these documents, one can trace who-animated-what in classic Disney features and shorts. Such records were also kept at Warner Bros., Fleischer and other studios (I posted a sample Fleischer draft here) but, outside of Disney, these were rarely saved or archived.

The Museum of Modern Art’s Film Study Center has some incredible Terrytoon files dating from the early 30s. From there comes this draft from one of the first (the fifth, to be exact) of Paul Terry’s sound cartoons: Indian Pudding (released April 6th, 1930). As noted on the draft below (click thumbnails to enlarge) the animation began January 10th and was finished January 28th – three weeks – and the final film was in theaters ten weeks later.

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11 Comments »   posted in Classic, Indian Pudding, Paul Terry, Terrytoons

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Butler and Messick in “Blooper’s Soap Revisited”

January 7, 2011 6:30 pm

Everyone who loves the classic cartoon vocalizations of Daws Butler, Don Messick and June Foray is in for a real treat. Animator Mike Kazaleh found this rare recording in his collection and gave us the okay to post it online.

Mike says, “This is actually a sequel to another record. The first record took place at a recording studio as an animation director (played by Herschel Bernardi) is attempting to record a line of ad copy with actor “Morey Ziduals” (played by Shepard Menkin) while advertising man “Miltown Jag” (played by Daws Butler) is present. In this, the follow up, Daws Butler reprises his role as Miltown Jag with Don Messick as copywriter “Herb.” Doug Young and June Foray join in the fun.”

Blooper’s Soap Revisited is a 7″ record playing at 33 1/3 rpm. Note the wonderful Tee Hee caricature on the label. Was this released publicly – or (as I suspect) was this meant to be a voice demo for advertising work? It contains too many inside references to be something the general public would appreciate. All I know is, I certainly appreciate hearing this rare recording from the golden era of TV animation. Click the audio player embed after the jump to hear it.
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12 Comments »   posted in Classic, Daws Butler, Don Messick, June Foray

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“The Apple” by George Dunning

December 15, 2010 2:11 am

Tonight, a rarity: The Apple won a BAFTA (British equivalent of the Oscars) in 1963. It was directed by Yellow Submarine director George Dunning, and designed by some guy named Richard Williams.

CREDITS (via Ephemeral Film’s YouTube page)
Studio: TVC (London)
Production and Direction: George Dunning
Idea and story: Stan Hayward
Design and Storyboard: Richard Williams
Animation: Tony Gearty, Mike Stuart, Alan Ball, Jack Stokes, Charlie Jenkins, George Dunning
Music: Ernst Naser
Camera: John Williams
Sound and Editing: Alex Rayment

9 Comments »   posted in Classic, Shorts, George Dunning, Richard Williams, UK

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“The Return of Count Spirochete” (1973)

December 14, 2010 12:05 am

Just in time to cash in on the Twilight craze – (Not!) – someone posted on You Tube this anti-venereal disease educational film, produced for the Navy Medical Center in 1973, which casts Syphilis as a vampire. Oh, and in case you want to own a physical copy of this masterpiece, The US Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service will sell it to you on video — on VHS — for just $55!

(via Armed With Science)

8 Comments »   posted in Classic, educational film

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Sunday Morning Cheesecake

December 12, 2010 3:00 am

That doll is HOT… and the girl is cute, too!

(Thanks, Devlin Thompson via RetroZone)

31 Comments »   posted in Classic, Bugs Bunny

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French animated STD film from 1918

December 8, 2010 1:00 am

Your history lesson for today: Europa Film Archives is a gold mine – posting dozens of rare cinematic treasures from various European archives, including many obscure animated shorts. Lobster Films donated this one: a 1918 syphilis prevention film, On doit le dire (You Have To Say It). It’s quite effective in communicating its message – and its cut-out technique holds up rather well. It was animated by Marius Rossillon (aka O’Galop), creator of the “Michelin Man“!

Check it out here.

(Thanks, Floyd Bishop)

12 Comments »   posted in Classic, France, STD

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When ABC believed in Cartoons

November 28, 2010 1:05 am

Here’s a unique vintage promo for ABC’s Saturday morning programming that was aimed at adults. Shown in prime time during summer 1973, actor Michael Constantine (then of Room 222) extols the virtues of Yogi Bear – whom he says will now face off against such “real life” villians such as “Mr. Bigot” and “Mr. Smog” – and other pro-social animated series like Scholastic Rock (The less said about Goober and The Ghost Chasers the better). “Let’s face it – kids love to watch cartoons.”

(Thanks, Mike Kazaleh)

44 Comments »   posted in Classic, TV, saturday morning

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