Don’t Miss MoMA’s Amazing Tribute to Golden Age Technicolor Cartoons
Inside Out and WALL-E production designer Ralph Eggleston helps curate and introduce a standout selection of animated classics for the Museum of Modern Art’s ongoing 100th anniversary Technicolor celebration.
Also featuring historian John Canemaker and Disney Studios director of preservation Theo Gluck, MoMA’s brilliant bow to the multicolored technological innovation is screening strictly in vivid 35mm film for cinephiles. It should be a wide-ranging homage: Eggleston and MoMA film curator Josh Siegel have selected a steady diet of eye-popping works by Chuck Jones, Hanna-Barbera, Friz Freleng, Walt Disney, Ub Iwerks, and more, as well as canonical Disney features like Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi.
Canemaker — whose poignant, prescient John Lennon Sketchbook recently premiered on YouTube — lectures on “The Secrets of Walt Disney’s Movie Magic,” based on his remarkable biography of Disney technician Herman Schultheis, which will be followed by a screening of Fantasia.
The selections are a potent dose of reverence and remembrance, whose packed slate possibly presents one the last times that this many Technicolor classics will be available to experience on film. Below is MoMA’s breakdown of animation events. Ticket info and directions to the Manhattan museum can be found on their website.
A Splash of Technicolor: Exploring Color in Cartoons, 1930–1954
A program selected and introduced (on July 29) by Ralph Eggleston, a Pixar animator, art director (Toy Story, The Incredibles, Up), story developer (Monsters, Inc.), production designer (Inside Out, WALL-E) and Academy Award-winning director of the 2001 Pixar short For the Birds. Program includes:
Fiddlesticks
1930. USA. Directed by Ub Iwerks. 6 min.
What Makes Us Tick.
1952. USA. Produced by John Sutherland. Directed by Carl Urbano. 12 min.
The Aristo-Cat
1943. USA. Directed by Chuck Jones. Animation by Rudy Larriva. 7 min.
Wackiki Wabbit
1943. USA. Directed by Chuck Jones. Animation by Ken Harris. 7 min.
Trap Happy
1946. USA. Directed by Joseph Barbara, William Hanna. 7 min.
Bugs Bunny Rides Again
1948. USA. Directed by Friz Freleng. Animation by Ken Champin, Gerry Chiniquy, Manuel Perez, Virgil Ross. 7 min.
Texas Tom
1950. USA. Directed by Joseph Barbara, William Hanna. 7 min.
Dripalong Daffy
1951. USA. Directed by Chuck Jones. Animation by Ken Harris, Phil Monroe, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam. 7 min.
Claws for Alarm
1954. USA. Directed by Chuck Jones. Animation by Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Richard Thompson, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam. 7 min.
All films courtesy Warner Bros. Program 75 min.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015, 1:30 p.m., Theater 3, mezzanine, Education and Research Building (Introduced by Academy Award-winning animation filmmaker Ralph Eggleston)
Friday, July 31, 2015, 1:30 p.m., Theater 3, mezzanine, Education and Research Building
Disney Technicolor Cartoons [Program 1]
Mickey Mouse on Parade
1932. USA. Directed by Walt Disney. Animation by Joe Grant. 2 min.
Flowers and Trees
1932. USA. Directed by Burt Gillett. 8 min.
Lullaby Land
1933. USA. Directed by Wilfred Jackson. 7 min.
Goddess of Spring
1934. USA. Directed by Wilfred Jackson. Animation by Wolfgang Reitherman. 10 min.
The Band Concert
1935. USA. Directed by Wilfred Jackson. Animation by Johnny Cannon, Les Clark, Ugo D’Orsi, Frenchy de Tremaudan, Clyde Geronimi, Wolfgang Reitherman, and others. 9 min.
The Country Cousin
1936. USA. Directed by Wilfred Jackson. 7 min.
Music Land
1935. USA. Directed by Wilfred Jackson. 10 min.
The Old Mill
1937. USA. Directed by Wilfred Jackson. 9 min.
All films courtesy The Walt Disney Studios. Program 62 min.
Friday, July 31, 2015, 4:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (introduced by Theo Gluck, Director, Library Restoration and Preservation, The Walt Disney Studios)
Monday, August 3, 2015, 4:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1937. USA. Directed by David Hand, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen. Animated by James Algar, Art Babbitt, Les Clary, Shamus Culhane, Norman Ferguson, Joe Grant, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Hamilton Luske, Fred Moore, Eric Larson, Grim Natwick, Wolfgang Reitherman, Frank Thomas, Bill Tytla, and others.
Courtesy The Walt Disney Studios. 88 min.
Friday, July 31, 2015, 6:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Introduced by Theo Gluck, Director, Library Restoration and Preservation, The Walt Disney Studios)
Sunday, August 2, 2015, 3:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Fleischer, UPA, and Looney Tunes Technicolor Cartoons, 1938–1955
A program selected and introduced (on August 1) by Ralph Eggleston, a Pixar animator, art director (Toy Story, The Incredibles, Up), story developer (Monsters, Inc.), production designer (Inside Out, WALL-E) and Academy Award-winning director of the 2001 Pixar short For the Birds. Program includes:
Hunky and Spunky
1938. USA. Directed by Dave Fleischer. 35mm print courtesy the Academy Film Archive; courtesy Paramount Pictures. 8 min.
Terror on the Midway
1942. USA. Directed by Dave Fleischer. Animation by Orestes Calpini, Jim Davis. 8 min.
The Dover Boys
1942. USA. Directed by Chuck Jones. Animation by Robert Cannon. 9 min.
The Enchanted Square
1947. USA. Directed by Seymour Kneitel. Animation by Orestes Calpini, Al Eugster. 35mm print courtesy Paramount Pictures. 10 min.
Rooty Toot Toot
1951. USA. Directed by John Hubley. Animation by Art Babbitt, Pat Matthews, Tom McDonald, Grim Natwick. 7 min.
The Oompahs
1952. USA. Directed by Robert Cannon. Animation by Roger Daley, Bill Melendez, Frank Smith. 7 min.
Little Boy with a Big Horn
1953. USA. Directed by Robert Cannon. Animation by Tom McDonald, Bill Melendez, Frank Smith. 7 min.
Christopher Crumpet’s Playmate
1955. USA. Directed by Robert Cannon. Animation by Barney Posner, Frank Smith, Alan Zaslove. 6 min.
Hyde and Hare
1955. USA. Directed by Friz Freleng. Animation by Ted Bonnicksen, Gerry Chiniquy, Arthur Davis, Virgil Ross. 7 min.
Deduce You Say
1955. USA. Directed by Chuck Jones. Animation by Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Richard Thompson, Ben Washam. 7 min.
Program 83 min.
Saturday, August 1, 2015, 1:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Introduced by Academy Award-winning animation filmmaker Ralph Eggleston)
Wednesday, August 5, 2015, 1:30 p.m., Theater 3, mezzanine, Education and Research Building
Bambi
1942. USA. Directed by James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright. Screenplay by Perce Pearce, based on the story by Felix Salten. Animated by Ollie Johnson, Milt Kahl, Eric Larson, Don Lusk, Frank Thomas, Marc Davis, Preston Blair, Tyrus Wong, and others.
Courtesy The Academy Film Archive and The Walt Disney Studios. 70 min.
Saturday, August 1, 2015, 4:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (10-minute introduction by Academy Award-winning animation filmmaker Ralph Eggleston)
Tuesday, August 4, 2015, 4:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
The Secrets of Walt Disney’s Movie Magic: A John Canemaker Lecture and Screening of Fantasia
The dazzling special effects in Walt Disney’s early Technicolor features, most notably Fantasia (1940), have fascinated generations of viewers, though the secrets behind their creation were long forgotten, even within the studio. John Canemaker, author of The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis and the Secrets of Walt Disney’s Movie Magic (Weldon Owen, 2014), explores the complex mechanical and optical processes that enabled Disney to delight the eye with dancing snowflakes, flying wraiths, erupting volcanoes, and other visual treats, as detailed in a recently discovered notebook, compiled by photographer and effects specialist Schultheis during his 1938-41 tenure at Disney. A Q&A and screening of Fantasia (1940) follows Canemaker’s one-hour lecture. A book signing of The Lost Notebook precedes the lecture in the Titus 1 gallery at 5:45pm.
Fantasia
1940. USA. Directed by Norman Ferguson, and others. Screenplay by Joe Grant, Dick Huemer. Animated by Art Babbitt, Preston Blair, Les Clark, Ugo D’Orsi, Norman Ferguson, Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Walt Kelly, Ollie Johnston, and others. With Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor, Corey Burton.
Courtesy The Walt Disney Studios. 125 min.
Saturday, August 1, 2015, 6:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Introduced by John Canemaker)
Tuesday, August 4, 2015, 6:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Disney Technicolor Cartoons [Program 2]
Lullaby Land
1933. USA. Directed by Wilfred Jackson. 7 min.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
1938. USA. Directed by Graham Heid. Animation by Art Palmer, Izzy Klein, George Rowley, Stan Quackenbush, and others. 8 min.
Ferdinand the Bull
1938. USA. Directed by Dick Rickard. Animation by Bernard Garbutt, Hamilton Luske, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Don Lusk, and others. 8 min.
The Brave Little Tailor
1938. USA. Directed by Bill Roberts. Animation by Fred Moore, Bill Tytla, Don Patterson, Milt Schaffer, Les Clark, Ollie Johnson, Frank Thomas, and others. 9 min.
The Ugly Duckling
1939. USA. Directed by Jack Cutting. 9 min.
Chicken Little
1943. USA. Directed by Clyde Geronimi. Animation by Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, John Lounsbery, Norman Tate. 8 min.
The Brave Engineer
1950. USA. Directed by Jack Kinney. Animation by Al Bertino, Milt Kahl, Fred Moore. 7 min.
Adventures in Music: Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom
1953. USA. Directed by Ward Kimball, Charles A. Nichols. Animation by Ward Kimball, Julius Svendsen, Marc Davis, Henry Tanous, Art Stevens, Xavier “X” Atencio. 10 min.
Pigs Is Pigs
1954. USA. Directed by Jack Kinney. Animation by John Sibley. 10 min.
Courtesy The Walt Disney Studios. Program 76 min.
Sunday, August 2, 2015, 1:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Wednesday, August 5, 2015, 4:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Melody Time
1948. USA. Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske. Screenplay by Winston Hibler, Ted Sears, Homer Brightman, and others. Animated by Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Robert Cannon, Mary Blair, and others. With Roy Rogers, Trigger, Dennis Day, The Andrews Sisters, Bobby Driscoll. Courtesy The Walt Disney Studios. 72 min.
Sunday, August 2, 2015, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Monday, August 3, 2015, 6:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2