ANIMATION

CELEBRATION

THIRTY YEARS OF
HANNA-BARB ERA

FLEISCHER'S
SUPERMAN CARTOONS

WINSOR McCAY ¹15

. ..AND MUCH M O R E ! $2.00
% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % R % R I

GET
NIMA TED.~

SOPER ANIMATION ARTWORK SALE

f ROTE,:
HANNA- BA R B E RA
BAKSHI
HEAVY METAL
BLUTH
JAPANESE
DANGERMOUSE
DISNEY- - v i n t a g e CHLiCK J ONES
a nd n e w WARNER BROS,
F I L MAT I ON W ATER S H I P DOWN

GNOME S and more f

"OlIK-OF-A K<HO-
BXOIW3Ih 30 03 0 • 40 B . 3 7 7 3 3 3 3
 ANIMAT
OII15 WINTER198't.1988
Co-Editor/Publisher
IN THIS ISSUE Mike Ventrella
2 Editorial
Co-Editor/Art Director
3 Fanmall From Some Flounder Hany McCracken
Letters toAuimafo.
Contributing Writers
David Bastian
5 In theTemple of the Muses
Jerry Beck
David Bastian visits the Second Los Angeles
John Cawley
International Animation Celebration.
G. Michael Dobbs
7 My Youth ln Cartoonla Matthew Hasson
Jim Korkis
Bob Miller looks back on thirty years of Hanna-
Bob Miller
Barbera animation. Part one of two parts.
Thebna Scumm
14 Uncle Scrooge vs. He-Man Steve Segal
Hany McCracken tells us aboutDucRTales, Disney's
first made-for-syndication cartoon show. Special Thanks
Heidi Hooper
20 Koko Komments Natalie McCracken
Fleischer's Superman cartoons, part one. By G. Expanded Entertainment
Michael Dobbs. Walt Disney Productions

Animato 415, Winter 1987-

24 Harlequin 1988. Published at PO Box
Tidbits and trivia hum Jim Korkis. 1240, Cambridge MA 02238.
All articles (c) 1987 Animato
25 Fllpbooks except where noted. Submission
Winsor McCay's Peaceaable Kingdom. By David of articles and artwork is
Bastian. welcome. They should be
accompaniedby a self-addressed,
29 'Toons on Tape stamped envelope.
Matthew Hasson reviews Fellow Submarine and other
recent videotape releases.
ON OUR COVERS
31 Short SubJects
Filmation'sPinocchup,Disney's Alice, and more. Front cover: Uncle Scrooge
looks like he's determmed to
36 The Fox Report fmd adventure in this pose from
Animation news Item John Cawley. DucRTales. (See article on page
14.) (c) 1987 the Walt Disney
(Arumato's gossip columnist, Thehna Scumm, is on Company.
vacation this issue. She' ll be back next issue with her
usual pithy examination of the current animation Back cover: Bob Miller
scene.) assembles a group portrait of
m any ofthecharacters he
discusses in his article on page
Arumutois distributed by Capital City Distribution, 10. Characters (c) 1987 Hanna-
Inc., 2827 Peny Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53713. Barbera
 INiatrutiou by BobMiller; cburucrer(c)l987 Huunu-Burboru

is to bring out three issues of Ariimaro a

Animuto's masthead will have noticed year. (Rest assured that the lengthy gap
that there's been a c h ange. Mike between issues ¹14 and ¹1 5 won't be
Ventrella, who has done the lion's share typical.)
of the work of putting together each This issue of Animalo also inaugurates
Aninato since the magazine's first issue
in 1983, has decided it's time to stop and
some i mpro
vements in our graphic
design which we hope you' ll like. Little
catch his breath. So that he' ll be able to by little, Animulo has come a long way
do that, I (that's me, Harry McCracken, Sum ¹1 's Xe r ox r e prcxtuction. type-
speahng) have picked up most of the written copy, and much smaller page.
workload of p utting editing A nimate, count. A l though we have very little
though Mike will still be involved with Nloley to spelid on pfodllctloll costs
producing lhe magazine in n umerous color covers, slick paper, and other
ways. (In particular, all checks and improvements are a long way away
money orders should continue to be made we' re quite proud of what we' ve ac-
out to him.) complished on our shoestring budget.
You may also have noted the fact that Another improvement: by popular
the mme lapse between this Animulo and demand, we' ve started printing a number
the last one has been unusually long. on the address label on the envelopes
We apologize for that - and give our that subscriber copies of the magazine
heartfelt thanks to those of you who are mailed in. It's the number of the last
wrote to ask what the holdup was. We' ve issue of Anunato on your subscription,
b een ironhig out some of t h e many which will give subscribers some ad-
complicathms of p u blishingAnirnuto, vance warning of when it's time to
but we' ve come to the decision that we renew. (We' ll be sending reminder notes
can't stick to a strict quarterly schedule out, too - though Animuro's renewal rate
and maintain - and improve - the mag- has always been gratilyingly high.)
azine's standard of quality. Our pub- Well, on with the show. As always,
lication schedule fmm now on will be a your comments are eagerly awaited.
little less formal than before; our plan Harry NcCruckun
2 ANIMATO
 fan mail from
some flounder
Write to Anintato at PO Box 1240, Cambridge MA 02238

Dear Animato: to briefly comment on some of the

I like Ihe name of your letter column. charges made by Shamus Culhane in his
H ave you e ver r u n a n a r ticle o n rebuttal of my review of his book in the
Bullwinkle or a n y o t her Jay W a rd last issueof Animato.
caltoolls? In 1977, well before the current revival
Charles Uhich of Fleischer cartoons, I asked permission
Milwaukee, WI to write a biography of Max Fleischer
(We haven' t, but we'd love to rrrn a good from his son Richard and his daughter
one. Jay Ward fans will want to check Ruth. T hey consented, and I' ve spent
o ut Charles's Frostbite F aNs F a r - thousands of hours and dollars gathering
F lung F lier n ewsletter; see h i s ad the raw material needed for such a
elsewhere in this issue.) project. From interviewing people, such
as C ulhane, t o ph o tocopying old
DearAnimato: magazine articles and reviews, to renting
Sure enjoyed Animato ¹14, especially Fleischer cartoons to view, I' ve done the
the Droids/Ewoks piecel w ork neccesary for the book. W h e n
For what it's worth; you can tell Culhane says I shouldn't be the "official
Thelma that I conducted a small poll, and anything" because I wasn't an employee
Robin Hood was considered better than of the studio and wasn't there first-harid,
Aristocats, 8 to Ill he's m issing the point. A writ e r
Dave Bennett attempts torecreate an era or a person
Van Nuys, CA through reportorial techniques. Shamus,
you know that.
DearAnimato: ' You also know that you didn't know
Kudos to Timothy Fayf I'm shocked to "every person i nvolved" wit h t h e
discover a computer science major not Fleischer strike, Shamus. You want me
only discussing cartoons intelligently, to believe you knew all those assembly
but drawing them as well. S o mebody line workers when you hadn't worked at
stop him if h e decides to change his the studio in years? How could you have
major to art, though. A BA in art will known all the people who traced and
do about as much for you as trying to use painted the eels? They were the ones on
your Mickey Mouse Club membeiship strike, and you were 3,000 miles away at
card as identification. Take it Irom one the Disney S t udio. yo u were not an
who learned the hard way. eyewitness to the strike, unless you left
Martha Froias something out of your book. You heard
Frankfort, KY stories, I'm sure, once you got to Miami,
but you weren't there.
Dear Animato: You take great offense at my references
Rather than continue this contest to wanting to read your book to see what
within the space of my column, I'd like you didn't tell me in our interview, a
cordial, constructive interview in which Paramount), one has to admit Max did
you even told me that you had relatives accomplish a lot.
l iving in a t o w n n ext t o mine in Oh, and on the point about the cover;
Massachusetts. I didn't mean to offend, when someone puts a photo of persons,
Shamus, but simply state a fact. People events, characters, or products on the
planning to write a book often do hold cover of a book or magazine,they are
back. N o si n in that. I o n ce asked hoping people will favorably associate
Mickey Rooney for an interview when he the subject of the text inside with those
was red-'hot in Sugar Babies. He politely graphics on the cover. Your explanation
wrote me back explaining he wasn' t that you ar e e ntitled to u s e t hose
granting interviews because of a book he characters because you worked within
was planning. No offense taken on my that era of theatrical animation doesn' t
part; I was f lattered he wrote me a hold water. If a man who made Bowery
personal note about my request. Now do Boys comedies at Monogram put Bing
you understand my remaik7 Crosby and Bob Hope on the cover of
You see. Shamus, I v alued your h is book b e cause they w e r e a l l
opinions and anecdotes,as I considered contemporaries, wouldn't you call that
you something of an outsider with a misleading7 Of course you would.
unique perspective. I too w i s h t he Other than being roasted for nothing,
Fleischers had done something with Mike, Animato N 14 was a treat. T h e
Wimpy. Yes, I agree that Max was not as articles are branching out t o i nclude
far-sighted as I would have personally people who really should get some
liked, but w h e n o n e c onsider the attention, such as N orman McLaren.
wonderful humor of the Betty Boops, the You might see if someone could do a
fine adaptation of Popeye, the art and p iece on the neat animation in t he
drama of the Superman cartoons (Hey Tracey Ullnurn Show.
Shamus, they probably weren't imitated G. Michael Dobbs
by anyone because nobody wanted to Indian Orchard, MA
spend $65,000 on a one-reeler besides

SUBSCRIPTION AND BACK ISSUES

INFORMATION
Subscribe to Animatol $10.00 ($15.00 in US funds outside of US/Mexico/Canada) will
get you the next four issues hot off the presses, before they reach stores. (Please make
all checks and money orders payable to Mike Ventrella) New readers will want to catch
up on our back issues, too. N1-5 are sold out, but the following are still available at
$2.00 each postpaid:

N6: YellowSubmarine; Disney Channel; Fleischer's Einstein feature

N7: TheBlack CauMrorr, Waiter Lantz; Rictuud Williams; Grim Natwick
Ng: Bob Chunpett; Satmday AM '85; Porky Pig; Fleischer on video
N9: Will Vinton; Shamus Culhane; Chuck Jones;Tournee; Srarchaser
N10: Walt Disney; Shanms Culhane;Brave LiWe Toaster; TV animation
Nl 1: Great Mouse fyerective;Mike Jittlov; Star Trelc Fleischer histoiry
N12: AnAmerican Tail; Saturday AM '86; Disney books; Don Blulh
Clay
N13:Animation Cei'ebrarioir, Beatles cartoons; mation
N14: Snow White; computer anhnation; Norman McLaren

Each issue also contains more featmes, mclutling our regular news, trivia, und other
colunms. Order fromAnimato, PO Box 2238. Cambridge MA 02238.
 IN THE TEMPLE
OF THE MUSES
The Second Los Angeles
International Animation Celebration
BY DAVID BASTIAN

here can you go (you may ask) to Disney features), it also contained the
view the latest European animated feature wittiest and most literate script to grace
films, over twelve hours of the latest a children's film i n y e ars. These
independent shorts and some historically appliances are silver-tongued, the most
significant cartoons which you' ve only memorable being the s arcastic radio
read about, share a movie theater with (voiced by Jon Lovitz), and a hard-headed
critics and industry people alike, and air conditi oner who does a good Jack
meet some of animation's most prom- Nicholson impression (and nearly steals
i nent figures'I Wh y , t h e 2 n d L o s the entire movie with one scene). Why
Angeles Int e rnational Ani m ation the Disney folks declined to put their
Celebration, of course. Beginning at Ihe name on this wonderful film remains a
Wads worth theaterand moving to the mystery. (Apparently they rejected first
Nuart (both i n We s t L. A .) , an the whole p r oject, t h en u pon i t s
international group o f pr o fessionals, completion by Rees, the privilege of
amateurs,and fans were whisked into a releasing it.)
show of biblical proportions that, after At the opening-night party in the
eight short days, we wished would never lantern-lit yard outside the Wadsworth
end. i mmediately following t h e showing,
'nte festival kicked off with the world attendees exchanged their party-ticket
premiere of e x-Disney animator Jerry stubs for an original cel from the film.
Rees's The Brave Little Toaster. In t his Robatecii fans bypassed the party to
long-awaited feature, f iv e h o usehold view RobotecJL the Untold Story, a new
a ppliances set out o n a n "incredible chapter in the cult Japanimation series.
journey" lo reunite themselves with their Despite the appeal of Toaster,however,
owner, and along Ihe way brave the it took second place in the 30-mmutes-
elements (an electrical storm, a waterfall, ar«l-over category to Faa t rot F l a ts,
quicksand), man (a sadistic repairman), Murray Ball's film adaptation of his own
and finally obselescence (a group of New Zealand comic strip. As reviewed in
. electronic components who r efer t o Animate ¹14, the film Footrat Flats was
themselves as "the cutting edge" of geared towards devotees of the strip, and
technology). N o t o nl y was this the therefore difficult for we not in on the
most delightful film in the festival (and jokes to follow. But there was plenty of
more Disneyesque than the last four action, and th e t o ne was "Bloom-
 Countyish" enough to hold our attention.
A sleeper, though, in my opinion.
Other corners of the earth were
represented feature-wise: Denmark's Swan
Film Productions premiered Valhalla,
directed by Peter Madsden and Jeff Varab
gate of Disney). and with animation and
original song by Borge Ring (Anna and
Bella). Th e production was lavish, even s,
I (g
though the characters tended to resemble
the Smrufs cast from time to time. The
real problem with this film was with its
story. l h e N orse gods Thor and Loki
embark on a mission to the realm of the
giants, and end up taking part in several
rigged sporting events. Hardly exciting,
and mythologically inaccurate (as legend The Brave Little Toaster
has it, Loki is supposed to be the son of Ihe fastest-paced and most exciting film
a giant), Valhefla's meandering script in the festival. If and when it mmes out
n ever catches u p wi t h its sl i c k on video cassette, it w i l l d e finitely
production values. require an additional inspection.
From Cuba came Juan Padron's Arriving straight from the vaults,"
Vampires in Havana, a f ast-paced fihn eight of M a x Fl e ischer'sSuperman
with the exact opposite problein: the cartoons were projected in 35mm for the
animation was poor, but the hilarious first thne since their original release in
story and dialogue carried it along in the the '40s. Jerry Beck emceed this tribute
tradition ofBullwinkle. to some of the most technically brilliant
Hanna-Barbera trotted out a problem shorts ever created during animatio
n's
child of t h eirs, Rock Odyssey (also "golden age."
reviewed i n t h e la st An i mato), a Five evenings of tributes showcased
confusmg mess of a film, the final cut of the careers of some of the biggest names
which even astounded the two animators in animation history, beginning with
sent by Joe Barbera (a no-show at the possibly the most congenial msn in the
last minute) to tout it. Half the industry field: Bruno Bozzetto. Twelve of
stood in line for what they knew would Bozzetto's short films and three clips
b e their only chance to v i e w t h is from Allegro Non Troppo bookended an
insipidly-penned hallucination. informal talk between fesuval chairman
I entered Laputa: the Castle in the Sky Teny T h oren a n d Bo z zetto, who
as if I were about to watch a two-hour elucidated on the filmmaking scene in
episode of Narlne Boy. But this feature Italy, the problems with fimding a large-
from the vety talented Hayao Miyazaki scale project, and his recently completed
was a suprise and a delight. Though the live-action feature Under the C hinese
main characters flashed those big Bambi Reiraur ant.
eyes we are so used to in Japanimation. An overly-modest Ralph Bakshi
the movement was much smoother, the showed up t o a l low a n a ppreciative
colors more pastel (Ihe film had a soft- audience to pay homage to this most
focus look to i t t hat m ade i t v e ry misunderstood of talents. C l ips from
atmospheric), and the style of drawing five ofhis features plus segements from
utilized 19th century engravings to help his work a t T e rrytoons(The Ni ghty
posh the "Japanese look" into new Heroes), and Famous Studios (Mar vin
territory. In addition to this, Laputa was Digs), and t he r ecent Rolling Stones
 kids, with Woody Woodpecker and Andy
P anda (the Dick L undy model) " i n
person"; and o n e f o r the ad u lts,
containing such rarely seen items as
Lantz's animated segment for the 1930
feature The King of Jazz, and two Oswald
shorts.
I had seen shorts produced in England
before (Animation City's S kywhales,
Aardman An i mation's Con v ersation
Pieces series), but never knew that they
•
•
w ere produced for the five-year-ol d
Channel 4, Britain's new experimental-
programming outlet. Thanks to an entire
show of animated shorts partially funded
by Channel 4, I now know. New shorts
The Simpsons by these studios, as well as Alison De
Vere's haunting The Black Dog we re
video Harlem Shuge, when all projected presented to a n a s tonished American
end-to-end made for a pretty impressive audience who wishes we had such a
program. (The clips from his features channel here in the states.
were all scenes that showed him off as Just as astonishing were the films in
the gifted writer that he is.) In a casual the salute to Hungary's Paimonia studio,
mterview with Leonard Maltin, Bakshi which gave us Csaba Varga'shilarious
feigned disappointment over his early Augusta series of clay animations, and
works, commenting that given more time Ferenc Rofusz's Oscar-winning The Fly,
and money "it could have been better." as well as the feature The White Mare.
The questions from the audience were %Ms year they offered up eleven new
predictable: "Does he plan to conclude shorts,and Bela Ternovsky's feature Cat
his Lord cf th e Ri n gs fi lm?" Y es l City, a w itty gangster spoof that takes
"What's next for Ralph?" A new series of place in the year 80 A . M .M. ( Anno
Nighty Mouse cartoons for Sa turday Mickey Mouse).
momingl When you think of animation produced
Also payed tribute to were the late for network television, you rarely conjure
Disney animator Milt Kahl, with fellow up adjectives like "I'resh," "timely,"
nine-old-man Mare Davis on hand to "innovative," or "witty." Screened under
share hisanecdotes about Kahl and the the title of "New Age TV Animation,"
mixed blessing of being assigned to do however, were examples of just such
those ever-so-tedious human characters; work. Included were clips from the Fox
and the National Fihn Board of Canada's network's Tracey Ullmae S how ( M a t t
Norman McLaren, featuring rare shorts "Life in Hell" Groening's The Simpsonz
and never-before-seentestfootage for his and M.K. B rown's Dr. IV ! Go d atu)
pixillated f i l m Pkig h bors (19 5 2). p roduced b y Klas ky-Csupo I n c .,
Fellow anhnatois Grant Munro and John sequences fr o m CBS' s Pee - Wee's
Wilson of t h e N F B C s h ared their Ptuyhoure that included animation created
remembrances ofMcLaren, and expressed at Broadcast Arts in N e w Y ork a nd
the importance of never allowing this Aardman Animation in England (Permy),
most . influential o f ta l ents t o be and the "Family Dog" episode of NBC's
forgotten. Amazing Stories that was designed by
And smally, there were no less than Tim Burton (director of Vincent and Pee-
two tributes to Walter Lantz: one for the Wee's Big Adventure) and directed by Cal
ANIMATO 7
 Krysar
Arts grad Brad Bird. I n a ttendance to t hem for p a ges o n e n d : Sall y
talk with the audience were Klasky- Cruikshank's Face Like a F r o g, Pa ul
Csupo's Gabor Csupo (formerly with Driessen'sSunny Side Up, Wendy Tilby's
H ungary's Pannonia s t udio), Ma t t Tables of Content, Aardman Animation's
Groening, andPee-Wee producer Prudence Babylon, Michael S porn'sThe Amazing
"Pooh" Fenton and director Stephen R. Bone (2nd prize winner in the children' s
Johnson (who breathed life into Peter category), and Th e C h a ractersfr om
Gabriel's Sledgehauimer video and the Holland's Evert de Beijer (1st prize, 5-15
Talking Heads' Boad ro Nowhere) and minute category). Nineteen awards were
Brad Bird. Hi d den in th e audience: p resented in nine categories, and in
Family Dogvoice artist Stan Freberg. addition the audiences attending the
eight programs of films in competition

I n addition to all this there were three

s hows of an i mation p roduced f o r
were given ballots lo vore for their
favorite film in the festival. This award
e asily went t o t h e r ecipient of t h e
children, animation produced by chihhen, b iggest a n d mo s t lau ghs: Bil l
computer animation, a l ightning-spaced Plympton's Four Face (which also took
show of anbnated commercials, new 2nd place in the category for "First
animation from Czechoslovakia (which Work.") Two Bob Clam p ett
included my favorite film in the festival, s cholarships of $1 , 00 0 e a c h w e r e
the mesmerizing 53-minute E&ysar or The awarded to Jim Reaidon for Ouchlers and
Pied Piper by Jiri Baits, using wood and Fabio Ligmin' forO'hen the Bats are
bronze puppets and actual micel), and Quiet (which also rsn off with 1st prize
e ight programs o f s h ort f i lm s i n in the "First Work" category).
competitiorL The L.A. Film Critics' Awanl of $2500
Over 200 hundred films (roughly half of in Kodak film stock went so Jacques
all the entrants) were screened, and not Drouin and Bretislav Pojar's Nightangel
only am I impressed with how many of (which also took 2 n d P r ize, 1 5-30
them I can remember, I could rant about minute category) an d B o b Ku r tz's
8 ANIM
 was to screen) came out, Ralph
threatened to pull the film. F o rtunately
he relented, and we were allowed to view
thisrarely-seen work. (Where do people
like Solomon come from, anyway?)
My only qualm with this festival was
with its concentration. A l l t h irty-three
events were compacted into eight days;
two of those days consisted of seven
feature-length events lined up end-to-end
with no break! T hat's thirteen straight
hours of filml ( Someone suggested that
the official festival poster should be a
picture irom A C l o ckwork Orange of
Alex, eyes pried open and receiving eye-
diops wh ile b e i ng bo m barded ' with
images.) I'm sure the organizers did not
The Nan IVho Planted Trees
predict that so many people would want
Drawing on N y Mi n d (w h ich also t o try t o se e everything. B u t t h e
undeservedly received 1st place in the audience knew that this would be their
"shorter than 5 minutes" category for sole opportunity to see most of the films
blandly illustrating a G e orge C arlin b efore they were sent b ack to the
comedy routine). owners and countries of origin. Some
It was no suprise that The Man Who repeat showings, li k e at the '85
Planted Trees. Frederick Bach's epic tale Celebration, would have been nice.
of a man who performs anact of creation
"worthy of God." won both 1st place in
t he 15-30 minute category and t he
festival's Grand Prize.
A s tired as my eyes are,though, one
The E n glish year better be all that's needed to build
translation of the film being still in prep- up the strength to take this marathon
aration, visiting Canadian John Wilson ride again; Teny Thoren plans to have
narrated a simultaneous translation of- the the 3 r d I n t ernational A n imation
text. Celebration next year and every other
The real suprise of the festival was year thereafter to avoid the same schedule
when live-action fihn director Paul Bartel as the Annecy festi val in France. When
(Eating Raoul. Lust in the Dust) emerged asked if he didn't mind colliding with
Irom the audience in awe of the quality of Zagreb (which takes place on even-
so many of the films, and created his numbered years), he responded, "Who
own award: The A merican Animator would go to Zagreb? Ever been there?"
Award of $1000, which he presented to
Cavrillo Gnatovich for Lazar. @he official program for the 2nd LA.
LA. film critic Charles Solomon was International Animation C elebration
accompanied by hisses and boos as he (which is also the premiere issue of
approached the stand during the awards Animation Magazine) is a v ailable for
ceremony. A l l w e e k h e h a d b e en $3.00 from Animation Celebration, 222
covering the festival in the Los Angeles S. Barrington Ave „Los Angeles, CA
Times, and being overly harsh on the 90064.)
features in the festival (which I imagine
is his idea of supporting the festival). David Bastion teachesfilm animation at
When his negative review of Bakshi's rhe University of Cinciruuui. D o uble
1975 film Coonskin(which the festival features mean nothing to birn now.
AMMATO 9
 Thirty Fears of Hanna-Barbera

MY YOUTH IN
CARTOONIA
PART ONE

ARTICLE AND ILLUSTRATIONS

BY BOB MILLER

ne of the pleasures I had as a kid Boo-Boo made life miserable for Ranger
was spending some time with a bear Smith (not to mention parent watchdog
named Yogi,a hound named Huckleberry, g roups objecting to t h e bear's rule-
and a 'gator named Wally. These were bteaking and thievery). So in his later
the days «hen parental pressure groups TV appearances, Yogi rarely touched a
were but a cloud on the horizon, and the picnic basket. W hen asked about the
networks allowed the funny animals to changes, Yogi replied, "I think t he
be funny. At that time they did things writers are putting me on a diet."
that would be impossible to do today. While some of the gags appealed to me
Touche Turtle used a sword. Quick Draw on a kid level, others had adult appeal,
McGraw could fire a gun. Chopper the as when Yogi set Boo-Boo aside on a
bulldog could beat up Fibber Fox. And log, and said, "Boo-Boo, I think it' s
Yogi Bear was allowed to - gaspl - steal time you learned about the birds and the
picnic baskets. Horrorsl bees." Soo-Boo's reply: "Well what do
It was true Yogi and his Harma-Barbers you want to know, Yogi?"
friends didn't move very much. Sut they The show introduced the Captive
moved more than people did in the comic Animal Syndrome, ka which the star
books. And I didn't have to pay to see animal-in-captivity tries t o outwit i t s
them, either. They came every day to human master. Hanna-Barbersrepeated
my TV set, and they were fun to watch. this formula in l ater shows- yt 'ally
They were my &lends. Gator, Irfagilla Gorilla, Breezly and
Hucklebeny Hound, whose show Sneetly, Sgniddley Diddley, and Help!
premiered in 1958, was Hanna-Barbera's It's t!re Hair Bear Brrnc!L
first big success, immensely popular One episode introduced Yakky Doodle,
with children and adults like. And why the cute little duck whose primary reason
not? W h o could resist his easygoing f or existence was t o t u g o n y o u r
charm. hiswarm. backwoods manner, and heartstrings. T h e s t ory w as simple:
his knack ofunderstatement - as when a Fibber tries to eat Yakky; Chopper beats
log would fall on him and he'd say, "My, Fibber to a pul p . Betw e en the
that's a right heavy log." poundings and not getting a meal, I
Even more popular was Yogi Sear, the wondered how that fox survivaL
lovable rogue of Jeilystone Park. Semg Quick Draw McGraw was the sheriff of
a nonconformist, he and his sidekick a one-horse town, and the horse as well.
 SORRY bOYS.
THE NETWORKSAYS
YOU' LL HAYE To Usg
NON-VIOLENT
WEAPONS PRON
NOW ON.

I I

T
0 L'

HuckleberryHound and the Goofy Guards. Characters(c) 1987 Hanna-Barbera.

Baba Louie, his burro sidekick, described like stealing sheep and terrorizing little
him by poin'ting to his head. "He's got a pigs, it was an uphill struggle for
lot up there. No brains. Just an empty Loopy, whose good i ntentions were
lot." Sometimes Quick Draw would quick constantly misunderstood. (The fact that
change into the notorious El Kabong, he had a strong French accent didn' t
who guitar-bashed hombres with a loud help, either.) A b out 4 8 storieswere
"kabongl" Zorio ate his heart out. Anti- released to theaters, but have only rarely
violence censors had heart attacks. been shown on television.
Nowadays Quick Draw appears in Yogi's The Flinstones didn't appeal that much
Treasure Hunt, but w ithout his "Baba to me. Fr e d was l oud-mouthed and
boy." A c cording to Dews Butler, it' s abrasive - not exactly a likeable adult
because of fears that Baba would outrage role model. I t hought their "low tech"
viewers who would consider him an was silly rather than funny, such as
offensive Mexican sterotype - a charge Wilma using an elephant's snorkel to
Butler says is ridiculous because Baba v acuum the c arpet,; Fred u sing a
was always much smarter than Quick brontosaurus as a steam shovel; and
Draw. Wilma using a bird as a p honograph
One of Quick Draw's adversaries was a needle. Lucky for them the SPCA hadn' t
sheep-stealing (and s c e ne-stealing) been invented yet.
mountain lion wh o l o ved t o q u ote What really fired my imagaination was
Shakespeare. T h i s w a s S nag glepuss, The Jersons. T hi s w as a wo r ld o f
who would later "exit, stage right" into elevated apartments, chatty robots, and
his own series. traffic jams in the sky. How I wished I
I never got to see Loopy de Loop, the could have my bed made at the touch of a
French timber wolf whose mission was button. How I wished I could ride the
to restore the good name of Wolfdom by m oving sidewalks. A n d b oy, how I
doing good deeds for everyone. Since wished Rosie the Robot was my maid!
wolves had a reputation for doing things In l962 Hanna-Barbera introduced a
ANIMA1'0 ! t
 new batch of cartoons for syndication: rescue, Dum Dum would follow only to
lpaRy Gator, Touche Turtle, and Lippy crash into the nearest uea
the Lion. Wh at these characters had in (By now you' ve noticed that Hanna-
common was that they were all hard-tuck Barbera sidekicks have something in
heroes - or what English professors common: Boo-Boo, Ding-a-Ling. So-So.
would call "antihemes." Wha tever Dum Dum, Droopalong, Klunk, Silly,
"misdaventure" they had, they would lose Bumbler. W ith names like these, the
more than they would win. M u rphy's hem never had t o w o rry about an
law reigned supreme. identity crisis.)
Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har were A sidehck was what Wally Gator didn' t
two vagabonds who tried for the good have - which was a rarity for a Hanna-
life but could never quite make it. Barbera star. This giddy alligator was
Hardy, t h e pe r petually p essimistic perhaps the studio's most expressive
hyena, would groan, "Oh dear, oh my. I character, in d esign, personality, and
just know something awful will happen." voice modeled after comedian Ed Wynn.
S ure enough, something awful d i d A prime example of the Captive Animal
happen. One time they wanted to go to syndrome, his m isadventures resulted
jail because there the prisoners were fed from his attempts to break out of the
. three square meals ' a d ay . But zoo. One time he was caught smoking a
circumstances forced them to leave just cigar by a female 'gator, who promptly
before the guards served the gowmet mashed it in his face before the censors
meal. (Who says cartoons don't have could find out.
social comments) Lippy, Touche, and Wally have since
Touche Turtle swashbungled his way vanished from the syndication market,
through history w it h h i s s h eepdog buried by the likes of Go-Botsand Gl
sidekick, Dum Dum. His battle cry was foe. Slapstick humor is out; robots and
"Touche, awayl" As he rushed to the

Peter Potanuts and SoSo. The diner proprieters are Ruffand Reddy, the stars of H anna-
m
ad
Barbera's firstefor- tv cartoons. Characters(c) 1987 Hanna-Barbsra.

DINE

ILL ~~
~H

l2 ANIMATO
 OIIH--HAVSE
~ SH O ULD SE
SAVING pt D CON<
SooKS, INSTEAD.
LL

n + r+

On a roll: Breezly, Touche Turtle, Sneezly, and Dum Dum. Characters (c) /987 Hanna-
Next came The Magilla Gorilla Show in through history in t heir magic time
1963. Magilla was a likeable character, balloon. Like Doctor Who, the purple
but I was getting tired of the Captive 'potamus involved h im self w he r -
Animal syndrome. L ikewise, the feud ever/whenever he went, doing things
between Punkiin Puss and Mushmouse was like battling dragons, robots, ghosts,
a rehash ofcat versus mouse, done better ogres, tax collectors, and even the Big
by Tom and Jerry and Pixie and Dixie Bad Wolf. S i nce he was capable of
and Mr. Jinks. Breezly and Sneezly was traveling anywhere and to any time, I
really an arctic version of Yogi Bear. expected him to drop in on the Jetsons,
And Richochet Rabbu wa s b a sically or team up with Quick Draw McGraw, or
Touche Turtle in a western setting. I was go swashbuckling with Touche Turtle
tired of antiheroes. I w anted to see a but it never came to pass, much to my
show with adventure, with a hero who disappointment.
had a chance of wmning. Peter's companion series was Yippie,
Along came Peter Potamus and his Yappie and Yahooey, aka 'The Goofy
Magic Flying Balloon. Like ot h er Guards." Th r e e c lumsy canines in
Hanna-Barbera heroes, the hefty hippo musketeer attire try to protect the King,
suffered inevitable bashings, blastings who often lamented that "I need guards
and bruisings - but he was different in to protect me from my guards." Until
that he couhl actually fight back and win. Disney'sAdventures o/ the Gumnu Bears
His "secret" weapon was the Hippo in 1985, these were last made-for-TV
Hurricane Holler, which he used to blow animals to carry swords.
the villains to oblivion. It was a
catharsis for Peter. and for viewers like In the n ext A nimaro, Bob concludes
me who wanted to see the villains lose his l o o k ar Hanna -Barbera b y
for a change. r emembering Jonny Quest, th e H - B
Peter and S o -So, h i s s i mian superheroes, and other Hanna-Barbera-
c ompanion, globe-trotted their w a y cartoons o f the 1960sand 1970s.
ANfMA1'0 13
 DISNEY ENTERS THE
SYNDICATION MARKET
WITH DUCETALES
BY HARRY MCCRACKEN

I n some respects, DacRToles, Walt

Disney Television's new fiveAys-a-week
video entertainment.
But the bulk of these programs, and of
syndicated cartoon series.is a major the Disney Channel's programming, has
departure for the company. The studio's been live-action. Judicious use has been
foray into regular made-for-TV animated made of the library of theatrical Disney
programs of any hnd is still young, and animation: The N i c key N o use C l u b
never before has it attempted to pmduce introduced the Disney shorts to a new
so much TV animation for one project generation, and Di s neyland a nd i t s
(DuckToless fust season is comprised of descendants, and the D isney Channel,
65 half-hour episodes). P e rhaps Ihe have shown substantial amounts o f
most signifigant break with Disney tradi- footage from the shorts and features, if
tion is that, unlike Disney's first two TV often in edited form. (Most of the great
cartoon series, it f e atures established anhnated featureshave, of course. never
Disney characters: Huey, Dewey and been shown in their entirety on TV.)
Louie, Uncle Scrooge, and on occasion And over the years, the studio scattered
Donald Duck himself. bits and pieces of new animation into its
Although Disney's wholehearted move television programs. Jiminy C r icket
into made-for-TV animation is a recent made well-remembered educational appear-
development, the s tudio's association ances on Th e N i c key Nouse C lub.
with television is almost as old as the Disneyland early episodes sometimes
medium itself. W alt Disney's foresight made use of large amounts of new
in exploitation of new technologies is animation of Mickey, Donald, and the
legendary, imd the Disney programs of gang, the best of which ranks with the
the 1950s - The Nickey Nouse Club, finest animation ever produced for TV.
Disneyksrd. and others - are classics or Later on, the Sunday-night Disney
the industry. Th e studio has produced program'snew animation was limited
numerous programs for n etwork and primarily to bridging sequences for old
syndication aiihtg since then, and the material featuring th e c r eated-for-TV
1983 introduction of the Disney Channel character Ludvrig Von Drake. The Von
once again put Disney in the forefront of D rake sequences, which w ere d i s-
continued by the mid 1960s, were to be and early 1980s.
the l as t s i gnificant T V ani m ation In 1984, a new team headed up by
produced by the studio for two decades. Michael Eisner was brought in to run the
(The few piecesof new Disney-character D isney studio, an d a nu m ber o f
animation whichhave popped up on the departures from Disney policy that the
Disney Channel were not animated in- previous management had consciously
house.) resisted came about. Among them were
Never, as the TV animation industry R-rated Disney movies, the release of the
was born and grew in the 1950s and great animated features on videocassette,
1 960s, did D isney attempt a 1 0 0 % and the entry of the studio into Saturday-
animated series. T his was intentional. morning animation production. The Dis-
"We' ve developed our o w n c a rtoon ney entries i n t h e S a turday-morning
technique over a long period of years, derby, like most of their competition.
and it's been pretty successful," Leonard were tobe merchandise-based shows with
Maltin quoted Walt Disney as saying in animation provided by an oversetis (in
Of Nice and Nagic. "Why should we this case Japanese) studio.
change? We could turn out a half-hour The potency of the D isney name
cartoon every week, sure, but it would be quickly sol d t w o Sa t urday-morning
cheating." shows to the networks for the Fall 1985
Most of the other Hollywood theatrical- season. The Wuzzles was developed in
animation studios either shared Disney's a ssociation w it h the Has br o to y
sentiment or didn't realize how profitable company; despite heavy merchandising,
television animation would b ecome. it survived only two shaky seasons, the
MGM is said to have rejected Bill Hanna first on CBS and the second on ABC.
and Joe Barbera's proposal to produce The Guinmi Bears, airing on N BC has
cartoons for TV; in the 1960s, Chuck been more successful, and is presently in
Jones worked on several TV concepts for its third season. Both featured scripts
the studio, but they never made it to the and animation that were, by Saturday-
air. The Warner Bros. and Walter Lantz morning standards, o f u nusually high
studios both produced some new bridging quality.
material for TV airings of their theatrical
animation, but didn't venture into TV
aiumation any further than that.
The more mercantile New York studios
T he announcement of DuckTales, two
years beforethe program's premiere, was
went a little further, but without much part of a flood of new five-day-a-week
success. Terry produced TV adventures of syndicated cartoon projects that came in
Deputy Dawg, Tom Terrific, and other the wake of the success of Filmation's
characters during the 1960s, and Famous He-Nan.. Bu t a s t he earliest publicity
worked as a subcontractor on TV car- for the show pointed out, Du e%Tales
toons featuring Popeye, Marvel super- stood out from the cmwd of syndicated
heroes, and other characters. Neither programs about transforming robols,
studio's TV work prolonged its life by musclebound warriors, and bloodthirsty
more than a few years. mercenaries.- The show was to be an
The giants of TV animation were the adventure series starring Scrooge' Mc-
new studios like Hanna-Barbers, Film- Duck and Huey, Dewey and Louie; in
ation, and DePatie-Freleng, w'hich pro- other words, it was to take its cue from
duced many hours of 'programming each the comic book stories of Carl Barks,
year. By contrast, the Disney animation Uncle Scrooge's creator.
department, with its small staff and slow Barks'scomics of the 1940s, 1950s.
work habits, was producing roughly half- and 1960s had been a rich mine of
an-hour of animation a year in the 1970s animation story material that had gone
ANIMATO 15
 unexplored for years. Uncle Scrooge had most contemporary TV animation. The
made two t heatrical-animation appear- p roduction t e am , inc luding pr o -
ances - in 1967's Scrooge NcDuck and d ucers/directors Fred Wolf an d A l an
N one y and 1983's Nickey's Christmas Zaslove, story ediuns Ted Anasti, Patsy
Carol - but neither of these featureues Cameron, and Gummi Bears vet eran
bore much resemblance to Barks'swork. Jymn Magon, and art director Brad Lan-
DuckTales promised to make a more dreth, c r eate s c ripts, r ecord t h e
serious attempt to adapt Barks's won- sound tracks, and design the show's
derful stories, though it soon b ecame visual aspects in the United States. For
clear that its adherence to them would cost reasons, the actual animation is
not be absolute. Donald Duck himself done by Japan's TMS Entertainment and
would not be a r egular character, for Taiwan's Wang Film Productions. This
instance, and a publicity illustration that basic production teclmique is used by
appeared in Variety prominently featured every major American TV studio with the
an oversized aviator duck who was exception of Filmation; Disney's product
clearly a major new character. (When the has less of a foreign flavor to it than
program reached TV screens, we would most such animation because more of the
learn that his name was L aunchpad work is done stateside, and the overseas
McQuack.) production is more closely watched over
When DuckTales finally premiend, on than is often the case.
Ihe weekend of September 18-20,1987,
it was accompanied by an unusually large
promotional fanfare that included not
only games, dolls, and o ther mer- wrapping up the fust airing of its 65
chandise, but also advertising tie-ins, a episodes, and it's a good time to reflect
two-hour TV movie, and a half-hour TV on the show's strengths and weaknesses.
documentary. Ihe TV movie, Treasure qf' Judging the program's success is a
the Golden Suns, the fust extended look complicated matter; how it strikes the
at the show that public got, was actually cartoon fan depends in part on what yard-
four episodes of the series tied together stick it's measured against. Compared to
into an extremely loose, episodic story- TV animation in general - and syndicated
line. The movie served as an "origin" fiveIay-a-week programming in par-
for th e s h ow, e x plaining Donald's ticular - Du ckTalas shines in e very
absence (he had enlisted in the navy), respect. The storylines and dialogue are
how the nephews came to l ive with imaginative, the colors are vivid and
Uncle Scrooge, and so forth. appealing, and the animation is smooth
(Donald's few appearances in Duck- and recsumably well-timecL
Tales, in this and a few other episodes, The voice cast, headed up by Alan
show that he's about as unsuited for Young as Scrooge and Russi Taylor as
limited-animation treatment as any car- Ihe nephews, is also substantially better
toon character could be. Donald's vobe than average. The supporting cast and
makes lengthy dialogue impractical, a reoccuring c h aracters, v o iced by
severe problem in a medium that has professionals including Terry McGovem
been called "illustrated radio." Fur- (Launchpad), Hal Smith (Gyro Gear-
thermore. Donald is funny in large part bose), Frank Welker and Chuck McCann
because of of the way he moves,and (the Beagle Boys), June Foray (Magica
DuckTaleA ch aracter animatbn. whBe De Spell) and Will Ryan (Pegleg Pete),
far above average,is not good enough to are all well-cast, even if none of the
do justice to such a character.) performances match the inspiration of
DuckTales's production methods follow. the best hmited-animation voice work,
in general outline, the s tem used for like that in Jay Ward's work.
l6 AwlMATO
Old friends Huey, Dewey,
and Louie, and new Duck-
burg deniren Webbigail
Vanderquack,oneof rhe
characters createdfor
DuckTales. (c) 1987
the Walt DisneyCo»lpany.
Visually, the program has its share of And in an age in which most TV
flaws. In particular, the quality of the c artoons ar e eit he r le n gthy to y
artwork varies sharply from episode to commercials, heavy-handed pro-social
episode and sometimes from scene to propaganda, o r bot h , Duck Tales's
scene. For every handsome backdrop or emphasis on telling entertaining stories
enjoyable p i e c e of pers o nality is refreshing. Toy stores don't lack for
animation, there's an appallingly bad DuckTales toys, of course, and many of
b ackground or a s c ene i n w h ich a the episodes conclude with a c learly-
character moves with the robotic lack of enunciated moral, but such things grow
e motion that characterizes most T V out of the show rather than control it. =:.~
animation. The lack of consistency can Even DuckTales'ssharpest critics would
be chalked up i n p art t o t h e b risk probably concede that it i s a t w o rst
production schedule that any five-times-a- among the best TV cartoon programs on
week TV cartoon must have, and partially the air. But this is a Disney program,
to the f act t hat t h e a nimation was and a Disney program inspired by Carl
provided by several different sources. Barks's work, so it asks to be compared
Still, when the program's animation is against a h i gher standard than t he
at its best, it is (on a technical level, average animated TV program. U nlike
anyway) as good as any ever produced for most TV animation studios, which would
a television cartoon series. Muc h probably be happy enough to just have
t elevision character animation i s s o the quality of their work go uncritiqued,
devoid of life that it isn't really character Disney hasrepeatedly evoked the names
animation, but Duc k Tales'scharacters of its most famous films and characters,
more in distinctive, personalized ways, .

and its reputation for uncompromising

and reflect their emotions well in their quality, in its promotion for the show.
motions; they' re among the best "actors" DuckTales is no Pinocchio, but if you
ever to appear in a TV cartoon series. strip away t h e h y perbole, D isney's
The staging, too, is clearly the result of b ragging about the p rogram i s n o t
careful thought and planning, as are the unreasonable. Whether Disney should
sometimes complex camera angles and be making TV cartoons at all is a matter
movements. that's open t o q u estion; i n t o day' s
ANIMA1'0 I7
 m arketplace, there may be no way I o
produce a program that wouldn't fall he program's success as an adapta-
u nder Wal t D i sney's d efmition o f tion of Carl Barks's world to TY anima-
"cheating." But given that the studio tion is decidedly mixed. Those who dear-
has entered the f ield, it s g enerally- ly love Barks's work will be the most
successful attempt to be Ihe class of the disappointed in the show of anybody,
industry is encouraging, and, in a small but then again, only Ihe most hope-
way, a daring idea in the tradition of lessly naive of them would approach the
Sreambeat 8' iNie, Sn ow l Y Aita, a u d show with high expectations. Barks,
Disneyland. being among the best of comic-book
For thirty years. after all, television cartoonists, is f r o m o n e p e rspective
animation has been auacked on all sides: among the most ill-suited for limited-
by cost-cutting producers. by interfering animation TV-series treatment. The high
TV programmers and parent groups. and, l evel o f re f inement o f his char-
in recent years, by Ioy companies eager actenzations, plots, and artwork «ould
to turn the medium into nothing more r equire the skills of - w e ll , a W a l t
than a promotional tool. Dnc k Tales' Disney Productions in its prime - to do
quiet revolt against all these forces not them fufl justice.
only makes it a better program, it might l%e cynical critic would make much of
prove a turning point for the industry. the fact that the show's numerous new
If the program does well - and as of this characters - the daredevil pilot Launch-
writing it has done very wefl in t he p ad, the little-girl duck Webby, t h e
ratings indeed - it may spawn a hoarde nephews' governesss Mrs. Beakley, and
of imitators in Ihe same way Ihat The others - seem more like an inuusion into
Smnrfs, He-Nan, an d o t h er p o pular Barks's world than an improvement on
cartoons have. If the a)pycals mirmr the iL Wit h t he exception of Launchpad.
thhtgs Ihat are good about DackTales, who serves at times as a surrogate for
that cannot help but b e a po sitive the absent Donald, the new Duckburgians
development. are superfluous and unappealing.

Eccentric inventor
Gyro Gearloose,one
cf the many Barks
characters who make
guest qppearances in
DnehTaks. (c) NS7
the 5'alr Disney
Company.
 But the new characters, and Donald's terial challenges children, rather than
absence, are the only major intentional merely appealing. to. their toy-purchasing
liberties that DnckT ales'screators have impulses; if there's any justice in the
taken with their source materiaL once world, the show will pick up at least a
one realizes that for some reason only a small percentage of the awards that Fat
few of the shows are adapted directly Albert garnered for its rather less subtle
&om Barks stories. (The Barks stories educational content.
dhectly adapted for the show include The show's characterizations are
'The Lemming with the Locket," "Land perhaps its closest and mogt encouraging
Beneath the Ground," and his mas- tie to its Disney heritage. How many
terpiece, "Sack to the Klondike.") The real characters are there i n c u rrent
new plotlines, which are a bit repetitive, t elevision animation7 Not many. G I
(too many of them concern time travel) Joe, My Little Pony, and others are the
don't compare as Barks's best work - but most monotonous of one-note stereo-
on the other hand, some of them are types, with no more personality or depth
better than the work he did m his last than the plasticky toys that t hey' re
few years: "Raiders of Ihe Last Harp," an based on.
entertaining episode in which Scrooge Uncle Scrooge, though, i s a
finds a Iiedetecting harp, falls in the personality, a f ell ow w i t h vir t ues,
latter category. c haracter flaws, l i kable t r aits, a n d
Despite the decision not to adapt very irritating habits. I n T V a n imation, if
many Barks stories, the Good Artist' s you' re not a warrior from space, you' re
influence is felt throughout each episde. almost certainly a s u gary-sweet and
The pmgram's characterization df Uncle faddish child ( o r c h i ldlike) a nimal
Scrooge isfar closer to Barks' than any character. Uncle Scmoge is an animal,
previous animated Scrooge, and numerous but a distinctly elderly and crusty one,
Barks supporting characters - Gym and hardly stylish in his old-fashioned
Gearloose, Magica De Spell, and others- top hat and spats. H e ' s a c haracter
make occasional appearances. Other whom no market-research survey cuuld
Barks concepts, Rom Uncle Scrooge's ever come up with, snd his success in
money bin and "Old Number One Dime" his role of DackTales'sstar says a lot for
to the convention of all Duckburg cit- the idea of letting p e ople like Carl
izens being ducks, dogs, or pigs, have Barks, rather than toy companies, create
b een maintained. A n d m ost o f t h e our TV cartoon characters.
stories clearly strive to capture Barks's Disney has other TV cartoon animation
special blend of action, comedy, and projects in the works, among them a
characterization. At i t s best, as in an Winnie-the-Pooh show to premiere short-
excellent sequence in t h e Du c kTaies ly on the Disney Channel, and a Chip n'
movie in which Scrooge and the nephews Dale syndicated series furiher down the
pilot a treasure-laden ship through the road. The studio seems to be in the TV
Latin American country of Ronguay, the animation game to stay, and DuckTales
s how succeeds surprisingly well i n pmvides it with a solid foundation on
bringing the flavor of a B arks comic which to build. I t w ill be interesting-
book to the TV screen. and indicative of what kind of place the
The Barks influence is felt, too, in the Disney studio is today - to see what it
show's un patronizing tone. Dac k Tales does with it.
has itsshare of (rather forced) references
to curent pop cultme, but it also builds Harry NIcCracken, Animaro's co-eduor,
episodes around m ythology, Shake- has contributed ro F u nnyworbi, Ne-
speare, the Civil War. and even a Man in ino, Cinefanrasrlqne, and ot her p ub-
the Iran Mask pastiche. Such story ma- lications.
ANIMA'I'0 l9
 A FleischerStudios Column by G. Michael Dobbs

THE FLEISCHER SUPERMAN CARTOONS

PART ONE

ff
S uperman Cartoons of the '40s Are
Animation At Its Peak" read a headline in
movie screen.
For those of us who have lived our
the July g, 1987 edition of Variety. A t entire lives in the midst of Superman's
the Los Angeles International Animation nearly half-century career, it might be
Celebration this Summer, audiences had diAicult to imagine just how popular the
the opportunity of seeing the Superman Man of Steel was in 1940. Not only did
shorts on a theater screen in 35mm this fictional character trnsfonn the
prints struck from the original negatives, comic-book industry overnight, he was
and the reaction to these classic cartoons the subject of a hit radio program, first
was overwhehningly positive. syndicated and then a regular feature of
After 45 years, the Fleischer brothers the M u tual Br o adcasting S y stem.
and their animators and storymen were Superman merchandise was beginning to
finally getting the praise they so richly turn big profits for Harry Donenfeld of
deserve for producing the first successful National Publicauons, and a movie tie-in
animated adventure series. Al t hough seemed natural.
many animation fans and scholars knew The natural course for Donenfeld was to
of the Fleischer Superman cartoons, until approach the s tudios that p roduced
recently relatively few casual animation serials. I n 1 9 40, three studios made
fans even knew the cartoons existed. chapter-plays: Universal, Columbia, and
Home video has changed a little of the Republic. Un i versal had ha d g reat
recoginition factor, but the often-time success with its Flash Gordon serials.
duped prints used for Ihe public-domain and Republic had made Ralph Byrd into a
tapes do the cartoons little justice. With crowd-pleasing Dick Tracy. Adapting a
the strihng of these new prints from the comic-strip feature could be done.
3 5mm negatives, one ca n b e s u re Whether Donenfeld approached the
definitive tapes are on their way to Ihe s tudios or w a s wo oe d b y the i r
home market.
Although the Superman cartoons were The illustratkms accompanying tAis
one o f Max Fle i scher's g reatest article are takenPom modelsheets used
accomplishments as a cartoon pmducer, is the production aftheFieischer
ironically Max really didn't want to adapt Superman cartoons. Characters (c) J987
the ml-hot cartoon character to t he DC Comics, Inc.
 with Paramount The studio was openly
dictating to Max what he should produce,
a far cry from when Max and his staff
developed Betty Boop and sought the
r ights to Popeye on their own. T h e
qp a nnouncement also meant that Max
would be using another artist's character
a nd would not b e i n l i n e f o r a ny
merchandise money. The a n imation
industry was painfully aware that Walt
Disney had wisely promoted the tie-in
b usiness to support his studio. T h a t
kind of activity meant having original
characters the producer controlled, and
Msx had nopiece of Superman.
Another factorwas cost. Max knew
that if done con ectly, the Superman
shorts would be far more expensive than
his other cartoons. Both Max and Dave
representatives is not known, but he did Fleischer expressed their concern to
start negotiations with Republic. In the Paramount officials, who supplied them
August 28, 1940, edition of Variety, the with the neccesary production money.
news that Republic could not meet with Finally, audience acceptance was a
D onenfeld's demands w as reported. question. Anim ation . had n e arly
According to the story, Republic could alwaysbeen a medium for comedy.
not afford the price set for Superman and Certainly there were notable excepiions,
announced that it hoped to obtain the such as Winsor McCay's The Sinking of
rights the following year. T h e studio the Lusiiania, b u t o t her t h an B o b
had aheady constructed a balsa-wood Clampett's noble but aborted effort to
dummy that would have been used m make cartoons based on Edgar Rice
some of the proposed flymg sequences. Burroughs's Mars books, ' cartoons were
Republic put Nysrerious Dr. Satan into furmy.
p roduction to f i l l t h e g a p l e f t b y However. production got underway on
Superman's departure, and the next year the Superman shorts, and the Fleischer
produced The Adventures of Captain animators c h anged th e i r art i stic
Narvd, bas ed on S uperman's biggest approach. Wh i l e t h e B e tty B oop,
comic-book competitor. Popeye, and Color Classics cartoons
Apparently another reason the deal featured vsonderful exaggerations, rubber
soured with Republic was the question of limbs, and o f fbeat perspectives, the
control of the script. Donenfeld wanted Superman shorts demanded a t ighter,
veto power, a n d R e public s imply more realistic style. The Fl e ischer
wouldn't give it to him. model sheets of the 30s showed
The next week,the September 4, 1940 animators how to draw their characters
issue of Variety an nounced that Don- with circles. The Superman model sheets
enfeld had struck a deal with Paramount used cubes. A l t hough the Fleischer
to produce animated adventures of artists had closely imitated E.C. Segar's
Superman. Max Fleischerwas to produce drawings for the Popeye cartoons, they
the cartoons for Paramount. used theJoe Shuster Superman only as a
Max was not pleased by this an- beginning point. T h i s writer believes
nouncement, fo r it mea n t s e veral the FleischerSuperman was much more
important changes in hi s r elationship dynamically drawn.
AMMATO 21
 An easy way tohave animated much of Collyer carrie over as Superman, and
the Superman cartoons would have been the cartoons utilized his famous Qark-to-
to rotoscope many o f th e ac t ion Superman line: 'This looks like a job
sequences. but the Fleischers decided not (as Clark)for Superman (several octaves
to use Max's celebrated invention. The lower as Superman)l" One animator told
care given the one-reelers meant a long me that the Florida weather wrecked the
production schedule, an d P a ramount studio's sound equipment,-and the tracks
publicity stated each cartoon took six had to be recorded in New York, but I' ve
months to produce in the Miami studio. not yet obtained corraboration on this
Mymn Waldman, one of the animators
who worked on the series, said the The fust S uperm
an short was
Superman cartoons were hard work, but copyrighted on September 26, 1941, and
rewarding. H e n oted the additionof released later that Fall. The shorts, aside
artists who added drawings to sequences from the first, were all copyrighted as
to give the hem the bulk and weight he "Superman in..." although that title did
should have. O n e o f W a khnan's not appear on-screen.
cartoons, Billion Dollar Limited, has a Audiences loved the shorts and made
remarkable scene in which Superman, them profitable even at the outrageous
while pulling a train canying gold for cost of $6 5,000 a c a rtoon. C r i t ical
the government, loses his grip when the reaction was mixed. Mi k e W e ar of
gang pursuing the train gasses him. You Variety reviewed the second cartoon,
can feet Superman's struggle to keep the Nechanical Nonsters, in the January 7,
train moving uphill as much as you could 1943, edition and said, 'The newspaper
if it had been a live-action actor. cartoon character comes to l ife w i th
Although the screenplays for the vigor in this second in the new series by
Superman shorts w er e w r i tten by Max Fleischer...Jammixl with action and
Fleischer regulars, apparently there was the same implausibilities found in the
no interference fmm Donenfeld and n ewspaper strip...Better work o n t h e
National Publications. Joe Shuster and human characters by F leischer's staff
Jerry Siegel did visit the Miami studio makes this an above-the-ordinary story."
while the shorts were in production, and Beginning in J anuary o f 1 9 42,
Shuster did do some drawings foe the Paramount released one Superman short a
animation staff, but t hey c ontributed
nothing else to the series.
The stories were stripped down to the
barest of plots, to provide the most CCNiT
action within the seven-to-ten minutes FITs
afforded by one reel. A narrator set up
the origin of Superman at the beginning
of the cartoons, and the memorable "It' s
a bird, it's a plane..." opening fmm the
Mutual radio series was used to introduce
the cartoons. For plots, the studio used
the format set up by the comic books:
IAiis and Clark vie for a story, Lois gets
into trouble, and Superman bails her out.
Naturally, Clark is around at the end of
the story with a knowmg wink at the
camera.
The studio used the cast fmm the
Mutual seriesfor the soundtrack. Bud
 cartoon's popularity.
'•
If there is one legitimate complaint
one can have about the series, it is the
uneveness of the stories . With the
Second World War, the Superman shorts
were too often propaganda vehicles.

( Eleventh Hour, Destructioe Inc., Jungle

Drums, and Secret Agent were somewhat
lackluster when compared to the other
cartoons in t h e s e ries. In f act,
Destruction, Inc. i s a disappointment.
One animator jokingly called it a "half-
assed Supetmsn cartoon."
One is tempted to lay the blame for
these shorts on the doorstep of the three
men who took over the 'Fleischer studio
once Max had sold the operation to
Paramount in late spring of 1942. Max
had borrowed heavily to build the new
month. By July, Time magazine, which studio in Miami, and had counted on the
hardly ever r eviewed short subjects, success of Nr. Bug Goesto Town to pay
published a grudging review: his debt to Paramount.
Many rumors circulate about h ow
"Superman in the Volcano (Paramount) Paramount brassconspired to get rid of
is the Man of Steel's eighth cinemap- Max and Dave Fleischer, and all I can
pearance since the movies muscled in on say after ten years of research is that
his vast newspaper-magazine-radio aud- they took the easy way. They held up
ience ( estimate: 5 0 .000,000) la s t the release of Nr. Bug until spring of
September. The pictures also highlight a 1942. O r i ginally slated for Christmas
new U 3 . cin em a f a shion: s o me 1941 release, the movie failed without
20,000,000 Supetmaniacs can h ardly the s u bstantial C h ristmas v a cation
wait.for Superman's ten-minute, one-reel audience.
cartoon to appear once a month in more Seymour Kneitel, Sam Buchwald, and
than 7,000 U.S. movie houses.... Isidore Sparber were hired by Paramount
"Artistically, Supermanshorts are the to do what the trio had been doing for
movie cartoon at their worst. Superman . Max and Dave for years: make cartoons.
loolts and acts like a wooden puppet. So This they did, only now they were the
do all his playmates. There is little his producers. They continued the Superman
creators - the old Fleischer Studios (now s eries and m a d e s e veral o f the
Famous Studio, Inc.) at Miami, Fla - can outstanding entries, i n cluding The
do to improve their hero - even King Nuuuny Strikes and The U nderground
Disney can't animate human beings World.
satisfactorily. But they did manage to
give him a new voice recently. His old In the next issue of Anirnata, I' ll look at
v oice wasn't manly enough. N o w i t each of the Superman shorts. U n t il
booms." then, ifyou have a question or coments,
please write to me at 24 Hampden Street,
A bok at Volcano will show little if Indian Orchard, MA 01151.
a ny difference in th e v oice o f o u r
beloved hero, a n d de spite Tu n e"s G. Ni c hael D o bbs i s th e og i c ial
p anning, even i t c o uldn't deny t he biographeraf'Nax Fleischer.
ANIMATO 23
 A Trivia Column
by Jim Korkis
Hal Seeger, Forgotten Animator! dog in The Heckling Hare (1941), The
With the return of Ralph Bakshi to Crackpot Quail (1941), and Of Fox and
animation, will i t b e l ong before the Hounds (1940). And Avery scholar Joe
returnof Hal SeegaV Seeger is the man Adamson hss pointed out that Avery's
rgsponsible for such animated television "voice pops u p from time t o t i me
shows as Mi l ton t he N o n ster an d embodied in a h ippo or w alrus who
Baifink. In a n i nterview with animation laughs so hard he can hardly take his
historian Jeny Beck, Seeger revealed that next breath." For anyone who wants a
the female voices on those shows were clue as to what A very'svoice really
all done by his wife, Beverly Lasker sounds like, there are the little "ouches"
Seeger (stage name: Beverly Arnold). that come out of a b o ttle in De puty
"She was amember of the Screen Actor's Droopy(1955).
G uild, and I ' d r ather pay m y w i f e
$25,000 a series than some strang er," Horr to Get a Job as an NGN Animator!
stated Seeger. Mrs. Seeger also did the In 1950, Fred Quimby, the Executive
v oice o f " Kokette," t h e female Producer o f Metr o -Goldwyn-Mayer
c ompanion to Koko the Clown in a animated cartoons. had the following to
series of made-for-TV cartoons using say about getting a job in the animation
Fleischer'sfamous clown. (One of the business. Thii excerptis quoted from
animators on Seeger's cartoons was I. Lawrence Lariar's book, C a r eers i n
Klein. who seems to have worked just Cartooning. "If it is a woman who has
about everywhere. IOein worked on staff some art school experience and is fairly
at Seeger's doing Bli nk, but freelanced adept with the pen and brush, she might
at home on his Milan the Nonster stuff. fmd employment in t h e i n king and
On Niltan the Nonster, he'd deliver a painting department. The apprenticeship
suitcase full of animated drawings ready stage for a man whose goal is animation
for inhng and painting on cela.) would be the in-between department. His
qualifications should include a natural
In Search of Tcx Avery! ability as a sketch artist, one who can
Those animationwho never got a chance use a pencil to advantage in drawing the
so hear Tex Avery have not lost that various characters synonymous with a
opportunity. Avery's voice can be heard cartoon studio. A n e x tensive training
in several of his cartons. He was the program has been confined pretty much
voice of Junior in the George and Junior to the Walt Disney Studio, due to their
shorts for MGM, and was also the voice ample f a c ilities a nd pro d uction
of Willoughby, the huge, dumb hunting requirements. C o nversely, the o ther
studios, because of their limited space, stated "Program Practices at CBS has
do not have much room for training ruled that a character that has been hit or
c enters and, t h erefore, i n sist o n in a fight CAN NOT have (1) eyes at
experienced people with the exception of hallmast (2) eyes twirling (3) tongue
girls i n t h e pa i nting a n d i n king hanging out (4) dazed or hurt look (5)
department." O b v iously, today's lib- closed eyes (6) chcle of starsaround
erated women would not let Fred get away head. NO EXPRESSIONS OF PAIN OR
with some of these comments about how DAZED EXPRESSION! The characters
women w e r e lim i te d to the CAN react with frustration or anger at
"inexperienced" ink an d p aint l adies having been foiled again. CAMERA: do
while men should skip this step up the not shoot scenes you find with no-nos
ladder to cartoon fame. in them!"

What Happened, Chuck? Bakrhi Projects that Never Were!

When Chuck Jones left his MGM Some of the most amazing animated
animation job on January 1, 1970, he projects of all time were announced by
had an agreement with Publishers-Hall Ralph Bakshi. I n 1 9 81, Bakshi and
Syndicate to d evelop three half-hour Columbia Pictures announced that after
properties for m o vi e o r te l evision American Pop, Bakshi would be directing
presentation. The titles7 The Wizard of a f il m t i tled Cr ime (f r om R i chard
Id, Andy Capp,and B.C. Hammer's book Crime in America) and
an animated version of The Canterbury
Charlie Brown!if eets Art Buchwald! Tales.
Back in 1 9 81 , B i l l M e l endez,
responsible for th e a nimated Peanuts John Dehner, Animator!
specials and features, proposed a series John Dehner is a popular character
of animated half-hours based on the actor who has appeared in countless
w ritings o f po l itical h umorist A r t television shows and movies. (He' s
Buchwald, "If things go easy, I know been a regular on at least nine TV series,
it's right," Melendez stated. "I called including The Baileys of Balboa and 7'he
Buch weld in Washington and he said Doris Day Show. He took a break from
tGreat.' We met on storyboards; he never his acting career in the laste 1930s to
asked for money. He was very helpful. work as an animator at the Walt Disney
But we couldn't penetrate those network Studios. His dad worked at the studio,
meatheads. What Irritates me is when I which is how he got the job. I believe
see the garbage they do put on." he later returned to Disney to do some
voiceover narration, including some
WarnerAnimators in Caricature! work for t h e c o mpilation animation
In the Warner Bros. cartoon Page !tfiss episodes of The W onderful World of
Glory (1936), at Ihe end of the cartoon Disney.
when Abner, t h e Hi c kville H o tel
bellhop, runs out into the street, he sees Did FouKnow?
a bunch of hicks on the street who are In 1971, Dan O' Neill let his Odd
really clever caricatures of Tex Avery, BodkirLr characters appear in a nimated
B ob Clampett, an d a f ew ot h e r television c o mmercials f or Bell
animators. Telephone7

How to Kill Humor in One Easy Lesson! Jim Korkis is a w ell-known animation
In 1981. a m emo circulated the fan who has writtenfor just about every
animation studios imolved in Saturday animation and.comic-book magazine you
morn
ing animation. In part, the memo can think qf:
ANIMATO 25
 F LIP B O O K
I S S S I > 1 1 I S I S A I S S S > S > S S > I S I
A Book Column by David Bastian

WINS OR
MCCAY'S
PEACEABLE
KINGDOM
Winsor McCay: His Life and Art
By John Canemaker
Abbeville; $49.95

i t came in a large cardboard container,

and. was sealed in plastic wrap. The sort
ending up in New York as a cartoonist
for thepapers of James Gordon Bennett
of book you' re airaid to handle without a nd William Randolph Hearst. I t w a s
having gloves on. A . d ust jacket of there that McCay created the strips Liule
thick. shiny paper protected its cloth- Sammy Sneezeand Hungry Henriett a, and
bound hard cover, and the pages inside the more famous Dream of the Rarebu
smelled kind of funny. B u t though it Fiend and Lutle ¹m o in S l umberland,
displayed all t h e e a rmarks o f a n the latter unquestionably regarded as one
"oversized" coffee-table art book, leafmg of the true masterpieces of the comic
through the pages revealed (of all things) page. I t w a s also in New York that
textl John Canemaker's Wuisor McCay: McCay became a popular entertainer on
His Life and Art is m o re than just a the vaudeville circuit, and one of t he
documentary of the works of one of this first experimentors in film animation.
century's most proliflic and gifted artists. In a thorough job of investigative
It is the biography of a man who, full of reporting, relying heavily on interviews
driveand enthusiasm, became one of the with McCay's grandchildren, Canemaker
moil i nnovative and i n fluential de- takes us through Ihe cities and studios
velopers of both the comic-strip and McCay inhabited. and accompanies them
animation media with a plethora of black-and-white period
McCay's life is traced (rom his birth photos. There are fewer reproductions of
(the exact date of w hich remainsa the artist's work than I expected (220
mystery) thmugh the many jobs he held pages and only 24 Lurle ¹m os), though
as a sign-painter for various circuses and the ones reproduced are carefully-chosen
dime museums throughout the midwest,
his stint as art director of the Cincinnati Above: self portrait of the artistar a
Enquirer (during which he was assigned young man. A 1907 drawing of McCay
to cover a l ynching), and rinally his at the age of twenty-one.
examples of McCay's technical abilities, The Nemo s trips are used as a
i ncluding his a m azing a l arcity f o r barometer o f McCa y' s ch a nging
conveying dynamic perspecting End se- temperment: the more turbulent his life
quential motion. I n f a ct, it i s Cane- was becoming, the more gloomy an
maker's thesis that the very "animated- outlook the strips projected. Set in the
ness" of McCay's early work is what led dream-state, Little Nemo was a veritable
him to extend his talents beyond the testing ground for subconscious problem-
confines of the newspaper page and solving and wish-fulfillment, both of
explore the illusion-of actual movement which McCay explored in a format where
t hat the motion picture (then in i t s he had total control over the outcome.
Infancy) afforded. And what control he had! M c C ay's
And it can certainly be said that more drawings are compared to those of
so than any other. comic-strip artist of Daumiar, Degas, and Durer, and his
the last hundred years, McCay's drawings creation of a fantasy world with that of
do mdeed move! Buildings sprout legs L. Frank Baum's Oz and Lewis Carroll's
and give chase, giants nm off with entire Wonderland.
city blocks under their arms, and most Though it could be argued that many of
importantly, bed-I'rames take tlighti h is c onclusions drawn f r o m th e
McCay himself is portrayed as a man information gathered are pure speculation
who "used his obsessively detailed intended to create a romanticized view of
drawings as a means to distance himself the angst-ridden artist cavorting in turn-
trom problems and unpleasantness in his of-the-century New York C ity, Cane-
personal and professional life." I ndeed, maker isunafraid to show McCay at his
McCay is recounted to have carried his least inspired, as when the third and
drawing board with him on his vaudeville final incarnation of the Lisle Nemo
tours to complete newspaper drawing series faltered while McCay channeled
assignments while b i ckstage between his creative impetus into fashioning his
shows. The very act of drawing is said animated films. Lik e wise, McCay's
to have filled McCay with a "strange editorial cartoons for Hearst were often
p eace" he seldom found in reality. I n hastily cranked out t o i l luslrate the
psychological terms, MeCay is described monologue of a n o p inionated editor
as a b ehaviorist and a h i gh-achiever whose isolationist feelings McCay did
whose compulsive need to draw would not share.
later serve as a neccesaty attribute for an Nor is McCay said to be the first
animator. animator, as so many writings before

A newspaper
illasrr ation Winsor and His Playmates
ccmmeinoratinga h FEW hkrIDriUVIAN SrtCIMKNS
QiIINE IS!!f ax! riIE CIRC'ES IS III iuWH!
l923 Washington Ioi SEEN Ik VIIE ROCk CREEk
ONRI.It XRN xoo.-
booking of the f SSIE
vaudevilleact in 1'
which NCCay
showed his
remark
ably
sqphisticated
animated films.

ANIMATO 27
 00

g[

Lillle Nemo andfriends: the sfars o

f an enormously popular comic strip,
a Victor Herbert Broadway murical, early comic-strip nuvehandise...and Winsor NcCay's
first animated jilm.
this have asserted; h i s d ebt t o t he
"trickfilnl" makers who preceded him is 70s, the artists of which were as much
made c l ear . Inst e ad, Mc C ay's art historians as filmmakeis, committed
immeastuable contribution to the art of to paying tribute to the animators who
p ersonality animation i s put int o came before them. And now in the '80s,
perspective by comparing stills Rom thanks to people like Canemaker, the
eight of the ten animated films he made forefathers of a n imation ar e f i nally
(three of which exist today only as receiving the r ecognition entitled to
fragments) to t h e m o r e m echanical them.
experiments of J. Stuart Blackton and McCay, more than anyone else in the
Emile Cohl. h istory of animation, deserves to be
This book is not Canemaker's first honored with a book of this type, for
visit with the career of %insor McCay. being the one to take animation out of
Before he made his film Renrembering the category of "technical experiment"
Winror NcCay (1976), t he now-famous a nd into the category of "magic." H i s
"father of animation" was v i rtually Little Nemo film need not be pieceded by
u nknown even to most fans of t h e a disclaimer reminding the viewer to
medium. F o r m y pm po sea as an withhold judgement until he places the
instructor of animation', his film negates film in its proper time-frame. Show any
the need to rent Little Nemo, Gerlie the child in the Transformer-ridden '80s this
Dinosaur, and The Sinking of the film and he will immediately respond to
Lusilania , as all t hree ate completely the characters' personalities. He doesn' t
contained within the documentary, Gertie e ven need to b e f a miliar with t h e
being natrated by J olm F itzsimmons, characters Irom the comic strip. That, in
McCay's assistant animator, who recalls my humble opinion, is magic, and there
the vaudeville spiel McCay performed is a welcome spot in my film library for
when appearing live with the film. As a just such a magician.
historical document, it is indispensable.
Canemaker, unlike most of today' s David Bastian recenlly had a dream that
writers on Ihe subject of animation who there were no such things as books on
have virtually made a career out of being animation. He awoke lhe next day and
a fan, emerged during the "animation cursed the rarebit he had eaten the night
renaissance" of the late '60s and early before.
28 ANIMATO
 A Video Column by Matthew Hasson

The BeatlesYdlow Submarine bad, since they could have touted it as a

MOM/UA Home Video; $29.95 "special longer version" if only they had
taken the extra time. S o o nce again,
(For a review of the movie, refer to marketing priorities have pushed aside
AnimatogS.) quality. (It would be interesting to see if
British copies of the video are also
Ydlow Submar beehas been long missing the song.)
overdue for video release. Although the Aside from that one shortcoining,
"mind-blowing" visuals may lose a little Yellow Submarine on video is as enjoy-
of their impact on the small screen, it is able as ever. T h e brilliant psychadelic
still a treat for the eyes and even more colors shine bolder than ever, especially
so for the ears. T his 60s classic now when compared with t h e s c ratchy,
has a superb digitally-remastered stereo w ashed-out prints t ha t h a v e b e en
soundtrack, and lucky owners of stereo showing on local TV stations in recent
VCRs can now hear the music in crisp, years. Not only does the music sound
clear high-fidelity sound which is almost better, but the audio has been digitally
equal to that of the Ydlow Sub compact remixed to simulate stereo (voices and
d isc released this past Summer. T h e sound effects coming from different
eleven Beatles songs used in the movie channels. etc). Now it's possible to hear
make excellent music videos in their own each and e v ery b a d p u n s p read
right, and some have aheady been shown tluoughout the film (Ringo: "Look - a
on MTV. M ost of the tracks have been cyclops!" Paul: "Can't be. He's got two
redubbed, with the exception of "It's All eyes." Ringo: "Must be a bicyclops!").
Too Much," which is in fact a slightly For the animation and Beatle fan alike,
different version of the song than that Yellow Submarine is a welcome addition
which is on the Yellow Sub soundtrack to any video collection.
LP.
On a disappointing note, the song Other 'toons on tape for the holiday
"Hey Bulldog," which had been deleted
from all American prints of the movie, is
missing Irom the home video as well. Lady and the Tramp
According to the November issue of Disney Home Video; $29.95
Beatlefan magazine, a c o n sultant for This movie, originally issued with a
MOM/UA di d m fa c t p a ss o n a mono soundtrack, has been digitally
suggestion that the British print which remixed by the Disney folks in the same
contained "Hey Bulldog" should be used way as Ydlow Subniarine, with t h e
for the video, but that the company music and s ound F X in se p er ate
responded that if i t t ook the time to channels. Lady and the Tramp has its
obtain a copy of the British print, it share of songs too, though I don't think
wouldn't be able to have the video out on too many people will be cranking up
its scheduled release date. This is too their stereos for "It's a Beautiful Night."
AMMATO 29
Crisp, bold hi-fi stereo does add a nice Song of the South, ap a rt from using
dimension to any film though, especially live action linking segments to tie the
a Disney feature. a nimated stories together. T h e "story-
teller" in this film is Scatman Crothers,
Will Vinton'sFestival of Claymatioe who tells the story of "Brer Rabbit, Brer
PaciTic Arts Video Bear, and Brer Fox" (a preacher). In the
This is a shortened version of the original Harris stories these characters
compilation feature that was making the are arch enemies, with Fox and Rabbit
rounds of movie houses earlier this year. usually t r ying t o eli m inate B e ar.
It is a collection of some of Vinton's However, in Street f igbt they are allies in
Claymation shorts, most notably Th e a battle to eliminate their neighborhood
Creation, Mountain Music, The G r cot of drug dealers, corrupt police, and a
Cognito, and Dinosaur. A l s o i ncluded Mafia Kingpin.
are behind-the-scenes excerpts from a This film contains strong language and
Claymation documentary showing how very graphic violence, thus its R rating.
the characters and sets are constructed It also raised somewhat of a controversy
and animated. on ils original release for "stereotypical"
There were many more selections portrayal of blacks, Italians, and homo-
included in the theatrical version of this sexuals. There is nothing offensive
6lm, but many of them are missing for about the Rabbit, Bear, and Fox, but
copyright reasons. Some of the funniest there are a few scenes whichfeature a
parts of the remaining material are the "Stephen Fetchit" type character in order
linking segments used to tie the various to portray the old image of black people
s horts together. T h e 'hosts" of the in the media Some people will also be
program are two dinosaur movie critics o ffended by t h e Ma f i a a n d ga y
named Herb and Rex, who are modeled on stereotypes. Perhaps the film's greatest
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and the c ontroversy was its o riginal title o f
films are shown with some commentary Coonskiri. D i rector Ralph Bakshi says
in the same format as Siskel and Ebert's he would prefer the film to be issued
TV show. with its original title, but he no longer
Although some of the best bits from controls the rights to it. "If I had to
the feature didn't make it onto this tape ietitle it, I would call it Coonskin, and
(John Fogerty's "Vanz Kant Danz" video, in parenthesisI'm Sorry," says Bakshi.
the singing C alifonua r asiins, and It may be difficult to find this film in
Dommo Pizza's "Noid" commercials), video stores because it is defmitely not
Festivof o f C l aymatioe i s st i ll 5 3 for children, and there is not too great a
minutes' worth of % i l l V i nton's best demand for "adult" animation (un-
(with the possible e xception of t h e fortunately). However, if your video deal-
rather boring A Ch ristmasGiP). It er has copies of Bakshi's previous
makes a good companion tape to The features, Frdz tbe Cat and Heavy Traffic,
Adventures of Nark Twain, Vinton's 6rst chances are it may also cany StreetIight.
feature, which was released last year. If so, check it out. Ho w ever, don' t
spend $79.95 on it unless you simply
Streetjigbt (Formerly titled Cooiiskin) have to own every film by Ralph
Academy Entertainment; $79.95 Bakshi.
Originally released on a very limited
basis i n 197 4 , Ral p h Ba k shi's hfatthew Hasson is a n Bo s tori-based
controversial film depicting street life in cartoon b«g who erjoys hearingfrom
Harhsri is loosely based on Joel Chandler other co l lectors of ani m ation o n
Hanis's "Uncle Remus" tales, but has videotape. H e can be re a ched clo
very little resemblance to %alt Disney's Artimnto.
 Reviews of Recent Films and Books
Pinocchio and the Emperor oI the Night falls in' love with a female marionette
(1987). D i r ected by Ha l S utherland. named Twinkle, and f a lls i n to the
Produced by Lou Scheimer. Voices: Scott clutches of Stremboli Puppetino, who
Grimes (Pinocchio), T o m Bos l ey uses his magic to turn Pinocchio back
(Geppetto), Rickie Le e J ones (Good into a p u ppet ( a t r ul y f ri ghtening
Fairy), Don Knotts (Gee Whillikers), Ed sequence). Later, Pinocchio sets out to
Asner (Scalawag), Frank Welker (Igor), retrieve his stolen jewel box and has an
William Windom (Puppetino), Jonathan adventure with Scalawag and Igor at sea,
Harris (Grumblebee), James Earl Jones eventually b e i n g swa l lowed by
@he Emperor). Menstre;.. a giant carnival ship which
is the portal to Reasure — Island... 'The
I must be getting good at this. Land Where Dreams Come True," and the
Filmation's Pinocchio feature is exactly Empire of the Night.
as I thought it would be. I had hoped A subplot involving Gee Whilikers and
that it would somehow be better than my a Mr. Bug-type society of insects versus
expectations, and though there were a giant bullfrog serves to stretch the
some supises, it is no animated classic. story to ninety minutes. The Emperor of
In fact, the whole film, though meant the Night is a terrifying creature staight
as sequel to Pinocchio, has a story which out of a Marvel comic book (James Earl
r uns parallel to t h e original Disney Jones doing his Darth Vader voice), but
movie. Pinocchio, a real boy as the film he seems out ofplace compared to the
begins, i s cel e brating his f i r st other simply (and in some cases crudely)
anniversary as a human. The -Shie — Fairy designed characters.
er... Good Fairy makes an appearance More animation and airbrushed eels do
(ala She-Ra, with Princess of Power-like not a theatrical feature make. A retread
special effects) and sings a nice song, story, ugly character design, and flat
"Freedom of Choice" (although there is backgrounds all serve to remind us of the
absolutely no emotion on her face as she sad state of s tudio animationtoday.
lip syncs it). Filmation is proudly boasting that this
Geppetto sends Pinocchio on an errand film was e ntirely produced in this
to deliver a jewel box, and the Good country. Unfortunately, it is nothing to
Fahy sends along a new friend (and be proud of.
conscience) Jiminy — Eric... Gee Whil- Jerry Beck
ikers, a wooden toy bug brought to life,
to watch over him. Pinocchio is tricked Doing Their B it: l V artimeAmerican
out of his jewel box by two con artists, Animated Short Films, J939- J945. By
Honest — Jolm- and... er Scalaw ag, a Michael S. Shull and David E. W i lt.
racoon, and his monkey assistant Igor McFarlandand Company, Inc;$29.95.
(the best animated character in the
movie). Doing Thier Bu is a smart little book
To make a long story short, Pinocchio that documents the a n imated films
ANIMATO 3 I
released during th e U n i ted S tates's
the authors recall many great cartoons
involvement in-the two World Wars, It' s and provide good descriptions of many
also a reminder that once upon a time ririties, such as Terrytoons' Mopping Up
animation was used for social comment andThe Last RoundUp.
as well as entertainment for all ages. I only have two problems with this
The book begins with a short, but book. First, the illustrations. Of t h e
i nteresting, chapter on W orld War I twenty or so pictures in the book, at
cartoons. Since the silent era is still least eighteen are horrible photos taken
v ery much u ncharted temtory, t h e from a TY screen. There stills are so bad
mferences to many obscure titles is fas- they decided to put an outline around the
cinating. With appropriate descriptions, relevant part of the picture to help you
the authors whet my appetite for such see it better. The result is laughable!
cartoons as Puuing Friz on t he Water Secondly, the book basically covers
Wagon and How Charlie Captured the wartime theatrical releases shown to the
Kaiser (a Charlie Chaplin cartoon). The general public. Because of this there is
authors mention McCay's The Sinhng of barely a mention of W arner's Private
the Lusuania an d C h a rley B owers's Snafu cartoons or any other government-
A.W.OL., plus a dozen others with even sponsored wartime cartoons. Because of
the smallest reference to w orld war this unwritten rule, they list a few non-
events at the time. theatrical titles i n t h eir f i lmography,
The next chapter covers the thirties such as D isney's D ense Against
with an insight that hadn't occured to me Invasion, UPA's Hell Bent For Hection,
before. Because ofworld tensions at the and the p r eviously unknown Po int
time, may cartoons, according to the Rationing of Foods. My f eeling is that
authors. w er e in t entionally p e ace-
the authors should have either gone all
oriented. B y h ighlighting examples in the way and listed everything including
this chapter, their point becomes clear. the Snafus, or have stuck to their own
Obviously cartoons such as Columbia's rules and left out al l n on-theatricals.
Disarmaen mt Confe
rence (
1931), Going halfway as they did makes their
¹i ghbarz (1935), and Peace Conference work look incomplete.
(1935) were m eant t o be to p ical Though it's expensive, I do recommend
references to the current situation. But Doing Their Bit for the ground it does
by including Sunshine MaRers (V an cover - spotlighting a unique chapter in
Beuren), Musie Land (Disney), A Feud the h i story of Ame r ican s t udio
There Was (Warner) and others in this animation.
discussion, they showhow these cartoons Jerry BeeR
reflected the pacifist mood of the United
States in the 1930s. Walt Disney'z Snow White 4 the
The main section of the book is a MaRing af the Classic Fihn. By Richard
f ilmography w h ic h de scribes 2 7 1 Holliss and Brian Sibley. S i mon and
cartoons in depth, with complete screen Schuster, $14.95.
credits. 'Iltey seem to h ave l isted
everything with even the most minor Alice's Adventures in 8'ondertand. B y
references to th e wa r o r h o mefiont Lewis Carroll; illustrated by David Hall.
activities. If a cartoon has a card with Simon and Schuster, $14.95.
an A card or a food rationing gag, it' s
here, along with the more obvious Der How the Disney-sanctioned Disney
Fabri"s Face, Scrimpthe Japs, etc. book industry has changed 'in the last
Footnotes, bibliography, and t horough five years or so. I t u sed to be that
mdex tnmplete the book. Disney books - even the bad ones - were
The filmography is a pleasure to read- events,works of huge size and price that
 couldn't help but make their presence historical material an d r o ugh, o f ten
known. Anybody who has ever bought unfmished art.
(even at remaindered price), read, or tried Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley's two
to storeon a standard-sized shelf a book essays sre strai ghtforward and readable,
like Trearures qf Disney Animation Art but they' re so dry snd factual that the
will know what I mean. excitement that surrounded the making of
Lately,however, things have changed. Snow White - snd the excitment of
Disney books sre smaller, in ambition viewing it - never comes across. (The
and price, and more likely to fade into text only comes alive when it quotes
the forest of volumes on a bookstore's story sessions snd other firsthand
shelves. The recent books have some- accounts of the film's production, which
thing else in common: almost all of it wisely does often.) In both chapters,
them have been packaged by a single it's the well chosen illustrations that
firm, a British concern called the Justin hold the most interest.
Knowles Publishing Group. This is the Like the Knowles Group's books on
company responsible for t h e r e cent Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, Snow White
"biographies"of Mickey Mouse, Donald and the Seven Dwarfs 4 the hfaking qf
Duck, snd Goofy,the volume on Mickey the Classic Film reads like the work of
Mouse memorabilia, and several other knowledgable but r ather dispassionate
works. writers. It certainly never reads like the
One of its recent efforts, Walt Dtsney's work of o pinionated animation buffs.
Snow Whiteand the Seven Dwarfs k the Perhaps forSnow White's next rerelease,
hfaking of t h e C lassic Film, i s s n the Disney people will get someone like
uneasy combination o f ani m ation Jolm Culhsne to write the fascinating
history snd s t orybook re leased t o book that the making of Snow Wtute
coincide with th e f i hn's anniversary csn surely inspire.
c elebration this year. Th e b o o k i s Another recent Justin K nowles
divided into three sections: an account Publishing Group book i s a l together
of the making of Snow White, a r e - more successful. Anyone who (like me)
, telling of the story. snd sn essay about was tantalized by th e f e w A l ice i n
the film's aftermath, including critical Wonderland paintings by David Hall that
response and merchandising. Al l three were printeda few years ago in Treasures
parts sre heavily illustrated, the first two cf Disney Animation Art will want to
with many drawings that haven't seen seek out the remarkable new edition of
print before, including some very early, Alice illustrated by David Hall. Dozens
very interesting sketches. (The final of Hall's illustrations, many in color,
section is illustrated with photographs accompany the unabridged text of Lewis
of merchandise, including a German Canoll's famous story. T h e r esult is
poster that shows a crowd scene that both a handsome edition of Alice and an
omits Happy and includes Gnnnpy twice- example of j u s t h o w c omplex and
an odd quality that goes unmentioned in ambitious even the most preliminary of
the book's accompanying caption.) work on a Disney animated feature once
This slim volume - 88 pages - is
prevented from being what a book about Hall produced his paintings and
Snow White should be by it s hybrid drawings in 1939, during the earliest
format. T h e r e telling of t h e story, stages ofwork on Disney's adaptation of
. uncomfortably plopped down i n t h e Alice. His w o rk, wh ich served to
middle, is pointless; it's too perfunctory i llustrate the first story work on t he
to capture the flavor of the film, and feature, bears virtually no resemblance to
seems aimed at a young audience that what reached the screen in 1952, but it
would no t ap preciate t h e bo ok's i s a f ascinating interpretation of t he
AMMA'IQ 33
story i n its own ri g ht . Hall ' s by vintage black-and-white photographs
draughtsmanship is remarkable, and his of Marlene Dietrich, and several pages
moody, claustrophobic illustrations some- are devoted t o Fi e ischer publicity
times rival the Tenniel pictures in the material featuring Betty.
perfection of t h ei r v i sualization of But the bulk of the book is given to
Carroll's words. (Virtually alone among artwork inspired by Boop and Dietrich,
post-Tenniel Alice i l lustrators, Hall i s apparently commisioned for this volume.
neither imitative of Tenniel's wort, nor The artists include Milo Manara, Guido
obsessed with delxuting from it.) Crepax, and Hugo Pratt, as well as many
The temptation to w onder what other cartoonists less well known in the
Disney's Alice would have been like if United States. (Fans interested in the
the studio had based it on Hall's work is contemporary Italian comics scene will
irresistable. It's clear that it would have find the book an invaluable potpourri of
been a l e ss "Disneyesque" film, but work.)
probably one which would have far better %hat they' ve done with the subject of
conveyed the flavor of Carroll's(and Marlene Dietrich and Betty Boop varies
Tenniel's) work widely. Many of the contributors have
Brien Sibley has written an excellent done seperatepieces for each star; others
afterword which provides the s tory have managed to include them both in a
behind the Hall illustrations, as well as single illustration. T h e f ormats range
many other heretofore-unrevealed details from fairly straightforward portraits to
of the many years of work that went into short comic-book style stories to ex-
Disney's Alice. The amazing fact is that perimenta drawings. A mong the best
Alice's almost fifteen-year genesis and contributions are Sessr's delicate cover
myriad stages o f d e velopment were illustration, which somehow presents
perfectly typical of the Disney features Marlene and Betty in one cheesecake
of the postwar period. This book might shot without making either of them look
serve as a r o ugh model for similar out of place; and Vittorio Giardmo's one-
volumes drawn from early work on other page comic noir mystery, which also
Disney features. I h o p e i t sells well adroitly features both of t h e b ook's
enough to do so. subjects. (On the other hand, some the
Harry NcCracken artists seem much more interested in
Marlene than Betty, and a few of the
Narlene Dietriclt and Betty Boap drawings have precious little to do with
Editori Del Grifo; SI0.00. either.)
There can't have been many suanger This book is obviously a product of
animation-related books published than the European romantization of American
Nariene Dietrlc/t and Betty B oop. T h i s pop culture that has produced the in-
Italian-published paperback, released in famous French deification of Jeny Lewis,
conjunction with a a film and comic-strip among other things. The tone of most
festival in A scona, Switzerland, pays of the book's work is reverential and
eccentric tribute lo the greatness of Miss distanced; there's not much evidence that
Dielrich and Miss Boop in poetry, prose, the contributors to the book are terribly
and graphic art. The book's introductory familiar with the Fleischer films them-
material, presented in Italian, German, selves (indeed, some of them seem to
Frcutch, and English, includes prefaces by thmk that Betty was primarily a comic-
the Mayor of Ascona and other dig- strip character). But the book's unusual
nitaries, numerous Dietrich/Boop quot- outlook gives it much of its considerable
ations, and two poesns by an Italian poet quirky appeal for the American cartoon
named Vito R i v iello. a mong o ther fan.
things. Twentywne pages are taken up
3 Am
Part of a comic strip by Cindia Leonefrom Betty Boop and Nariene Dietrich.
Characlers (c) 1987 King Featwes Syndicate.

IHIIECE l.E U<slA GEVCWQ

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ANIMATO 35
 A News Column by John Cal/!!ley
Bakstu, Pryor, and Blade Runner Ted Turner has wanted to move into
Ralph Bakshi is looking past his feature production and feels the duo
current SatAM version of Mighty Mouse would make a good start. H-B is now
on CBS. T h e controversial filmmaker working on a script. Budget for Turner' s
has signed a pact with Richard Pryor to feature would be in the $5 million range.
p roduce two f e atures t o s t a r t h e
comedian. One film will be all live- Animation on Home Video
action, th e o t he r l i v e-action w i th Get Animated'sAnimation Home Video
animation. B akshi will co-write both Directory is now available. It l i sts and
films. For TV, Bakshi is planning an described over 1300 videotapes and discs
animated version of Ridley Scott's Blade that feature animation. Spiral-bound for
Runner. Th e 1 982 sci-fi feature about easy use, the book contains subject
renegade robots starred Hanison Ford. listings and is cross-referenced. Price
No release dates for any of the projects for the volume is $15 (US/Canada) from
were glvell. Get Animated!, PO Box 1582, Burbank,
CA 91507.
Disney's Oliver to Arrive Late(r)
Oliver and the D odger, Di sney's .lust $299S!
upcoming animated feature, has now been There is an unusually fine selection
rescheduled to be rel eased d uring this holiday season of tapes at t his
Thanksgiving, 1988. T his is later than magic price for selling animated features
the previously announced Summer 1988 in home video. T o p o f anyone's list '
release. T h e f i hn, loosely based on will include Disney'sLady and lhe Tramp
Dickens's Oliver Twist, features a group (1955/one of D isney's most enjoyable
of crooked canines under the direction of films), Spielberg/Bluth's An A m erican
a human thief. (For those keeping track, Tail (1986/flawed b u t fin ancially
the film was originally set to be released successful), an d t h e Be a tles/George
during the Summer of 1988.) Dunning's Yellow Submarine (1968/lots
of fun,fantasy,and music).
Hanna-Barbera Moves Back to Features Also of interest at the same price are
H-B has begun a move back into Yogi's Great Escape, a new made-for-TV
theatrical feature films. First on its list feature from H-B stamng Yogi, Snaggle-
is an animauxl version of The Pied Piper puss, and others (which received only
of Hamelin. The pr o perty is b eing one siring), and Through the Looking
developed with Lesfle Brisucusse, Oscar- Glass, a "contemporary version" of
winning composer (Dr. D o little), who Lewis Canoll's t al e b y Au s tralia's
will write ten songs for the film. Budget Burbank studio with voices by Jonathan
for the film is over $10 million. %intas and Mr. T. (2!2)
Also in the works at H-B is a feature
staning Tom and Jeny. T h e cat and lohn Cawey is an animation wruer and
mouae were created by Bill Hanna and historian, and publisher of 'the G et
Joe Barbers back in their MGM days. Animated! line of publications.
 AI3VERTISING IN AMMA TO
Animato is a g r e at place to a dvertise orignal art, books, films and tapes, and other
products of interest to our enthusiastic readership of animation fans. $2 5.00 will buy a
fullpage of space; half-pages are $12.50. We can typeset your ad for only $5.00 extra.
Classified ads are also available, at 10 cents a word (20 word minimum). Ad deadline
for the next issue is February 15, 1988. Pl e ase makeall checks payable to Mike
Ventrefia.
To place an ad, or for further information, write us at:
Animato Advertising
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