Directed by Burt Gillett. Released 10/23/30, this FINAL draft dated 9/13/30. Animation by Dave Hand, Jack King, Charlie Byrne, Norm Ferguson, Dick Lundy, Johnny Cannon, Les Clark, Ben Sharpsteen, Tom Palmer, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Cutting and Frenchy de Trémaudan. Found on the Treasures DVD Mickey Mouse in Black and White, Vol. 2 Disk 1 or on YouTube, though in very low quality here . A cute little film, this is actually a landmark in animation history. "Can I bring Rover?" Little Rover is, of course, none other than Pluto! Fergy's scene 27 is often "quoted" when discussing the origins of this the most famous of cartoon canines. It is very interesting to see the difference in drawing styles. Fergy tries to draw a dog and mostly does a very nice job. Compare this with e.g. Palmer's attempt in the final scene. It is a "funny cartoon balloon animal," a much more simplistic and symbolic way of drawing. Palmer, Cannon and Lundy seem not to be quite up to...
One problem is that Kimball wasn't retired in 1968. He was still active in 1969, when I visited him at his office at the studio, and he was producing the "Mouse Factory" TV show a few years later. The studio's announcement of his death said he retired in 1973. I can believe the substance of the anecdote, but I'd bet that Ward imitated Walt's cough soon after Walt's death--when it really would have been spooky to hear it--and a long time before his own retirement.
ReplyDeleteGood observation! Well, I can only say: I tell 'em as I hear 'em. You are probably right, too, when you suspect it wasn't too long after Walt's death...
ReplyDeleteI have a 1971 phone directory that the animator Fred Kopietz used to keep track of his studio collegues. Kopietz retired in 1971, so he kept this in his home in Arizona to write in. Following Ward Kimball's name he writes "let go"...