Prod. CM8 - The Picnic
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...
Wow!
ReplyDeleteWere you able to score any close-up shots of the photos on the wall?
One of the images on the wall (with the many small photos) is pictured in the first posting of last month's "Multiplane Week." This to me was the most important historic document - the other images are largely simplified examples, publicity stills and the first page of the patent which I covered in its entirety. Thus, I did not feel that that warranted wholesale copying off the studio walls...
ReplyDeleteHow were you able to post these images without catching hell from Disney legal?
ReplyDeleteWell, whit, let's not forget that there are VERY few people left around that actually care about this wonderful invention. Some of the folks within the company that feel as I do about it actually commented to me that they love the attention I give to it, as the Multiplane camera so obviously needs tender loving care. I would think that the Disney lawyers, whom I respect mightily (except for their judgment on Mike Barrier's last book!), would naturally be much more interested in pursuing folks that infringe big-time on their character copyrights, a thing I would never do myself. The materials posted on my blog are instructional, for educational purposes only, to raise the awareness of the wonderful things that happened at the Disney studios in its early glory days!
ReplyDeleteOne could argue the point that I am doing the studio a favor by posting things so they don't have to spend neither the time nor the money to do so themselves...