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Showing posts from May, 2012

The Other John Dunn...

The draft of the day before yesterday ( The Autograph Hound ) showed animation done by J. Dunn. But is this the same John Dunn as the genius designer we know from the 50's and 60's? Maybe not! I found that around 12/01/1936 there was a John J. Dunn at the Disney Studios whose personal data is this: born 12/07/1910, died 10/05/1992 in Ventura, CA. The "real" John Dunn was John William Dunn, born 12/25/1919, Coatbridge, Scotland, UK, died 01/17/1983 in San Fernando, CA. At the time of The Autograph Hound there was also a Ed(ward) Dunn at the studio, but the draft clearly states J. Dunn. Since we really have no info on John W Dunn at Disney before the late 40s, and only Ed Dunn was part of the strikers in 1941 (as animator he made a weekly $52,25), that to me strongly suggest that the animator on The Autograph Hound was John J Dunn, the "other" John Dunn. Anyone out there who can shed a clearer light on this matter?

Show Fanny Whenever Possible

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I never thought I would ever write that as title anywhere, but if it is on a Disney model sheet, it must be ok, right? Here is a companion piece to yesterday's draft to The Autograph Hound. See for yourself! I found this article about Sonia Henie on a flight between Denmark and Holland, a flight with Norwegian, a budget airline that offers free in-air WiFi internet! We can't even rest on the plane anymore!

Prod. 2225 - The Autograph Hound

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Directed by Jack King who picked it up 2/23/39. Released 9/01/36, this FINAL draft dated 8/14/39. Animated by Claude Smith, Ray Patin, Lee Morehouse, John Elliotte, Larry Clemmons, Ken Muse, Paul Allen, Dun(bar) Roman, Ed Love, Bob Stokes, Ken Peterson, Ward Kimball, Johnny Cannon, Judge Whitaker, Nick deTolly, Ozzie Evans, Rex Cox, John Dunn, Andy Engman, Emory Hawkins. (No Culhane as per IMDb, though!) Some of these animators became heavyweights at studios other than Disney's, including obviously Muse and Hawkins. Ray Patin made commercials from the late 40's to the 60's. Others found other jobs within the company, like Ken Peterson who went into middle management, and Larry Clemmons who became a writer - after working on Bing Crosby's radio shows in the 40's and 50's. A film of mixed drawing quality, but nothing hideously awful, really. Bob Stokes' scenes are especially nice, but Kimball's scenes stick out as the most inventive and over the top. But