A. Film L.A. test

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?

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!

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 ...

Just a quick heads-up - more to follow soon! I am busy as never before... Are you visiting for the first time? Check out the archives in the right-hand column! >>>

Directed by Ben Sharpsteen. Released 2/15/36, this FINAL draft dated 11/26/35. Animation by Milt Kahl, Ham Luske, Don Towsley, George Drake, Fred Spencer, Paul Hopkins, Bernie Wolf, Frank Thomas, Eddie Strickland, Paul Allen, Al Eugster, Shamus Culhane, Hardie Gramatky, Marvin Woodward, Frank Kelling and Roy Williams. There are a few things to note in this list. Though obscured by a typo, this may be the first scene of Frank Thomas' to reach the screen, under taskmaster George Drake's supervision. Frank mentioned to me that his first scenes were in Mickey's Circus, which was released half a year later. George Drake was himself head of the Inbetween department since 1932. Paul Hopkins was listed in Camera around 1933, in Personnel in 1935 - here he his animating. The film is discussed in the Action Analysis Class of Jan. 6th, 1936, the transcript of which can be read elsewhere on this blog. Really busy, folks! I will try to not be a stranger here, though!

I used to wonder where precisely Walt Disney's first 2719 Hyperion Ave. studio was located, and what it looked like. Since reading about it first in the 1970s in Dave Smith's article in Michael Barrier's great Funnyworld, I spent hours looking at photos, aerial photographs, maps etc, until I found I had a pretty good impression. My aim here is to pass some of that on to you, as I have found there was an interest in this since I posted this image of the staff with their new Charlotte Clark dolls on my Facebook page: Looking through Cecil Munsey's Disneyana, it appears to me that the "funny looking" Mickey with the button eyes is actually an example of the 1930 British-made pose-able Mickey by the Dean's Rag Book company of London. First, the WHERE. Here is the front of the Gelsons parking lot, with the original plot of the studio indicated in a blueish hue. We see the very small building, the back yard that has a car shed does not even reach the current Gel...

Danish illustrator Kay Nielsen moved from his native Copenhagen, where he was born in 1886, to Los Angeles in 1936, and worked for the Walt Disney Studios from late 1938 to 5/23/41. His most well-known work was, of course, done for Fantasia. Later in his life, in 1953, he returned for a short stint on Sleeping Beauty, but in the end, the styling of Eyvind Earle was chosen for the film. Nielsen died, forgotten, in 1957. For a long time, only one of his Sleeping Beauty pieces was known to exist, in the ARL. It is pictured in John Canemaker's beautiful book "Before the Animation Begins" (Hyperion 1996). The caption reads: "The only example of Nielsen's art made during his brief return to Disney in 1953 to work on Sleeping Beauty (1959)." Since then, however, a number of Nielsen's pieces have appeared on the market, sold through the reputable Van Eaton Galleries . They became available when a high profile Disney artist passed away. Over the years, I have co...