Halloween: The Nut Factory

Well, we're coming up again on probably my favorite pseudo-holiday all year long. No religious affiliation required (unless you're one of those wackos who run around in the woods) - everybody can join in! As a kid I couldn't believe there was actually a day dedicated to Frankenstein. It was as though the contents of my head were suddenly appearing in department store windows and shelves everywhere! Cartoons benefitted greatly from this coincidental 'holiday' and, in fact, many of the best cartoons ever made (in my opinion) were those which in some way revolved around the supernatural. It was ready made material for animation. I've covered a number of these in previous years and, although the list is dwindling, I hope to get a few more examples up this year. Enjoy!

One of the things that I love so much about the New York school of animation was their total misunderstanding of cuteness. Cubby Bear, the unforgettable star of the Van Bueren Studios from 1933-1934, was just such a creature. A look at the only existing poster (that I know of) for Cubby reveals two glaze-eyed characters, mid twirl, punctuated psychotic animals and the disembodied head of an expressionistic horse!

The merchandise from Van Beuren wasn't much better. Can you imagine any kid wanting to snuggle with these? Talk about Halloween Horrors! "Mommy, my stuffies smell like ashtray and yelling!"

'The Nut Factory', which was released Aug. 11 1933 and directed by future Terrytoons animator Mannie Davis, perhaps owes a mild debt to the earlier Fleischer cartoon 'The Herring Murder Case' but is so completely off the wall that you really have to see it to believe it. While the similarity to Mickey is obvious so too is the similarity to Bimbo: star of just-across-the-street Fleischer Studios. In terms of narrative (?) structure if there ever was an heir to 'The Male Man' at a studio other than Fleischers this is it! It's all about the dentures!

How do you top a ladies room gag? Follow it with an outhouse gag!

Oh, by the way, there's a haunted house. The logic is sound: ladies room + out-house + haunted house=perfection. Class dismissed.

Bats and another Fleischer influence: the multiple doors of 'Bimbo's Initiation'! Van Beuren rain is great isn't it? Moody and wonderful.

and fantastic ghosts!

A forgettable character maybe but an unforgettable cartoon. Watch and be mystified...

Coming soon ...

A great ad from the Frank Driggs collection (click to enlarge)

The Gloom Chasers!

Oh man, this is a good one: Scrappy in 'The Gloom Chasers' animated by Art Davis and Sid Marcus and released January 18, 1935. Okay, I know all you Warners fans out there see this stuff as kind of squishy and pointless. Maybe even the artists who drew it felt that way (tho Marcus & Davis certainly had help) but that's not what I see on screen. In fact, the quality of the animation is quite exceptional in my opinion. Lively stuff. Plus the sort of weird touches that one might expect of a studio in New York. Mintz Studios was, after all, a transplanted NY studio and, at various times, employed artists migrating west from that city. It's hard to believe a year later the series would crash against the rocks with stuff like 'Scrappy's Camera Troubles'! . I've read that Sony is now in the process of making their library available on-demand. Let's hope someone over there likes cartoons! Ya all know a blown out 16mm (though I'm glad to have anything) in crummy Blog-O-Vision is no match for the fine grain of a 35. Ah man, I need a spit cup just to think about it!

Fruity children are here to dance your blues away ... four times!

"Take that teeny tiny twubble". Sure it's annoying but after the third pass you'll be humming it all day. But stick it through ... bizarre stuff is gonna happen!

I love the incidental characters in Mintz cartoons. Davis' style was a tad blander than Huemer's (he began as Huemer's assistant) but still interesting to look at. Oh, and Scottish people are cheap (even though they are probably quite generous).

A similar set-up a la Huemer era Scrappy (Sunday Clothes, 1931).

Of course, the dust bowl was no laughing matter during the depression. People in that area of the country were giving up. Suicide was rampant and people just starved to death. I think, after living through something like that, I might want a little triteness. Or perhaps the whole thing was a gag. Culhane wrote in his auto-bio that people in Florida laughed at 'The Grapes of Wrath'. Who knows?

and speaking of ... haven't we been here before? Y'know I'll agree we see too much of this cycle but you know what else: It's a really nicely animated cycle. I love the perspective as the boys draw their fingers across the plane of the camera pointing right at the audience. These were the days when audiences might sing along in a theater if they liked the song!

Hillbillies are enraged by fruity children (leatherface not pictured)

'Gloom Chasers' answers the question: "Yes, but what of the pitchfork?"

Sweaty horses are aroused by young boys.

The cow transforms from hideous ...

...to hideous!

and the clouds do their auto-erotic cellulite dance.

What more could you ask for?

Van Boring!

Here's something that should be noted here: a run of Frank Tashlin's infamous parody of Van Beuren: Van Boring! Cheggitout! The similarity to 'The Little King' (a Van Beuren Studios cartoon series) only adds to the irony. Now if only someone would find a run of Dick Huemer's 'Good Time Guy'!

Carnage!

The Mintz Studio background department shows us even dust bowl ravaged animals can be beautiful in this horrific moment in 1935's 'The Gloom Chasers'. Click to encarnage.

More on this terrific Scrappy cartoon coming soon!

Fine Art & Cartoons Pt. 2

Winsor McCay, George McManus and others visit the Museum of Natural History in the live action prologue to 'Gertie The Dinorsaur' (1914)

Today I thought I'd wrap up Winsor McCay's 1926 letter to cartoonist Clare Briggs. This section is, in a way, even more interesting than the first half. McCay seems

at times

to be waffling back and forth between genuine sympathy for Briggs, promotion of the Federal Schools (for which he was an advisor) and his own insecurities about his drawing. That's my impression anyway. There's a lot of sage advice here though

and as relevant as it's ever been. Part 1 can be read here. Other than that I agree with Mom and Pop...

1945 reprint cover of selected Nemo strips (click to enlarge). The artwork looks as though it may have been done by McCay's son.

I do not know if correspondance schools have done much toward making cartoonists or not. If a young person has funny ideas and can act them in spirit, I do not see why they cannot be taught to draw them on paper. I was a long time finding out what kind of board, ink and other utensils were needed. I did not know that one should draw his cartoons bigger than they were to be when made into cuts. I did not know about the quality and quantity of lines for good clear reduction. If the correspondance schools will teach all these necessary methods of procedure to one who has comedy in him, together with an untiring liking for hard work then they will make a cartoonist. I do not think they can teach one to be funny or how to dig up ideas for cartoons, but they can guide one into the way of handling ideas with pen and ink or with the brush. If one think he has the cartoon ability in him, try a correspondance school. It will come or it will not. If it does not, do not blame the school. If you are capable you have spent little money finding out, which perhaps was worth the outlay, since you might have wasted lots of time for nothing!

Back cover of the 1945 reprint book (click to enlarge)

1914 Chicago review for 'Gertie' (click to enlarge)

While the most recently released 'Gertie' on DVD (titled 'Winsor McCay: The Master Edition') is sharper than ever before, the speed of playback on the animated section seems really sluggish - especially when compared to 'Little Nemo' (1911). For those seeking this title out on DVD I would recommend the earlier Image disc: 'Animation Legend: Winsor McCay'.

Start drawing and do not stop-draw everything you see, no matter how badly; don't let someone making fun of you and do not let praise of your drawings influence you-99,999 times out of 100,000 the people who praise you do not know what they are talking about. I would rather have someone say my drawing was bad than have him say it was good. Every drawing you make is better than the one you made before. Don't take yourself seriously-nor your drawing. The drawing you think is good today may turn out tomorrow to be so badly done you will be ashamed for showing it yesterday. You should never be satisfied. Always try and do better. Aunt Emma says it's the best she ever saw; Uncle John agrees with Mom and Pop that you are wonderful. Smile and thank them-that's all, but don't believe them. There is a cruel editor to come later and slam you, but continue on, if it is in you-if it is not, quit and get a real job. Work! WORK!! That's all there is to cartooning.

All's Fair At The Fair - Pan

Just a composite pan I threw together (and was still on my drive) from the amazing Color Classic "All's Fair At The Fair" (1938) from the French 35mm (but through VHS blur). There's a teeny bit missing on the right. More on this cartoon later...