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General Animation Thread

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Offline HomokHarcos

Since I enjoyed the recent discussion, I decided to create a thread for cartoons, whenever I or someone else would like something to discuss.


Offline Umbrella Sam

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Good idea for a thread. Here’s something I thought of from the Popeye discussion. You mentioned the Rankin Bass stuff, which brought Rudolph to my mind and made me wonder what you think of stop motion animation. I mentioned a while ago that I saw Gumby for the first time and was really impressed with how it moved. I also have been enjoying George Pal’s Puppetoons as well despite the unfortunate stereotypes. From an animation/humor perspective, it’s like the Looney Tunes of stop motion (which also makes the fact that Bugs Bunny appeared in one actually feel kind of fitting).
“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com


Offline Dr. Mabuse

An excellent remaster with the original Paramount logos.



Offline HomokHarcos

An excellent remaster with the original Paramount logos.


Coincidentally the Betty Boop Blu-Ray collections I bought came in the mail today, and it includes that short. From what I've read the sets include all of the cartoons that are not public domain, which means I can now watch through them! Unfortunately they are not in chronological order, which is going to be a big pain because I'll have to look up a list online and switch from disc to disc and back.


Offline HomokHarcos

Good idea for a thread. Here’s something I thought of from the Popeye discussion. You mentioned the Rankin Bass stuff, which brought Rudolph to my mind and made me wonder what you think of stop motion animation. I mentioned a while ago that I saw Gumby for the first time and was really impressed with how it moved. I also have been enjoying George Pal’s Puppetoons as well despite the unfortunate stereotypes. From an animation/humor perspective, it’s like the Looney Tunes of stop motion (which also makes the fact that Bugs Bunny appeared in one actually feel kind of fitting).
Outside of Pixar and Rankin-Bass I've mainly been into 2D animation. I haven't heard of Gumby and Puppetoons, but I checked them out and they were very fascinating. I remember Disney made a similar short in the 1950s called Noah's Ark and a 1960s short called A Symposium on Popular Songs featured stop animation segments. I'd definitely like to check more out, there's a film from the 1910s called The Cameraman's Revenge that has an interesting backstory.


Offline Umbrella Sam

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Outside of Pixar and Rankin-Bass I've mainly been into 2D animation. I haven't heard of Gumby and Puppetoons, but I checked them out and they were very fascinating. I remember Disney made a similar short in the 1950s called Noah's Ark and a 1960s short called A Symposium on Popular Songs featured stop animation segments. I'd definitely like to check more out, there's a film from the 1910s called The Cameraman's Revenge that has an interesting backstory.

Fair enough. I’d say 2D has been my main interest too, but there still is a certain feeling to stop motion that’s just so fascinating; it’s the same feeling I have about the Muppets, where you can somehow bring to life this real thing that would normally be inanimate and have it be perfectly natural with its movements.
“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com


Offline HomokHarcos

Fair enough. I’d say 2D has been my main interest too, but there still is a certain feeling to stop motion that’s just so fascinating; it’s the same feeling I have about the Muppets, where you can somehow bring to life this real thing that would normally be inanimate and have it be perfectly natural with its movements.
I'd definitely like to learn more about stop motion. Seeing one of the Puppetoons shorts has won me over. There's also short film on YouTube called The Peanut Vendor from 1933, it's kind of goofy. The Muppets being added to Disney Plus sparked my interest in the show. I watched the first two episodes and plan on watching through the series eventually. Knowing classic comedians like Bob Hope and George Burns showed up as cameos gives me even more of an incentive to watch.


Offline Umbrella Sam

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I'd definitely like to learn more about stop motion. Seeing one of the Puppetoons shorts has won me over. There's also short film on YouTube called The Peanut Vendor from 1933, it's kind of goofy. The Muppets being added to Disney Plus sparked my interest in the show. I watched the first two episodes and plan on watching through the series eventually. Knowing classic comedians like Bob Hope and George Burns showed up as cameos gives me even more of an incentive to watch.

I actually never heard of The Peanut Vendor. Just watched it and it’s one of the most hilariously bizarre things I’ve ever seen.

The Muppet Show is one of those shows where the production values are so high that I’m amazed it happened at all. The comedy, the songs, the crazy visuals...it’s a show that can never be properly replicated, a fun, unique experience that’s definitely worth checking out.
“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com


Offline HomokHarcos

I've never seen them until recently, but Chuck Jones' Three Bears characters are probably the Warner Bros. characters I find the funniest. The interactions between Papa Bear and Junior Bear are a lot like Moe and Curly.


Offline Dr. Mabuse

I've never seen them until recently, but Chuck Jones' Three Bears characters are probably the Warner Bros. characters I find the funniest. The interactions between Papa Bear and Junior Bear are a lot like Moe and Curly.

The first appearance of Jones' Three Bears (1944)

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5kxmt1


Offline Umbrella Sam

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Yeah, I can see the connection to Moe and Curly. I had the first volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection growing up and saw BUGS BUNNY AND THE THREE BEARS a lot. I wasn’t aware that these were more than one shot characters until I got Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide. I also think they’re among the funnier of the lesser known characters. Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog are another one of my favorites.
“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com


Offline Umbrella Sam

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Just watched this masterpiece again and had to share. The Popeye Color Specials are truly some of the most well-made cartoons I’ve ever seen. I love how well staged the climax with the various obstacles and the final sword fight is.
“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com


Offline metaldams

I didn’t realize studios made twenty minute cartoons like that.  That was a lot of fun.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline HomokHarcos

I didn’t realize studios made twenty minute cartoons like that.  That was a lot of fun.
These two reelers were a big deal when they came out. Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs they were the most ambitious projects in US animation. Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor is one of my all-time favorite cartoons.


Offline metaldams

These two reelers were a big deal when they came out. Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs they were the most ambitious projects in US animation. Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor is one of my all-time favorite cartoons.

I grew up watching cartoons of this era on TV and never really dug deeper.  On TV, it was usually the seven minute cartoons.  I guess it makes sense animation was doing two reelers before Snow White and beyond.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Umbrella Sam

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Yeah, I believe it was pretty much just Fleischer’s at the time who were trying the two-reel cartoon method. Disney did experiment with longer-form cartoon shorts in the 1940s, but they were usually included as part of package features (Warner’s never got this far. If I recall correctly, I think the longest Warner Bros. cartoon was HORTON HATCHES THE EGG, which was a little less than 10 minutes). Fleischer’s had the ability to do this because of Popeye’s popularity with audiences (at some point in the 1930s, he had surpassed Mickey Mouse in popularity).

HomokHarcos probably knows this already, but there actually were animated feature films before SNOW WHITE. They mostly used less common forms of animation like stop motion or cutouts (the earliest surviving animated film, THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED, used a special form of silhouette animation). SNOW WHITE was the first completed feature to use the more commonly known cel method, hence why most tend to consider it the first animated feature.
“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com


Offline Dr. Mabuse

Yeah, I believe it was pretty much just Fleischers at the time who were trying the two-reel cartoon method.

The Fleischers produced five Technicolor two-reelers: the 1936-39 Popeye specials ("Sindbad," "Ali Baba" and "Aladdin") — followed by "Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy" (1941) and "The Raven" (1942).





Offline Umbrella Sam

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The Fleischers produced five Technicolor two-reelers: the 1936-39 Popeye specials ("Sindbad," "Ali Baba" and "Aladdin") — followed by "Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy" (1941) and "The Raven" (1942).





Ah yes, I forgot the Fleischers did Raggedy Ann. There have been so many adaptations of that that it’s hard to keep track.
“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com


Offline HomokHarcos

A shout out to Disney’s Humphrey the Bear and this incredibly catchy song.



Offline Dr. Mabuse

Academy Award winner for Best Animated Short (1978)



Offline Umbrella Sam

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I recently watched the 1978 LORD OF THE RINGS movie again, a movie I grew up with. I don’t care if fans of the book or live action trilogy don’t like it; I still love this movie. Helm’s Deep is my favorite scene. I love how it’s staged with the red smoke, and that part with the orcs chanting and slowly approaching the battlefield is amazing; absolutely love the score in that scene. The film score in general is some of my favorite film music overall; so full of life, and it sounds like a true adventure score, something I feel is rare to find these days.

“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com


Offline HomokHarcos

Surprisingly, I've never checked out any of Bakshi's films yet. The animation style in that clip looks unique, I'm guessing it was rotoscoped?


Offline Umbrella Sam

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Surprisingly, I've never checked out any of Bakshi's films yet. The animation style in that clip looks unique, I'm guessing it was rotoscoped?

I’m actually not a fan of Bakshi’s work in general. THE LORD OF THE RINGS is a major exception because it abandons the X-rated elements of his other features. It still maintains a gritty edge to the battle sequences, which I like, but is otherwise a very PG film.

Regarding the animation style, yes, rotoscoping is used a lot throughout this film. I’m not 100% sure, but I think this sequence is a combination of rotoscoping and solarization, which reverses the light and dark tones of images.
“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com


Offline Umbrella Sam

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This video only represents a fraction of the talent of Mel Blanc, but man...even then, that’s a lot of talent in just this one video:

“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

My blog: https://talk-about-cinema.blogspot.com