In honor of Thanksgiving, today we are going to look at three cartoons about Turkeys.
Our first film is a great Looney Tune cartoon staring Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and a turkey. One thing you may notice is that the credits credit under writing was The Crew. This was of course referring to the whole Warner Brothers cartoon writing department, but the main writers for this cartoon were Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce. This great cartoon was directed by Chuck Jones. Chuck Jones is one of the main names involved with changing Daffy Duck from his early wild unhinged version that Bob Clampett, and Tex Avery used into the later more greedy self-preservationist version. Here he has Daffy in a transitional period where he is a little of both (or a lot of both), honestly this transitional period is one of my favorite versions of Daffy. To explain a joke that has confused many cartoon fans, when hiding in the snowman, Tom Turk says about Daffy "Quisling". This is a reference to a Norwegian Prime Minster who made a deal with the Nazis. Anyway from 1944 here is Tom Turk and Daffy.
Tex Avery's MGM cartoons are considered by many (including myself) to be some of the funniest cartoons ever made. Our next film shows why this is very well. This cartoon was written by Frequent Avery collaborator Heck Allen. Heck Allen was a writer on many of Tex Avery's best cartoons. Aside for writing cartoons he would also write many western novels, often under the pen names Will Henry, and Clay Fisher. He used these pen names because he was afraid MGM would not be happy with him moonlighting. Allen often times overlooked his own contribution to these cartoons, feeling that Avery just turned his basic ideas into the great films they became. So from 1945 here is Jerky Turkey.
Our last Turkey Toon is another MGM cartoon. This time directed by Hugh Harman. Hugh Harman had helped found the Warner Brothers cartoon studio in 1930, along with his partner Rudolph Ising. Hugh Harman directed all the Looney Tunes cartoons until he and Ising left for MGM in 1933, where they would play an important role in founding the MGM cartoon studio. The music for this cartoon would be provided by Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals. This is the groups only foray into animation. They did work on 5 live action films though these included the features, One in a Million (directed by Sidney Lanfield, and staring Sonja Henie), Hit Parade of 1941 (directed by John H. Auer, and staring Kenny Baker), Always in My Heart (directed by Jo Graham,and staring Kay Francis), Tramp, Tramp Tramp (Directed by Charles Barton and staring Jackie Gleson), and the short Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica School (directed by Jean Negulesco and staring themselves. So from 1940 here is Tom Turkey and His Harmonica Humdingers.
On this day, in 1940, a star was hatched. This star was Woody Woodpecker. Walter Lantz (his creator and producer) liked to tell the story of who him and his wife, were taking a vacation in Sherwood Lake for their honeymoon. There they were annoyed by a woodpecker, and Walter's wife, Grace Stafford, suggested he turn that woodpecker into a cartoon character. This story was very close to the story of the cartoon the woodpecker first appeared in. That cartoon was an Andy Panda cartoon called Knock Knock.
Besides Walter Lantz and Grace Stafford there were more people responsible for Woody's creation. Two very important names were writer Ben Hardaway, and voice artist Mel Blanc. Both had worked on a Looney Tunes cartoon called Porky's Hare Hunt. This cartoon featured a prototype for Bugs Bunny, who more closely resembles an early Woody Woodpecker than the later Bugs. However Ben Hardaway's nickname was Bugs, something that lead to that character's name. Mel Blanc liked to tell the story of how he would walk down the halls of his high school, doing the Woody Wodpecker laugh never knowing he would later be paid for doing that. Mel Blanc would later sign an exculisive contract with Warner Brothers and had to stop doing Woody's voice, but he did voice Woody for the first few years. After leaving Woody would in fact be voiced by Ben Hardaway, and later by Grace Stafford.
The first cartoon was a huge success, and the woodpecker was giving his own series. Today we are going to look at the first of these cartoons, appropriately titled Woody Woodpecker. This cartoon was directed by Walter Lantz himself.It is written by Ben Hardaway and Jack Cosgriff (who wrote many cartoons for both Lantz and MGM). One of the animators was Alex Lovy, who would later become a Woody Woodpecker director, and even later a Looney Tunes director, and a Hanna-Barbera Producer. Another animator, was Laverne Harding, one of the first female animators to work for a Hollywood studio. So from 1941 here is Woody Woodpecker.
Tomm Moore is working on a new feature film. Moore has directed two of the great masterpieces of recent years, The Secret of Kells, and Song of the Sea. If you are a lover of animation and/or film and you haven't seen these, then why are you reading this when you can watch them right now.
His new film will be called Wolfwalkers. Will Collins, screenwriter for Song of the Sea is already signed on to work with Moore on this film. Moore will be working with a co-director on this film. The co-director will be Ross Stewart, who had been a concept artist on Paranorman, and Moore's own Song of the Sea.
Moore says that the film will be based off of Oliver Cromwell’s belief in taming Ireland by killing the wolves. It is said the story will center around a young lady named Robyn. Not much more is known yet but I'm excited to find out more. Tomm Moore is one of my favorite modern directors and I have no doubt that this film will be a great experience whenever it is complete. Enjoy this peek at the art style though.
Today we are going to look at some films, involving the Hubley family. John Hubley had been a Disney background artist working on films like Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi. He would leave during the Disney strike of 1941, and became one of the founders of UPA. There he would direct the first Mr. Magoo cartoon. However he would be blacklisted during the Cold War era for his communist beliefs. He would then create his own studio called Storyboard. His partner would be his wife Faith Hubley. Faith had not had a career before this, but this would be the beginning of a great career for her. Animator Shamus Culhane wrote in his autobiography, Talking Animals and Other People, that he felt Faith brought a lyrical quality to these films. This is true, the films they made together are beautiful and remain unique in the world of animation, and even film today. The 3 films we are looking at today, have the voices of their own children. They would record a conversation of their kids and than build an animated cartoon around that.
Our first film for today is an Oscar nominated cartoon and a great work of art in it's own right, 1968's Windy Day. This was built around a audio recording of John and Faith Hubley's daughters, Georgia and Emily Hubley at play. Those familiar with the indie rock band Yo La Tengo, might know Georgia Hubley as the drummer for that band. Emily would later be the associate producer and one of the animators on her mom's only solo directorial feature film, The Cosmic Eye. She would also have her own career in animation, directing such films as the feature length, The Toe Tactic, and the shorts ThePigeon Within, Rainbows of Hawai'i, and The Girl with Her Head Coming Off. She would also be the animation designer and an animator on the animated segment in Hedwig and the Angry Itch. Windy Day is a lovely film. The dialog between the two girls is very charming. Towards the end of the film the conversation turns quite profound and beautiful. This is a great reminder of how much more intelligent kids can be than we we give them credit for. The whole film is lovely though and the whimsical animation fits the kids conversation perfectly.
Next is another film that was based around a recording of Georgia and Emily at play this film is called Cockaboody. The whole film was animated by a woman named Tissia Davis. Who would also work with the Hubley's on the feature length animated documentry Everyone Rides the Carousel, and with Faith and Emily on The Cosmic Eye. She had previously been an animator in France working for directors like Jean Image. The animation ranges from Whimsical to more realistic depending a the mood of the dialog (a great device). The kid's conversation captures perfectly the feeling of childhood. Overall this 1973 film is another lovely film from these four Hubley's and another work of great art.
Last is the earliest of these films, Moonbird from 1959. This film centered around an audio recording of John and Faith Hubley's sons, Mark and Ray Hubley, at play. Mark Hubley would later become an animator, working on two of his parent's films, Dig and Voyage to the Next, and would be a layout artist on two Hanna-Barbera TV shows, The Smurfs, and Monchhichis. Ray Hubley would become an editor on live action films such as Scarface and Dead Man Walking. The animators on this film will included one of John's fellow UPA directors, Robert Cannon, who had before joining UPA than the Hubley's studio had worked at Warner Brothers as an animator (as part of Chuck Jones' unit), and on Disney's feature length Melody Time (also as an animator). The other animator was an animator who began and spent much of his career with the Hubleys, Ed Smith. This is quite an imaginative and fun film and it won the Oscar for best animated short film.
No, you did not read the title wrong. Someone actually bought the rights to Blazing Saddles and than decided to make a film with none of the same characters, a completely different setting, and be kid friendly. On top of that the only person who worked on the previous film that is going to work on this one is Mel Brooks, who will probably do nothing but a brief cameo. On top of that this film will somehow have a big name voice cast attached, including Samuel L. Jackson, George Takei, Ricky Gervais and Michael Cera. What kind of world are we living in? I hate to judge a film before it's released, but Blazing Saddles is a classic of film comedy, and this sounds like an insult to that classic. Hopefully it will surprise me but I doubt it.
This film will the first feature film released by the Mass Animation studio. It will be co-directed by Chris Bailey, a former Disney animator who worked on such films as The Lion King, Hercules, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, and Oliver & Company, as well as directing the Mickey Mouse short Runaway Brain. He would after leaving Disney he would become the animation supervisor for the first two Live action/CGI hybrid Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and both Live/CGI hybrid Garfield movies. The other director would be another former Disney animator Mark Koestier, who animated on such films as The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunch Back of Notre Dame, and Trazan. After leaving Disney he would work as a storyboard artist for Dreamworks on films such as Kun-Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. This will be Koestier's first time directing. It will be produced by former Sony Pictures executive Yair Landau, Mass Animation Producer Susan Purcell, and co-director of The Lion King Rob Minkoff.
Hopefully this will surprise me but for right now it seems like an unnecessary add on to a great film.
