Today, we begin this look at classic animation across the pond with the other American animator who opened up a studio in London, the producer-director noted for his outstanding work as an animator and eventual lieutenant of Walt Disney's, David Hand.
While the following entry from the Animaland series, produced by former Disney director David Hand and Gaumont British Animation for J. Arthur Rank, isn't nearly as wonderful as the inspired lunacy from George Moreno Jr. and British Animated Productions, it certainly has its moments. Starts getting interesting at 2:02 - from that point on, it's no longer faux-Disney.
Funny, this series and those produced a few years earlier for MGM by ex-Disney animators Rudy Ising and Hugh Harman have one thing in common: the less derivative and Disney cute they are, the better they are!
Turns out animator Bill Plympton headed a fundraising dinner to get the ball rolling on a restoration of the second series produced by David Hand at the Moor Hall studio, the Musical Paintbox films (note: I didn't know about this and it seems neither did anyone else). Plympton's fundraiser didn't succeed, unfortunately - but one would hope that the British Film Institute, UCLA Film & Television Archives or George Eastman House will be able to take the initiative on a restoration of the Musical Paintbox series.
For more info on David Hand and U.K. animation in general, by all means check out Bob Edgy's article Memories Of David Hand And Moor Hall Studios and The Lost Continent: Exploring The Art And History Of British Animation.
1 comment:
So "Looney Tunes" are not the only cartoons to suffer inexplicable cuts.... The final, pay-off gag of "The Cookoo" has his lower abdomen, now bloated, too big to go out through the hole. He remains wedged there, with the words "The End" appearing over his butt. Now what was so wrong with that?
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