In Mad Melody (1931), notice what happens when the camera cuts to a closer shot. The pianist doesn’t even look like the same character. The lion has tousled hair, a huge collar and teeth (or a tooth) in the second frame.
That’s the unintentional humour. The intentional is how the lion sings in a female soprano, then changes his voice in what’s supposed to be bass. His body drops as his voice drops.
Alright, maybe it’s not that amusing. But you can’t dislike a cartoon where a piano suddenly gets up and paces, or where a monkey assistant sweeps up notes that tumble out of the open piano and throws them back in (and a note jumps out to conk him on the head and knock him out).
There are no credits on this cartoon other than Gene Rodemich for synchronization.
That happens all the time in cartoons (even Disney): different animators draw the characters differently, adding their own little details that aren't specified in the model sheets.
ReplyDeleteHans doesn't get it.... Yes characters are drawn with variations from cartoon to cartoon when varying artists get their hands behind the pen. The point of this article, clearly, is that the character morphs into an almost completely different character within the same cartoon almost killing the continuity of that character.
ReplyDeleteLove the crude but exuberant animation of these old Van Beuren shorts, a tradition Terrytoons would follow right into the 50's!
ReplyDeleteContinuity? What's that?
ReplyDeleteNow if the lion changed into say a duck or a donkey, that might be a problem. Maybe.