Tuesday, 7 August 2018

What Colour is He?

In Gerald McBoing Boing (1951), the colours of the scenes change depending on the mood being expressed. In the follow-up cartoon, How Now Boing Boing (1954), the colours of the backgrounds change because, well, I’m not really sure why. But in a lot of cases, the characters are simply outlines and the background colour is their colour.



In some scenes, it means characters are two-tone.



Rhyming dialogue and Marvin Miller’s narration don’t mask the fact this short has none of the charm of the original. But UPA boss Stephen Bosustow apparently felt pressure to make more Gerald cartoons.

So made them he did,
And it can be said
They didn’t go “boing boing,”
They went “splat” instead.
at

2 comments:

  1. J Lee7 August 2018 at 08:52

    Bosustow probably would have been better off doing what Abe Levitow eventually did, and pair Gerald with UPA's main breadwinner, Mr. Magoo for his sequel, which was the basis for the pilot episode for the made-for-TV Magoo efforts. Wouldn't have been as cute and quiet, though, which likely would not have set well with Bobe Cannon (the Levitow cartoon features the usual nearsighted gags, plus a drunk dog for comedy relief -- not quite Warner Brothers rowdiness, but definitely not as low-keyed as the cartoons Cannon preferred to make).

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    1. Hans Christian Brando7 August 2018 at 18:32

      Not to mention co-starring a talking McBoing-Boing as Tiny Tim in "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol." With razzleberry dressing.

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