Storm of the Cuckoo Clock

Artwork, sound (music and voice) and camera movement aren’t the only things that play a role in animation. So does lighting.

Here’s a good example from the opening of Tex Avery’s The Cuckoo Clock for MGM. The cartoon starts during a creepy thunderstorm, so colour and lighting are used to create a lightning effect over Johnny Johnsen’s background painting.



I suspect Tex would have indicated the effect he wanted on the sheets given to cameraman Jack Stevens (I believe Stevens was still at Metro when this was shot).

Mike Lah, Grant Simmons and Walt Clinton animated this cartoon, with narration by Daws Butler.