In Why Play Leap Frog? (commercially released in early 1950), you can see that buildings and other things in the background are represented by line art. It makes the foreground stand out better.
Ah, the Travelsnatcher 6! Note the number "1948" above the doors. I wonder if that’s when this cartoon was started.
It’s really a shame none of the artists are credited on this short, one of a number of pro-business propaganda cartoons made for Harding College, some of which were released by MGM. I like the leapfrogging roll of money and price tag, and the bull going to market, but this is a weaker cartoon to me than Make Mine Freedom and Meet King Joe, which were released earlier.
Bud Hiestand is the narrator and Frank Nelson supplies a couple of voices. I don’t know who is playing Joe.
Actually, WHY PLAY LEAPFROG was always my favorite of these. It may be because the old school supply side propaganda is a slightly less strident here (even though the challenge of increased productivity is laid squarely on the shoulders of labor not management.) Or maybe I'm just in love with that gum chewing sales girl.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I can pick a favourite of the Harding College shorts. Make Mine Freedom isn't subtle by any means, but I like the voices and the animation. Going Places has some nice design work and more solid voice work (Frank Nelson, Billy Bletcher, Herb Vigran).
ReplyDeleteI think Leap Frog is the first Sutherland short featuring dollar bills with feet.
I prefer Sutherland's later, non-Harding efforts better, such as A is For Atom and Destination Earth; the "Joe" shorts still have a '40s look about them.