A Box Gag Returns

Some old cartoon ground is ploughed by director Dick Lundy in Caballero Droopy, an MGM release starring Droopy, the matador wolf and a bull. We saw them all in Tex Avery’s Señor Droopy, released three years earlier.

Avery had been given time away from the studio to deal with some personal things. His writer, Rich Hogan, left animation at the same time. In came Lundy, with Jack Cosgriff and Heck Allen to help with the gags. They crafted yet another story of Droopy and the wolf vying for the hand of a Latina (in this case, a cartoon, not a live-action Lina Romay).

There are Avery-type gags, too. One was lifted from King-Size Canary (1947), where a hungry hobo cat piles two boxes on top of each other to reach a window; the boxes suspend in mid-air.

Here, it happens after the wolf sends an Avery-style anvil into the air. Ignore the horrendous DNR in the frames below; there's a better version out there but I don't have it.



The stacking starts in mid-action.



He’s got the girl! Oh, no, he hasn’t. The anvil he sent in the air earlier returns, thanks to the laws of gravity.



Exhibitor magazine of July 30, 1952 rated it “fair” and complained the cartoon slowed down after the first half. By comparison, Señor Droopy is superior. It has some great posing and animation by Bobe Cannon.

The animators here are Avery’s team from when he left: Grant Simmons, Mike Lah and Walt Clinton, with Ray Patterson from the Hanna-Barbera unit taking care of some scenes (Bob Bentley would soon be hired). Johnny Johnsen is uncredited as the background painter.



The official release date was Sept. 27, 1952 but the cartoon played at the Paramount in Bristol, Tennessee from Aug. 24 to 28 with The Merry Widow.

What Was That I Just Passed?

Animator Ed Love doesn’t go for a huge Tex Avery-type eye-take in the Woody Woodpecker cartoon Drooler's Delight.

In a time-honoured comedy tradition, Woody goes in drag to distract his enemy, Buzz Buzzard.



Buzz strolls along then realises he just walked past a babe. Here’s how Love handles it (we aren’t posting all the in-betweens).

Buzz (and his cigar) get hot.



This was when the Walter Lantz studio was at its peak, with some great animators, a number of them formerly with Disney. In fact, it shut down after this cartoon when Lantz’s deal with United Artists went sour.

Love animated almost all of this 1949 cartoon on his own, if I understand the situation correctly, with some help from an assistant. Dick Lundy directed the short.

Woody Throws It Away

Some of the Walter Lantz cartoons in the 1940s featured bits of perspective animation, with a character or object moving to and from the camera.

Here’s a brief example in Woody the Giant Killer, directed by Dick Lundy and released in 1947. Woody (voiced by Bugs Hardaway) gets conned into buying “magic” beans by Bucky Beaver (played by Harry Lang). He shakes the box of beans into the dug-out ground.



Woody then throws the box away in perspective. Lundy holds the first drawing for three frames, the second for two frames, then the others are one frame each.



Woody has some good expressions in this cartoon. Not outrageous ones, but you know what he’s thinking. La Verne Harding and Ed Love are the credited animators. Pat Matthews is here, too; my guess is the final scene is one of his.

Writers Webb Smith and Hardaway make fun of the post-war housing shortage by mixing it with the beanstalk fairy tale.

On the Downbeat

Sir Wally Walrus conducts an orchestra of animals in The Overture to William Tell, a 1947 Musical Miniature directed by Dick Lundy for Walter Lantz.

Here are some of Wally's positions as he gets set to lead the orchestra in the Ranz des Vaches portion of Rossini's famous composition.



La Verne Harding and Casey Onaitis receive the animation credits in this cartoon, with Bugs Hardaway and Milt Schaffer charged with coming up with different musical instrument gags than in the other Miniatures.

Walter Lantz Goes High Class

Walter Lantz had a bonafide star in Woody Woodpecker. But as World War Two was ending, he wanted something more.

The “something more” wasn’t Andy Panda. Even Lantz understood Andy’s potential stardom was limited. He talked about it to the United Press in this story from June 22, 1946.

Children Favor Cartoon Figures Which Get into Mischief
By PATRICIA CLARY
HOLLYWOOD—(UP)—Cartoon Producer Walter Lantz believes that children like brash cartoon characters because they get away with mischief that would bring the youngsters a spanking.
That's why, Lantz said, his cocky Woody Woodpecker was more popular than gentle Andy Panda, and why noisy Donald Duck outdraws Mickey Mouse.
"Seeing cartoons is what you might call psychological sublimation for the kids," he explained. "They wish to do the things Woody Woodpecker does, but they can't get away with it. So they let off steam by watching him get away with it."
Lantz has other ideas for the children, however. He's going to improve their musical intelligence with cartoons based on famous classical pieces.
"I think that the time is ripe for good music," he said, "but it has to be presented in an understandable way. The stories behind our music will not necessarily have anything to do with the opera, for instance, from which it is taken. But the stories will bring the moods of the music to life."
His animators are having plenty of trouble filling an assignment like that. But they've been well trained for it. It takes nine years, he told us, to train a topflight animator. And there's no way to learn except by working. "We worked out a careful analysis of our training periods in order to help the many veterans who are working as cartooning apprentices under the GI Bill,” Lantz said.
"A first class animator, for instance, starts with an idea and roughs out sketches here and there in the continuity to illustrate his idea.
“Then the class-two animator gets the idea from that and draws every other sketch. The apprentice animator consequently has a close pattern to follow when he draws the in-between panels."
Sometimes, Lantz said, his animators get so well-trained at drawing animals that they forget how to draw humans. Then he tells them to take a week off at art school and get back in form.
But there won't be any human characters in Lantz's cartoons. Not any longer. One pretty—a Latin miss—was enough.
"The censors got after me," he said. "Said she swung her hips when she walked. Who doesn't?"
"I'll stick to animals," he said. "You can't offend them."

The way Lantz is talking, you’d think he had mini-versions of Fantasia in mind. Of course, that kind of animation would be expensive, but Lantz, musical director Darrell Calker and his writers found ways to incorporate gags around a framework of classical music.

Universal released The Poet and the Peasant as an Andy Panda cartoon on March 16, 1946, though Variety reported on June 15, 1944 that cutting had been completed. The cartoon was nominated for an Oscar. Lantz decided to go ahead with a Musical Miniature series, though it doesn't appear all the cartoons bore that title:

Musical Moments from Chopin, (Universal, February 24, 1947, Oscar nominated).
The Overture to William Tell, (Universal, June 16, 1947).
The Bandmaster, (United Artists, December 22, 1947).
Kiddie Koncert, (United Artists, April 21, 1948).
Pixie Picnic, (United Artists, May 28, 1948).

The Chopin cartoon was ready well before its release. It was previewed in an interview with Lantz in the Valley Times, October 15, 1946, who explains how they were made.

Valley Cartoon Master Believes in Artistry
By HAZEL FLYNN
The other night at a preview I saw an unusual cartoon called “Chopin’s Musical Moments.”
Here for the first time was some of the world’s great music combined with cinema art and animation.
The leading character was a cute little fellow, Andy Panda. Andy sat down to play a concert in the barn and was doing nicely when a saucy red-haired chap, Woody Woodpecker, came in to polish the piano. Deciding he could play too, he joined in and soon such selections as “Fantasy Impromptu” and “Scherzo" began to emerge.
Imaginative
Then it waxed dramatic. A fire started and the flames took over, evening running up and down the keys. But did the intrepid performers cease playing? They did not until note of the Polonaise had died away.
It was humor and it was culturally satisfying. I knew at once that it had Academy Award possibilities, so I decide[d] to find out more about it.
Yesterday I met the producer and creative artist back of “Chopin’s Musical Moments"—Walter Lantz. Mild-mannered, greying at the temples, he admits being 46 and one of the industry’s pioneers line.
Valley Studio
At his Valley studio he has turned out literally hundreds of animated subjects. A former New York American employe he created “Colonel Heezaliar," one of the earliest silent cartoons more than 27 years ago. He worked for the famous Bray studios. Ask mother or dad about the early Bray cartoons, such as “Out of the Inkwell”). Lantz was brought to California by the late Carl Laemmle to start a department at Universal . . . He’s been here ever since . . . What is more, he can still draw—which cannot be said of many producers in the same game.
Besides creating Andy and Woody he publishes the Walter Lantz New Funnies magazine, one of the best read comic books in the country. He gets thousands of fan letters from kids who want to know what Woody and Andy eat—whether they are kept in cages, etc. Naturally, he never intends to lose this audience if he can help it.
The Chopin picture is one of the series he calls “Musical Miniatures.” Another uses Rossini’s Overture to William Tell, with a 45 piece orchestra performing. Still another will incorporate the Zampa overture and he may soon do one based on “Die Fledermaus" as well as “The Nutcracker Suite.”
Music Comes First
He has an odd way of doing these “Miniatures." He picks the music first, then has the story tailored to fit—a difficult job, he admits.
The classics are never distorted in Lantz cartoons, for he feels that in making use of them he is doing something which will prove educational as well as entertaining, especially to youth.
Lantz lives in Encino in a ranch house with his wife, the former Grace Stafford, star of the Henry Duffy players for seven years, two great Dane dogs and the "only indoor barbecue in the Valley which doesn’t smoke. He figured out a way to prevent the smoking and paid through the nose to have his plan followed.
Smoke-abater Lantz is president of the Cartoon Producers’ association and he regrets that the cartoon is still underrated. He points to how this type of film has improved in the past ten years. Whereas 2500 drawings were used in silent days, a cartoon today may use more than 25,000. The artists are better. Most of the artists and animators today are art school graduates. The cost of Chopin's Musical Moments” is another example of how they have improved. The negative cost alone was nearly $50,000.
Appreciation Lack
Yet, he says, the average cartoon is still billed as an also-ran, even in critical comment. He hates those "also on the bill" cracks. And the revenue derived from these important portions of the theater program has not increased either. He says cartoons have not benefited from lush easy money, war days.
Perhaps with elimination of “B” pictures the situation will change. Walter Lantz hopes so. He also feels that the vogue for introducing cartoon sequences in big features may help exhibitor appreciation. He did one of the first of these sequences in technicolor for Paul Whiteman’s "King of Jazz."
Another thing which would help the cause would be a new name, he feels. Just imagine, he says, if full length pictures were billed as “longies." The term might run patrons right out of the theaters. Therefore, he’d like a word to substitute for the term "short.”
If you can think of one, let Walter know. He’s pitting his lance on the side of cartoons for culture—and more cash. And don’t you dare call them "shorts," either.

Whatever you want to call them, they had top animators working on them—Freddy Moore, Pat Matthews, Emery Hawkins, Ed Love, among them—and former Disney animator Dick Lundy directing. They may not have been as funny as, say, Rhapsody Rabbit, but they’re enjoyable enough to watch. Hawkins fans, especially, should love his work on The Poet and the Peasant.

This was a high period for the Lantz studio which ended before the decade was out. Lantz’s deal with United Artists went sour and he shut down his operation for over a year, spending his time touring. Erskine Johnson’s column of Feb. 15, 1949 talked of a Woody Woodpecker feature when Lantz returned. When Lantz’s stripped-down studio re-opened, there was no feature. And the Musical Miniatures were finished, too. You can read more about them in this post and enjoys Devon Baxter's examination of one in this entry at Cartoon Research.

A Tour With Walter Lantz

There may be more information available from the past about animators and animation studios than ever before, thanks to the internet. Some of it is even free.

Unfortunately, some of it isn’t in the best of quality. One example is old newspapers. Their source may be scans of microfilm, which are photos of newspaper pages. Resolution was pretty poor way-back-when (I started researching through old papers in the late 1970s and the microfilm was pretty beat up back then).

That brings us to this post, which is a transcription of a full page article in the Nov. 16, 1946 edition of the Valley News, embracing the San Fernando Valley. The paper loved profiling its celebrity residents and one was Walter Lantz. The News had several stories about him that year, but this one looked at his studio and how it made cartoons. Unfortunately, the photos—which I suspect were supplied by Walter Lantz Productions—reproduced below are not too viewable. But you can get a bit of an idea of how things were done.

You can chuckle at the insistence that cartoon characters don’t go strike, and so on. It’s a cute statement, but doesn’t take into account the people who made the cartoons could strike. Ask the other Walter. And the idea Lantz “created” Krazy Kat or the Katzenjammer Kids is an engagement in semantics.

Picture one shows Bugs Hardaway at the right; whether that’s Milt Schaffer at the left, I don’t know. Picture 2 shows Dick Lundy. Picture 7, I guess, is Fred Brunish. It certainly isn’t Terry Lind.

Woodpecker And Panda Amuse All
There are some movie stars who are never tempermental [sic], indisposed, or suffering from contract trouble. They are not concerned about strikes or picket lines. They even work through fire and water, and they provide diversified and invigorating entertainment for millions of movie fans.
Some of these popular and indestructable movie stars perform for Walter Lantz at his studio in Universal City. Walter located there eighteen years ago and in the interim he has created, among others, such intrepid performers as “The Katzenjammer Kids,” “Maude the Mule,” “Krazy Kat.” His latest creation shows “Andy Panda” and “Woody Woodpecker” in Chopin’s Musical Moments, combining some of the world’s best music, cinema art and animation. The negative cost alone of this production was $50,000 and 25,000 drawings were used. In silent days about 2500 drawings were used and the negative cost was about $3000.
Walter and 22 of his employees live in the Valley and some of them have been in this area long enough to witness sensational developments in their business and the communities in which they live. These Valleyites include such luminaries as Darrel Calker of North Hollywood, Ben “Bugs” Hardaway of North Hollywood, and Fred Brunisch [sic]. Calker is the musical director and a well-known composer-arranger. His “Penguin Island” was performed at the Hollywood Bowl, and he was one of Andre Kostelanitz’ arrangers when the conductor’s style was first set. Hardaway is recognized as one of the best sketche[r]s of a cartoon story in the business. He created the present day character, “Bugs Bunny,” and many others. During World War I he served with President Truman in the Field Artillery. Brunisch, background artist, is a prominent California portrait painter and scenic artist.
Thirty years ago Walter, at the age of 18, quit his job as an assistant artist for the New York American to become Gregory La Cava’s assistant in a new enterprise, motion picture cartoon business. Greg at that time was a well known newspaper cartoonist; today he is one of Hollywood’s top directors. Their productions have proved an important, artistic and entertaining part of the entire motion picture industry, and their characters have helped to alleviate the worries of millions of people in all parts of the world.
Of the original group of men who entered the intricate cartoon industry, Lantz is tbe only one who stayed long enough to become a producer and continue in the animated business. He still sketches and takes an active part in every phase of Walter Lantz productions. Every afternoon he spends at least an hour or two “in the back” of the studio, sitting in story conferences, chatting with background artists, watching animators, or helping in the cutting room.
Today, as president of the animated cartoon producers association, Lantz has the admiration and respect of everyone in the business. He knows all there is to know about the business at present, but that does not stop his continual research and experimentation.

1. The story department at Lantz Productions. Writers dicussing a scene from a musical picture, where action must be made to fit the music.

2. When the script is completed the director analyzes each picture to see if additions or deletions are necessary. The long sheet he is using gives full details on the particular sequences of the film it explains.

3. The layout man gets the sequence next, and he works out such important details as close-ups, medium, and long-shots.

4. All drawings are pencilled on celluloid; key drawings are made by the animator while assistants do fill-ins.

5. The inkers go over the animator's work.

6. She colors the inked drawings. Large number of jars contain carefully blended paints.

7. The animator creates action for the film while another artist paints backgrounds.

8. The checker examines each drawing for mistakes. Too few drawings will result in jerky movements of the characters.

9. For the finished motion picture animated cartoon a special type of camera is used. Frame by frame the picture is photographed.

10. "Dubbing in voices and recording the music. Musical Director Darrell Calker conducts the orchestra. Recording for cartoons is tricky business.

11. Job of the film cutter is to assemble sound, music, and picture tracks, make them one.

12. Producer Walter Lantz gives the picture a final once-over.