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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Prod. 2004 - Fantasia (XVII)  - Seq. 2.1 & 2.2 (Interim Orchestra: Intermission)

"And now, we'll have a 15-minute intermission," says Deems Taylor.
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Directed by Sam Armstrong, assisted by Lloyd Richardson. Layout by Lee Blair and Elmer Plummer. This draft dated 10/2/40.

Had I not right now been editing sound for an upcoming production, I would have told you that the Mr. Soundtrack sequence is one of my favorite in Fantasia, because it pokes silly fun at the medium. Right now, though, I am cutting Mr. Soundtrack in halves myself. Thus reading the draft makes me feel violent indeed.

Animated by Josh Meador, Art Palmer, Harry Hamsell and George Rowley. To me, it is interesting to see just who did what in this sequence that seems to be one long scene. Meador animates the "normal" soundtrack, while the others come in as separate "character actors." These effects animators have not received the praise they deserve, I think.

A typo in scene 48.5: Diss to Black Belvet - that would be velvet, of course: for those of you who have not worked with an animation camera, black cardboard photographs as light grey, which is why cameramen throughout the world used black velvet to get a proper black background. Of course you would see all scratches and dust on the cells on top of that, but that was simply part of the medium. Computers have done away with this, and at times one can long for an occasional Newton Ring or two.

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5 Comments:

Anonymous Steven Hartley says...

Agreed. This is also one of my favourites in Fantasia as well; I think it's very original, and its hugely influenced me!

Probably my favourite is the bass drum sound; and I hope the sound and the animation to go with it!

This is well done, I also like the live-action scenes of the orchestra having a bit of fun.

Saturday, December 11, 2010 at 10:04:00 AM PST  
Anonymous Zartok-35 says...

It has always been said this part of the film was directed by Ben Sharpsteen and Dave Hand; now we know better!

This is a nice mixture of top effects men we have here, and Harry Hamsell. Art Palmer is particulalry underrated, now that you mention it.

Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 9:11:00 AM PST  
Anonymous Steven Hartley says...

Joe Campana has actually sent me some info on Art Palmer; here it is:

Arthur W. Palmer was born in November 27, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois; he had an older sister named Ida G. Palmer (older), and his father died when he was ten I believe.

He worked for Disney in 1936 to work on Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi; and left in 1942 (probably during the strike - or serving in the military -I don't know), he married to Elizabeth A. Palmer in 1937, and its unknown when they divorced.

Art Palmer died in July 7, 1982 aged 68 in Woodacre, California.

Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 12:34:00 PM PST  
Anonymous Zartok-35 says...

Thank you, Steve, that was quite informative. His carreer, however, carried on just beyond Bambi, into "Lake Titicaca" and "Donald's tire trouble", I believe. He went a long way after leaving Disney; it's a bit of a shame he didn't go back.

Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 2:17:00 PM PST  
Anonymous John V. says...

I would confuse this sequence with "Toccata and Fugue" as a kid.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 2:28:00 PM PST  

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