Please note: if an earlier link doesn't work, it may have changed following an update! Check the Category Labels in the side-bar on the right! There you can find animator drafts for sixteen complete Disney features and eighty-six shorts,
as well as Action Analysis Classes and many other vintage animation documents!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Auction (X) - A Note from Walt

Walt2Weeks(Item #445)
A few years ago, the ASIFA Animation Archives presented the Clair Weeks Goodbye Book: in August(*) 1952, assistant animator Clair Weeks, who started at Disney in 1936, left the studio on an invitation to start India's first animation studio, in Bombay. On the eve of his leaving, he found above note on his desk...
Another fine item found in the upcoming auction!

In revisiting the ASIFA Archives, I noticed a blog posting dated two days ago: Animation Archive Temporarily Suspending Operation - I’m sorry to announce that due to lack of funding, the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is temporarily suspending operation.
I am aware that opinions about these archives and its leadership are quite strong in either direction. I must say that for some years I felt that the archive's blog's focus should have been more on animation-archive work than on rather obscure illustrators, so as to arouse interest in animation instead of giving the impression that it wasn't in itself interesting enough to concentrate on - but that is my personal feeling about it. Anyway, let's all not comment here on the archives, just take note of its situation. And let's not forget they presented us with nice scans of above mentioned Goodbye Book and of Jerry Beck's copy of the first edition of Preston Blair's book Advanced Animation!

(*) Note that the Clair Weeks book is dated August 1952 on the cover, but the only dates found inside are from September 2nd. 1952, so the above note could well be of that date, which by the way was about half a year before Peter Pan was released.

[Sold for $11,210 incl. 'Buyer's Premium...']

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Michael Sporn says...

There have been some rare treasures posted at the Animation Archives. Needless to say, I'll miss the site.

I love the goodbye letter to Clair Weeks from Walt. No sentiment there.

Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 4:38:00 AM PDT  
Anonymous Steven Hartley says...

I wonder if Walt actually meant the $500 per week or if he was kidding as a farewell message.

I believe that Weeks was actually the assistant of Marc Davis and Jack Campbell throughout the years before working on "Peter Pan". I think he did Tinker Bell.

Oh, tomorrow (FRIDAY) it's the Royal Wedding in England tomorrow! We are expecting billions of viewers tuning in to watch it.

Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 9:56:00 AM PDT  

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