Dumbo and other drafts...

...or getting around the limited posts shown when clicking on a label.

Michael Barrier, who unwittingly drove my desire for historical information on animation through the invaluable magazine Funnyworld when I first came in contact with it through my mentor Børge Ring in 1978 (where I also saw my first animation drafts) notes on his great site that "unfortunately, I haven't figured out to get to the earliest installments, but a full page of later posts of the draft comes up when you click on the label "Dumbo.""

If you look to the right column, there you find the "Archives" links.
In the case of Dumbo, the first posts are from April 2010, so pressing that link will show them.

This should give you access to most of the 630 earlier postings. Whenever there are too many posts to be able to be shown within a month, this can cause the last ones to "drop off," which has annoyed me for quite some time. In this Blogger template, I do not know how to add an "Older posts" link, and I tried updating to the newer template, but I had problems running the Javascript necessary for te conversions.

John V. wrote a very helpful comment: "As I eventually discovered, if some of the posts "drop off", then go to the last post displayed (this can only be done, I think, by clicking on the "comments" link, then on the title of the post) and on the right hand side of the page there will be links to the previous few posts. Then you can just continue to follow the posts back by clicking on each individual post title."

One Hundred and Thirteen Dalmatians (II)

Here is the second and final installment of Bill Peet's script...

One Hundred and Thirteen Dalmatians (Part I)

Here is the first of two postings pertaining Bill Peet's undated script for Prod. 1786 - the preproduction number for One Hundred and One Dalmatians. It follows the final film quite closely, but once in a while you might find a little surprise...As to the image quality, this copy of the script was produced on some kind of heat-sensitive paper, and throughout its lifetime it seems to have gotten too warm. Since it is all I have, I'll have to make do with it, and so will you...

Please note that the title of this posting will be made clear in the second installment!

Today, remember to check out Mark Mayerson's analysis of seq.002 and Mike Sporn's walk cycle break-down!

Prod. 2110 (101 Dalmatians) - Seq.017 The Happy Ending

Directed by Ham Luske, laid out by MacLaren Stewart and Don Griffith.

From an animation standpoint, the draft for this last sequence is a bit of a let-down, as several scenes, mainly involving dogs, had not yet been assigned--or at least not yet noted on this draft. And yet this was the one that was used for reference, in this case in the BG Morgue (which could explain it). We find Milt Kahl for most of the assigned scenes, and Cliff Nordberg animating Nanny Cook.
If someone has a final draft of this sequence, I'd gladly post it...

This THIRD draft of 4/7/60...Thus ends the draft of One Hundred and One Dalmatians. I remember seeing it in the mid 70s in a cinema in Amsterdam where it for many, many years was the only film they ran. It may not have many "Magical Moments," but it is a very entertaining 79 minute escape, with wonderful animation, not only by Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, but by a slew of lesser-known but very accomplished artists who deserve recognition for their wonderful work.

The film, having saved animation at the Disney Studios by having been made for "only" approx. 4 million dollars, has through the years grossed 224 million worldwide, which in itself is a statement on its longevity and entertainment value. One if the reasons for its longevity, I believe is that it is in itself timeless, as it was set in the past - released in 1961, it was set in 1952. As we can read on IMDb: "When the Baduns are talking on the phone to Cruella, they are holding a newspaper. The only headline on the front page (apart from the dognapping) is CARLSEN SPEAKS, and a picture of a capsized ship. This helps us to date the story, since the Carlsen in question is Kurt Carlsen, captain of the freighter Flying Enterprise, which sank after a prolonged struggle in the Atlantic. This was the media event of the year in 1952."

Remember to check out Mark Mayerson's mosaics and John Canemaker's stats of Bill Peet's storyboard on Mike Sporn's blog!