Apr 6, 2012

Eye Candy for UPA "Jolly Frolics" DVD

I had seen all of UPA's theatrical shorts when I was writing Cartoon Modern, but when I saw them restored on TCM's new three-disc DVD set, Jolly Frolics, the scales fell from my eyes. If there were any doubts about how forward-thinking the studio was in terms of graphics, this set will dispel them. By the mid-1950s, all kinds of graphic styles were being explored in TV ads and industrial films, and soon European animation studios such as Zagreb Film began to outperform UPA. European animation studios like Zagreb Film came to surpass UPA, which played a key role in pushing animation out of its cocoon and into the rich and diverse art form it is today.

Perhaps the director who will receive the most credit for this collection is Robert 'Bobe' Cannon. Although his stories tend to be formulaic and his themes repetitive, he often seemed to be the only director at UPA who knew how to put together a coherent film. (Much of the credit also goes to his close collaborator T. Hee, who scripted most of Cannon's films.)

More than the story, however, is the way Cannon animates his characters. In Cannon's work, character movement is never divorced from design. Finding visually inventive ways to animate a character from point A to point B is one of Cannon's greatest strengths. Cannon's best-known films are "Gerald McBoing Boing" and "Madeline," but his later work, especially "Fuggett's Budget," "Christopher Clampett's Playmates," and "Jaywalker," are better than ever on this set and show his incredible directorial showing a remarkable confidence as a director.

Below is a random visual eye-candy from the "Jolly Festive" short. I'll be giving away a few copies of this set this weekend, so check back.