Popeye Animators

Seasonal Treats

2011-12-23T04:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a 1934 Christmas Card from Fleischer Studio employee Bill Van Derveer. I know nothing about him - not sure if he was an artist or production staff.

But - the background looks familiar….

… that's because it's from the 1933 Popeye cartoon 'Seasin's Greetinks!'

Cropped version of the above frame grab approximately matching the card dimensions.

And just in time for Christmas - A visual feast courtesy of the Fleischer Studio site. Ginny Mahoney (Max Fleischer's grand daughter) notified me that the site has launched its Virtual Museum, currently highlighting Christmas. Check it out here.

Japanese Poster Art...

2011-11-29T04:40:00.000-08:00

...for Shakespearean Spinach. (1940)

And what I'm assuming was the source material for the poster drawings.

Wow!!

2011-11-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

Click here to see the rest of the image and a new blog dedicated to animator/director Seymour Kneitel.

Big Chief Edit-Reassemble-Edit (Conjecture Post)

2011-09-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

This post was prompted by blog reader J Lee's comment left on the 'Date to Edit' post -

"There's also an out-of-sequence scene in an earlier 1938 Willard Bowsky Popeye cartoon, "Big Chief Ugh-Amugh-Ugh", where the segments with the fire starting and the bow shooting and split in two, with the Indians' actions in the middle of the cartoon and Popeye's reactions moved to after he eats his Spinach at the end. Both gags can be merged together into a pair of seamless scenes."

After reading J Lee's comment I decided to edit and reassemble the scenes of animation cited in his comment. It started to look like a different cartoon had been originally planned and on a hunch I edited the rest of the cartoon to work around the reassembled scenes of animation, taking an educated guess at what the scene order may have been. (I'm assuming it was originally planned without the edits and I'm also assuming that there was no extra story material cut)

I always felt the screen direction of 'Big Chief Ugh-Amugh-Ugh' was awkward and after starting to edit I realized the scenes could be shifted to clean it up. It all seems to fit together well (apart from the post synched dialogue) but makes a less exciting cartoon.

A Date to Edit

2011-09-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

Below are two clips from the 1938 Popeye cartoon 'A Date to Skate' - the first one directly clipped from the cartoon and the second one edited. Note in the first clip that Popeye starts to reach for his spinach and as he does the film cuts to Olive being pulling by a fire truck. For years I felt it was an odd bit of animation because Popeye appeared to be frozen in time until we rejoin him one cut later. On return to Popeye he resumes the action of reaching into his shirt.

On a hunch (and inspired by similar work done by fellow animator R.A. MacNeil) I cut out the Olive scene and joined the two Popeye sections - they flow seamlessly from one into the other. Strong evidence that it was originally shot as one scene...

Over at Cartoons of 1943 Blog....

2011-08-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Ted has posted a neat little bit on Famous Studios - that puts some faces to names there showing animator Tom Golden, head animator/de facto director Dave Tendlar, and background painter Robert Little. The bottom picture of the camera set-up has the cameraman shooting a frame from 'Cartoons Ain't Human'. Check it out...

Educated Guess ID - Willard Bowsky

2011-08-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

Willard Bowsky's work is hard for me to ID because the head animator/de facto directors at the Fleischer Studio didn't do much animation footage - if any - for their cartoons. Given that bit of info - I don't see a lot of what I would say with any certainty is Bowsky's animation in any of the Popeye cartoons that he de facto directed - at least enough to solidify an ID. There's a good possibility that Bowsky did not like animating Popeye and he may have put his efforts into animating other characters - like Betty Boop - when time permitted. Fortunately, I have seen a couple of autographed drawings that provide a key to help identify his animation style.

Here's a clip from 'The Spinach Roadster', released in 1936 - one bit of animation I believe was animated by Bowsky. Keep in mind this is just an educated guess....

Compare the drawing in the clip with the one below that was autographed by Bowsky, published in 1939.

John the Animator Guy

2011-07-11T03:42:00.000-07:00

Fellow animator and former colleague John Celestri has started a blog. I met John when he was a lead animator on the Nelvana animated feature Rock and Rule. Check out his blog when you get a spare moment. (and ask him about the cool Batman commercial he animated)

John also has the distinction of having worked with maestro Popeye animator John Gentilella - both pictured in the photo below taken in 1984. John Celestri is the guy on the far right with the big mustache.

Photo courtesy of Mike Kaweski

Swedish Popeye Poster

2011-07-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

The drawing of Popeye on this Swedish release theatrical poster looks familiar...

That's because it's almost an exact copy of one below drawn by Dave Tendlar for 'Beware of Barnacle Bill'. (1935) I wonder if it was made specifically for the aforementioned cartoon. Could that be the cartoon's title on 'Karl-Alfred's' chest?? Anyone out there read Swedish??

UPDATE: Blog reader diego cumplido commented on the lettering on Karl-Alfred's chest - I don't read Swedish, but Google Translate says that "varldens starkaste sjôman" means "the world's strongest sailor". Thanks for the info Diego!!

Cartoon Logic at Work

2011-07-04T04:00:00.000-07:00

Cartoon logic is a unique aspect of animation in the way that our minds are able to connect improbable actions and things that could never take place in real life. One of my favorite bits of cause and effect cartoon logic is a sequence of events that happen to Bluto in the Famous Studio Popeye cartoon 'Too Weak To Work'. (1943)

For those who have not seen the cartoon, here's a short preamble: Bluto feigns sickness to get out of doing work on the battleship and ends up in the hospital. Popeye catches Bluto in his sham, and after setting his mouth ablaze, gives chase to Bluto through the hospital. The following chain of events start when Bluto runs into a steam room to escape from Popeye.

Here's some cartoon logic and cartoon physics at work -
Popeye shuts Bluto in a steam room and Bluto shrinks. Take away mass.

Animation by Ben Solomon

Popeye inflates Bluto with oxygen to return him to normal size. Add mass.

Animation by Ben Solomon

Bluto has a mishap with a rain cloud and his inflated body is burst like a balloon by lightning - his deflated body falls to Earth. Take away mass.

Animation by Abner Kneitel

A husk that needs to be filled + the need to get Bluto back to work….

Animation by Jim Tyer

… calls for Popeye to pump Bluto full of spinach. Only an industrial sized can will fill the space left by the escaped air. Add mass + strength.

Animation by Jim Tyer

Bluto, full and powered = ready to work. It all makes sense.

Animation by Jim Tyer

Cartoon logic in action:

Tidbits of Tendlar

2011-06-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today's highlight is 2 clips of animation by primo Popeye animator Dave Tendlar, from a cartoon he also de facto directed - 'The Anvil Chorus Girl'. The short is a remake of 'Shoein' Hosses' - an early Fleischer Popeye cartoon that Dave also animated on under de facto director Willard Bowsky.

Throwaway Drawing

2011-06-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

Something recently up for auction on Ebay...

Every so often a Popeye animation drawing shows up - this one looks to be from 'Her Honor the Mare' - the first Famous Studio Popeye cartoon short to be made in Technicolor. I say 'looks to be' because on viewing the cartoon - it's not there. It's obvious that the drawing came from the aforementioned cartoon given the subject and situation - I would love to know why it was cut. A redundant gag perhaps??

Her Honor the Mare (1943) - de facto directed by Jim Tyer

The Book Behind the Cartoon??

2011-05-26T04:35:00.000-07:00

Every so often I see this book pop up on ebay. It was strangely familiar - then I made the connection. An altered version of it was used in 'Adventures of Popeye' - the first, to my knowledge, 'cheater' cartoon made up of clips from older Popeye cartoons. Could this book have been the inspiration for making that cartoon??

Adventures of Popeye (1935)

Al Eugster

2011-05-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the only bit of Popeye animation that I know was animated by Al Eugster - and that info was given to me by Mark Mayerson. Mark worked with Al years ago and, IIRC, the following clip from 'House Tricks?' was the only bit of Popeye animation Al could remember doing.

Al Eugster's animation from 'House Tricks?' (1946)

Al was one of those rare individuals who kept a ledger of his animation work - unfortunately there are no particulars of what he animated, just titles with the month and year noted. Below is a cut-in from Al's ledger showing 5 Popeye titles - the top three he was credited as head animator/de facto director, the bottom two he was an uncredited animator.

Copy of Al's ledger (copy from Mark Mayerson)

Like many of his colleagues at the time, Al drew comic book stories - an example of his work below. Unfortunately this is the best image I have - it was grabbed off of ebay and published in Cryin' Lion #1. If anyone out there in the blogosphere has a copy and cares to share, I would love to see the rest of the story.

Click on image to enlarge

Saul Kessler??

2011-04-12T05:15:00.000-07:00

Saul who, you say. Never heard of him?? Saul Kessler is another one of the many uncredited animators to work at the Fleischer Studio. I've known for years that a photo existed of him in a 1930 - 31 studio personnel group shot, but nothing else until recently. Flipping though the pages of Fleischer's Animated News I was able to cobble bits of information together, and in turn, make a conjecture about his work.

I'm assuming that Kessler was already an animator in 1931 based on the group photo (link below) where he was placed in forth row from the top and beside animator Nick Tafuri. And in a 1935 Animated News, Kessler is noted a being a member of the Johnson crew alongside animators Tex Hastings and Don Figlozzi.

Clipped from the Fleischer Studio 1930 - 1931 Personnel Photo

(courtesy of Ryan Englade)

At some point Kessler may have been shifted into Seymour Kneitel's crew - possibly after Crandall left to head up his own crew. A Fleischer animation crew would average 6 animators - that number included the head animator/de facto director. Crandall's departure would have left a hole in Kneitel's crew - one that Kessler may have filled. My guess is based on similarities between the following gag drawing and frame grab.

Kessler gag drawing from Oct.'36

The above Popeye drawing is arguable in the style of Seymour Kneitel's 1936 cartoons - and leads me to believe Kessler may have been part of Kneitel's crew at the time of the drawing. Below is a frame grab with drawing similar to the one above.

Saul Kessler animation?? Frame grab from 'I Likes Babies and Infinks' - Sept. 1937

Update: Check out the comments for some links to Kessler's comic book work.

Tendlar Interlude

2011-04-05T04:05:00.000-07:00

Having the position of head animator/de facto director allowed Dave Tendlar his pick of the choice scenes to animate. The following clip is an example of Tendlar's 'cherry picking' a scene of animation from 'Learn Polikeness'. (his style earmarks previously noted here and here)

Note the shape of the fingers in Bluto's open hand - the 'bulb-shaped' look is another earmark typical of Tendlar's drawing style.

Upcoming posts: Graham Place follow-up, Saul Kessler, Hold the Wire.

Graham Place Teaser

2011-03-29T04:23:00.000-07:00

Graham Place's animation from 'Stealing Ain't Honest'.

More to come soon...

Wiffle Piffle - Common Street Brawler

2011-03-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

Those of you familiar with the stable of original characters created by the Fleischer Studio will no doubt be a fan of Wiffle Piffle - the man with the boneless arms. For those ignorant of the joy of Piffle, you can see drawings of him here and watch him in the Betty Boop cartoon Hot Air Salesman.

I was surprised to find the aforementioned, ineffectual mite, was actually in a Popeye cartoon - as a street brawler in 'Brotherly Love'. His guest appearance had eluded me for countless screenings over the years. It's a short cameo so stay sharp and don't blink when the scene comes up next time you watch the cartoon.

Frame cut-in. Caught in the act!!

Tyer Under Control

2011-02-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

It just hit me today - I've been watching 'Wotta Knight' for years oblivious that it contained the last bits of animation Tyer did on the Popeye cartoons. I have always wondered who the mystery animator was in this cartoon. It's incredibly controlled for Tyer - but his style earmarks are there if you look closely.

Bowsky Gag Drawing

2011-02-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

For ages I have been trying to definitively tack down Willard Bowsky's Popeye animation. It's a tough call and I refrain from doing so in many cases because the earmarks of his drawing and animation are not as evident as other animators I am able to ID. It's partially because, as head animator/de facto director, the amount of animation he would be able to do in any particular cartoon would be minimal at best and at times none at all.

Below is a gag cartoon (a copy of a copy of the original) drawn and signed by Bowsky and published in the Fleischer Studio's Flipper Club Annual of 1939. I love finding a drawing like this - it provides great clues to cracking his animation style.

(click on image to enlarge)

Note on the right hand side of the drawing is Alice the Goon - who never appeared in any of the animated shorts produced by the Fleischers. It makes me wonder if there was another Goon cartoon in the works starring Alice.

BTW - readers interested in the Famous Studio cartoons should check out Thad's blog - highlighting a gorgeous copy of the Blackie cartoon 'Much Ado About Mutton'. I left some comments that may prove interesting to Famous Studio fans.

More Bits

2011-02-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

... of Brucker.

Organ Grinder's Swing

Fowl Play

Learn Polikeness

Mutiny Ain't Nice

Be sure to check out the comments section of the last post - there is some biographical info posted on Brucker.

Bits of Brucker

2011-01-30T16:36:00.000-08:00

Eli Brucker - whom I know nothing about other than the odd anecdote - worked for the Fleischer Studio animating in Seymour Kneitel's and Dave Tendlar's crews. After the move to Miami it looks like he disappeared from the business.

For Better Or Worser

The 'Hyp-Nut-Tist'

I Wanna Be A Lifeguard

UPDATE: Check out the comments for some biographical information on Eli Brucker.

Holiday Greetinks!!

2010-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Some seasonal bits for your enjoyment:

Gag cartoon from Fleischer's Animated News Dec 1935 - drawn by animator Hal Seeger.

Tidbits

2010-12-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

I recently got an email from a relative of George Rufle. I'm hoping to get some background info and a photo of him to post here in the near future. In the meantime here's a clip of George's animation from 'A Wolf in Sheik's Clothing'. (1948)

This drawing by Jack Ozark was auctioned on ebay.

I like that Jack chose to draw Popeye (apart from the white sailor hat) in the same style as his Bowsky/Johnson crew days while working at the Fleischer Studio.

Anyone know who drew this model sheet from Puppet Love?? (Facebook friends are not allowed to answer this question)

Tendlar Crew in Miami

2010-10-22T04:28:00.000-07:00

Scan of original card that was printed on textured paper

I don't know the reason for this card. One thing cool about it though - it tells us the members of the Tendlar crew when the Fleischer Studio moved to Miami. (sometime after March 1938) It may have been printed just after the move to Miami - I would place this card around the time that Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp was being finished. My conjecture is based on the animators caricatured here. Shortly after Grossman would join Orestes Calpini's group of animators, and Spector and Bentley would likewise leave Tendlar's group to animate in other crews. There are a couple of Tendlar's animators missing from the greeting that predate the move - Tom Golden and Eli Brucker. Golden likely stayed in New York to finish up business there and followed later. Brucker seemed to disappear after the 1939 credits. I suspect he was one of the animators that didn't want to make the move to Miami.

Johnny Gent at NYIT - 1989

2010-09-15T04:10:00.001-07:00

Back row, left to right - Dante Barbetta (former Famous Studio animator) Johnny Gent, Mike Kaweski
Front Row, left to right - Howard Speileman (production manager), Joan LaPallo (Johnny's assistant)

Photo courtesy of Mike Kaweski. According to Mike, Johnny's work at NYIT in '89 was his last studio gig.

Back to regular blogging soon...

More Animator Buddies

2010-07-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Front row, left to right: Dick Hall, Edwin Rehberg, unknown, Larry Silverman. Back row, left to right: Otto Feuer, Morey Zukor, Reuben Timmins, Ralph Somerville, George Weiss, Jack Ozark, and Ben Shenkman.

This photo was taken at the side of Filmation's Sherman Way and Lindley Avenue main studio in Reseda. The building stands today, housing medical offices. All the artists, to my knowledge, worked at one time at for the Fleischer or Famous Studios. (some both)

Thanks to Tim Walker and Tom Minton for help with the IDs.

Inside Joke

2010-07-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

This post was prompted by a comment left by blog reader J Lee:

Tendlar also has a unique way of showing the fight at the end of "Fowl Play", where Popeye punches Bluto into the side of the house, but hit outline silhouette remains motionless while the rest of the body bounces back into place.

The action that J Lee described is actually an animation inside joke. Before computer technology, the animation drawings would be traced in ink onto clear celluloid sheets then flipped over and the characters painted in on the back before going to camera. So here's where the in-joke comes into play - when Popeye hits Bluto he is literally punching the paint off him, leaving Bluto's ink outline in place.

Another great use of the cartoon medium courtesy of the Fleischer Studio.

Watch it in action...

Faux Camera Shake

2010-07-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a technique that you'd only find in a Fleischer cartoon. In Organ Grinder's Swing, de facto director Dave Tendlar chose to simulate a camera shake by flashing 2 different backgrounds - one normal and one distorted - shot on alternating exposures.

This was a smart move on Tendlar's part. (assuming it was his idea) Why you say?? Generally speaking, overlapping the actions of a camera shake and character animation would have weakened the action of the punches and lessened their impact. And for sure the action of Olive in the distance would have been lost.
Clever.

See it in motion...

Happy Fourth of July...

2010-07-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

... to all my readers and friends in the US.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Aversion to Knee Caps??

2010-07-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, it seems Dave Tendlar did not like to draw Popeye's knee caps. Many drawings do have them, but generally speaking, most of them are missing that part of the anatomy. Unlike his fellow animators, Tendlar would streamline the shapes of the legs instead of drawing them like the model in segmented sections. The following clip of his animation from The Man on the Flying Trapeze is a great example of this particular drawing earmark.

Some other examples from posted clips -

Tendlar's Aladdin Animation

2010-06-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

Some of Dave's animation from Popeye the Sailor Meets Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp. (released in 1939) There's lots of the Tendlar tongue action in this clip.

When you're finished here, check out Thad's post on Betty Boop's May Party (de facto directed by Dave Tendlar) - one of my favorite Betty Boop cartoons.

Tendlar Tongues

2010-06-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

There are a handful of drawing earmarks that help to identify Tendlar's style - one has Popeye sticking out his tongue for expression. Dave was the only Popeye animator I'm aware of that used the tongue in that manner. (excluding those who used it to express appetite or hunger)

Did anybody spot the other earmarks of Dave's style from last week's clips??

This frame grab was taken part way through a cross dissolve.

Dave Tendlar - Day 5

2010-06-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

To wrap up Dave Tendlar week I have some examples of his drawing style - a model from 'I Wanna be a Lifeguard' (released in 1936) and a gag drawing from Fleischer Animated News. I plan to breakdown the particulars of Dave's drawing that helped me ID his style and will post those next week. In the meantime see if you can spot them by analyzing the drawings and animation clips.

Today's clip is some of Dave's animation from the first Popeye cartoon that he de facto directed, 'Choose Your Weppins'. (released in 1935)

Click on image to enlarge
The picture came from an ebay image so it's not the best quality.

Click on image to enlarge

Dave Tendlar - Day 4

2010-06-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today's offering - another gag cartoon of Dave from the pages of Fleischer's Animated News and a clip of his animation from Beware of Barnacle Bill. (released in 1935)

Click on image to enlarge

Dave Tendlar - Day 3

2010-06-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Like many of his colleagues, Dave Tendlar moonlighted in his off hours drawing comics books - among them, print versions of the of Famous Studio cartoons Baby Huey and Herman and Katnip. He also had a regular spot in Jingle Jangle Comics drawing Chauncey Chirp and Johnny Jay and other one page features like the following -

Click on image to enlarge

This drawing of Cousin George looks like a skewed version of Baby Huey. (taken from a Chauncey Chirp and Johnny Jay story)

Today's clip of Dave's animation is from 'We Aim to Please' (released in 1934)

Dave Tendlar - Day 2

2010-06-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today we have a gag cartoon with Dave Tendlar from a 1935 issue of Fleischer's Animated News. You can see a caricature of Dave at the bottom of the page. The clip is of two scenes of his animation from The Dance Contest. (released in 1934)

After you finish here go directly to fellow cartoon aficionado and shut-in Uncle John's site to see what he has to say about Tendlar's classic 'Play Safe.'

Dave Tendlar - Day 1

2010-06-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today's post on Dave includes a bio from Fleischer's Animated News and a clip of two scenes of his animation from 'Shiver Me Timbers!'. (released in 1934) This is one of the earliest Popeye cartoons where I'm able to see his work - Dave's personal drawing style for Popeye is starting to form at this point. More on that later in the week.

Click on image to enlarge

Dave Tendlar Week Next Week

2010-06-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

That's right - starting Monday and ending Friday, there will be a clip of Dave Tendlar's Popeye animation on each of those days along with some info and trivia on him.

Drunk Camerman??

2010-06-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

I must have seen every Popeye cartoon at least one hundred times and it wasn't until last week when I took note of the titles of "Seasin's Greetinks!". The camerawork is really messed up. I never noticed it in the past. I have reason to believe the cameraman may have been a tad intoxicated when he shot the titles. See if you agree with me -

Paramount logo out of focus screen right.

Titles not centered.

Shaky door opening.

The title card is on an angle.

A quick adjustment. That's better.

A shaky truck in and - whoops, it's out of focus.

Focus camera.

See it all in motion.

Uncredited Animators

2010-06-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

A call back to this post regarding misinformation on the internet. Here's another winner on youtube - many titles are rife with imaginary credits. It looks as though this person pulled names out of a hat for his choices.

FYI - if you reference the call back post, someone went and cleaned up the Wikipedia credits.

Tom Johnson??

2010-06-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Check out this post on Cartoon Brew. Compare the frame grab with photos below that I have of de facto director/animator Tom Johnson. Do you think the actor in the film is him??

Frame grab from The Vacationers' Paradise

Fleischer/Famous Studios Retrospective in 1988

2010-06-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

I found this filed away in a box of unrelated stuff - given to me years ago by friend and colleague Mark Mayerson. I never went to see the retrospective - I wish I had.

I find it strange that the Fleischer and Famous Studios always get grouped together under the Fleischer Studio when it comes to showing or dealing of art.

You can enlarge the images by clicking on them.

Shana Ozark

2010-05-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

I got some bad news today - Shana Ozark passed away on May 22 at 88 years of age. Shana who you say?? She was Jack Ozark's wife and worked briefly as an inbetweener at the Fleischer Miami Studio when Jack went into the service in 1942. She had a long career in the animation business, much of the time working as an assistant alongside Jack at Filmation.

I met and interviewed Shana last year. She was like a breath of fresh air to the past. Despite her deteriorating health, she was full of spunk and eager to tell me about her's and Jack's experiences. Shana's memory was amazing - especially for her age. She was extremely generous with her time and memories. Meeting her was an experience I will always cherish.

More on Shana in a future post.

Shana at Filmation (not sure of the date - sometime in the 70's perhaps)

Animation Buddies

2010-05-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

From left to right - animators Jack Ozark, Ben Solomon, and writer Woody Gelman
(Woody wrote The Island Fling - 1946)

Publicity Art

2010-05-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Occasionally Popeye animation related art comes up on Ebay - usually placed in the right category. I found the below gem a while back listed under 'Comics - Original Comic Art'. Clearly this piece has nothing to do with the newspaper comic strip and is drawn in the Fleischer Studio's animation style. I suspect it was generated either by the Fleischers or Paramount's publicity department.

Click on image to enlarge

From personal observation (something I can't prove) the animation crews were responsible for much of the publicity art done for their shorts. For example - if you've seen the one sheet poster for Wotta Nitemare, the art looks to have been done by George Germanetti - one of the animators on that cartoon. The one sheet poster for 'I Likes Infinks and Babies' looks to be drawn by an animator working in Seymour Kneitel's crew. Likewise with other Popeye one sheet posters and the many publicity drawings of Popeye and cast that have been attributed to Willard Bowsky. So there would be no reason to believe that this drawing was not generated by a studio artist. It is clearly in the style of the Bowsky crew and if you look close, you can see the remaining letters for 'Hold the Wire' - one of Bowsky's Popeye cartoons that was released in 1936. The silhouette of the rubber cement stain looks to be in the shape of a cutout rabbit and was detached and lost at some point over the years. Had it not been detached the purpose and year of the art would have remained a mystery.

I've read that Hal Seeger did publicity art directly for Paramount early in his animation career. It's possible that this may be his handiwork.

Gym Gent

2010-04-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

I never get tired of looking at John Gentilella's (aka Johnny Gent) animation. He is truly one of the unsung greats of the golden age of animation. Johnny animated like a jazz musician plays music - with feeling, style, and flair. He also had an incredible sense of dynamics, power, rhythm, and appeal in his drawing. Johnny could have easily been one of the top animation talents on the west coast but for whatever reason, chose to stay and work in New York.

I've been waiting ages for someone to post a copy of Gym Jam online (I never got it off TV) and it finally happened. Below is a clip from that cartoon with some great Johnny Gent animation. It also includes animation by Frank Endres and William Henning. This is one of the last good Famous Studio Popeye cartoons (with a few exceptions) before they got really bad. (I think all of us Popeye fans will agree that the downward slide to the end of the theatrical cartoons was not a good time for the animated sailor)

Following are frame grabs from some of Johnny's animation - strong poses with strong silhouettes that are essential for great cartoon animation.

I love this 'Don't f**k with me' pose.

Popeye Shark Model

2010-04-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

I got a gift yesterday from my collector buddy and Fleischer fanatic Ryan Englade - an original Charlie Thorson shark model from the Popeye cartoon Females is Fickle . Thanks Ryan!!

Click on image to enlarge

Character designer Charlie Thorson worked briefly for the Fleischer Studio in Miami and among his accomplishments was the design of Popeye's nephews. There's a book on him that was published years ago - it's worth getting a copy.

The 1940 Popeye model drawn by Charlie Thorson.

Here's a bear model from a previous post that was was designed by Charlie. And below is a clip of the shark's brief appearance -

Back to Business...

2010-04-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

I've republished some of the older posts - not all though. Many were just fluff pieces. If anybody misses those let me know and I'll put them back up.

New post soon.

Theft Problem Solved...

2010-03-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

... for now.

Back to regular blogging soon.
Thanks everyone for your support.

Plagiarised Fleischer Characters

2010-02-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a splash page from a golden age comic. Not sure what one - it could be a 1950's issue of Frisky Animals. The comic story is part of a reprint compilation from a defunct publisher that was sold in the early 80's. The artist, Harold Abbey, was an inbetweener for the Fleischer Studio. I don't know much about him beyond that. (any readers from NYC know anything about him??)

OK Fleischer fanatics - notice anything familiar about the characters on this comic page??

(click on image to enlarge)

Correct - (I'm assuming you all got the answer) Pidgy is clearly a knock-off of Twinkletoes - the carrier pigeon from Gulliver's Travels.

(click on image to enlarge)

The bear is a harder guess - only the hardcore fans will be able to ID the character.

(click on image to enlarge)

OK - tired of guessing?? It's from the 1940 Popeye cartoon 'Olive's Boithday Presink'. (and later reused in the Animated Antic 'Zero the Hound')

Note that Abbey took a pose right off of the model sheet.

I have seen other examples of 'borrowed' animation characters in the 40's and 50's funny animal comics. I suspect this sort of plagiarism flew under the legal radar, away from the eyes of studio lawyers. Or it could be that taking legal action was just too petty to pursue - no one really cared enough to do so.

Semi related to this topic is Thad's post - it has to do with story and concept. There's some really funny Jim Tyer animation in the cartoon he's highlighting.

Credit Misinformation

2010-01-31T14:30:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of misinformation out there on the internet - writing presented as fact that has not been checked or verified. Unfortunately a certain portion of the internet population lack critical thinking and accept what they read on face value as the truth, without questioning it.

That said - every so often I check the web for new and existing information on the Popeye cartoons. I was surprised when I typed 'Abner Matthews' into the IMDB search that it took me directly to the credit listing for Abner Kneitel - all of Abner Matthews' credits have now been attributed to Abner Kneitel. I believe it was because of this post. I can't prove they were the same person - it was a conjecture based on some facts and a hunch. Someone took it upon him/herself to make sure that it's now a fact - at least according to the internet.

Another stop for misinformation is Wikipedia. The person who included the uncredited Popeye animators on this page has clearly made huge assumptions. Much of the correct information had been taken from this blog, but the stuff that wasn't is just guesses. I don't mind educated guesses accompanied by qualifiers stating that they are guesses, but the information here has been presented as fact.

Same with the The Popeye Fan's channel on youtube. Many wild assumptions in the listing of uncredited animators here. The owner of this channel had even misidentified Jim Tyer's animation (a no-brainer as far as ID's go) so you can be sure many of the other uncredited animators attributes are garbage. This person also has an Abner Kneitel fetish. Practically all the Popeye cartoons he's posted have animation attributed to him - and that's simply not true.

The persons (or person) associated with the above acts lack the knowledge to know that not every animation crew had the same members over the years. Some animators were shifted around to other crews - especially during the late 30's and early 40's. And even if an animator was part of an established crew he didn't necessarily work on every Popeye cartoon assigned to that crew. Unfortunately there is little to no documentation of who animated what in each of the Popeye cartoons and most of the uncredited animators still remain a giant puzzle. So - if you visit these sites, go with a skeptical mind and don't believe everything you read.

Jack Ozark's Sports Cartoons

2010-01-16T18:20:00.000-08:00

Many Golden Age animators moonlighted during their off hours doing comics and freelance cartooning. Jack Ozark was no exception. He had a passion for sports cartooning that started while in grade school drawing for 'The Criterion' - Patterson (New Jersey) Eastside High School's monthly magazine. Jack used samples of those sports cartoon to secure a job at the Fleischer Studio in 1932. (more on that later) Following is a small sample of the vast amount of cartoons that he did during his lifetime.

Click on image to enlarge

Excerpt from a home movie shot of Jack Ozark and his showing at Filmation.
(Big thanks to Jack's daughter Ellen for supplying the material used in this post)

Abners Kneitel and Matthews Follow-up

2010-01-02T15:50:00.000-08:00

After my last post speculating the possibility of Abner Kneitel and Abner Matthews being the same person I got the following email from Seymour Kneitel's daughter (and Max Fleischer's granddaughter) Ginny. Here's her thoughts on my conjecture:

About Abner perhaps using the Matthews name to avoid nepotism issues. I totally doubt that. I think the nepotism thing is overstated, and don't think the Fleischers worried about what existed of it. It's true there were a number of people in the family working at Fleischer Studios, but most were his brothers who had specific skills Max utilized early on... and they mostly then stayed on with the company. Other family that worked there were Max's daughter (Ruth), Seymour (Ruth's husband, who worked there before they even dated), a family member who ran the cafeteria (badly, I understand), and I think that was pretty much it. I've read an interview that said something like 30 relatives worked there (no way!) and read one that said Izzy Sparber was a relative -- definitely not true.

But I do agree it seems likely that Abner Kneitel and Matthews are one and the same. Here's my 2 guesses as to why... one, it may have just looked funny on the title to have 2 people named Kneitel getting screen credit, so they came up with the idea of Matthews.

The other possibility is Abner may have changed his last because the name Kneitel was cumbersome and people usually mangled it when they pronounced it. My father, early in his career changed his name to Seymour Knight for that very reason, all his early work is signed 'Seymour Knight,' which professionally he thought was an improvement. Ultimately he found no one remembered the name Knight, and he changed it back to Kneitel. I'm speculating maybe Abner had the same experience........

Thanks to Ginny for her input and correcting some Fleischer family misinformation.

Abner Matthews = Abner Kneitel??

2009-12-31T13:40:00.000-08:00

I recently had an enlightening phone conversation with Abner Kneitel’s daughter Betty, talking with her about her father and what little she knew about his animation career. During the call Betty dropped a critical bit of information - that Abner’s middle name was Matthew. At that point I had an epiphany. Were Abner Kneitel and Abner Matthews the same person?? Abner Kneitel had practically the same middle name as the last name of the other Abner working for the Fleischers at the same time and in the same crew. Betty then dropped another critical tidbit - Abner's mother had misspelled his middle name on the birth records – instead ‘Matthew’ she wrote ‘Mathew’. I instantly recalled one Popeye cartoon - ‘Leave Well Enough Alone’ - where the name is spelled incorrectly. That pivotal comment of Betty's made me think that the two Abners could have been the same animator.

I didn't want to believe there was no Abner Matthews. I also had a hard time believing that nepotism was not an accepted practice at the Fleischer Studio since the Fleischer family clearly practiced it. But there was still the mystery of why Seymour Kneitel and Abner Kneitel were never credited together on the screen considering Abner Kneitel's animation style is dominant in many of Seymour's cartoons - thereby qualifying him for a credit. It seems plausible that he may have used 'Matthews' as a pseudonym, because of possible nepotism restrictions, so he was eligible to get screen credit.

There's a part of this puzzle that doesn't work with my conjecture and that's the Matthews credit outside of the Kneitel crew. I can only speculate that as long as Abner was part of Seymour's crew, even if inherited and headed by William Henning (when Seymour was recovering from a heart attack), that he would continue using the Matthews pseudonym.

Credits for Leave Well Enough Alone with alternate spelling.

So what did happen to Abner Kneitel??
Abner served in the navy during WW2. After his discharge he decided to leave the animation business. Abner loved the Florida lifestyle and did not want to return to New York where the Famous Studio had relocated. For a while he operated a small gift shop then worked as an insurance salesman for Peninsula Life. Betty figures he regretted leaving the animation business - Abner became an alcoholic and in her words, he 'pickled himself to death'.

Following is a letter from business manager Sam Buchwald to Abner in response to his resignation. It's a bit fuzzy - taken from a photograph and the best quality that I have.

Click on image to enlarge
(Thanks to Renee for the photo)

A big thanks to Betty and her daughter Renee for their recollections of Abner.

Martin Taras Reel

2009-10-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

Below is a QT with some Taras animation from Mess Production, Rodeo Romeo, and Snow Place Like Home. Even though I'm not sure he did all the exterior scenes of the whale I have included them for continuity sake.

More on Ben Solomon

2009-07-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

It's always great when you can put a face to a name in the animation credits.

Here's a shot of Ben Solomon (more on him here and here) that was clipped from a 1939 group photo of the Johnson crew taken at the Fleischer's Miami studio. (I'll post the complete photo at a future date) Note he has autographed his name beside his picture in light blue pen.

Biography from Fleischer's Animated News

Following is a clip of Solomon's animation from a fan favorite and arguably one of the best Popeye cartoons produced by the Famous Studio - 'We're on Our Way to Rio' . (de facto directed by Jim Tyer)

Lois Grabash - if you're reading this could you please contact me through my email address in the About Me section.

Abner Kneitel at Work

2009-05-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Abner's grand daughter Renee

That's him on the left - well, part of him. The other animators pictured are unknown.

Possibly as rare or rarer than hens' teeth are photos taken of animators at work inside the Fleischer Studio. I'd like to think they were working a Popeye cartoon when this photo was taken. Note the Popeye and Bluto models sheets on the desk tops.

Tom Golden

2009-04-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

Those of you with a keen eye for animators will recognize the work of Tom Golden, ace animator responsible for arguably the most recognizable piece of Popeye animation - the spinning star opening of the color Popeye cartoons from 1943 to 1957. (the animation also had an afterlife, re-used as the opening of the King Feature TV cartoons)

Golden's credits start appearing in the later Fleischer cartoons, where he animated for Dave Tendlar's crew. He moved to Al Eugster's crew for a few cartoons that were released in 1942, animated for one cartoon - 'Seein' Red White 'N' Blue' - for Jim Tyer's crew that was released in 1943, and then spent time in Nick Tafuri's short lived crew animating on 2 Popeye cartoons released in 1944 and 1946. Golden then returned to Tendlar's group, with his animation in the 1946 release 'Rodeo Romeo'. He later became a de facto director of his own crew.

The clips below are from - in chronological order - 'Fleets of Stren'th' (1942), 'Pitching Woo at the Zoo' (1944), 'Abusement Park' (1947), 'Popeye and the Pirates' (1947), and 'Pre-Hysterical Man' (1948).

Note in the last clip that Jack Mercer was still ad-libbing as late as 1948. There are a couple other cartoons from the mid Famous Studio period where Popeye ad-libs - debunking the myth that Mercer stopped completely once the Popeye cartoons started being produced by Famous.

O.T. - Interlude of Shameless Self-promotion

2009-03-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

I’m preparing a few posts that are taking longer than expected.

In the meantime – to fill the gap - here’s the hanging song from the Ren and Stimpy cartoon 'Out West' , unedited for those fans out there that have not yet seen it in this form. I animation directed this cartoon and it was animated by an amazing group of animators at my studio Carbunkle Cartoons.

Note that Stimpy is out of sync as he says ‘hoedown’. For some reason there were 2 versions of the song - using the broadcast version threw Stimpy's animation way out of sync. I've included a piece of the pencil test that has the track we used for animation. (it's slightly out of sync too but closer than the broadcast version) Why it was changed I don’t know. Hey Bob Camp - if you’re reading this, can you shed some insight on why that happened.

Contrary to some opinions circulating the internet, animating Ren and Stimpy was not just the act of doing inbetweens. Any of you who have tried this style know that it (generally speaking) takes a lot of skill, is time consuming, requires more drawing than regular limited animation, and involves a lot of problem solving.

Marty Taras Bio...

2009-01-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

... from the National Cartoonist Society Album 1960 - 61.

Click on image to enlarge

Courtesy of Paul Spector. Thanks Paul!! Check out more stuff from the NCS at Spectorphile.

Abner Kneitel Drawing

2009-01-11T09:55:00.000-08:00

It's extremely rare to see a signed and personalized Popeye drawing done by a Fleischer animator - especially a great one like Abner. Blog reader Paul Narcisse is the lucky owner of one such drawing and gave me the story behind it:

'I was wondering if you could help me with more information about Abner (Kneitel) since I have a sketch from him. My Grandfather was a doctor and Abner was a patient of his. I have a pencil sketch of Popeye signed by Abner dated 12/3/1935, with a personal thank you written on the 8x10 picture.'

I am glad that I saved it from my aunts who wanted to sell it, the monetary value could not replace the sentimental value.'

Click on image to enlarge

Thanks to Paul Narcisse for the photos and allowing me to post his drawing.

Popeye Pencil Test over at CB

2008-12-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

Over at Cartoon Brew you can see a pencil test out take from 'Lumberjack and Jill' from a scene animated by the amazing John Gentilella.

Roland Crandall Pencil Drawings in Motion

2008-11-06T12:40:00.001-08:00

For those of you who aren't regular readers of Cartoon Brew here's a link to see a sequence of pencil drawings in motion from 'Sock-A-Bye Baby' - animation by Roland Crandall. Note how rough the drawings were back then (1934) - the inkers had to invest more time and thought into doing their job.

Also note that there's a drawing shot out of sequence.

A Balmy Swami Anecdote - John Gentilella

2008-10-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

Below is a clip from the 1949 Popeye cartoon ‘A Balmy Swami’ animated by maestro Popeye animator Johnny Gent. (John Gentilella) I love the amazing feeling of power Gent could get into his animation as illustrated by this clip. He knew the exact amount of displacement to put between each drawing to get the maximum effect of power and impact in the action.

When I met him back in the 80’s Johnny recalled working on this cartoon. He said that de facto director Tom Johnson gave him this construction elevator section (I may have cut it a bit short) of the cartoon to animation direct. The first thing he did before starting work was to meet with composer Winston Sharples and discuss the music and tempo for the animation. In hindsight I wish I had asked Johnny about the technique of choreographing animation and music. Today that method of timing animation is a lost art.

For those that have this cartoon and the ability to single frame, you can see that Gent has used a Jim Tyer technique in his animation. (Trivia moment – Tyer and Gentilella were close friends) As Popeye goes to punch out the building girder he pops off the screen for 1 frame. It's not a shooting error. It's done with purpose - the popping effect creates a feeling of shock on the screen and the flash effect animation further enhances the feeling of impact. Tyer used that technique in his animation in some of the Famous Studio cartoons that predate this one. Some modern animators hate this sort of thing - I say as long as it feels right it works for me. I’ve always thought it was a cool technique.

Too bad Cartoon Network had to poo in the corner of the screen.

Tom Minton on Jack Ozark

2008-09-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

In response to this post Writer/Producer Tom Minton kindly offered the following anecdotes about Popeye animator Jack Ozark. Thanks Tom!!

I was one of those people who worked with Jack Ozark at Filmation and have at least one story involving the man. Jack was a colorful guy full of boundless energy who seemed ageless, not at all like many of his contemporaries in that place. Jack preferred doing cartoony stuff, but sometimes got stuck on realistic things, and was less happy. Filmation was a factory but on one occasion, during the early sequences of their feature "Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All", they attempted something more difficult than their Saturday morning product. In early 1978 I was hired there to shoot pencil test on one of the first Lyon-Lamb rigs until something better opened up and in that position I got to know the work of every animator and director in the studio. The new video pencil test device was welcomed by some but feared by many - it quickly exposed a given animator's skill levels. Jack's stuff was fun because he really enjoyed animating and that usually came through. However, there was one scene that gave him considerable trouble. It was a pan shot of someone pulling Dale Arden by both arms through what looked like mud and though it involved some rotoscoped reference, it required a great deal of realistic, anatomical animation. Jack wasn't totally comfortable with the results, as he couldn't make the thing the least bit cartoony. Sure enough, the producer looked at it and demanded more realism than Jack was able to impart on that first attempt. Jack reworked the scene again, then again. Jack ended up fighting the work but eventually battled his way out of it. I remember this shot thirty years later because it took at least eight attempts (many more than usual for Filmation) for Jack to get it to where the producer finally approved. Looking at the shot in sequence, none of the pain involved shows. Jack admitted in the aftermath of the scene's final acceptance that realistic anatomy wasn't always fun for him to animate. A few years later, at Ruby-Spears, when I was working with Doug Wildey, he mentioned a "certain animator" on Jonny Quest who had a hell of a time getting that style, due to all of its the anatomical demands. I asked Doug who the animator was. Doug, of course, wouldn't say. But he quoted the animator as telling him that he "was never very good at anatomical stuff." Wildey added "Right then, I knew the guy was a dead pigeon!" I don't know for certain if this had been Jack, but he is credited on the original Jonny Quest as an animator. It's too bad guys like Jack aren't around anymore. Maybe it's because there aren't any guys like Jack.

When it comes to Jack Ozark, his personality comes through stronger than his work. Jack was one of the few older animators at Filmation who heartily welcomed us young people aboard, and shared tidbits of information that, without his memory, would have been completely lost to time. For example, once someone (it may have been Jeff Etter, I recall him being in the room) brought in and showed a super 8mm Fleischer Superman cartoon during a break. It was "The Arctic Giant" from 1942. Jack watched it with us (any snippet from animation's golden age was prized in that pre-video-on-demand era) and immediately recalled how the Fleischer Studio had paid a lot of money to hire ex-Disney effects animator Stan Quackenbush, who apparently was responsible for the tons of melting ice footage in that picture. Jack recalled that Quackenbush was also involved in "The Electric Earthquake" and "Volcano", all released the same year. It's indeed a pity that more guys from the golden age didn't write such things down.

Abner Kneitel in Action

2008-07-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

I've put together some clips of Abner Kneitel's work - maybe they'll solicit a better response than the frame grabs. The clips are from cartoons produced by the Famous Studio - 'Too Weak To Work', 'A Hull of a Mess', and 'Alona on the Sarong Seas' - all included on the upcoming Popeye Vol.3 DVD set.

More Abner Knietel

2008-06-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since the teaser I posted on April 19th. So without further delay -

As with many of the Popeye animators, Abner Kneitel is a mystery to me. I do know that he was a cousin to Seymour Kneitel and according to whatever records I could find, spent his early years at the Fleischer Studio working in Seymour's crew. I have a feeling he was animating on Popeye from the beginning but cannot verify that fact nor can I identify his work from that period. (I'm working on it though)

After Seymour Knietel suffered a heart attack it looks like his crew was inherited by William Henning, who defacto directed a few cartoons before returning to the position of animator. After Henning's directorial stint the crew seems to have been disbanded with the animators assigned to other crews until Seymour's return. At that time it looks as though Abner Kneitel became a utility animator for the studio (much like George Germanetti), being shifted from crew to crew as needed. I don't know that for a fact - it's speculation based on credits and observation.

Shortly after the changeover of the Fleischer to the Famous Studio his name disappeared from the credits. Anybody know what happened to him??

Goonland - 1938

Customers Wanted -1939

Stealin Ain't Honest - 1940

Baby Wants a Bottleship -1942

Alona on the Sarong Seas -1942

A Hull of a Mess -1942

Spinach Fer Britain - 1943

Seein' Red White 'n' Blue - 1943

Too Weak To Work - 1943

Happy Birthdaze - 1943

The Marry-Go-Round - 1943

Abner Kneitel Teaser

2008-04-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some frame grabs of Abner Kneitel's animation done for the Fleischer Studio Popeyes. More on him later.

My Pop My Pop - 1940

Olive's Sweepstake Ticket - 1941

Olive Oyl and Water Don't Mix - 1942

It's an Eagle, It's a Rocket, It's a Meteor...

2008-04-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

It's Popeye the Sailor!!

Here's a clip from the 1944 Popeye cartoon She-Sick Sailors. I love when a director has assigned a number of scenes in sequential order to an animator - it really helps to highlight their ability and skill. Here's a stretch of scenes done by the amazing Johnny Gent courtesy of de facto director Jim Tyer. (who, even though credited as animator, has no animation in this cartoon) Apart from the first scene, all of the animation in this clip is Gent's.

Thanks to Thad K. for the copy.

George Rufle Part 2

2008-03-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Clips of George Rufle's animation from 'A Balmy Swami' (1949), How Green is My Spinach (2 clips - 1950), and Popeye Makes a Movie (1950)

George Rufle

2008-03-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another obscure (although credited) Popeye animator. George Rufle animated Popeye for a couple of years at the Famous Studio in Tom Johnson's crew on cartoons released from 1948 to 1950.

Rufle's drawing style in some Popeye cartoons comes very close to that of John Gentilella's (known as Johnny Gent by his peers). During an interview I did with Johnny I asked him about Rufle, noting that I had observed that similarity. Johnny told me when Rufle started on Popeye he had tutored Rufle on drawing the characters. (there's nothing like learning from the best) Even though there are superficial similarities, Rufle could not match the flair and style of Gentilella's drawing and animation.

Symphony in Spinach - 1948

A Balmy Swami - 1949

Silly Hillbilly - 1949

How Green is My Spinach? - 1950

How Green is My Spinach - 1950

Beach Peach - 1950

Popeye Makes a Movie - 1950

Popeye Makes a Movie - 1950

Gordon Sheehan

2008-02-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

Fellow blogger and animation aficianado Mark Mayerson has been transcribing an interview done in the 1976 with Fleischer animator Gordon Sheehan. I haven't been able to crack Sheehan's animation style yet - there are few credits for him and none on Popeye cartoons, making it doubly hard to ID his animation. I do know from a published interview that he worked primarily for Willard Bowsky's crew.

Here's a quote I found on the web from an interview done by Leonard Kohl with Gordon Sheehan:

"Dave Fleischer was showing some visitors around the studio one day as I was drawing my pencil animation for this action. As was his habit, he would pick up some animator's drawings from someone in the group, and 'flip' them for his guests. This day, he picked up my scene of Popeye violently wiggling his posterior to extricate the can of spinach. After flipping my drawings, he seemed to get a little 'shookup,' and put my drawings back on my desk without comment. Later that day, Dave Tendlar, the director, told me, Dave told him that my scene was too violently 'suggestive' and that the action would have to be 'toned down' to avoid any promiscuous sexual implications. This was something that never entered my mind, but I did as I was told, and modified the 'offending' actions. At the time, the Will Hays censorship office had the pants scared off movie producers (even cartoon producers) regarding sexual promiscuity. The office carried plenty of 'clout' and could exert their authority sometimes at considerable expense to producers. Evidently, Dave Flesicher was well aware of this, in 'censoring' my animation."

I believe the cartoon he was talking about is Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp. I speculate (because I don't know for sure) that the scenes below are those animated by Gordon Sheehan. Following are my reasons - see what you think.

The Popeye in the frame grab above looks like it belongs in a Bowsky directed cartoon - not a Dave Tendlar directed cartoon.

The wiggling posterior/spinach extricating action described in the quote above.

Another scene in the same drawing style as the first frame grab. The animation of Popeye chewing looks the same as chewing animation seen in other Bowsky directed Popeye cartoons. (see clip for action)

Same style of drawing and animation as the above frame grabs.

There you go. Anybody know for sure??
And don't forget to check out the interview on Mark's blog.

Ben Solomon Follow-up

2008-02-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

Important news flash - Ben Solomon's daughter Lois left a message yesterday with some additional information about her father. Check out her comments in the Ben Solomon part 2 post. Thanks Lois!! - and if you're reading this, we would love to know more about your father and his work.

Following an idea of fellow blogger and animation aficionado Thad K., I've put together some clips of Ben Solomon's animation. They're from (in order) 'We're on Our Way to Rio' (2 clips), 'Movin' Aweigh', 'She Sick Sailors', 'Service with a Guile', and 'Shape Ahoy'. Unfortunately some of the video source materials are from old TV recordings and of poor quality. Now is a good time to start praying for Popeye Vol.4 to happen otherwise we may never see great prints of these cartoons. All of the clips are from cartoons with Jim Tyer as the de facto director.

Ben Solomon - Part 2

2008-02-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

I think of Ben Solomon's work as that of the quirky, gritty New York style of animation. It's not polished like Hollywood animation but has a great cartoony feeling to it – no frills, just fun to watch. That said…

The earliest mention I could find of Ben Solomon was in the first issue (December 1934) of Fleischer’s Animated News. Max Fleischer wrote in the forward to that issue ‘Ben Solomon of our Inbetween Department suggested the Studio News, which you are now reading’. I couldn't find any information regarding Solomon’s employment prior to the newsletter, but knowing he was an inbetweener tells me he may have spent some time at the studio working his way up through the ranks. (as was typical in those days)

Shamus Culhane in his book ‘Talking Animals and Other People’, writes of Solomon working as his assistant during Gulliver’s Travels. He was promoted to animator status sometime in 1939 working in Roland Crandall’s crew and received his first screen credit on the Popeye cartoon ‘Shakespearian Spinach’ (released Jan.1940)

After working for Crandall, Solomon became a regular member of Tom Johnson's crew, animating on Popeye, Stone Age Cartoons, and Animated Antics. When the switch-over from Fleischer to Famous took place, Solomon became the property of Jim Tyer's crew starting from 1943 until he left Famous in 1946. (with the odd departure to animate in another crew – in particular ‘Ration for the Duration’ for Dave Tendlar) After 1941, for reasons unknown, Solomon only animated on the Popeye cartoons with one exception – a Noveltoon released in 1946 titled ‘Cheese Burglar’.

Solomon came into his own style once the Popeye cartoons switched from black and white to Technicolor. While other animators at Famous were more conventional in their extremes of movement, Solomon was not afraid to twist and turn a character into whatever position he saw fit regardless of whether the drawing was successful or not. His style was unique among the Famous Studio animators.

Years later after leaving Famous, Solomon worked for Topps Chewing Gum Company in the art department and was co-creator - with ex-Famous colleague Woody Gelman – of bubble gum comic character Bazooka Joe. You can read more about Topps and Solomon here.

Solomon's first Popeye credit was on 'Shakespearian Spinach' - 1940

Following are some examples of the way Solomon would torque a character's body while anticipating a punch.

You're a Sap Mr. Jap - 1942

Puppet Love - 1944

Peep in the Deep - 1946

Edward Nolan

2008-01-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

Here's an animator that seems to have no history beyond his work at the Fleischer Studio. I have posted frame grabs from all the Popeye cartoons that I've been able to ID with Nolan's animation. He worked primarily in Myron Waldman's crew during his time at the Fleischers except for a period starting sometime in 1935 and ending sometime in 1936 when he worked for Willard Bowsky's crew. As tight as the Bowsky crew was in terms of drawing, Nolan's Popeye sticks out as being slightly different - most notably in the way Popeye's hat sits on his head and the wider than normal bell bottom pants.

After 1937 there are no other credits that I can find for Ed Nolan. I wonder if he left the business. (And no - I don't know if he was related to Bill Nolan)

Can You Take It? - 1934

I Ski Love Ski You Ski - 1936

Let's Get Movin' - 1936

Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor - 1936

Nolan cover for Fleischer's Animated News
(click on image to enlarge)

Louis Zukor

2007-12-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

The most information I could find about Louis Zukor was in an animation union newsletter obituary on him.

From the April 2004 Peg-Board

'LOU ZUKOR died on March 16, 2004 at the age of ninety. From 1930 until his retirement in 1984 he worked for Romer Grey, Mintz, Screen Gems, Iwerks, Lantz, Fleischer, Famous, Hanna-Barbera, Animation Associates and Filmation.

We have lost an icon of the animation industry. Lou was a close friend of mine. He was a veteran who went from the days of Gulliver's Travels and Mr. Bug Goes To Town, to more recent TV cartoons such as Archie and He-Man. Lou aslo worked on hundreds of TV commercials, and on titles for The Carol Burnett Show, The Sonny and Cher Show and others. Lou was a producer of a cartoon called Q. T. Hush, that showed on the Sheriff John TV show in the late 'sixties. Producing, animating, directing, painting backgrounds ... Lou did it all.'

I assume that Zukor made the trek to New York in 1938 to work on Gulliver's Travel's and continued on working for the Famous Studio until sometime in 1946. His work at the Fleischers was primarily for Orestes Calpini's crew and when the switchover was made to Famous, he animated primarily for Graham Place's crew.

'Females is Fickle' - 1940

'Me Feelins is Hurt' - 1940

'Nurse Mates' - 1940

'Wimmin Hadn't Oughta drive' - 1940

'I'll Never Crow Again' - 1940

'Mess Production' - 1946

'House Tricks?' - 1946

'The Fistic Mystic' - 1946

Lou Zukor animation from 'Me Feelins is Hurt' - 1940

Roland (Doc) Crandall - Part 2

2007-12-22T09:25:00.000-08:00

'The Adventures of Popeye' - 1935 (re-use animation clip)

'The Adventures of Popeye' - 1935 (re-use animation clip)

'The Spinach Overature' - 1935

'Vim, Vigor and Vitaliky' - 1936

'A Clean Shaven Man' - 1936

'Brotherly Love' - 1936

'Bridge Ahoy' - 1936

'What - No Spinach?' - 1936

'Never Kick a Woman' - 1936

'Little Swee'pea' - 1936

Sometime around mid 1936 Crandall was promoted to head animator/de facto director and given his own unit. He vacated that position sometime in 1940 resuming a position as animator - his last work on a Popeye cartoon appeared in 'Popeye Presents Eugene the Jeep' in 1940.

'Shakespearian Spinach' - 1940

'Popeye Presents Eugene the Jeep' - 1940

Roland (Doc) Crandall - Part 1

2007-12-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

ID for Roland Crandall's animation should be a no-brainer for those of you into the Fleischer Studio Popeye cartoons. (and I admit easy for me to blog) His style is the most identifiable to fans of the early Popeye animators. Crandall drew the first model sheet for Popeye and you can see a copy of it in Leslie Cabarga's book 'The Fleischer Story'. Before exiting the Fleischer Studio, Crandall de facto directed only one Popeye cartoon - 'Shakespearian Spinach', released in 1940. Up until that time he animated exclusively on the Popeye series for Seymour Kneitel's crew.

Costume model for 'Shakespearian Spinach'

Better said by this published biography, here are some facts about Roland Crandall. (click on image to enlarge)

From Fleischer's Animated News Vol.2 #7, June 1936

I will be posting frame grabs from all of the Popeye cartoons with Crandall's animation. Check back soon for part 2.

'Popeye The Sailor' - 1933

'I Yam What I Yam' - 1933

'Blow Me Down' - 1933 (re-use animation from Popeye the Sailor)

'I Eats My Spinach' - 1933

'Seasin's Greetinks!' - 1933

'Sock-A-Bye Baby' - 1934

'Strong to the Finich' - 1934

'Axe Me Another' - 1934

'A Dream Walking' - 1934

'The Hyp-Nut-Tist' - 1935

'For Better or Worser' - 1935

Sexual Tension Via Jim Tyer - The Island Fling

2007-12-06T00:10:00.000-08:00

The animation in the clip below has to be one of the most funny sexually tense scenes ever in a golden age cartoon. You can really feel Bluto burning with frustration as Olive ignores his advances, the action stopping just short of a dry hump. I love the subtleties in Bluto's animation, his body language, and his lecherous expression. It's a great piece of business that gives us a taste of Tyer's range and the possibilities of what he could have done had he stayed at Famous. The animation following Tyer's scenes was done by William Henning.

Unfortunately the animation in the clip really suffers due to the compression of Youtube. You'll have to wait for Popeye DVD Vol.3 to see just how great this cartoon really is!!

'The Island Fling' clip - 1946

Charles (Tex) Hastings

2007-11-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

Popeye looks weird as drawn by the hand of Charles Hastings. There's something about the bloated head and facial features that's odd and stands out. (but not detracting from the overall charm of the gritty Fleischer style) Hastings came from the west coast having worked briefly for Walter Lantz (and possibly WB) and had a short stay of a couple of years animating for the Fleischers. All of his work on Popeye was done for the Bowsky unit.

Below are frame grabs from all the Popeye cartoons that Hastings worked on before leaving the Fleischer Studio. Check out his animation in 'Pleased to Meet Cha!' - there's some really bizarre action of Popeye and Bluto walking from one room and continuing into another. It feels as though they have glue on their shoes.

The Dance Contest - 1934

We Aim to Please - 1934

Beware of Barnacle Bill - 1935

Be Kind to 'Aminals' - 1935

Pleased to Meet Cha! - 1935

Dizzy Divers - 1935

William Henning

2007-11-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

William Henning sure drew ugly. He animated some of the most unappealing and crude looking Popeye I've ever seen. But that said, this is an equal opportunity blog, so all Popeye animator styles that can be identified will be represented here.

Probably the second most prolific Popeye animator next to George Germanetti, Henning's work spanned 3 different periods of the character and can be found in Fleischer, Famous Studio and King Feature Popeye cartoons.

Part of the old guard at the Fleischer Studio, Henning was a senior member of the staff for approximately 7 years by the time Popeye started into production - 1 year longer than head animators Seymour Knietel and Willard Bowsky. Before becoming an animator in 1931, he was head of the inbetweening department.

A member of Seymour Knietel's unit for years, Henning animated on Popeye from 1933 until 1939, when at that time, he was briefly given the job of head animator (de facto director) on a couple of Popeye cartoons. His early Famous Studio years had him working for a short time in Jim Tyer's unit and later with Tom Johnson's unit. In between he did brief stints with Nick Tafuri and Bill Tytla. (whom I believe exercised more directorial control over his pictures than did Knietel and Sparber)

Henning was considered good at drawing and animating 4 legged animals and often given scenes of that kind according to animator John Gentilella.

Once Henning established his animation and drawing style it evolved marginally as compared with the advancement of his peers. Coming into the Famous Studio years, his style looks frozen in time - much of his later work looking like it still belonged in the Fleischer cartoons.

A gossip piece in an issue of the Fleischer Studio's news publication stated that Henning was decorated for his service as a captain in the German army prior to working in animation. I wonder if that sort of regimented military attitude affected his animation.

Seasin's Greetinks - 1933
Check out Michael Sporn's analysis of this animation at his splog (Oct.30 post):
http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/index.php?paged=2

Strong to the Finich - 1934

A Dream Waking - 1934

The Spinach Overature - 1935

Vim, Vigor and Vitaliky - 1936

Bridge Ahoy - 1936

Lost and Foundry - 1937

Protek the Weakerist - 1937

Cops is Always Right - 1938

Ghosks is the Bunk - 1939

Wood Peckin' - 1943

We're on Our Way to Rio - 1944

Puppet Love - 1944

Service with a Guile - 1946

Wotta Knight - 1947

Robin Hood-Winked - 1948

Quick on the Vigor - 1950

Big Bad Sindbad - 1952

Cookin' with Gags - 1954

Gopher Spinach - 1954

Out to Punch - 1956

Butler Up - 1961

Here are 2 examples of Henning's Popeye - 10 years apart with basically the same drawing style and expression:

Strong to the Finich - 1934

Puppet Love - 1944

Next Animator ID - Charles Hastings (the 'off model' Popeye animator)

Lillian Friedman (Astor) - Pioneer Woman Animator

2007-11-03T09:01:00.000-07:00

And by that I don't mean that she lived in a log cabin, wore buckskin, a coonskin cap, and drew on pieces of birch bark to animate. Actually, I got the title from a small publication made for an ASIFA tribute (researched and written by Bill Lorenzo) to her work as one of the first women animators. (Lotte Reiniger predated her) She was the first woman animator, I believe, to work within the studio system.

Over at the GAC forum a topic was started a couple of days ago regarding woman animators and Ray Pointer noted that Edith Vernick predated Lillian Friedman as the first woman animator at the Fleischer Studio. Even though Vernick did some animation (in particular one scene in Fresh Vegetable Mystery released in 1939), she did not officially hold that position at the Fleischers so IMO it's safe to say that Friedman was the first. In a copy of Fleischer Animated News Vol.2, #8 (no date - from sometime in 1936. Let's Get Movin' had just been finished) there is a one page biography of Edith Vernick that states 'She has done most everything but animate. At present she is head of the Inbetweening Department.' You can draw your own conclusion based on that tidbit.

Back to Friedman - Unfortunately she only animated on one Popeye cartoon released in 1934 - 'Can You Take It'. (working/production title Bruiser Boys) 'Can You Take It' is her first professional known effort as an animator. Awesome stuff for her first outing!!

According to a gossip piece written in a February 1935 copy of Fleischer's Animated News, Lillian Friedman had a dog named Popeye.

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Scene 15A

Scene 19A

Scene 20

Scene 21

Scene 22

Next Animator ID - William Henning

Frank Endres

2007-10-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

For some reason I like Frank Endres' animation style. I think it's because of the rubbery cartoony look and feel of it. He was, in my opinion, the last hold out of the Fleischer style. During the 40's and into the 50's his animation was still using elements typical of the mid-30's Fleischer Studio animation.

Endres started with the Fleischers in 1930 as an opaquer (sitting next to Jack Mercer) and worked his way up through the ranks to animator. (and eventually director - though not on any Popeye shorts) His first Popeye animator credit was on 'Stealin' Ain't Honest' released in 1940 although he has uncredited animation in 'It's the Natural Thing To Do' released in 1939. Before that he animated for Myron Waldman's unit on the Color Classics and Betty Boop cartoons.

I wonder why Endres was chosen to animate for Steve Muffati on the first Superman cartoon produced at the Fleischers. His cartoony animation style is noticable in contrast with the realistic styled characters. (scenes of Lois putting on the aviator's cap and the plane flying into the distance, etc.) It's a strange mixture for sure.

Absent from the Famous Studio during the war years, Endres served in the Navy during World War 2. The last Popeye cartoon he animated on before his departure was 'Me Musical Nephews' and the first Popeye cartoon he animated on upon his return to the studio was 'I'll Be Skiing Ya'.

During the last years of Popeye, Endres' work went through a marked style change. His Popeye looked different and his animation was stiffer than earlier efforts. I wonder what happened to cause him to change his animation style.

Endres' animation on Popeye was exclusive to the Johnson unit until the shorts ceased production.

Stealin' Ain't Honest - 1940

Doin' Impossikible Stunts - 1940

Flies Ain't Human - 1941

Scrap the Japs - 1942

Me Musical Nephews - 1942

I'll Be Skiing Ya - 1947

The Royal Four Flusher - 1947

Wotta Knight - 1947

Safari So Good - 1947

All's Fair at the Fair - 1947

Robin Hood-Winked - 1948

How Green Is My Spinach - 1950

Quick on the Vigor - 1950

Punch and Judo - 1951

Cookin' With Gags - 1954

Spooky Swabs - 1957

George Germanetti

2007-10-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

Without having counted the exact amount of animation footage he did, I would say that George Germanetti was the most prolific of all the Popeye animators. His work spanned three different time periods of the character - Fleischer, Famous Studio, and King Features.

The first Popeye credit for Germanetti was on the 1935 Fleischer cartoon 'Choose Yer Weppins'. He animated primarily for Willard Bowsky's unit until 1939. At that point Germanetti's work wasn't exclusive to any particular unit until the later Famous Studio years when he became part of Al Eugster's crew.

Germanetti had an aesthetically appealing look to his Popeye (contributing to the overall appeal of the Bowsky unit cartoons) and his style must have been well regarded during the Fleischer and Famous Studio eras as evidenced by the use of his drawings for publicity art and posters. I have posted some examples below of Germanetti's scenes and artwork.

To see a photo of George Germanetti (and other Famous Studio animators) check out Mark Mayerson's amazing site on animator Al Eugster at:
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/3131/photo_album1954xmas1.html

Choose Yer Weppins - 1935

I Ski Love Ski You Ski - 1936

Hold The Wire - 1936

Popeye Meets Ali Baba's Forty Theives - 1937

A Date to Skate - 1938

Hello - How Am I? - 1939

Olive's Sweepstake Ticket - 1941

Me Musical Nephews - 1942

Happy Birthdaze - 1943

The Island Fling - 1946

Wotta Knight - 1947

Alpine For You - 1951

Popeye's 20th Anniversary - 1954

Parlez Vous Woo - 1956

Popeye's Double Trouble - 1961

Fleischer Studio in-house publication cover (thanks to Jerry Beck)

1940's generic 1 sheet poster

1950's generic 1 sheet poster

Next Animator ID: Frank Endres