For Better Or Worser
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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Celebrating the animated work of the most amazing cartoon character ever created. All original material copyright by the author so don't even think of stealing it.
Followers
Attention Collectors and Owners of Fleischer and Famous Studio Art
If you have a piece of Fleischer or Famous Studios production art that comes from an unknown title and needs identification - contact me. I have Identified pieces in the past for animation historian Jerry Beck, Leslie Cabarga (The Fleischer Story book), miscellaneous dealers, collectors, and readers of this blog. The only thing I ask for in return is a high quality scan of the art.
Search This Blog
About Me
- Bob Jaques
- Ontario, Canada
Animation News
Animation History Links
Animation Art
8 comments:
"Eli Brucker - whom I know nothing about other than the odd anecdote..."
What anecdote?
Nice post, Bob. It's interesting to see Eli Brucker's progress in these clips. His timing seems very even in For Better Or Worser, even the dialog has a puppet-like open and closed mouth feel. Bluto in The Hyp-Nut-Tist is a little better, he anticipates his hypnotic passes by nearly bending double. Best of all is Popeye's dive from I Wanna Be A Lifeguard. Popeye moves elegantly from pose to pose as he descends breaking up the action by the business with his pipe. Even the effects animation when Popeye splashes into the pool is neatly finished off. I like the overlap and well-placed arcs as Popeye vaults from the pool and flips into his "result" pose poolside.
Blogger Mr. Cro said...
"Eli Brucker - whom I know nothing about other than the odd anecdote..."
What anecdote?
There's a bit in Mike Barrier's book on Hollywood Cartoons (I don't have my copy with me at the moment to get a direct reference) about Brucker refusing to cross the picket line during the strike at the Fleischer Studio.
"The strikers were overwhelmingly from the the studio's lower lower ranks; only one animator, Eli Brucker, refused to cross the picket line for the duration of the strike." - pg.188
I love this piece of animation from The Hyp-Nut-Tist. The model for Bluto, presumably designed by Seymour Kneitel, appeared again in the 1935 'preview' ad for Sinbad - which combined elements we'd see in all three of the Color Specials! He's pretty cool.
Wow, I had written off "I Wanna Be a Lifeguard", but that piece by Brucker is absolutely graceful! Thanks for highlighting it.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=53255812
"Birth: Jul. 28, 1897, Ukraine
Death: Aug. 6, 1982
Burbank
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Eli came to the U.S. with his family in 1906. He worked in his father's fur business in New York City. He came to Hollywood CA in the 1920s and was a movie extra. He later became a movie cartoonist for Fleischer Studios in New York and Florida and worked on a number of "Betty Boop" and "Popeye" features. Eli moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s. He had a doll factory called "Dolls of Hollywood." He sold vacuum cleaners and sewing machines in the 1950s-60s. Later on, he was a salesman for his son Don's contact lens company. "
His 1940 "reversible doll" patent:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2195127.html
Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons And Blacklisted Animators in America
By Karl F. Cohen
0159:
http://books.google.com/books?id=gIyH_DLYhoIC&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&dq=%22eli+brucker%22&source=bl&ots=GDYxf-MMsq&sig=vi8A4WLIrDTnHKAhSyVzkM1hnbo&hl=en&ei=kftJTca4CIy8sQOqwOXNCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBDgo#v=onepage&q=%22eli%20brucker%22&f=false
"Louis Appet from the inbetween department and animator Eli Brucker believed they were blacklisted for their past union activities. With the help of Chuck Jones, Appet was eventually hired in 1941 by Schlesinger. He went on to become president and business agent for the Motion Pictures Screen Cartoonists' union in Los Angeles in the 1950s and 1960s. Brucker, an experienced animator, never again found work in the animation industry. During World War II he went into the rag doll business."
Ted - Thanks for the info on Brucker!!
Trying to do a bit more research on Eli Brucker turned up a listing on the Find a Grave Site. There's a few pictures of him as well as biographical data. It notes he started his career as an extra in the 1920s, worked for Fleischer then moved to Los Angles in the 40s. There he ran a doll factory and later sold vacuum cleaners and sewing machines. He also worked for his son's contact lens company as a salesman. His parent's names, the names of his spouse, and his children's names are there too.
The link is http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=53255812
Post a Comment