MORE CASPER...

Here’s some more story ideas that were submitted by Studio staff for Casper films. I thought these really good examples of how ideas could be submitted in any form--- they didn’t need to be anything fancy… like typed! Also, they're fun to read since you can really hear the voice of the writer.

This first proposal is by George Germanetti, long time Fleisher and Famous Studios animator.

Click on any image to enlarge for reading

Here’s a story idea below by Myron Waldman, another long time Fleischer and Famous Studios animator. Myron likely held the record for having worked on the most Betty Boop cartoons and was responsible for animating many Casper films as well.

The story idea below was submitted by Jack Mercer—who  though he submitted many story ideas and was also an assistant animator, is best remembered as the voice of Popeye.

If you think the story idea below looks a bit more ‘professional’- it’s because the writer, Larz Bourne, was actually a member of the story department!

I love these story ideas because they show how staffers in the 30’s and 40’s could choose to be involved in many aspects of a film... from start to finish! 

All story idea scripts: Collection of Virginia Mahoney

THE FIRST WOMAN ANIMATOR!

In 1933 Lillian Friedman, while working at Fleischer Studios, became the first woman EVER to work as an animator at any studio.


From the early days of animation—and up until 1933—women were generally hired only in the lowly role of inker or opaquer. If talented and lucky they might advance to the position of inbetweener. But they NEVER worked as animators.


It was accepted thinking in the industry that women were not capable of the creativity required to be an animator, plus there was resistance to women entering this male dominated field. The article below from a Paramount 1936 promotional booklet includes the statement “Nobody knows just why, but women generally are not successful as cartoon animators.”


There’s also a telling 1938 letter that can be found online, typed on beautiful Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs stationary. It’s a response to Miss Mary V. Ford who wrote Walt Disney Productions concerning a job… the reply states “Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school....The only work open to women consists of tracing the characters on clear celluloid sheets with India ink and filling in the tracings on the reverse side with paint according to directions."

(click to enlarge for viewing)
Article from Paramount promotional booklet for "Popeye The Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor"  1936     Collection: Virginia Mahoney       
Popeye copyright 2011 King Features Syndicate, Inc. TM Hearst Holdings, Inc.

In 1933 Lillian Friedman, an employee of Fleischer Studios, became the very first female to be hired as a commercial animator at any animation studio. She had joined Fleischer Studios as an inbetweener in 1931 at the age of nineteen. Animator Shamus Culhane recognized that she was highly talented and advocated for her advancement to animator. It was no easy job to convince the other animators to accept a woman working in that position. In addition, Shamus points out in his book Talking Animals and Other People, he had to devise tricks to make her accepted in the all male environment… and even though Lillian achieved animator status she was paid considerably less then her male counterparts.  


The film below, Pudgy and the Lost Kitten, gives screen credit for animation to Myron Waldman and Lillian Friedman. This copy of the film has German sub-titles which I always thought reflected how popular these films were overseas- but 'The Crazy HR' has corrected me... "This was for many years a 'lost film,' meaning nobody knew about the existence of any copy of the cartoon. This has subtitles because it aired on the Channel ARTE during their show "Cartoon Factory." (ARTE is a German Channel)


                            Film: Pudgy and the Lost Kitten  

                                     Betty Boop and Pudgy copyright Fleischer Studios, Inc.


The Internet Movie Database (online) credits Lillian with animation work on 11 films made with Fleischer Studios between 1934 and 1938—and shows she received screen credit on seven of these films, and was uncredited for her work on the other four. However,  IMDb did not include her animation on Sindbad the Sailor which the above article attests to—or a reference elsewhere to her animation on Betty Boop’s A Language All Her Own.  So Lillian animated on a total of at least thirteen films, with six of them uncredited. The lack of screen credit is not unusual since generally, although several animators may work on a film, no more than two animators received  on-screen credit. Lillian remained at Fleischer’s until 1939 when she resigned to be with her family full time.

For work purposes animators at the time were assigned to ‘units,’ each unit run by a head animator. While working as an animator at Fleischer Studios Lillian worked in three different units, each headed by a different animator… Shamus Culhane, Myron Waldman, and my dad… Seymour Kneitel.

(When giving credit to trailblazing women  animators I should also mention Laverne Harding who in 1934 went to work for another famous studio, Walter Lantz, becoming only the second women animator in the industry.)

Sources:

Book: Talking Animals and Other People by Shamus Culhane
Popeye Paramount Promotional brochure for Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor 1936
Ray Pointer online comments
Disney rejection letter:
       http://www.flickr.com/photos/polaroid/632255233/
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) 
Book: Who’s Who in Animated Cartoons by Jeff Lenburg

Bachelor Dinner for Seymour Kneitel...

December 1931

This photo of Seymour Kneitel’s bachelor party was taken exactly eighty years ago, in New York City at the Blue Ribbon Restaurant, December, 1931. Seymour (front row center) met his future wife, Ruth Fleischer, while both were working at Fleischer Studios. Max Fleischer, Seymour’s soon to be father-in-law is in the front row, far left.

The staff at Fleischer Studios during the late 1920’s and 1930’s often celebrated occasions like this together. Staff also joined the studio sports teams (bowling, baseball etc), played cards and gambled together, partied together, and the men held these bachelor dinners.

Fleischer Studios was a training ground for animators and other animation specialists.While many worked their entire careers with Fleischer Studios (and it’s successor studio Famous Studios) others went on to work at any number of other emerging animation studios…. sometimes even returning later to work again at Fleischers. Many of the men in this photo went on to become prominent and well known figures in animation.

It’s interesting to note that, as with Seymour, virtually all these men would have begun their careers in the early days of silent black and white film…. worked through the introduction of sound, color, and 3D…..and by the end of their careers where producing animation for Television!

Seated front row left to right are Max Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel, Roland (‘Doc’)Crandall. Standing behind them are Frank Paiker, Willard Bowsky, Al Eugster,Ugo D'Orsi, Reuben Timinsky, and possibly Dave Tendlar (present but not visiblein this copy of the print). Back row: Sam Stimson, Charles Shettler, SamBuchwald, unknown, Izzy Sparber, Tom Bonfiglio (who later changed his name toGoodson), Ralph Sommerville, Myron Waldman. Collection of Ginny Mahoney.