The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archives has recently been posting a slew of wonderful material from their Clair Weeks collection, including this entry on Weeks’ role in jump starting the Indian animation industry. Weeks’ career is a fascinating one, as after 16 years at Disney (where his credits ranged from Snow White to Peter Pan), he went to India as part of the American Technical Co-Operation Mission, where he set up the country’s first animation studio for Information Films of India. The image above shows Weeks at work during the production of the studio’s first effort, The Banyan Deer. The posting also includes a Quicktime version of a silent film showing the studio (and Weeks) at work on the film.

Weeks was born and raised in India the son of missionaries; and because of this he apparently felt more at home there than in the United States.  Given this background, it is probably no surprise that:

What started as a one year project expanded into almost a decade of service abroad working for the US Agency for International Development. Weeks toured Southeast Asia and headed up a [communications] office in Katmandu, Nepal. He made films and audio-visual programs that aided in the social development and economic growth of third world countries.

The Joe in question is my father, Joe Deneroff, and the drawing by cartoonist and illustrator Gilbert Bundy was apparently done in 1943 when both were working in the US Army Air Force’s fabled First Motion Picture Unit FMPU),  based at Fort Roach (i.e., the Hal Roach Studio, Culver City, California). My mother said my father was hired by the Unit to work at their New York City facility in 1942;  in 1943, both units were consolidated in Culver City and my father moved out there, leaving his family behind. He only stayed for six months for reasons which are not entirely clear; a letter written during the time he was there indicated he was somewhat homesick for New York, but I suspect his health problems (which eventually led to his death in 1946) were a major factor in his return.

When he returned to New York, he became an animator with Famous Studios (he had previously worked for Fleischer from 1932-40), where he worked alongside his friend Jack Ozark. When he died, Jack kept the drawing, which my father kept in his desk, and gave it to me when I got to know him in the 1980s. Jack said that my father and Bundy worked together at the FMPU and that the drawing perfectly captured  the way my father acted and dressed.

In doing some admittedly cursory research. I could not find anything on Bundy and the FMPU; for instance, David Apatoff’s Illustration Art blog does note that:

… when World War II came along, Bundy decided for some reason to leave it all behind and volunteer to work as an artist in the South Pacific for Hearst newspapers.

In 1944, Bundy was accompanying the Marine invasion of Tarawa when a Japanese shell exploded in his small landing craft. …

Bundy returned to the U.S. but never recaptured the joy in his pre-war art. On the anniversary of his ordeal Bundy committed suicide, thereby rejoining his fallen comrades.

I would, of course, be delighted to hear from anyone who has any additional information on the matter.

The caption in the Life/Google archive for the photo above (by Allan Grant) reads: "Carlo Vinci, artist drawing cartoon at Hanna-barbara [sic] productions." Taken in 1960, the year Hanna Barbera became the force in television animation with The Flintstones, when it debuted on the ABC network on prime time.  The image below has the caption: "Joe Barbera (R), [with] partner Bill Hanna (L), creators of animated cartoons."

John Kricfalusi, among others, said that the most important qualification for an animator is the ability to draw. If so, you can see how well qualified Atlanta animators are starting this Saturday, when ASIFA-Atlanta will debut its first annual art show of work by its members; the exhibition, featuring work inspired by the Golden Age of Comics and Cartoons, will be at the Eyedrum Gallery (290 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., SE, Suite 8, Atlanta, GA 30312).  The collection will feature contributions from over three dozen artists, the majority of which will also be available for sale. The show has its gala opening on Saturday evening at 8:00 pm; admission is $7.00, but is free for Eyedrum and, ASIFA members.

Life magazine’s photo archives are in the process of being posted online, thanks to Google.  The magazine was the picture journal of its day and was published weekly from 1936-1972, and continued to be issued in various stand alone forms until 2000. And its roster of photographers reads like a Who’s Who of Photo Journalism during the middle part of the 20th century.

Needless to say, Life‘s coverage of the arts, especially film and television, was extensive. The images being posted include photos never published before, along with production stills and posters not easily found elsewhere online. The high resolution (300 dpi) images are apparently free for nonprofit use.

My first instinct was to search for animation-related material and, naturally, Disney-related material, such as the 1938 photo of Disney by Alfred Eisenstaedt above , were most easily found. Much of the material I initially looked at lacked full identification; e.g., a picture of Gore Vidal and Melvyn Douglas only named Vidal, and some photos of live TV shows from the 1950s I looked at were not identified in any way, other than that they were TV shows. Anyway, here are some images of interest I came across, starting with  several by Hart Preston of Disney’s 1941 South American tour, which he embarked upon after the Bank of America told him to settle the strike by the Screen Cartoonists Guild:

This is identified as "Disney artist Mary Blair (R) working in Brazil w. company founder Walt Disney (L)," with Sugarloaf in the background; however, that’s doesn’t look like Disney to me.

"Artist Franklin Thomas (L) standing with Walt Disney (C) on Brazilian beach."

"Audiences gathered outside theater for the Brazilian premiere of Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’."  Brazil’s President Vargas was in attendance.

"NBC TV actor Sid Caesar (2nd R) rehearsing the Saturday night show with actress Janet Blair (2nd L), Carl Reiner (C) and others." The Saturday night show was, of course, Caesar’s Hour, which along with Your Show of Shows, was an incubator for a whole generation of comedy writers and comedians, including Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Danny Simon, and Larry Gelbart.  I’m not sure who the woman on the left is, but the man in the center is Carl Reiner and Howie Morris is on the right. Photo: Gordon Parks.

"Scene from the play ‘No Time For Sergeants’." The 1955 Broadway play was inspired by the popular live TV adaptation of the Mac Hyman novel, and also starred Andy Griffith, who later went on to also star in the movie version. On the right is Don Knotts, who had been a mainstay on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen, made his Broadway debut in the show. Photo: Yale Joel.

The above photo of Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Roy Disney was taken on November 2, 2002, at the Disney Studio tribute to Ward Kimball, which took place at the Directors Guild. Frank and Ollie were among those giving tribute and it was probably their last public appearance I went to. Frank died at 92 in 2004, and now Ollie passed away on April 14, at 95, the last of Disney’s Nine Old Men.

The Nine Old Men was something of a public relations gimmick created by the Disney organization, as it blithely ignored the talents of people like Art Babbitt and Bill Tytla, who left the studio under uncomfortable circumstances.  However,  the contributions of Frank and Ollie cannot be ignored. One only has to look at their work on Bambi to see how good they were. In addition, their Illusion of Life: Disney Animation is a landmark text which. along with Richard Williams’ The Animator’s Survival Kit, have helped define the way animation is taught around the world.

Frank and Ollie were, of course, inseparable companions and speakers. And I first met them when they came to speak to a class at the University of Southern California in the fall of 1979; it occurred just after Don Bluth very publicly left Disney, and I recall getting into a conversation with Frank about it. I had recently returned to USC to finish my PhD after an 11 year hiatus and had finally committed to focus my career on animation. Needless to say, I would encounter them many times before I left Los Angeles in December 2003, as they were a vital part of Hollywood’s animation community, ever eager to share their knowledge and wisdom.

Ollie Johnston’s death has been well covered, and a good place to find some of the best online tributes is gathered here by Cartoon Brew. which also posted a nice tribute by Brad Bird.