Bobe Cannon-"The Dover Boys"

If you read this blog often enough you probably know that Bob Cannon is one of my favorite animators. I've been studying his animation in the "The Dover Boys" a lot in order to understand the whole "smear" technique. I had saved an ass load of frame grabs and was going to post them but I realized that the page would probably go on indefinitely. So instead I'm just posting the scenes at regular speed and also at two frames per second. Can anyone think of cartoon that used smeared drawings since "Big House Blues"? I can't.

Bobe Cannon-Dan Backslide

Uploaded by klangley

Dan Backslide-Frame By Frame

Bobe Cannon-Driven To Drink

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Driven To Drink-Frame By Frame

Bobe Cannon-Abduction

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Abduction-Frame By Frame

Art Davis - "Mouse Menace"

Here's Art Davis' first cartoon after taking over for Clampett upon his departure for Warner Bros. There's so many great camera angles in this short. Not to mention how Davis has the backgrounds move and shake when there's a impact or explosion while the character remains still, never tilting in the direction of the background. I don't know if a lot of other directors did this but it really stands out here. What a great cartoon.

Mouse Menace

Uploaded by klangley

Tex Avery - "Garden Gopher"

Here's another of my favorite Spike cartoons (notice they're all my favorites?) "Garden Gopher". I scanned some layouts and a model sheet from this short too. I'm not sure who drew the model sheet, Louis Schmitt possibly? Or maybe Walt Clinton, as both of them were drawing model sheets and or layouts around that time. It's a great design though. Silly but still kinda cutesy. It's a shame you can't freeze frame the flash videos, the scene when the gopher is yelling at Spike is really funny. There's so many goofy faces being made that just slip by at full speed. The drawings of Spike during the sledgehammer gag are too funny. I think those are by Grant Simmons, though I'm probably mistaken. Either way they're hilarious. And yes, it's uncut.

Garden Gopher

Uploaded by klangley

Tex Avery - "Rock-A-Bye Bear"

I posted a clip from this short on Tex's birthday and figured I may as well post the whole cartoon along with some layouts. It has to be one of the funniest cartoons ever made. I think Tex really hit his stride in the late 40s and early 50s. I love the crew of Walt Clinton, Michael Lah, and Grant Simmons. My favorite of Tex's units throughout his career.

Rock-A-Bye-bear

Uploaded by klangley

Art Davis - "Dog Gone Cats"

Here's another Art Davis short "Dog Gone Cats" starring Sylvester. I always loved the big nosed Sylvester, like in the Clampett cartoons and I'm glad it carried over to this Davis short.

Dog Gone Cats

Uploaded by klangley

"A Hick, A Slick And A Chick"

Art Davis directed a handful of great shorts from 1946 to 1949 after taking the director's spot vacated when Bob Clampett left Warners. He had a great unit, with Emery Hawkins and Bill Melendez animating for him. I also love Art's animation too, particularly in Frank Tashlin's cartoons. Here's "A Hick, a slick and a chick" from 1948 and a model sheet of Elmo. It would be nice to see an Art Davis only disc on one of the Golden Collections sets. Enjoy! (especially you, Severin)

A Hick, a Slick, and a Chick

Uploaded by klangley

Tex Avery - "Henpecked Hoboes"

"Henpecked Hoboes" marked the first appearance of George and Junior. Both of whom were inspired by George and Lenny in "Of Mice and Men". I can't watch that movie without laughing. I just always think of the George and Junior cartoons, or "Lonesome Lenny". The awesome model sheet was drawn by Irv Spence.

Henpecked Hoboes

Uploaded by klangley

Jim Tyer-"Ten Pin Terrors"

Here's a couple of Jim Tyer's scenes from the Heckle and Jeckle short "Ten Pin Terrors". I swear this guy is the greatest. He animated some of the funniest runs ever.

Jim Tyer-Ten Pin Terrors

Uploaded by klangley

Mr. Bug Goes To Town

Anyone else out there enjoy Fleischer's second feature "Mr. Bug Goes To Town"? I really love this film and I'm not that into animated features. It grows on me the more I watch it. The musical score is fantastic and the animation is great throughout. The backgrounds are also something to behold. If you've seen the opening sequence you know what I mean. Hopefully this movie will get a proper release on DVD someday. Here's a short clip from the film. I posted some model sheets from it awhile back too.

Mr. Bug Goes To Town

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Popeye - "The Paneless Window Washer"

Here's a clip from the 1937 Popeye short "The Paneless Window Washer". I'm sure most people who read this blog have seen this one as it's on a lot of the cheap public domain DVDs. I had to post it just for the part when Bluto temporarily dispenses with Popeye and turns to Olive and says "Now you want me to clean your windas? Huh!?!" and then proceeds to choke the shit out of her. What a businessman. Hilarious.

Paneless Window Washer

Uploaded by klangley

Famous Studios Backgrounds-Robert Little

Here's some screen grabs of Robert Little's backgrounds from various cartoons. I know nothing about him, but his backgrounds in a lot of the Casper shorts make them worth watching. I love the backgrounds he did in the Little Lulu short "Cad and Caddy".

Little Audrey-"Song Of The Birds" (1949) Check out more screen shots here.

Little Audrey-"Tarts and Flowers" (1950)

Casper-"Too Boo Or Not to Boo" (1951)

Baby Huey-"One Quack Mind" (1951)

Casper-"Spunky Skunky" (1952)

Caper-"Boo Moon" (1954)

Little Audrey-"The Seapreme Court" (1954)

Herman and Katnip-"Rail Rodents" (1954)

Herman and Katnip-"Cat In The Act" (1957)

Casper-"Hooky Spooky" (1957)

Casper-"Ice Scream" (1957)

Noveltoon-"The Animal Fair" (1959)