“Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom” December 18, 2007
Posted by Jeff in 1946 through 1960, Cartoons, Movies, Music.trackback
This cartoon happened because of a strike — the 1941 Disney strike, to be specific.
Many of the studio’s best and brightest left Disney after the strike, never to return. The full story of that strike is told in my friend Tom Sito‘s new book, Drawing The Line, which I recommend highly.
As a result, Disney had to maximize the use of his remaining artists. Many of the ex-Disney crew had gone on to form UPA, best known for the Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing cartoons, and for the first time Disney had serious competition for the title of Most Innovative Cartoon Maker.
The genius behind Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953) was Ward Kimball, ably assisted by co-director Charles Nichols, storyman Dick Huemer, animators Julius Svendsen, Marc Davis, Henry Tanous, Art Stevens and X. Atencio, art directors Ken O’Connor and Vic Haboush, and stylists Tom Oreb and Eyvind Earle. Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom became the first Disney film in over a decade to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
Technorati tags: Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, Walt Disney, Ward Kimball, Charles Nichols, Dick Huemer, Julius Svendsen, Marc Davis, Henry Tanous, Art Stevens, X. Atencio, Ken O’Connor, Vic Haboush, Tom Oreb, Eyvind Earle
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Oh my goodness, thank YOU so much for posting this! What a blast from my past. My music teacher in elementary school would show us this at least once a year and I remember it so fondly. Good old Mrs. Eyler! It cracks me up even now to see it. I need to get a copy so I can show it to my daughter! My favorite is the caveman who bangs on his belly and it lights up -BOOM!
Quality 2D animation lives!