It’s the Spooky season again, and a day of running all over here to get all sorts of things done… so it’s a short day here, but a good excuse to haul out some spooky cartoons.
First, in Thunderbean disc news:
We’re working on getting a bonus ‘special disc’ out to everyone that ordered the Halloween set so there’s some things to show for this Halloween while we’re still working on replicating the ‘official’ set. So, if you ordered watch your mailbox soon…
Second, in Thunderbean broadcast news:
I can finally officially announce that Thunderbean has a deal with MeTV and MeTV Toons.. so look for some of the things we’ve released there sometime soon— along with a few surprises! We’re really excited to be working with them and can’t wait to see what shows first!
Now— onto a cartoon favorite: Flip the Frog in Spooks (1931)
Spooks is a favorite of many in the series – and certainly one of mine. The combination of Grim Natwick’s animation and direction and Iwerks’ continuous technical improvements make this film especially fun and well produced. The ability to truck in and out in a scene is a huge new improvement in 1931, expanding the technical abilities in animated film making through Hollywood and New York. Something else to note is how beautifully executed all the camera work is throughout the film, as well as multiple exposures and transitions – something that the Iwerks studio seems to take a lot of pride in.
This cartoons is full of fun scenes, from Flip being forced to dine on a skeleton turkey or chicken to taking the longest staircase ever up to bed. The skeleton designs are well-animated and detailed in their designs.
When we were working on the Blu-ray set of Flip, I was so happy to scan the original camera negative. The final version is made from that negative as well as MGM’s 1931 fine grain. The soundtrack’s original cue music survived because it was on the other side of the 35mm track negative, along with another Flip cartoon. This practice, probably done by Consolidated film service, accidentally preserved the cue music since the other track was end up.
Have a good week everyone!
Steve Stanchfield is an animator, educator and film archivist. He runs Thunderbean Animation, an animation studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan and has compiled over a dozen archival animation DVD collections devoted to such subjects at Private Snafu, The Little King and the infamous Cubby Bear. Steve is also a professor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
I’m so excited for you and the future of ThunderBean animation. It’s great that you’ll be able to show some of your cartoon restorations from all those great years of putting together DVDs and Blu-rays. Oh the possibilities!
Having said that, I think your “Flip the frog“ collection is amazing! I also look forward to receiving the Halloween DVD and special disc as I ordered already! I ordered through Amazon; 🤔 sure hope I ordered the right one.
“Spooks” isn’t one of my top favourite Flips — it drags too much in the middle, especially the dinner scene — but I daresay it hasn’t looked this good since 1931. The atmospheric opening scene is especially eye-catching.
Congratulations on securing your deal with MeTV Toons. Now if only MeTV Toons would make a deal with the Commonwealth of Australia so that I could watch it, too.
SPOOKS – an all time favorite! My trusty 16mm print (with replaced home made main title) got quite the workout in the 80’s and 90’s while raising my three kids. Still my choice for the best of all Flips!
Ub Iwerks’ cartoons were really rough around the edges but they were brimming with charm, especially his Flip cartoons.
Oh! Is this to be part of the Black & White bloc they’ve been promising?
This cartoon is really cool! The “This is it” sign is the sort of gag I associate with Tex Avery cartoons made years later. Were those jokes already commonplace in 1931?
Grim Natwick truly had an inimitable style, and Iwerks had so much respect for him that he offered him a partnership in 1934. Unfortunately, Natwick declined and went to work for Disney.
It’s a real shame that an artist as original as Grim Natwick was absorbed by the Disney machine, when Natwick was so talented at creating surreal cartoons.
This is GREAT NEWS! I wrote an article, recently published in TwoMorrows Publishing’s CRYPTOLOGY MAGAZINE #5, comparing the similarities of “Spooks” to Mickey Mouse’s “Haunted House.”