{"id":13121,"date":"2014-09-02T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2014-09-02T07:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=13121"},"modified":"2019-12-04T20:55:31","modified_gmt":"2019-12-05T04:55:31","slug":"raggedy-ann-and-andy-1977-a-mind-boggling-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/raggedy-ann-and-andy-1977-a-mind-boggling-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"“Raggedy Ann and Andy” (1977): A Mind-Boggling Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

A peek at the soundtrack album to animation\u2019s most expensive-yet-experimental, corporate-yet-independent and mainstream-yet-eccentric theatrical feature – ever!<\/p>\n\"raggedysoundtrackLP600\"\n

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RAGGEDY ANN & ANDY: A MUSICAL ADVENTURE<\/strong>
\nOriginal Motion Picture Soundtrack
\nColumbia Records S-34686 (Stereo) (12\u201d 33 1\/3 RPM LP \/ 1977) <\/em><\/p>\n

Producer\/Arranger\/Conductor:<\/strong> Joe Raposo. Orchestrations: Joe Raposo, Jim Tyler. Assistant Conductor: Dave Conner. Engineer: Fred Christie. Soundtrack Produced February 8, 1977 at Media Sound, New York. Running Time: 51 minutes.
\nVoices:<\/strong> Didi Conn (Raggedy Ann); Mark Baker (Raggedy Andy); Fred Stuthman (Camel with the Wrinkled Knees); Alan Sues (Loony Knight); George S. Irving (Captain Contagious); Arnold Stang (Queasy); Mason Adams (Grandpa); Marty Brill (King Koo-Koo); Paul Dooley (Gazooks); Allen Swift (Maxie Fit-It); Joe Silver (The Greedy); Hetty Galen (Susie Pincushion); Sheldon Harnick (Barney Beanbag, Socko); Ardyth Kaiser (Topsy); Margery Gray and Lynne Stuart (Twin Penny Dolls).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Songs:<\/strong> \u201cI Look and What Do I See,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m No Girl\u2019s Toy,\u201d \u201cRag Dolly,\u201d \u201cPoor Babette,\u201d \u201cA Miracle,\u201d \u201cHo-Yo,\u201d \u201cCandy Hearts,\u201d \u201cBlue,\u201d \u201cI Never Get Enough,\u201d \u201cI Love You,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s Not Easy Being King,\u201d \u201cHooray for Me,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re My Friend,\u201d \u201cHome\u201d by Joe Raposo.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Johnny Gruelle\u2019s Raggedy Ann character (who turns 99 years old this Sunday) is one of those evergreen properties – along with her brother Andy – that have inspired animated versions throughout the 20th century, including Max Fleischer\u2019s Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy<\/em><\/a> (1941), Famous Studios\u2019 Suddenly It\u2019s Spring<\/em><\/a> (1944) and The Enchanted Square<\/em><\/a> (1947) and a Saturday morning TV series in 1988, among others. Each placed these pleasant, passive rag dolls in odd, fantastic settings with odd, fantastic characters.<\/p>\n

But nothing dialed up the crazy better than Richard Williams\u2019 1977 epic feature (that would be \u201ccrazy-cool\u201d as well as \u201ccrazy-whaaa\u2026?<\/em>!\u201d), Raggedy Ann and Andy<\/em><\/a>. A massive enterprise requiring two studios on each U.S. coast, the film is an historic landmark in that Williams combined animation talents from several generations and experience levels and let them loose. Just a few of the artists involved were Tissa David (the first woman to animate a major feature character), Art Babbitt, Grim Natwick, Emery Hawkins, Eric Goldberg, Michael Sporn, Susan Kroyer, Hal Ambro, Cosmo Anzilotti, Spencer Peel, Gerald Potterton, Irven Spence, Art Vitello and many more.<\/p>\n

John Canemaker chronicled the production from start to finish in The Animated Raggedy Ann & Andy<\/em><\/a>, a marvelous, richly detailed book that is a treasure to read and re-read, even if one has never seen the movie. Imagine what a book about the aftermath of the film and the recollections of such an august group of artists might be like!<\/p>\n