I just salivate over these old, casual shots of animators at work. The reverse has "old studio" penciled on it, and the seller, Howard Lowery, said it was taken at the Disney Hyperion studio. The artists are also identified on the back; from left to right, as "Sandy Strother, animator, Frank Folmer, 1st assistant, and Paul Coulter, 2nd assistant". I know nothing about any of these men, and if you do, please feel free to comment or email me and give me some background on them.
I was wondering if this was in fact the "old" studio--meaning the first feature studio in Silverlake, or instead the Buena Vista location; those awnings and windows sure look like Burbank to me. Any thoughts, anyone?
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9 comments:
Jenny,
It could have been taken in the Shorts building, which was in Silverlake but then got moved to the Buena Vista lot in 1940. Check out how warped and uneven the structure's interior right angles remain to this very day. I think the Shorts building still houses the Disney Music Department, which it did the last time I was inside the thing, in 1991.
Tom Minton
Thanks, Tom!
I wish I could go over there and check it out...biggest plus of my old job was being on the lot. nada mas!
And it's awfully nice to see you visiting my humble blog. "Throw a BARREL at it!"--Ring any bells? Pure genius!
Oh yeah, it's "Just let me throw a barrel at it!", hollered by the ever-confident Dash O' Pepper. Adult Swim thought enough of "Toby Danger" to rip it off and call it "The Venture Brothers" a few years back, which smelled like some kind of compliment. Good to see that you're posting all this great Fred Moore stuff. Tim has (as you know) quite a collection of it.
Tom
Yes, I am in total awe of Tim. next to him, I'm like Sgt. Schultz: "I know nosssssink!" You know? Fred....sigh.
Yeah, I figured "Venture" was a ripoff. You did it first and much, much funnier. Funniest script I have ever read.
I wanted to do a book about the old Hyperion Silverlake studio when I worked at Disney Publishing in the nineties. I still have some old photos in my research folder. This is a book that can only be published with Disney's approval, and they never gave it.
Anyway, this could be the old shorts building that was moved to Burbank. It's definately not the new animation building that was my home for nearly twenty years.
I'm pretty sure that's Hyperion. That window opens onto the central courtyard. At the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, we have a photo of Les Clark working at his desk at Hyperion, and it's the exact same layout.
Look at the desks too... We have Clark's Hyperion desk on display- it's exactly like those. He animated on it all the way through Snow White. When they moved to Burbank to begin work on Pinocchio, they got the moderne desks.
If you stop by the archive on our public hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can sit at Clark's Hyperion desk and soak up the history.
http://www.animationarchive.org
See ya
Steve
Hi Jenny -
This is off topic, but I think Mark Kennedy said you know how to do screen grabs off DVDs. What's the secret?
Jeff
PS - Thanks a lot for getting me curious about the Behind The Scenes At Walt Disney Studios DVD. I had to pay $50 for it at Amoeba! :) I'll check it out soon.
Thanks, Steve--you must be right; I didn't know you were fortunate enough to get les Clark's desk! Amazing! I'd love to see that...have to get over there.
Floyd--wow--now that would be a hell of a book! Please don't give up entirely on it...btw--you should think about doing a blog of your own. I know you have a business website, but blogging is free(best part!), easy to set up & update--and the personal/journal format is tremendously appealing--it'd be perfect for you to offer any thoughts and stories of your history and experience that you'd feel like writing. It's important stuff! Thanks so much for dropping by here! : )
Jeff...one word: freeware. I'll email ya.
In July 1946, Sandy Strother shared room 1A-5 in Burbank with Joseph Sabo. Paul Coulter was in 1A-8, and Frank Fowler wasn't at the studio. 1A was filled with effects animators (Blaine Gibson, George Rowley) - and we find Brad Case in 1A-4...
Anyways, we hardly ever find more than two animators to a room, and that makes the case even stronger that this is in fact Hyperion.
(Gee - I'd kill to buy that book...)
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