Freddy Moore reference stills

Here's an interesting oddity kindly referred to me by a prominent animator whose name you'd all know(I'm not sure if he wants credit for this; I'll be happy to do so if he doesn't mind): a collection of photographs, or "stills" on Ebay, all the usual semi-rough, gorgeous Fred Moore girls, but for some unknown reason these were officially passed around the Disney studio, courtesy of Joe Grant's Model Department. Exactly why it was deemed necessary for artists to have what are basically Fred's personal gift pinups as desk reference is a mystery. Although there were projects such as the aforementioned "All The Cats Join In" sequence that were designed by Fred, those had their own, specifically corresponding model sheets; these seem like nothing more than eye candy...perhaps there was some sudden edict to try and attain some spirit or style from these girls' poses?








The reverse of all of these photographs are stamped in this way; what were these used for? Why were they done?


Unfortunately, this Ebay seller decided to use material from my blog as part of his selling page, including a few screen caps I made and a photo from the collection of James Walker that's one of my favorites, of Fred in a crib at a party(he also quotes liberally--without any attribution--the offical "Disney Legends" web page devoted to Moore, as well as linking to yet another page containing a completely fictional account of Fred Moore's accidental death).

James Walker was fully aware when he allowed me to post artwork from his private collection on Blackwing Diaries that these would be easily downloadable for anyone, anywhere--and that was fine by him. He has the generosity of the pure afficionado, and luckily for the rest of us loves to share things that have taken him decades and thousands of dollars to acquire. I salute him for that. I know that I would be snagging the drawings and photos of Fred Moore and others myself, were they on other blogs--but--and this is crucial--for my private use, not to resell or to use to sell other stuff. There's something slightly unsettling about seeing pictures that have turned up without any credit in someone's sales pitch without even an email asking permission. This happens all the time(I had an entire essay I'd written and published about Ernie Kovacs plagiarized by not one but two different people, one a radio show host in Seattle, the other a Columbia "communications" student; both presented my original work and accompanying photographs word for word as their own on their websites with their names attached), but it's a huge breach of internet etiquette to do that--however laughable the concept may seem. The seller may be entirely innocent of any of this, but even if he found the photograph through googling Fred Moore he'd easily notice which page it came from--especially as he used other images from my site. I'd like to write it off and forget it as a well-intentioned attempt to give these photos some background.

I realize too that where the borrowed "Make Mine Music" screen caps are concerned, I was posting images that I emphatically don't own, but I did go to some little bother making them, and it's just a no-no to swipe such things from other people without first asking if you can repost them. Not included in this area are direct links to the source; many people have been kind enough to quote from and link to posts on Blackwing Diaries, sometimes including an image from my site--and I'm flattered and happy that they do it. I do the same thing in regards to others' sites, as you've seen.

But this Ebay stuff is different and inconsequential as it really is, it's not cool. Ebay in fact has a standing policy of not allowing sellers to "borrow" or use others' photos in their listings, and often shuts down auctions for that infraction.

And as a final bit of editorializing, in my opinion this seller is asking much too much money for what are after all, so-so condition copies of photographs--photos that were definitely printed more than once and passed around freely within the studio, and perhaps externally as well. There's an old saying about rare items that "they're worth whatever you want to pay for them", but $300 per photo(for the "buy it now" option)? I'd put the "real" value at somewhere like 40-75, tops. But again--if someone wants it that badly, and it makes them happy to have a photographed drawing that's indeed about 60 years old, there's nothing wrong with that. I suspect there are more of these scattered around the US, though.

In any case, enjoy more examples of the delicious line work of Fred Moore!