|
Joshua Meador
Joshua Lawrence "Josh" Meador (March 12, 1911 - August 24, 1965) was an American animator, effects animator, special effects artist, and animation director for the Walt Disney studios. Biography Meador was born in Greenwood, Mississippi. His family later moved to Columbus, Mississippi in 1918. He later studied at the Chicago Art Institute. There, a fellow alumnus told Meador he was traveling to California to be interviewed at Walt Disney Productions, and suggested for him to come along. At first, Meador refused as he wanted to do commercial art, but he was coerced into interviewing at Disney. There, he was hired to work in their animation effects department, where he worked on numerous films such as ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'', for which the studio won an Academy Award. Meador also created the animation effects for the 1956 MGM science-fiction film ''Forbidden Planet'', most notably the "Monster from the Id" that attacks the spaceship. Privately, Meador described himself ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animation is closely related to filmmaking and like filmmaking is extremely labor-intensive, which means that most significant works require the collaboration of several animators. The methods of creating the images or frames for an animation piece depend on the animators' artistic styles and their field. Other artists who contribute to animated cartoons, but who are not animators, include Page layout, layout artists (who design the backgrounds, lighting, and camera angles), storyboard artists (who draw panels of the action from the script), and background artists (who paint the "scenery"). Animated films share some film crew positions with regular live action films, such as director, producer, sound engineer, and editor, but differ radically i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasia (1940 Film)
''Fantasia'' is a 1940 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Productions, with story direction by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer and production supervision by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen. It consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Music critic and composer Deems Taylor acts as the film's Master of Ceremonies who introduces each segment in live action. Disney settled on the film's concept in 1938 as work neared completion on ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'', originally an elaborate ''Silly Symphony'' cartoon designed as a comeback role for Mickey Mouse, who had declined in popularity. As production costs surpassed what the short could earn, Disney decided to include it in a feature-length film of multiple segments set to classical pieces with Stokowski and Taylor as collaborators. The soundtrack was recorded u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Sequoia
''Old Sequoia'' is an American animated short film directed by Jack King featuring Donald Duck. The cartoon was produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on December 21, 1945, by RKO Radio Pictures. Plot An ancient sequoia tree labeled "Old Sequoia" sits surrounded by a small fence in a National Park as a pair of beavers chew down trees in the surrounding area. Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ..., a ranger at the park, is tasked by the park's chief ranger (possibly Pete) with protecting the massive tree, after taking the blame for a large loss of trees in his sector. The chief further warns Donald that he will lose his job if Old Sequoia falls. Spotting the beavers dangerously close to Old Sequoia, Donald rushes dow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald's Crime
''Donald's Crime'' is a 1945 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon, which parodies film noir crime dramas of the time, follows Donald Duck as he struggles with guilt after stealing $1.25 from his nephews. The film was directed by Jack King and features original music by Edward H. Plumb. The voice cast includes Clarence Nash as Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Ruth Clifford as Daisy Duck, and Harry E. Lang as the off-stage voice of Donald's conscience. This was Blondell's first performance as Daisy and marks the debut of the character's "normal" voice. Previously in '' Mr. Duck Steps Out'', Daisy had been voiced by Nash using a voice similar to Donald's. ''Donald's Crime'' was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 18th Academy Awards in 1946, but lost to '' Quiet Please!'', a ''Tom and Jerry'' short produced by MGM. It was the fourth such nomination for the ''Donald Du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Three Caballeros
''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action and animated musical propaganda anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on February 3, 1945 and in the United Kingdom in March 1945. It marks the tenth anniversary of Donald Duck and plots an adventure through parts of Latin America, combining live-action and animation. This is the second of the six package films released by Walt Disney Productions in the 1940s, following '' Saludos Amigos'' (1942). It is also notable for being one of the first feature-length films to incorporate traditional animation with live-action actors. The film is plotted as a series of self-contained segments, strung together by the device of Donald Duck opening birthday gifts from his Latin American friends. Several Latin American stars of the period appear, including singers Aurora Miranda (sister of Carmen Miranda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Clock Watcher
''The Clock Watcher'' is a 1945 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon follows Donald Duck as he works at the Royal Bros. department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ..., where he goofs off by breaking gifts and wrapping them poorly. Plot Donald Duck arrives late to his job at Royal Bros. as a gift wrapper. He clocks in, uses a magnet to set the time back a few minutes, then situates himself at his work table. Toys come zooming down past him, creating a whirlwind that strips his clothes off. He quickly retrieves them and makes his way over to the pile of gifts. He tries to squeeze a trombone into a small box, and succeeds by squashing it with a clamp to make it look like a French horn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victory Through Air Power (film)
''Victory Through Air Power'' is a 1943 American animated documentary propaganda film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists on July 17, 1943. It is based on the 1942 book of the same name by Alexander P. de Seversky, who himself appeared in the film, an unusual departure from Disney animated feature films of the time. Edward H. Plumb, Paul J. Smith and Oliver Wallace were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. Production Walt Disney read ''Victory through Air Power'' and felt that its message was so important that he personally financed the animated production of the book. The film was primarily created to express Seversky's theories to government officials and the public. Film critic Richard Schickel says that Disney "pushed the film out in a hurry, even setting aside his distrust of limited animation under the impulses of urgency" (the only obvious use of limited animation, however, is in dia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saludos Amigos
''Saludos Amigos'' (Spanish for "Greetings, Friends") is a 1942 American live-action/animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Set in Latin America, it is made up of four different segments; Donald Duck stars in two of them and Goofy stars in one. It also features the first appearance of José Carioca, the Malandragem, malandro Brazilian parrot. ''Saludos Amigos'' premiered in Rio de Janeiro on August 24, 1942. It was released in the United States on February 6, 1943. The film was a success, helping launch the international popularity of Donald Duck and leading Disney to produce ''The Three Caballeros'' (1944), another government-funded film aimed at Latin American goodwill. Background In early 1941, before U.S. entry into World War II, the United States Department of State commissioned a Disney goodwill tour of South America, intended to lead to a movie to be shown in the US, Central America, Central, and South America as part of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bambi
''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the production was supervised by David Hand (animator), David D. Hand, and was directed by a team of sequence directors, including James Algar, Bill Roberts, Norman Wright, Sam Armstrong, Paul Satterfield, and Graham Heid. The main characters are Bambi (character), Bambi, a white-tailed deer; his parents (the Great Prince of the forest and his unnamed mother); his friends Thumper (Bambi), Thumper (a pink-nosed rabbit); and Flower (a skunk); and his childhood friend and future mate, Faline. In the original book, Bambi was a roe deer, a species native to Europe; but Disney decided to base the character on a mule deer from Arrowhead Springs, San Bernardino, California, Arrowhead, California. Illustrator Maurice "Jake" Day convinced Disney that t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dumbo
''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy Comedy drama, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson-Mayer, Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, and illustrated by Helen Durney for the prototype of a novelty toy ("Roll-a-Book"). The main character is Jumbo Jr., an elephant who is ridiculed for his oversized ears and mockingly nicknamed "Dumbo", but in fact he is capable of flight, flying by using his ears as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is a mouse named Timothy – a relationship parodying the Fear of mice#Elephants and mice, stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants. Produced to recoup the financial losses of both ''Pinocchio (1940 film), Pinocchio'' and ''Fantasia (1940 film), Fantasia'', ''Dumbo'' was a deliberate pursuit of sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Reluctant Dragon (1941 Film)
''The Reluctant Dragon'' is a 1941 American live-action/animated anthology comedy film produced by Walt Disney, directed by Alfred Werker, and released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 27, 1941. Essentially a tour of the then-new Walt Disney Studios facility in Burbank, California, the film stars Algonquin Round Table member, film actor, writer and comedian Robert Benchley and many Disney staffers such as Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, Norman Ferguson, Clarence Nash, and Walt Disney, all as themselves. The first twenty minutes of the film are in black-and-white, and the remainder is in Technicolor. Most of the film is live-action, with four short animated segments inserted into the running time: a black-and-white segment featuring Casey Junior from '' Dumbo''; and three Technicolor cartoons: ''Baby Weems'' (presented as a storyboard), Goofy's ''How to Ride a Horse'', and the extended-length short ''The Reluctant Dragon'', based upon Kenneth Grahame's short story of the same name. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ave Maria (Schubert)
"" ("", D. 839, Op. 52, No. 6, 1825), in English: "Ellen's Third Song", was composed by Franz Schubert in 1825 as part of his Op. 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's 1810 popular narrative poem '' The Lady of the Lake'', loosely translated into German. It is one of Schubert's most popular works. Beyond the song as originally composed by Schubert, it is often performed and recorded by many singers under the title "Ave Maria" (the Latin name of the prayer Hail Mary, and also the opening words and refrain of Ellen's song, a song which is itself a prayer to the Virgin Mary), in musically simplified arrangements and with various lyrics that commonly differ from the original context of the poem. It was arranged in three versions for piano by Franz Liszt. ''The Lady of the Lake'' and the "Ave Maria" The piece was composed as a setting of a song (verse XXIX from Canto Three) from Walter Scott's popular narrative poem '' The Lady of the Lake'', in a German translation b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
