The Animated Feature

[happyfilmluvguy]

Walt Disney brought us the first animated feature film, "Snow White" in 1938. Warner Brothers had a fare share of the short subject cartoons. Was the Walt Disney Company the only studio that produced featured length animated films during that time? 1930s-1960s. Did Warner Brothers or Paramount get into the game? Was there ever a Bugs Bunny feature film in the 1930s long before Space Jam? How about Popeye?

 

[pretty faythe]

Animal Farm - (1954) (UK)
Gay Purr-ee - (1962) (Warner Studios)2 years past your 30-60 time frame
Yellow Submarine - (1968) (MGM/UA Studios) 8 years past the time frame
( care of http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/movie-pages/movie_animation.html)
It looks like others got into the act of animated movies in 70's.

Gullivers Travels, Paramount, 1939

 

[Lady Day]

Well Disney Feature Animation just got a new logo based off the 1930 Steam Boat Willie Mickey.

If you saw Meet the Robinsons, youll see it.

I just went to a Disney recruitment at my school (showed a storyboard portfolio) and they are totally getting back into their 2D roots. Its cool to see and I hope to be a part of it soon.

Disney was one of the only studios to do the 2D feature of the time. I think a lot of studios got scared after the Disney strike and put it off till the 50s when there was a resurgence in 2D fare.


LD

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Fleischer studios *could* have been the first, had fate gone their way -- their distributor, Paramount, wanted them to do a Popeye feature, and they experimented with two three-reel "Popeye Specials" in 1936. "Gulliver" began as a full-length Popeye project, with the sailor man himself intended to play the lead role before the decision was made to go with a more traditional approach.

The Fleischers did a second feature, "Mr. Bug Goes To Town," the story of a Jimmy Stewart-like insect and his experiences in the big city, but Paramount called their mortgage and took over the studio before any further feature projects could be pursued.

Leon Schlesinger, the head of the studio that produced the Warner cartoons, had absolutely no interest in doing a feature, and responded with a colorful obscenity when someone asked him about it.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Imagine if Fleischer had done a full length Superman in all it's art deco splendor.

 

[Doctor Strange]

It would have quickly grown tiresome, a la Sky Captain.

The Fleischer Supermans are perfect as they are, at about 8 or 9 minutes!

Besides, the Fleischer Brothers did not do the *story development* research that Disney did while ramping up for Snow White - their two features work better in individual sequences than they do as wholes: they had no clue how to structure a feature film, or how to set up audience empathy for their lead characters (a Disney specialty).

Don't get me wrong, I adore the Fleischer cartoons. The Flesichers were peerless gagman, technical innovators, and utterly unique whackos. But Disney rightly understood that what works in a one-reel cartoon can't simply be expanded to feature length...

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Sky Captain was a jumbled silly mess. The Lobby Cutout I saw was more interesting than the film.

I think an animated Fleischer styled Superman would have worked better than the live action modern versions, but then I think Superman as a character works best in pre W.W. II setting.
Of course having a good script is a big part of the battle.

 

[jdjs]

Walt Disney brought us the first animated feature film, "Snow White" in 1938. Warner Brothers had a fare share of the short subject cartoons. Was the Walt Disney Company the only studio that produced featured length animated films during that time?

Minor quibble here: even the Disney Studio recognizes that Snow White was not the first animated feature (ref: Walt - The Man Behind the Myth DVD among others). There are at least seven that predate Snow White, starting as early as 1917 with Cristiani's El Apostole (?) and includes Lotte Reiniger's spectacular Prince Achmed in 1927. In point of fact, the only claim to the title that remain for Snow White is the first Technicolor processed film (sound, language, etc. all have been claimed by others.)

 

[jake_fink]

A side note for those interested in how the first Disney feature came about. The Frank Capra collection fetures a lesser none Capra classic called American Madness. In the interview FC Jr - an extra - he talks about the origin for the idea of the film. A longish story that I won't recount here for now as I don't have time, but it tocuhes on the funding for Disney that made it possible to make Snow White. If you can, take a look, because it is rather interesting.

 

[CharlieH.]

Speaking of Snow White....

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/03/30/the-making-of-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs/

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

Speaking of Snow White....

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/03/30/the-making-of-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs/

there's an issue that's worth a couple dollars!

 

[NRay]

The Fleischer studios *could* have been the first, had fate gone their way

Fortunately fate went everyone else's way and we have a really good movie to remember instead of having to think about an hour and sixteen minutes of excrutiating pain and terror.
Okay, maybe that description is a little harsh, and I do apologize, but I don't care too much for Gulliver's Travels. The characters aren't that good looking and are way too outlandishly cartoonish. The only exception to this rule is the few characters that seem to be poorly copied directly off of 35 mm film (which they might have been). Also, the songs are uninspiring and obnoxious. And, to top things off, they couldn't even end the story (I suppose they may have expected sequels).
Sorry for being on a soapbox, I understand that full-length animated films should be given thumbs-up for effort, as they helped create a new genre. Certainly, I like the Superman and Popeye cartoons, they're pretty good shows. And, I know that Snow White has some of the same lame gags that Gulliver's Travels uses, but these are kept to a tolerable (and even entertaining) minimum. Overall, I don't think that Gulliver's Travels would be remembered the same way Snow White is today, even if it did have the honor of being released first, it just isn't that good of a movie.