six more disturbed felis cattus comics!
Here are some more “Kats” for you. I love all the “Ko-Stars” in the strip like the auctioneer in 7-23, the pipe smoking bear in 7-25, the sun peeking from behind a black cloud in 7-26 and the confused snake emerging from the hole in 7-27 (yet another hole in the Coconino Kanvas for something to stick through). It was a great week, on Monday, 5-14 I was invited to do audio commentary for two of the Oswald cartoons in the Disney Treasures DVD series release coming soon. I won’t tell you exactly which cartoons I did, but here’s some hints, one of the cartoons was inspired by Lindbergh’s flight to Paris and the other cartoon features schoolyard antics by Oswald and a rival cat. I got to use my cutting continuities for these films, and gave credit to Rollin (Ham) Hamilton, Hugh Harman’s co-animator on the Oswalds. Hugh called Ham “one of the greatest animators who ever lived”, or words to that effect, crediting Ham with finding Oswald’s inner character. See the next pose for more fun from this past week.
David Gerstein says:
Very interesting thoughts about Ham and Oswald, and it says something about the intersection between personality and animation skill—a strange kind of something that I’m only just now trying to parse.
With thanks to your drafts (and thanks again!), I’ve identified Ham as the animator I previously liked least in some Disney Oswald shorts. As evidenced by the scenes of him facing down Pete and fixing up the horse in OZZIE OF THE MOUNTED, Ham’s Oswald is arguably the least fluid of anyone’s at the studio, and perhaps the least visually attractive by spring 1928 (at which point others’ models had improved).
But Ham’s Oswald also has an undeniable acting skill reminiscent of Messmer’s Felix, essayed in much the same slightly jerky, rather minimalist manner and different only insofar as the characters’ personalities differ. If you think of it from a Sullivan perspective, it’s done beautifully, isn’t it?
I hadn’t thought about it, but Ham’s relatively primitive style masks some of the better acting work in the shorts. (At least most of the time—doesn’t look like Ham doing the great scene of Oswald facing down the enemy captain in GREAT GUNS.)
Steve Moore says:
Hey Mark,
I’d like to do an article on indie filmmaking and would like to include your experience. What do you reckon, dagnabit?
Steve
Mark Kausler says:
Hi David and Steve,
I will look at a video I have of Great Guns and see what I think of that scene you mention, David. Steve, of course you can have my nickel’s worth on indie filmmaking anytime, my email address is mkausler@earthlink.net. Wellllll!
Mark