Painting, Three Little Ignatzes and The Snow Man


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Here are the KKs from 10-24 to10-29-1938. I love the tripling of the cast with beards and striped outfits. The conical hats and sunglasses make Offissa Pupp look like Rabbis! It’s amusing that Pupp, Kat and Mouse can’t tell each other apart from their doubles, or is that triples? Anyway, it’s a graphically arresting sequence.

Cathy and I did not go painting last week, too darn hot, as Ann Miller once sang. I posted a watercolor I did of a little house in Monrovia that was painted on a hot and sunny afternoon a few months ago. Cathy likes the placement of the telephone pole in the composition. There were some beautiful old houses in that neighborhood, including one that had been transplanted from another part of town.

In film collecting, I came across a print of the 1940 black and white version of Paul Terry’s “The Snow Man”, remade in color in 1946. I have been searching for a copy of that cartoon for over 35 years! I was very curious about the re-make, wondering whether they just re-did the cels and backgrounds in color, or made changes. My friend Veto Stasiunaitis posted it for auction and I  took a chance on it, thinking it just might be the original version, instead of a black and white print of the color remake. I got the print from Veto, and put it on the projector without inspecting it first, that’s how excited I was to see it! The title card came on, and gave a 1946 date, so I was disappointed. But, as I watched the cartoon, the staging and animation of the three little rabbits building the snow man looked different, and when the snow man sings his song, he imitates Pinocchio by stretching his nose out! I also noticed that the bear with the Greek accent goes after the rabbits with a big saucepan, I didn’t remember that either. I got my print of the color version and ran it to compare. There are a few scenes that are the same, but the final sequence is entirely different. Instead of the bear chasing the little rabbits with a saucepan, he grabs his hunting cap and goes after the rabbits with a shot gun! The snow man takes a more active part than in the 1940 original by chasing down the bear and beating him up, Mighty Mouse style. In general, the 1946 remake shows the new more agressive tone in cartoon gags due to World War 2 and more pugnacious heroes such as Mighty Mouse. From the Nursery to the Boxing Ring in six short years. Terry remade several other black and white cartoons in color, such as The Watch Dog, Good Old Irish Tunes,  The Baby Seal, The Magic Shell and Funny Bunny Business. I have the black and white version of The Watch Dog, but I haven’t found the rest of them. Hope is rekindled by the discovery of  The Snow Man. The search continues.

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