Books &Commentary &Independent Animation 24 Sep 2013 08:14 am
I love the early Warner cartoons. I’m particularly fond of the late thirties and early forties when they were finding their design style, and. in fact, were probably being the most daring in the US with their graphic choices. John McGrew along with the husband and wife team of Gene Fleury and Bernyce Polifka were doing magnificent and, even, daring work. When Maurice Noble entered the scene his was the final wrench to tighten the bolts.
It’s for this reason that I am spending so much time on the opening section of Tod Polson‘s book, The Noble Approach from Chronicle books. Here are some magnificent images from that section of the book. You should go to YouTube and look at A Few Quick Facts About Fear. It’s a magnificent work that was done for the Signal Corps (although it was done by UPA in its very earliest days.)
Desert Designs by Noble
John McGrew’s BG designs for The Unbearable Bear
on 24 Sep 2013 at 9:19 am 1.Bill Benzon said …
These are wonderful, Michael.
on 24 Sep 2013 at 9:27 am 2.J Lee said …
Warners found its own wise-guy comedic voice before it found its design style — some people disdain the late 30s/early 40s work because it’s still too slow compared to what would come later, but it’s actually like watching a series of on-screen experiments financed by Leon and J.L. on incorporating the Disney teachings and then finding their own paths on what did and didn’t work in the layouts and designs of the cartoons.
on 24 Sep 2013 at 1:44 pm 3.Matt said …
Some of the designs look similar to what Hans Bacher’s team was doing with Mulan. One couldn’t help but be inspired by Maurice Noble’s designs.
on 24 Sep 2013 at 6:20 pm 4.Doz Hewson said …
All these images….rule. A first comment from a longtime reador.