Mystery Art from Warner Bros.

Can anyone identify this B/G from a Warner Bros. cartoon? Daffy Duck walks in to this film vault to grab a reel in an anonymous clip.

C'mon readers... I'll bet someone recognizes this!

DONALD'S VACATION

Here's a perfect cartoon for the week of July 4th - DONALD'S VACATION (1940). Above is the original theatrical release poster. Below, the cartoon's title card:

The cartoon has lavish background art. Disney artists had reached their peak - SNOW WHITE and PINOCCHIO were done, FANTASIA was in production. It's astonishing this level of artwork was created for a short!

DONALD'S VACATION had one of the most difficult pan backgrounds I've ever digitally re-assembled. The camera followed a twisting arc, as well as including a zoom, pan and a multiplane tree! It took two days - but I managed to finish this intriguing piece of art. Here's the whole pan B/G:

Here's the left side:

The right side:

Just for kicks, I adjusted the B/G to nearly level, to give us another view:

Here are several additional pieces from the film:

Spectacular!

OLIVER AND COMPANY (1988)

a digitally re-assembled pan B/G of NYC:

ALICE IN WONDERLAND: Tiger Lilies Love the Dandy-Lions

When I get into the mode of recreating backgrounds for a particular movie, it can border on obsession. Such was the case with this ALICE B/G. Why?

Well, it becomes a matter of getting at the background art, no matter how difficult. I'll bet no one at Disney ever envisioned a day when technology would allow dis-assembling the films one frame at a time.

But here we are.

I almost gave up on this one. The Tiger Lily and Dandy-lion sway all over the screen, making it a tremendous challenge to eliminate the animation and get to the background art.

But as I watched the "Golden Afternoon" sequence, I was struck by how reminiscent this particular B/G was of the background art in the "Waltz Of The Flowers" segment in FANTASIA. So I hammered away, one little section at a time. And by George, I succeeded!

So... here it is. There are several things I love about this piece. There's the extraordinary Mary Blair color styling, which is very subtle here but still a "wow." And I love the "dabs of color" that add such wonderful texture to the "background within a background."

All this could well go unnoticed in the mere 4-5 seconds it's on screen. It's obscured by the lively animation. And, it's over just as soon as it gets started!

But, now, here it is, re-created, and we can savor each and every lovely detail.

Enjoy!

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951)

The dazzling artwork of ALICE IN WONDERLAND was hugely influenced by the virtuoso color styling of Mary Blair. This re-created pan background which opens the "Golden Afternoon" musical sequence is truly stunning.

HIATUS

Hello, friends. And I mean that.

In the years since I started this blog, I've made real friends around the world.

The time has come for a hiatus. Possibly permanent.

It takes an incredible amount of time to digitally restore these backgrounds. I've loved every minute!

But, my life is in a state of evolving and transition, and I need to focus on that.

I'm going to leave the blog online for your reference. And mine too!

Thanks for your support and encouragement over the years. Over TWO MILLION people have visited this blog.

Amazing. It's a tribute to the artistry of the talented people in the animation industry.

For the moment... that's all, folks.

Thanks again for your interest!

Sincerely,

Rob Richards

TO BEEP OR NOT TO BEEP

Here's background art from TO BEEP OR NOT TO BEEP , a Warner Brothers classic from 1963!