Books &Chuck Jones &Commentary &Illustration &Layout & Design &Models 26 Sep 2013 08:22 am
Rhapsody in Working for Suherland
Maurice Nobel worked several years at Warner Bros. under Chuck Jones for the most part, but in 1950 he moved to John Sutherland Productions where he worked on lesser known projects. He had a money war with Eddie Seltzer at WB and accepted the higher price from Sutherland with Selzer telling him that the door would remain open.
WB tried to turn everything to 3D and gave up after one cartoon, Lumberjack Bunny. It’s obvious that some of Maurice’s LOs were prepared for 3D and were switched at the last minute. WB was closed for a year when it was decided to stop production on the 3D films. Noble had taken the right course in working for Sutherland for the few years he was there.
Color keys to the John Sutherland Prod
Gateways to the Mind
Rhapsody in Steel (below) was a high budget film for Sutherland with Eyvind Earle hired as Art Director. Ultimately he just painted the BGs that were designed by Maurice Noble. This beautiful film can be seen on YouTube, here.
Rhapsody In Steel
on 26 Sep 2013 at 9:54 am 1.Rudy Agresta said …
Hi Michael,
I have a DVD and VHS version of Gateway To The Mind that I still use when I teach a chapter on neurology to my students. The credits state it was produced by Warner Bros with Chuck Jones as director. Clearly, though, the design is all Maurice Noble. I don’t think Sutherland had anything to do with it(?).
Rudy
on 26 Sep 2013 at 11:22 am 2.Bridget said …
The title was “Lumber Jack-Rabbit”.
on 27 Sep 2013 at 8:11 am 3.Michael said …
I used the title given throughout the book.
on 27 Sep 2013 at 10:54 am 4.tod polson said …
While I appreciate your enthusiasm for “The Noble Approach” Michael… much of the information you are presenting here is simply incorrect and misconstrued. Your para-phrasing of the book is butchering the heart of the material.
tod polson
on 11 Oct 2013 at 6:59 am 5.Michael said …
I apologize for having offended and will not continue writing about it. I loved the book and was leading in a specific direction. I’ll just go back to reread and keep my thoughts to myself. Noble, I think, was quite an artist.
on 10 Apr 2020 at 8:23 am 6.Mickael said …
Hello,
Nice article.
I was wondering if you knew which cartoon the picture with the dragon is from. I’ve seen the rhapsody of steel and it doesn’t seem to be from there.
Thank you.
Mickaël