Frame Grabs 21 Mar 2011 07:11 am
Inki
- Chuck Jones had a peculiar character wandering around during his transitional period at Warners. Jones was going from the Disney imitator to the real Chuck Jones. Working with the enormously talented John McGrew, the director was moving toward modern art in his layouts and backgrounds, and Mcrew was the guy who dominated. Though the bgs in this film sometimes look like Ted Geisel’s later work (Dr. Seuss), they show a strong move forward from 19th century graphics. (You can read Barrier’s great interview with McGrew here.)
This cartoon, Inki and the Minah Bird always used to annoy me when I was a kid. I hated the character of the Minah Bird and found Inki a passive nothing right out of the Disney cute character films; I also disliked the stories they concocted for them. Charlie Thorson designed Inki (a Hiawatha-like character) and the Minah Bird. However, the lion was a brilliant character changing from an earlier syle used in the two fims done prior to this one. Shamus Culhane animated him, and Bobe Cannon animated Inki and the Minah Bird.
I’ve pulled a number of frame grabs from this film. I apologize for the quality; there hasn’t been an official release of this film, and the images were pulled from a $1.99 DVD. I’ve seen a fair copy of he film on YouTube, but didn’t want tiny grabs. Perhaps someday Warners will continue with the quality releases of their treasures.
A long opening pan.
2
3
PAN – A quck slide by Inki into his house.
5
6
7
8
9
10
A weird joke from Chuck Jones. The Minah bird hops in a
ball of hay which keeps getting smaller and smaller until
it disappears completely. Jones referred to this as working
in the fourth dimension in an interview with Mike Barrier.
11
12
13
14
15
16
The ball of hay returns as the Minah bird.
Here are a couple of drawings by Culhane from
his book Talking Animals and Other People.
on 21 Mar 2011 at 7:26 am 1.Elliot Cowan said …
You didn’t like these cartoons as a kid but do you like them now?
on 21 Mar 2011 at 7:35 am 2.Michael said …
I have mixed feelings. I love Bobe Cannon’s work, and I have to admit it’s my favorite of Shamus Culhane’s animation. I also love the layout and design by John McGrew. However, the cute Inki is not fun or funny, and the Minah Bird still means nothing to me. In the end, the lion only reacts to the non-action on the screen. So I guess you’d have to say I dislike the story.
on 21 Mar 2011 at 11:00 am 3.Paul Spector said …
Although I’ve never seen the film, before I jumped into the comments section I thought that the lion was the only character that showed any range of emotion — in fact, the stills (not bad for $1.99) and drawn poses are more like my own dog’s, more canine than feline.
on 21 Mar 2011 at 11:57 am 4.Joel Brinkerhoff said …
For years I’ve wondered if Jones would have become Jones had he not teamed up with Michael Maltese. I don’t know with whom the story lines originated but with Michael, Jone took on a whole level of sophistication that wasn’t there before. I don’t see Michael as writer on this one but he did do two other Inky films.
on 21 Mar 2011 at 2:38 pm 5.Eric Noble said …
Interesting. I hope they release these cartoons on DVD. I love the style and look of the films. I am going to go back and watch these films again.
on 21 Mar 2011 at 3:34 pm 6.The Gee said …
It’s been a while since I’ve watched that.
One, the designs on the walls of the hut are pretty, cool. The overall BG designs are fun ones, for sure. I can see why it is evocative of Suess.
Two, the whole cartoon is about sizes. The larger hunters get bested by the smaller prey. And, it is all just a matter of course, it isn’t like the lion of the guy are starving and greatly determined to eat. It is presented as everyday stuff, with the twists of the hijinks, etc.
I could write a lot about the Minah bird but it would be interesting to find out just what led Jones to concoct this cartoon. If it was because of specific influences or he saw this as a variation on jungle-themed comedies, which there were a lot of in the early days of film, or a variation of playing with threes? I dunno. (I don’t read much.)
In the end, it does make sense that the bird gets the best of the lion though.
And, a big cat acting like a big dog is funnier than one which acts like a feline, or, one which acts like you’d expect it to act.
on 21 Mar 2011 at 4:28 pm 7.Stephen Worth said …
Bob Givens told me that he designed the Mynah Bird based on a Mynah he saw on a vacation trip. The model by Thorson was just a clean up off of Givens’ story sketches.
on 21 Mar 2011 at 7:07 pm 8.teodor said …
it is still interesting. I love them. more than some the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons
on 21 Mar 2011 at 9:54 pm 9.Eric Noble said …
I just re-watched this film. It almost seems like Inki is merely the catalyst for everything. The film is much more about the lion. It keeps switching perspective, from Inki to the lion and so forth. It’s not a perfect cartoon, but it’s still interesting to watch. It has it’s funny moments. I really dig that Minah Bird.
on 22 Mar 2011 at 2:10 am 10.Mark Sonntag said …
This one was released on laserdisc in the mid 90s. I knid of like the film, I’m not sure but wasn’t there another with these characters? Very surreal stuff.
on 22 Mar 2011 at 7:36 am 11.Michael said …
There were five cartoons featuring these characters. the lion looked very different in the first two.
on 23 Mar 2011 at 3:05 am 12.Eddie Fitzgerald said …
Wow! I’m not a fan of the minah bird either but the lion, and the llama below, are both VERY inspiring! Thanks much!
on 02 Nov 2012 at 12:01 pm 13.Mike said …
I’ve really loved the cute Inki as a young child, he may be no fun or funny but he’s a sweet but quite charming little lion hunter – I wished Jones should’ve made him respectfully more, i be waitinf for WB and Jerry Beck to restored, uncut and remastered all five of the Inki and The Minah Bird cartoons with original title cards someday!