Animation Artifacts &Fleischer &Models 13 Jun 2012 05:30 am
Fleischer Model Sheets – Hoppity & friends
- I have always been a sucker for Hoppity Goes to Town. For some reason, from my first viewing in the early 60s, to tofsy, I have loved this film and everything about it. The score is magnificent, with those great Hoagy Carmichael / Frank Loesser songs, and the score by Leigh Harline is quite sophisticated; the character styling is absolutely the height of charm for Fleischer – so beautifully round -, and the animation is just bright enough to pull off the original Fleischer story. It also takes place in a recognizable New York City – something that will always win me over.
At one time I’d posted a copy of a children’s book I’d found which bounced off the film.
These are the model sheets the late Vince Cafarelli had in his collection. I would have liked seeing a Mr. Beetle or two and possibly a work sheet for how they were going to treat the rotoscoped humans. (The handling of the rotoscoped animation goes far beyond what they did in Gulliver’s Travels. There’s a nice little frame grab post featuring one of these scenes at Classic Cartoon Reviews. ) But I’m pleased to have what model sheets I do have to post. Here they are.
1Hoppity
2
Honey Bee
3
Mr. Bumble
3b
(I found this model of Mr. Bumble on line and thought it worth including.)
4
Swat the Fly
5
Smack the Mosquito – 1
6
Smack the Mosquito – 2
7
Miscellaneous Characters – 1
8
Miscellaneous Characters – 2
9
Incidental Characters
on 13 Jun 2012 at 5:55 am 1.Stephen Macquignon said …
The style of the insects remind me of Jiminy Cricket especially Mr. Bumble.
Was this the style back in the 40’s or did they just steel from each other?
on 13 Jun 2012 at 6:45 am 2.Michael said …
There was definitely a lot of cross feeding of artists from one studio to another. The characters in this film definitely look like Fleischer characters but they feel very close to characters in the Disney short WOODLAND CAFE. Go here.
on 13 Jun 2012 at 2:43 pm 3.The Gee said …
I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered any information on the competitive atmosphere for early features.
I know studios did oneupmanship in terms of advancing the shorts and getting a feature made was a huge deal. But, was there any of that silly modern attitude that one studio needs to “win†the box office and others need to “lose†by “underperforming†or outright failing?
Given that only two studios would be making animated features was there any glee from Disney when “Hoppity” was released at a bad time?
It would seem like the entire system was different back then and that every animation studio took any opportunity they could get to make and show.
(hope this makes sense)
on 13 Jun 2012 at 8:25 pm 4.Mark Sonntag said …
Thanks for posting these Michael, it’s good to see stuff from Fleischer, it’s so rare. Is there more Superman stuff?
I kind of like this movie, there’s an interesting moral to the story which was ahead of its time regarding man versus nature. I wish a proper DVD release would come out. I know Disney released a good print in Japan not too long ago.
on 13 Jun 2012 at 8:52 pm 5.Dave Kirwan said …
I’m with you, Michael! Always loved this feature, one of my favorite films from the 1940′s. Had the pleasure a few months ago of watching the Japanese DVD with my 3 year old grand daughter. Lots f fun!
on 15 Jun 2012 at 10:43 am 6.john said …
Thanks for posting these! I was fortunate enough to see the Paramount/UCLA copy of Mr. Bug (with it’s original titles) on the big screen a while back and it blew me away. I was surprised how good it sounded also. As you mention, Leigh Harline’s music does a lot for this picture.
on 23 Jun 2012 at 1:21 am 7.allari said …
I loved this film from the first tima i saw it! loved the character acting and story.
on 30 Jan 2016 at 5:31 pm 8.Ryan said …
Hi, does anyone know of any art work for sale from Mr bug goes to town? Thanks ryan