Who Animated Magoo?
Who Animated Magoo?
An animation draft is one of the historian’s most useful tools. Now, thanks to Devon Baxter, the draft for the UPA short “Grizzly Golfer” has been published on Cartoon Research.
Animation drafts are working documents, used when an animated film is in production. They list scene numbers, descriptions, and footage counts. Most intriguingly, such documents note an animator for each scene. These drafts are not unfailingly accurate. Sometimes a different animator undertook a particular scene. But drafts are fascinating glimpses into the making of an animated cartoon.
“Grizzly Golfer,” a Magoo short, was released by Columbia Pictures on December 20, 1951. It was directed by Pete Burness, and the draft was found among his papers. Apparently the film was one of the director’s favorites, for he did not keep many such drafts. The credited animators are Rudy Larriva, Art Babbitt, and Cecil Surry; the document also cites “Pat”--presumably Pat Matthews. Matthews excelled at comedy, and Larriva became an expert Magoo animator and eventually a director. Babbitt animated the balletic sequence in which a bear chases a dandelion. The film is available on “Mr. Magoo: The Theatrical Collection” (with an audio commentary by Adam Abraham).
For the original post (which misspells the film’s title), click here.
May 4, 2016