Channel Frederator Blog

This morning’s New York Times has an article about the Disney “lifestyle brand” which highlights couture clothing, chandeliers, and $1200 fountains pens–with many of the products totally devoid of Disney cartoon characters or even abstract Mickey ears. Dresses are inspired by the colors in Fantasia; pens are modeled after the “window architecture” in Alice in Wonderland.

As a fan of Mid-Century modern design, I do covet some pieces in the Walt Disney Signature Furniture Collection by Drexel, with names like “Storytellers Sofa” and “Scriptwriter Ottoman”. There’s a “Studio Martini Table” perhaps inspired by our hard-drinking animation heroes of the past. I’m not naming names.

After the jump, some Disney-inspired products not officially sanctioned. (Found among the endless listing on a certain crafty online marketplace site.) [Read more…]

In Disney’s 1929 Silly Symphony “The Skeleton Dance”, we see several skeletons dancing around in a graveyard. This cartoon was quite popular, and was the first cartoon to use non-post-sync sound.

The cartoon was so well received that ten years later, Mickey Mouse was trapped in a haunted house, playing music for a group of dancing skeletons.  This cartoon was “Haunted House”. It reused many bits from “The Skeleton Dance”, many of which were the exact same drawings, frame for frame.

-Floyd Bishop

There is a piece on “Sleeping Beauty” over at the Art of Disney Animation blog.  The post includes lots of art from the film’s artistic director Eyvind Earle. [Read more…]

This new clip from Disney’s “Bolt” is looking pretty nice. There have been layoffs at Disney recently, but it looks and sounds as though the work on the film is top notch. Hopefully the artists are all employed again real soon.

“Bolt” opens November 21st.

-Floyd Bishop

Disney will be releasing “Sleeping Beauty” on Blu Ray disc in October. The title will also be available on DVD.

In production from 1951 until the end of 1958, this film set a record for the longest production schedule in the studio’s history. This record was later tied by “The Black Cauldron”. Featuring elaborate backgrounds and a much more angular character design, this film was initially no favorite of critics.

While the film seems to drag in some spots, it gives us perhaps one of the best villains in animation, Maleficant.

Maleficant is pure evil, from here color scheme, to her voice by Eleanor Audley (also the voice of Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion), and animation by Marc Davis. In my opinion, the film is worth the purchase price just to see her in action in HD.

-Floyd Bishop

This Thursday (August 28th) is the last day to see the exhibit “Golden Legacy: Original Art from 65 Years of Golden Books” at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. I was there last weekend I can confirm that there were adults attending sans kids. (Much of the artwork is hung close to the ground, so be prepared to get down on your knees to take in the details.)

As you may know, Golden Books illustrators included many Disney artists such as Gustav Tenggren and Mary Blair. I was particularly thrilled to see two original pieces by Mary Blair from I Can Fly.

(My one gripe is that the medium of the pieces is not indicated, and although advertised as a collection of “original art”, there seem to be some digital prints in the mix.)

Amazing fact: There have been two BILLION copies of Golden Books printed to date!

If you can’t make it speedily to the West Side, the exhibit (which originated at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Texas) will be touring in the future: The Eric Carle Museum and the Chicago Public Library are on the agenda. [Read more…]

Via Parent Dish

[Read more…]

In 1953, Disney released “Ben and Me”. This Oscar winning short was adapted from the children’s book of the same title, by Robert Lawson. While the book was based on more historical fact, the film aims for entertainment. The film serves both as a sort of biography of Ben Franklin, and an overview of the American revolution.

Have a great Fourth of July weekend, and don’t throw fire crackers with your animating hand!

-Floyd Bishop 

Disney/Pixar’s “Wall·E” had a huge weekend, with over 62 million dollars in it’s first weekend. It has been a great year so far for animated films. Have you seen “Wall·E” yet? What did you think?

-Floyd Bishop

If you have been watching the basketball match up between Boston and LA, then you’ve probably seen this spot for “WALL·E”. The more I see of this character, the more interested I am in the film. WALL·E doesn’t seem to have a whole lot to work with in terms of physical poseability, but the range of expression that the Pixar animators are able to get out of the character is great.

Be sure to check out “WALL·E” when it hits theaters on June 27th.

-Floyd Bishop