Here's the weirdest scene cut I've seen.

Before the cut Clampett anticipates that something weird is going to happen by having the bonds bag throb and shrink into infinity.
Then the hammock rolls up.

The walls begin to quiver

and then morph into a completely different scene, but Hook is still there

The WAY it morphs is really controlled and fun too - it isn't just inbetweened from one background to another as in many independent stoner animated films you see in animation festivals.






and then Hook's take when he discovers he is in a different place is amazing






The 40s was a great time for experimentation and especially in the Clampett unit. Clampett would come up with crazy ideas out of nowhere and just try them - but them execute them so skillfully that they cause a really arresting visual effect that adds to the entertainment.

http://www.cartoonthrills.org/blog/Clampett/45/Hook/ScribnerHook2.mov

This scene leads to another series of genius cuts and accents that show just what a director can do in animation if he has skill, boldness and imagination. Almost any other director would have been just too cautious and conservative to take things to this level of imagination in so short a sequence. I'll post that later

Well, here it is folks, the rudest and best animation of a missile I've ever seen.



I love the girl too. Rod Scribner draws the best pretty girls. Even the huge buck teeth don't detract from the immense appeal of his drawings.








This is cartooning and animation at its best!




Anyway, you have to see this in motion to truly appreciate the wizardry of the animation.

http://www.cartoonthrills.org/blog/Clampett/45/Hook/RudeMissileTokyoRose.mov

The features of the character's design are stretched along clear and strong lines of action.

The construction in most of the drawings is great. Construction, by the way is not merely a solid looking drawing. That's only part of it. The other part is that each of the features fit into the larger forms and weave in and out of the expression and pose. Remind me to do a whole post about that. A house can be solidly constructed, but a creature has to have construction and fleshy parts that stretch and squash, push and pull and all cause each other to react sensibly.

For example - look at his smile line and cheek and the back of his cheek in the profile - they all relate to each other and together create fleshy forms that flow around his head and make his expressions.
When this guy turns his head moves in an arc which helps make the action smooth and pleasant.

His hair doesn't get to his poses as fast as his head does.
Note that his expressions and poses aren't perfectly even on both sides.

His expressions are not only clear and direct functionally, they are funny and fun to look at. They are beautiful designs in of themselves.






A lot of the shapes used to make his expressions are customized to his thoughts. They aren't stock expressions. When you watch this part in the clip, watch his mouth shapes change. You can't find these shapes on any model sheets or in other cartoons. The animator is making them up as he goes along - by feel and instinct. He's acting.




In the animator's rush to make his poses and emotions flow from one to the next, he made a mistake in construction on the odd pose, like the one above. But it's a great pose anyway.

To make characters both constructed and flowing is no easy feat. It takes a lot of study, thought, practice and skill.
The faster the action, the more drag you can use. This whole action here is amazing as you'll see when you watch the clip. He does a whole whirly sort of overlapping action as he brings his mop into the scene.





The timing of this animation is full of variety, some slow soft parts, some fast wild parts and it moves very naturally, even though it uses all kinds of technical drawing and motion principles. It doesn't come off as a formula.

WATCH SOME GENIUS ANIMATION

The first scene was animated by Rod Scribner, who I think is the most talented and versatile animator in history. (take a look at some of his UPA style stuff and see how cleverly he approaches it). Most animators have their basic principles and if they are extra gifted, maybe one or 2 strengths on top of them. Scribner puts together all kinds of skills and makes them flow as if there was no effort involved at all.

The second scene also moves beautifully, but the drawings aren't as fun as Scribner's. They don't have as much appeal. Appeal is a very rare trait and can't be forced without looking contrived - although many do try to contrive it. Some people just have it naturally.
This cartoon is full of great stuff, and I'll post more soon.


This is a great scene to study and copy the drawings if you are a student trying to learn classic skills.