Tuesday, July 13, 2010

BoxOffice, July 15, 1939

(note: this is the last issue of BoxOffice I was able to view visually online before it was pulled from Issuu. The Issuu link should not work, but I'm including it anyway. Quality will drop precipitously with the next issue covered. On the plus side, only searching for keywords is lots easier and faster than actually looking through the issues; on the down side, it's difficult enough to reconstruct how a story actually read from the jumble of letters that the text will be almost like a fever dream until the issues show up on BoxOffice's site again, there's no access to pictures, and the OCR is unreliable enough that I could be missing many instances of keywords. So to sum up: fever dream, starting next week!)

http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_071539


p26 "Await Dr. Nylander's Return Absence of Dr. Nylander has forced the to postpone a membership certification hearing on the Screen Cartoon Guild until July 27. "

p62 "Sheridan Plugs Airer
Boston - Martin Sheridan, Monogram advertising manager in this territory, has been appointed New England publicity head for the NBC program, "Inside Story." Sheridan, who plans to tussle with tuna in Maine the end of this month, has been in New York this week on business. The latter includes marketing of a new book he has turned out on cartoons."

This would have likely been on print cartoons. His 'Comics and their Creators' came out in 1942.
See quotes from him at
Encyclopedia of American Jewish history, Volume 1
By Stephen Harlan Norwood, Eunice G. Pollack
p470
http://books.google.com/books?id=nUDbttcSl08C&pg=PA470&lpg=PA470&dq=%22martin+sheridan%22+cartoons&source=bl&ots=eNZ0Y65b3a&sig=gry4aEODVbC4CDiZ0eVFkfLMKPc&hl=en&ei=DTUdTJSuN6XGM_LQ0JMF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22martin%20sheridan%22%20cartoons&f=false

(Milt Gross went to school with Dutch Shultz)

http://comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/crri/cartoo_f.htm
A Cartoon Game.
"The Art of Cartooning" -- Photocopy from: Our Wonderful
World, Young People's Encyclopedic Anthology, v. 1 (Chicago
: Spencer Press, 1955) -- p. 334-352 : ill. ; 28 cm. --
CONTENTS: A Cartoon Game / Lois Fisher ; Art that Amuses /
R. Taylor ; Cartoons from History ; The Men Who Make The
Comics / Martin Sheridan ; Al Capp Talks on Cartooning ;
How to Draw a Caricature / Lenn Redman.
K. Cartooning. I. Our Wonderful World. II. Fisher, Lois.
III. Taylor, Richard Denison, 1902- IV. Sheridan, Martin,
1914- V. Capp, Al, 1909- VI. Redman, Lenn. VII. [Each
article title] Call no.: NC1320.A7 1955

p72
"Solving the the mysteries of animation, as nearly as a layman, a nonartist, ever can, was one of the achievements of Miami's Boxoffice correspondent this past week. It was a case of "Edith in Elfland" as your wide-eyed reporter watched magic squares of celluloid bewilderingly transformed into the gay sequences of "Gulliver's Travels" at the handsome new Miami studios of Max Fleischer.


All of the 460 staff members are concentrating on "Gulliver" to have this full-length. Technicolor feature completed for Christmas release. The world premiere will be in Miami Beach at the Sheridan Theatre. (The number of Fleischer employes has, incidentally, been doubled since work was started on "Gulliver" in May, 1938.)
Throughout the studios are innumerable evidences of the inventive genius of Max Fleischer. These range from the below eye level lighting fixtures in hallways of the main studio building where all work is done under artificial light to the huge three-ton set-back camera setup which makes third-dimensional shots.
The ultra modern and utilitarian are combined effectively throughout these tropical studios of animation which center around a patio where a handsome modern fountain (yes, designed by Max Fleischer) catches and reflects tropical sunshine against the lush green of heavy foliage and flaming hibiscus blossoms.
As he conducted this reporter from studio the from cafeteria to one of the most completely equipped sound stages be found anywhere, Hamp Howard, the Fleischer director of public relations, revealed the fact that Jessica Dragonette is to do the singing sequences for the role of Princess Glory.
Lanny Ross, Howard added, will sing the score for Prince David of Bufuscu. The musical scores are being prepared by Rainger and Robin, Academy winners of last year for "Thanks for the Memory."
The training work being given by the Miami Art Academy for young men and women who wish to become animated cartoonists has expanded materially from the classes launched a year ago this spring under the direction of Robert Epstein (then cartoonist for Miami Herald, now a studio artist.) There now are five instructors from Fleischer's giving instructions in this new art.

Major assignments
at the studios where Fleischer is president are held by Dave Fleischer, long associated with his brother, as director and vice-president; Sam Buchwald, general manager; Sam Pinberg and Lou Fleischer, musical directors; Dan Gordon and Seymour Kneitel, assistant directors for "Gulliver's Travels"; Maurice Manne, in charge of sound effects; Edmond Seward, head of the Gulliver story department; Calvin Howard of the story department who is voicing and posing for the prince, and Howard, director of public relations."

"Third Expansion Step Taken by Fleischer

Miami - They're pushing back the walls again out at the new Max Fleischer studio. The third expansion in recent months was made this week when a large storeroom adjacent to the studio property, was taken over as a workroom for inbetweeners.
At the last checkup, the studio personnel has mounted to 500, with the informal Florida vs. California contest as to whether the Disney or Fleischer studio will have its next full-length feature on the market first going great guns.
Several new technical innovations are being adapted for use on the celluloids of "Gulliver's Travels" on which virtually the entire studio staff is now at work."

p87 "Rhythm on the Reservation
Paramount (Fleischer Cartoon) 7 Mins.
There should be fun for young and old in this subject that finds Betty Boop and her truck of musical instruments in the midst of an Indian reservation. The Indians take hold of the instruments and perform all sorts of motion other than what they are intended for. Betty soon takes them in hand, however, and has them jitterbugging all over the lot."

"Ghosks Is the Bunk
Paramount (Fleischer Cartoon) 7 Mins.

Although Popeye claims not to be afraid of ghosts, he is soon made out to be a fibber in this amusing cartoon. Bluto frames him into visiting a deserted house, and then puts on an act that has the sailor man very much on the jittery side. But Popeye employs a thick layer of invisible paint and soon has Bluto on the receiving end of some nasty uppercuts, etc.

p96 She Married a Cop mentions animation.

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