Scenes
There are 20 scenes we now have in various stages of production. For various reasons there are some scenes we will not be releasing to the public in advance of the release of the documentary, but here are 15 scenes which we have begun working on, which we’re happy to share with visitors to our site. To see who’s working on each scene click here.
Gerald Hop
The Gerald Hop scene features a story recalled by Jules Engel about how Robert “Bobe” Cannon created the distinctive little hop/skip Gerald does in Gerald McBoing Boing, on his way to and from school. After much thoughtful and creative comments, several fine story boards and animatics, we are now completing our final layout, and will […]
Cartoonz is Cartoonz
The Cartoonz is Cartoonz scene uses a comment by Bill Melendez about John Hubley not wanting realistic cartoons. After several core crew members have wrestled with this scene, we’ve finally settled on realistic characters attempting to emulate Frankie and Johnny in Rooty Toot Toot. Our John Hubley animated character rushes it to change the realistic […]
Unlimited Animation
The Unlimited Animation scene uses a passionate statement from Gene Deitch that UPA was not “limited animation” but “unlimited”. His point is that UPA chose a variety of styles, each to best suit the story they were creating. The initial OverView uses our characters of Bobe, Hub, Fred Crippen, and maybe others, to illustrate different […]
On the Phone
The On the Phone scene is an hilarious memory by Bob Kurtz from his youth, which involved UPA shorts. Bob talks about calling theaters in advance to make sure they are showing a UPA short with their feature. In the initial OverView and the design of the Kurtz character, we have decided to have Kurtz, […]
Red is Frustration
The Red is Frustration scene has Giannalberto Bendazzi describing how UPA used color to convey emotion. Bendazzi uses a scene of Gerald loosing it over the musical score in Gerald’s Symphony, and we can easily see the progression from white, thru yellow, to red, when Gerald gets lost in his script. We intend to vary […]
Birth of Boing
The Birth of Boing scene focusses on Joe Siracusa who picks up a mouth organ and demonstrates how the “boing” was created. This is another scene which may not need any animation, just Joe demonstrating how he turned a mouth organ, also known as a jew’s harp, into the famous sound of Gerald McBoing Boing.
Sausages
The Sausages scene has Jerry Beck using sausage factories to illustrate how UPA was different that other studios of that time. This, of course, is just the opposite, we can’t wait to get crazy creative, comparing identical sausage characters from the big studios, with the different sausage characters from UPA. We’ve done an OverView, and are […]
Great Tale
The Great Tale scene has Geefwee Boedoe essentially eulogizing Tell Tale Heart as one of the great films of all time. Geefwee is one of our favorite interviews. An ex-Pixar story artist and animator, Geefwee is not only knowledgeable but passionate about what he believes. In this clip he praises Tell Tale Heart as one […]
Bobe Tied Up
The Bobe Tied Up scene tickles Bobe Cannon’s daughter, Hana Cannon, when she recalls how her dad and T. Hee tied themselves up just to see reactions by neighborhood kids, research for Willie the Kid. We have a photo Hana has of the two of them tied to a post while kid’s in cowboy outfits […]
Miserable Mel
The Miserable Mel scene features Mel Leven at his piano telling about how he got his first job at UPA with his song, Miserable Pack of Wolves. This is a scene by composer Mel Leven telling about how got that job, on the spot, as he sang his Miserable Pack of Wolves, accompanying himself on […]