Sunday, March 31, 2013

Irv Spence's Cartoon Diary: March 31, 1944




The intimidating Mr. Harris hasn't left much of a historical trail. He isn't mentioned in either Joe Barbera's or Bill Hanna's memoirs. His appearances in the cartoon diary may be all that's left of him. He appears to have been a production bean counter and Quimby's bad cop on the floor of the studio.

I don't recall ever seeing an animation credit for Tom MacDonald on a Tom and Jerry cartoon. He might have been an assistant at MGM. He did get an animator's credit at UPA years later, working under Pete Burness' direction on some Mr. Magoo cartoons.


Rough animation by Tom MacDonald for a UPA Mr. Magoo short.


A Magoo short with some Tom MacDonald animation.



Bud Crabbe didn't leave much of an internet footprint either. His son, the cinematographer James Crabe, was also an accomplished magician in his youth known as "Aubrey."  One of his illusions was "The Disembodied Princess." It utilized a cabinet which "Aubrey" had built in shop class and had been painted by his father. The cabinet is now in the collection of Paul Osborne and can be seen on his blog*. So, there is at least this one example of Bud Crabbe's artwork online.














The cabinet can also be seen in use in this video.




Who the third vanishing animator is has been lost to binding of the original folio of Spence's diary.
 

*This blog also says that Bud Crabbe was an animator at Disney and Walter Lantz.

1 comment:

  1. The third vanishing animator is Jack Carr.

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