Redesigning Animation: United Productions of America (Focus Animation)

The animation studio United Productions of America (UPA) was able to challenge Disney supremacy in the 1950s entertainment market by creating cutting-edge animated cartoons. UPA films express a simplified audiovisual language consisting of stylized layout designs, asymmetrical compositions, colors applied flatly and in contrast with each other, limited animation and a minimalist use of sound effects. UPA artists developed this innovative style by assimilating those aesthetic features already expressed by Modern painters, graphic designers and advertisers. This book considers UPA films as Modern animations, because they synthesize a common minimalist tendency that was occurring in US animation during the 1940s and 1950s. It examines the conditions under which UPA studio flourished and the figure of its executive producer Stephen Bosustow; the influence of Modernist stylistic features of painting, graphic design and poster advertising on UPA animations; and UPA animated cartoons as case studies of a simplified audiovisual language that influenced 1950s-1960s international productions. Key Features: Looks at UPA's origins during the 1940s and postwar American stage, and how this influences later Modern movements and styles. Learn about the production methods of UPA and its lasting graphic contribution to animation history. Discover how UPA audiovisual styles were born from the assimilation of Modern paintings, graphic art, and poster advertising. Explores how UPA influenced animation in other parts of the world, including Romania, Russia, and Japan. Highlights the impact UPA had on styles with famous international legends like Dušan Vukotić, Fyodor Khitruk, and Osamu Tezuka. Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 2 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Table of Contents......Page 8 UPA: The Exercise of Synthesis ......Page 14 Acknowledgments ......Page 16 Summary ......Page 18 Notes ......Page 20 Author ......Page 22 1. “Almost Too Good to Be True” ......Page 24 2. UPA in History and the History of UPA ......Page 27 3. UPA Studio and Its People ......Page 30 4. UPA Modernism ......Page 33 5. UPA and The International Scene ......Page 38 6. Research Purpose, Significance of Research and Goals ......Page 40 Endnotes ......Page 44 Chapter 1: UPA within the Historical and Cultural Framework of Cold War America ......Page 50 1.1 The 1930s: From the Great Depression to the New Deal ......Page 51 1.2 The American Postwar Stage ......Page 57 1.3.1 The Patriarchal Family ......Page 62 1.3.2 The Debate Among Intellectuals ......Page 65 1.4.1 Literature, Poetry, Music and Painting ......Page 66 1.4.2 Graphic Design ......Page 68 1.4.3 Cinema ......Page 71 1.4.4 Television ......Page 72 1.5.1 Animation during and after World War II ......Page 74 1.5.2 UPA as a Cultural Product of Its Time ......Page 77 1.5.3 The 1955 MoMA Exhibition ......Page 81 Endnotes ......Page 83 Chapter 2: Stephen Bosustow Life, Merits, Limits, Gaps and the UPA Production System ......Page 98 2.1 Stephen Bosustow: An Essential Professional Biography ......Page 99 2.2.1 National Press ......Page 106 2.2.2 International Press ......Page 108 2.3.1 Opinions from His Employees ......Page 109 2.3.2 Stephen Bosustow According to Himself: A Mr. Magoo Personality ......Page 112 2.3.3 Stephen Bosustow: Merits, Limits and Gaps ......Page 119 2.4.1 The Units ......Page 122 2.4.2 Freedom Is Granted ......Page 124 2.4.3 A Matter of Style ......Page 125 ENDNOTES ......Page 128 Chapter 3: The Birth of a Style Modern Art, Graphic Design, Advertising and Animation in the 1940s and 1950s ......Page 136 3.1 Modern Art ......Page 137 3.2.1 Functional Design ......Page 141 3.2.2 Functional Design in UPA Animated Cartoons ......Page 145 3.3.1 Line Drawing ......Page 148 3.3.2 Animation as a Graphic Cinematic Medium ......Page 150 3.4.1 Advertising Art ......Page 155 3.4.2 Primitivism and Children’s Art ......Page 159 3.4.3 Some Examples of Cross-Fertilization ......Page 164 ENDNOTES ......Page 166 Chapter 4: UPA Films as Case Studies for a Simplified Visual Language in Animation in the 1940s and 1950s ......Page 174 4.1 Pre-Columbia Films ......Page 175 4.2.1 An Overview ......Page 178 4.2.2.1 Gerald McBoing Boing ......Page 183 4.2.2.2 Rooty Toot Toot ......Page 186 4.2.2.3 The Unicorn in the Garden ......Page 189 4.2.2.4 The Tell-Tale Heart ......Page 191 4.2.3 Series Attempts ......Page 195 4.3.1 Who Is Mr. Magoo? ......Page 198 4.3.2.1 Trouble Indemnity ......Page 201 4.3.2.2 When Magoo Flew ......Page 202 4.3.3 Mr. Magoo’s World ......Page 203 4.4.1 An Overview ......Page 206 4.4.2 Case Study: The Invisible Moustache of Raoul Dufy ......Page 209 4.5 The Animated Feature Film: 1001 Arabian Nights ......Page 211 ENDNOTES ......Page 214 Chapter 5: The UPA Formula ......Page 220 5.1 Direct Influences of UPA in the United States ......Page 221 5.2.1 Modern Animation in the United States: UPA Influences at Storyboard, Inc. ......Page 227 5.2.2 Modern Animation in Canada: UPA Influences at the National Film Board and Vice Versa ......Page 230 5.2.3 Modern Animation in England: UPA Influences at Halas & Batchelor Cartoon Films, W. M. Larkins Studio and TVC London ......Page 233 5.2.4 Modern Animation in Italy: UPA Influences at Bruno Bozzetto Film ......Page 236 5.3.1 Modern Animation in Yugoslavia: UPA Influences at Zagreb Film ......Page 237 5.3.2 Modern Animation in Romania: Ion Popescu-Gopo ......Page 241 5.3.3 Modern Animation in Czechoslovakia: Jiří Brdečka ......Page 242 5.4 Modern Styles in Soviet Union Animation: Fyodor Khitruk ......Page 245 5.5.1 Taiji Yabushita ......Page 247 5.5.2 Osamu Tezuka ......Page 249 5.5.3 Yōji Kuri ......Page 251 ENDNotes ......Page 253 UPA: Redesigning Animation ......Page 264 Endnote ......Page 268 Appendix ......Page 270 John Canemaker Animation Collection; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries; New York, NY ......Page 280 Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Beverly Hills, CA—Special Collections ......Page 281 UCLA Film & Television Archive; Los Angeles, CA ......Page 285 Interviews Cited ......Page 286 Private Collections ......Page 287 Audiovisual Materials Referenced ......Page 288 Works Referenced ......Page 300 Index ......Page 306 United Productions of America's legacy in the history of animation had a significant impact on animation style, content, and technique, and its innovations were recognised and adopted by the other major animation studios and independent filmmakers all over the world. UPA pioneered the technique of limited animation. Although this style of animation came to be widely used in the 1960s and 1970s as a cost-cutting measure, it was originally intended as a stylistic alternative to the growing trend (particularly at Disney) of recreating cinematic realism in animated films