Progress City, U.S.A.

Oh Buzz, get over yourself…

By 1959, Herb Ryman had been working on Disneyland projects at WED Enterprises for several years. Walt’s studio was always big on cross-pollination, though, and when the Studio side needed a fine art painting done for The Shaggy Dog they called Herb. The film was Disney’s first live-action comedy and I’ve been watching it for years without knowing that the famous painting of the sinister Lucrezia Borgia and her sheepdog was a Ryman work.

Another of Herb’s extracurricular projects in 1959 was the following illustration, posted by the great Kevin Kidney, from an issue of Walt Disney Magazine.

This 1959 illustration by Herb Ryman evokes an era when air travel was not only an adventure but an enjoyable one at that

Walt Disney Magazine was a periodical for young readers with a variety of content related to Disney films and television shows. The above illustration was painted to accompany a story featuring Mickey Mouse Club serial stars “Spin & Marty.”

The 1970s were a strange time. Much of the entertainment produced in that decade seems to have been created by aliens masquerading as humans; everything seems vaguely familiar, but enough small details are off just enough that the cumulative effect is decidedly creepy. So it is with this piece of video, Lady and the Tramp: A Lesson in Sharing Attention. The odd thing is that I found this by accident on a videotape full of recordings from the Disney Channel in 1988 – it was used as interstitial filler between programs. The Disney Channel didn’t interrupt their programming for commercials in those days, so if a film ran short the rest of its time slot would be filled with ads for other Disney Channel programming or various materials pulled from the company vaults. This was, of course, the era when the Disney Channel aired actual Disney-related material – this featurette was aired before a showing of The Reluctant Dragon – but I can’t imagine what inspired someone at the Channel to dig this deep into their archives.

It would be difficult for me to enumerate everything I find amusing or bizarre about this, so best to just watch it yourself. Note that it takes place in the familiar confines of Disney’s hallowed Golden Oak Ranch in California.

One hallmark of the alien-controlled media of the 1970s is that adults take freakishly inappropriate delight in “whimsical” things that are in actuality devoid of whimsy. Things like a child whirling around with a Peter Pan marionette, joylessly exhorting him to do Peter Pan-esque things. Simply put, did children of the 1970s actually enjoy playing alone in the wilderness by torturing marionettes, and did crusty but lovable neighbors enjoy standing there watching?

In the end, my absolute favorite thing about this film is the end credits, where the filmmakers go out of their way to label “Uncle Phil” as a “Friend and Neighbor.” Because, you know, it’s best to clear those things up if you’re trying to sell your film in certain markets. This begs many questions. Was Uncle Phil made a friend and neighbor in post-production? When Disney tried to sell the film to the Texas School Board? If they thought it important to make Uncle Phil not an actual uncle, then why call him Uncle Phil in the first place? Just make him Neighbor Bob or Reverend Steve or Councilman Lester. Why introduce the confusion caused by the Uncle Phil moniker in the first place?

It was this kind of mistake that led to the aliens tipping their hand and exposing themselves in 1977, leading to our liberation via the Star Wars; this, in turn, led to the eponymous film which you thought was fiction but which is actually a fairly accurate documentary. And that’s why kids don’t play with marionettes anymore.

Any questions?

Update: Whoa! Check out auteur Uncle Phil’s resume…

It’s been a while since things went rather quiet at Walt Disney Animation Studios in the wake of several canceled projects, awkward renamings, and general confusion and lack of direction. All that remained on the studio’s animated slate were this year’s Tangled, next year’s Winnie-the-Pooh, and Reboot Ralph – the computer animated film that has mutated from ex-Disney artist Sam Levine’s Joe Jump. It left the animation community wondering… what’s next?

Word has started to emerge that the gears are turning at Disney once more. King of the Elves, a fantasy based on a story by Philip K. Dick, was originally scheduled for a 2012 release before development was scrapped. Happily, allegations have recently emerged that work has resumed on this project. Even better is the recurring rumor that the film has been retooled as a traditionally animated feature, giving Disney’s artists something meaty to work on after Pooh.

Animation fans were further intrigued recently when word emerged, most notably on the Animation Guild blog, that a new project had been greenlighted for development. Note that this is only a go for development, not production, and that innumerable projects have traveled that road without making it to theaters. But if this is a project new to development, and not a revived concept like Elves or the still-dormant Snow Queen, what could it be?

Would you believe… Jack and the Beanstalk? That’s what I’m hearing, at least. As part of Disney marketing’s panicked flight from all things female in the wake of Princess and the Frog’s underperformance, the next animated film to go into development at Disney is a “boy” film.

Haven’t we seen that before? Some dude with mouse ears? In Fun and Fancy Free? Ah, well.

You should consider this information ultra-dicey at the moment, but some rumors are too good not to share. And remember – while I definitely trust my source, things change on the ground all the time. Is that CYA? You bet, but it’s also true.

Have you heard anything about Jack and the Beanstalk? If so, shoot me an email…

UPDATE: This is apparently director Chris Buck’s new project, following the cancellation of Snow Queen. Again, please remember that being greenlighted for development is not the same as getting the go-ahead for production.

UPDATE THE SECOND: Sources report that Chris Williams (Bolt) is now in the director’s seat for the revived King of the Elves. Also, I have some doubt as to the earlier rumors that it would be traditionally animated; it’s looking more likely that it will be another CG production. This leaves only Winnie the Pooh on the hand-drawn slate, although Ron Clements and John Musker are said to have a few new proposals in the pipeline.

Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund in TRON: Legacy. They’re talking about how excellent Ratatouille was.

It’s been a while since we’ve mentioned anything having to do with Walt Disney Pictures, but there’s a tidbit that’s just emerged from Entertainment Weekly that’s too good to go without comment. According to them, Pixar filmmakers Brad Bird and Michael Arndt (screenwriter for Toy Story 3) signed on briefly last month to script re-shoots for the upcoming TRON: Legacy.

That’s right. Brad Bird. TRON. Together.

Now, typically re-shoots don’t necessarily spell good news for a production, although they’re fairly common. And sometimes it can mean that the filmmakers have really found something that works in the piece and want to develop it further with some re-writes. It’s also true that Bird and Arndt only wrote enough pages for about six days of shooting, so it’s unknown how much they will affect the final film, but the fact that they were hired to punch up scenes to deliver more emotion, character and theme can only be seen as a good thing.

We all know the original TRON wasn’t exactly a character piece, and even those of us who love it unconditionally admit that its script isn’t bulletproof. We proud nerds have been waiting almost thirty years for a sequel, and while there’s so much that makes TRON: Legacy an unknown quantity, mixing in the name Brad Bird brings an extra bit of excitement to the proceedings.

I think it’s pretty cool that TRON: Legacy director Joe Kosinski and the other filmmakers decided to show their work-in-progress to some respected vets at Pixar and in Hollywood for some feedback in advance of last June’s re-shoots. And anything, and I mean anything, involving Brad Bird – who I’ll remind you has directed The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and freakin’ Ratatouille – demands my full and undivided attention.

Herb Ryman greets a papagaio who will soon become famous – Rio de Janiero, 1941 (LIFE photo)

When young Herb Ryman, frazzled from the Hollywood grind and frustrated by his lack of worldly knowledge, decided to see the world, he did it right – with a circumglobal cruise that took him to many exotic ports of call in 1936-37. More on that later. Upon his return he visited many of his old haunts, and took a side-trip to Maine to visit a former female classmate with whom he was friendly in his days at the Art Institute of Chicago.

While he continued to work with MGM when he returned to Hollywood, his attention was mostly devoted to his painting. Working in various media, Ryman recorded a number of the sights he’d encountered in Europe, the Orient, and in Maine. A friend of Herb’s, one Vernon Caldwell, was at the time the head of the Chouinard Art Institute, and proposed an exhibition of Ryman’s work. Reviews of the show were positive, and eventually caught the eye of someone at the Disney studio.

Walt Pfeiffer, a childhood friend of Disney’s who had come to work at the studio, contacted Herb via Chouinard and asked if, after the exhibition had closed, the Disney studio could borrow Ryman’s artwork to aid in the training of the animation staff. Ryman consented, and his artwork was put on display at Disney’s old Hyperion studio. Again the reception was positive, especially to Ryman’s watercolors from Maine. Disney was, at that time, working on Bambi, and Ryman’s paintings of the eastern woods perfectly evoked the atmosphere that the studio was trying to achieve. The word came from Hyperion to Herb – Disney wanted him to interview for a job.

Ryman was unfazed. He was an illustrator, not a cartoonist. What could Disney possibly want with him? But, realizing that the extra income could prove useful, he went to interview. Still uncertain, he was glad to see his old friend Ken Anderson on the Disney lot; the two had started off together at MGM in 1932. Anderson overcame Herb’s skepticism when he described the creative climate at the studio; spurred by the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Disney was making big plans to push the artistic boundaries of animation. The artists were pushing their own technical skills to the limit, and the upcoming slate paid witness to the studio’s increasing sophistication: Pinocchio. Bambi. Dumbo. Fantasia. After wrapping up his teaching at Chouinard and some contract work at MGM on The Wizard of Oz, Herb signed on at Disney in the fall of 1938.

Herb Ryman works on a background for Dumbo, 1940

It was a whole new world for Herb. Accustomed to the buttoned-down atmosphere of MGM, he found Disney a freewheeling and informal environment, where one was on a first-name basis with the boss and you didn’t even have to wear a tie to the office.

Starting with Pinocchio, Ryman worked on all the films of Disney’s golden age. He made the move from the Hyperion lot to the new studio in Burbank in 1939, and took up residence in the story department doing layout work on Dumbo. He would later work with his friend Ken Anderson on the “Pastoral Symphony” segment of Fantasia.

Lee Blair, Bill Cottrell and Herb Ryman in Brazil, 1941 (LIFE photo)

Herb’s greatest Disney adventure would come in 1941. Toying with the idea of leaving the studio to resume his fine art work, Ryman was drafted as part of “El Grupo.” This group of Disney artists and writers would join Walt on a three-month tour of South America in late 1941, doing research for a series of films and attempting to spread all-American goodwill to counter the Axis threat that threatened to spill into our hemisphere.

A little something for the ladies: Herb Ryman, Frank Thomas and Mary Blair in South America, 1941 (LIFE photo)

Needless to say, Walt and his artists managed to handily beat back the wave of Nazi intrigue. In a series of appearances and events in Brazil and Argentina, El Grupo were treated like rock stars. When not mingling with the elite, they also managed to get some work done…

Ryman sketches a stork very similar to one that would later appear in The Three Caballeros (LIFE photo)

As well as an occasional bit of rest and relaxation…

Hazel and Bill Cottrell (L) share a quiet moment – and some brews – with Herb Ryman and Ted Sears (R). Story artist Jack Miller and Janet Martin are in the foreground. (LIFE photo)

The Young Man and the Sea: Herb gets a quiet moment in South America, 1941 (LIFE photo)

After touring Brazil and Argentina, El Grupo split up to better cover the continent. Ryman joined Lee and Mary Blair and Jack Miller, and later Janet Martin and Larry Lansburgh, in a far-ranging crew that would explore South America, travel up through Central America and Panama, and pass through Mexico on their way back to the United States. The result was an incredible amount of research that would soon be used to create Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros.

Lavandeira Waiting for Street Car by Herb Ryman, 1941

Mountain Village by Herb Ryman, 1941

And as for that papagaio…

An early sketch of the character that would later become Jose Carioca, 1941

Sadly, soon after El Grupo returned to the U.S., the nation was cast into World War II. Disney’s production ground to a halt, save for package features and training and propaganda films. Ryman considered joining the Navy, but Walt implored him to stay – someone had to stay and help him, Walt argued, because if the studio was forced to shut down it would never reopen.

Herb stayed. Or, in his words, he allowed Walt to convince him to stay.

The work wasn’t as exciting, though; working with his friend Ken Anderson on Victory Through Air Power, Herb’s talents were going to waste on sweeping arrows and tactical diagrams. After the war, in 1946, Herb would leave the Disney studio for a new project – one that tied in closely with his earlier adventures in the distant East. But that’s for next time…

Coming up: 20th Century Fox, Ringling Brothers, world travels, and Disney… again.