Developmental History of the UPA Documentary
by Tee Bosustow

 

I. Progress Report - 10 April 05
II. Early Background
III. Crew & Participants
IV. Documentary Treatment
V. Progress Report - 31 Dec 04
VI. Progress Report - 18 Feb 05
VII. Progress Report - 1 March 05

 

Europe 2006: Annecy, Zagreb, Paris

In June we returned to Europe to shoot more interviews, attend the Annecy Animation Festival, in the French Alps, and show the latest cut of the UPA documentary feature at the Zagreb Animation Festival, in Croatia. Now that we're back, we will add all our new interviews to the Interview Page. They include; Jimmy Murakami, a key UPA talent on the CBS television series, in the late 50s, "the Gerald McBoing Boing Show"; Vivien Halas, daughter of the great British animation team, Halas and Batchelor; Olivier Cotte, the prolific French journalist and author, specializing in animation; Sébastien Dabadie, "our man in Europe", who is an animator, animation professor, and UPA expert; and Borivoj Dovnikovic, known as Bordo, one of the early cartoonists at Zagreb Films. You can see one of his characters in the center of the sketch board above, which was displayed at the Zagreb Festival. We now have nearly 60 interviews, and still have more we want to do.

At Annecy, we spent our time seeing some of the people we got to know there last year, and met several new contacts. We ran into Howard Beckerman, who we interviewed in New York, and he then came out to Los Angeles for our March UPA Tribute at the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Blvd. But, the most important part of Annecy, actually happened in Paris, where we met with its director, Serge Bromberg, and discussed their desire to premier the UPA documentary feature at next year's Annecy Festival. With this in mind, we returned to Los Angeles, and immediately began to put the final feature length documentary film together; writing the narration, preparing the last interviews, selecting film clips, and creating new animation. So, we hope to have a finished 90 minute rough cut before the end of the year, and then add the finishing touches in the early part of 2007.

 


A young Argentine animation couple, Italian animation author, Giannalberto Bendazzi, Sylvie, and Tee Bosustow, just prior to the UPA program at Zagreb.
Photograph by Vivien Halas

In Zagreb, the highlight for us was the UPA retrospective. The Zagreb festival, this year, celebrated the 50 year anniversary of the historic animation studio, Zagreb Films, and since UPA was a major influence on their work, a retrospective was produced by Adam Snyder, which screened 12 of the best known UPA shorts, preceded by a new clip from our Antauer, the Director of the Zagreb Festival, had contacted us several months earlier to see if we could supply something from our, as yet unfinished, documentary, to kick off the UPA program. We, of course, accepted, and did more work on it, so that the Zagreb audience could see material that hadn't been seen before. The UPA Program was very well attended, and extremely well received, even though it was a morning screening, and they'd had a midnight celebration the night before at the central palace. However, after the UPA event, there was a very nice party upstairs, and we were able to talk to animation professionals from all over the world, many of whom expressed interest in helping us move the feature forward. Now that we're back, we are following up on a thick stack of business cards, and scribbled notes, one day at a time. The most exciting, so far, is a grant which is moving forward with the help of one of the people we met at this very party, Professor Paul Wells, Director of Animation at Loughborough University, in England. The grant is primarily to fund the animated opening title sequence for the feature, as well as a few other production costs. But, moments ago, Prof. Wells emailed me that the size of the grant had just increases …considerably, so stay tooned. Mike Kazaleh is slotted to design and supervise the animation, and Patrick Dunavan will be directing the dramatizations. We have decided on a new title for the UPA feature, "Magoo, McBoing Boing & Modern Art", the name Amid Amidi, Jerry Beck, Mark Kausler, and Tee Bosustow, came up with for the March UPA Tribute, which is more direct than the old, "Mavericks, Magic & Magoo", which has been the tentative title for several years.


Tee Bosustow, John Libby, Giannalberto Bendazzi, and Midhat Ajanovic, chat at the party following the UPA Program at Zagreb.
Photograph by William Schumann, who also took the photo of the sketch board

So, the goal is to have the complete UPA documentary feature rough cut finished by the end of the year, and a finished film ready to premier at Annecy 2007. If anyone is interesting in getting involved with the documentary, in this last final phase of production, just contact us. We can use help in many areas, most importantly in funding. Just email us through the Contact Us page.

 

 

 

UPA: Magoo, McBoing Boing & Modern Art Sunday, March 26, Egyptian Theater, Hollywood

We honored UPA Studio to a full house at the Egyptian Theater, where it became clear to an enthusiastic audience, that UPA is without peers in setting the standards for modern animation. For those of you, unable to attend ...

FILMS: The evening presented a wide spectrum of UPA classic films, as well as rarely seen gems. The program opened with a short montage of UPA characters, created especially for the event. The first UPA film was a pristine print of the 1946 ground-breaker Brotherhood of Man, loaned by the Modern Museum of Art, in New York. Several shorts from the Columbia Pictures series, included a rarely seen early Mr. Magoo, Fuddy Duddy Buddy, which contains a unique scene of emotion from the normally crusty old fellow.Other Columbia shorts included Gerald McBoing Boing, Rooty Toot Toot, and the best print I've ever seen of the Paul Julian designed, Tell Tale Heart. Perhaps the biggest crowd pleaser was a behind-the-scenes peek into UPA studios during the production of Madeline in 1951. We also got an intriguing glimpse of the forthcoming documentary, The Boing That Shook the World, which included a pencil test of the opening title sequence, which had been completed just days earlier. The evening ended with a breathtaking Cinemascope print of the Oscar winning Magoo's Puddle Jumper, which took place largely underwater.

PANEL: During two breaks between films, animation historian and author, Jerry Beck, moderated panel discussionswith veteran UPA animators and designers; Bill Melendez, Alan Zaslove, Willis Pyle, Fred Crippen, and Sam Clayberger, as well as contemporary animator Mark Kausler (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King), Lou Romano (production designer of Pixar's The Incredibles) and author/historian Amid Amidi (Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation). Amidi summed up the feeling of many in the audience. Apparently, one of the animation theories Amidi wanted to disprove, in his new book, was the often repeated assumption that UPA was the inspiration for modern animation. But, in doing the research he discovered that UPA was singularly responsible for many of the innovations we take for granted today. Those of us who attended the remarkable evening, came out with a new respect for this immensely influential little studio, which unfortunately has been almost entirely forgotten today. But, after our evening at the Egyptian, the resurrection of the UPA legacy can't be too far away now.

CONT: The documentary group, who organized the event, has recently had offers to present UPA programs as Zagreb, Annecy, Ottawa, and Brazil. If you think you would like to get involved, contact us through this site, or directly to our production office at bosumedia@yahoo.com. A larger version of the event POSTER is going to be sold for $35, an event DVD will be available soon for $55. Plus, we intend to have our
first documentary, The Boing that Shook the World, the Story of Bobe Cannon, finished by this summer. Stay Tooned!

 

 

 

 

 

New Date for Hollywood UPA Tribute

Sunday, March 26, at 6pm, is the new confirmed time for our Tribute at the historic Egyptian theater, on Hollywood Boulevard. The tentative title is “UPA: Mr. Magoo & Modern Art”. The event is being produced in association with ASIFA Hollywood and the American Cinématheque. The program will include a distinguished panel of Upa artists and animation experts, moderated by Jerry Beck, and will probably include the following films, although there may be some minor adjustments. Stay tuned, or should we say … stay tooned …

“Gerald McBoing-Boing” 1951 (Columbia Release) dir. by Bobe Cannon - Oscar
“Fuddy Duddy Buddy” 1951 (Columbia Release) - Magoo dir. by John Hubley
“Rooty Toot-Toot” 1952 (Columbia Release) directed by John Hubley
“Tell Tale Heart” 1953 (Columbia Release) dir. by Ted Parmele, design Paul Julian
“Fudget’s Budget” 1954 (Columbia Release) directed by Bobe Cannon
“When Magoo Flew” 1955 (Columbia Release) Cinemascope dir. by Pete Burness - Oscar

“The Outlaws: Deerfoot Dan” 1956 (CBS TV series) dir. Osmand Evans
“Miserable Pack of Wolves” 1956 (CBS TV series) dir. Lew Keller/music Mel Leven
“The Lost Duchess” 1956 (CBS TV series) director/animator Rod Scribner
“Two by Two” 1957 (CBS TV series) director George Dunning (UPA NY)
“Old MacDonald” 1957 (CBS TV series) director/design Robert Dranko
“Three Horned Flink” 1957 (CBS TV series) dir. Fred Crippen/music Mel Leven
“Blues Patterns” 1957 (CBS TV series) dir. Crippen/design Ernie Pintoff & John Whitney

“Brotherhood of Man” 1946 - race relations film for CIO membership
“Man Alive” 1952 - industrial for American Cancer Society
“Behind-the-Scenes at UPA” 1951 - clips from KTLA “City at Night” series
“The Boing that Shook the World” demo of documentary on Bobe Cannon plus, a few commercials, such as: Peil Brothers, Jello, Magoo GE (not yet set)

If any of you have rare UPA films, particularly commercials, please contact us. Plus, we are looking for people to help organize before and during the event, help generate funds for the event, and find sponsors to advertise in our souvenir program.

Contact Us to get involved with the Egyptian Tribute and/or the documentary productions. We are always welcoming new blood.

Paris UPA Tribute


Tuesday, December 13, our man in Paris, Sébastien Dabidie, has put together the long awaited UPA Tribute, in Paris, France, which he calls “La Révolution du Cartoon”. The above collage is the cover of his program. Some of the films to be shown are, “Gerald McBoing Boing”, “Barefaced Flatfoot”, “Willie the Kid”, “Frosty the Snowman”, “Deerfoot Dan”, “Invisible Moustache of Raoul Dufy”, “Two by Two”, “Follow Me”, and a demo from our “Boing that Shook the World” documentary, with new clips from Giannalberto Bendazzi, Mike Kazaleh, and Oscar Grillo.

 


Hollywood UPA Tribute
Tuesday, February 7, at the Egyptian theater on Hollywood boulevard, we will be having another tribute, which will include a distinguished panel of Upa artists and animation experts, moderated by Jerry Beck, and hand-picked selection of UPA films, from well-known classics to rarely seen films. The program is not set yet, but as things get locked down, we will let you know, as soon as we know. We are looking for people to help organize before and during the event, help generate funds for the event, and come up with additional ideas and even films. If you want to contribute, contact us through our Contact Us page email. We are always welcoming new blood. Contact Us to get involved with the Hollywood Tribute and/or the documentary productions.


Interviews Continuing
The latest interviews have been with Judith Morgan, the Dr. Seuss biographer, and Fred Crippen (above) who worked at both UPA New York and directed on the CBS Gerald McBoing Boing show. Both have been added to our Interview page. Coming up are Henrietta “Hank” Jordan, who worked at UPA from the very beginning days into the early 60s. We also plan to interview artists who worked with Bobe Cannon, as well as doing more interviews on the East Coast and in Europe, primarily at the Annecy and Zagreb festivals. Transcripts are being made, the opening animated title is being produced, and editing has begun, so, we hope to have the first film on Bobe Cannon ready next summer for
the festival circuit.

 

Miscellaneous

We have been holding production and marketing meetings at the above Norm’s restaurant, and as writer, David Evans, remarked, it’s only right that we have meetings at a 50’s style restaurant, as UPA turned 50’s animation on its head. But, besides production and marketing, we are also trying valiantly to keep our site updated. Those of you who visit often may have noticed that we haven’t been entirely successful. Here is where we stand to date…

 

Home Page Movie-Although most of you have enjoyed our clever little movie, there are some who have not been able to make it work. We are in the midst of making it universal for all.

History Page – More book quotes about UPA coming soon.

Films Page – More UPA films and credits coming soon.

Awards Page – Many more Awards coming soon.

Production Page – This will finally be happening shortly after this Update is updated.

DocFilm – We’ll be making this page more user-friendly.

Interviews – Latest two interviews have been added. More coming, as we do them.

Funding Page – We will be adding a shopping cart and pay pal, as soon as we can. In the meantime, you’ll have to contact us to buy an item, or donate, or invest.

Links we Love– More being added soon, and we are being added to others.

 

October 4, Mike Kazaleh, David Evans, and Tee Bosustow meeting

Tuesday, October 4, Mike Kazaleh, David Evans, and Tee Bosustow, met for the first production meeting on animating the opening title sequence for the first film to be produced in our planned series of documentary films on UPA … "UPA's Gentle Genius: Robert 'Bobe' Cannon". Mike is seen above, showing an original Bobe Cannon drawing to David, from his personal collection. Mike will be animating and David Evans will be writing. A few days earlier Charles Davis and Tee Bosustow attended a panel of West Coast Jazz musicians, featuring Chico Hamilton, who wrote the theme music to the Gerald McBoing Boing show for CBS, in the late fifties. We hope to use it for Bobe's title sequence, and interview Chico, when we go to New York. We plan to visit San Diego this month, as well, to interview Judith and Neil Morgan, who wrote a book on Dr. Seuss, Ted Geisel, the creator of Bobe's "Gerald McBoing Boing. There are many more interviews to tape, which we will be doing, as time permits. Two of the UPA Tributes are moving forward. One will be held in Paris on December 13th, with details to follow, and the date for another, in Hollywood, will be set soon. Plus, we will finally add the interviews we did in Europe and Washington State to the site in the next few days, and build the Production page. Plus, we are creating a short movie to put on the home page … all coming very soon, some probably accomplished by the time you read this.

 

9 September - Washington State Interview Trip

Friday, September 9th, back from a week-long interview trip to Washington State, in the Great Northwest. In the town of Sequim, pronounced Squim, at the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula, we interviewed Hana Cannon, about her father, Robert "Bobe" Cannon. She shared some found memories, and gave us many wonderful insights. Later we video taped Hana, and her sister Abby, going through a remarkable treasure trove of material collected by their dad, including correspondence with Chuck Jones, Norman McLaren, and Ted "Dr. Seuss" Geisel. They also have a picture of some UPA kids tying Bobe and Tee Hee to a tree, to "research" Willie the Kid. Next, up in the north-west corner of the country, on Freshwater Park Road, we talked with Dale Case, who worked at UPA during the transition period from the stewardship of Steve Bosustow to the second chief, Hank Saperstein. For the next interview, we took a ferry from Port Townsend to the island of Whidbey, out in the Puget Sound. Here, we interviewed Gerry Woolery, one of the two sons of Adrien Woolery, possibly the first staff member of UPA, who preceded Herb Klynn as Head of Production. Herb, in fact, tells a story that when Gerry was seven years old, he became the namesake for another Gerry, Gerald McBoing Boing. For the last interview, we crossed the floating bridge from Quilcene, across Dabob Bay, to a little beach cove near Poulsbo, on Bainbridge Island. Here we found Derek Lamb, who ran the great National Film Board of Canada. Derek proclaims that much of the original inspiration of the NFB came from UPA. So, we got four more exceptional interviews to add to our program.

 

UPA On Stage at the Academy

Monday, August 22, was the last evening in a fabulous series, organized by Randy Haberkamp, at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, called "Great to be Nominated. Each evening they screened a feature that had been nominated, but didn't win the golden statuette, films, such as; Sunset Boulevard, Grapes of Wrath, High Noon, and Streetcar Named Desire. With each feature, they showed shorts that were nominated that same year, but also hadn't received Oscars, and UPA had nominated shorts screened with many of the features during the course of the series. The last feature in the series was August 22, the 1957 film, Sayonara, with Marlon Brando, Miiko Taka, and Red Buttons, who won an Oscar for his role as Joe Kelly. As always, they had at least one member of the cast of the feature up on stage to talk it, and Red Buttons was there regaling the audience with non-stop humor. But, for the first time there was also a panel for the short film. That evening the animated short screened was the last UPA film to be nominated, Trees and Jamaica Daddy. Mr. Haberkamp had Bill Melendez and Tee Bosustow on stage to talk about UPA and the documentary. It was the only time he had a panel to talk about a short, and the audience seemed very appreciative. Little by little the word is spreading about this long forgotten studio that literally changed the face of animation around the world.

 

 

26 July - The Documentary’s Next Phase

The picture above is typical of our recently completed six week interview tour of Europe. This was a common sight, Sylvie Bosustow, our camera person for the tour, surrounded by bags full of camera, sound, and lighting gear, catching up on email, and waiting for our next train. This one happened to be a TGV high speed train from Geneva to Aix-en-Provence. We had taken a slower local train from the Animation Festival, in Annecy, earlier that morning. But, I’d like to take a moment now to review the highlights of the trip and look ahead to what we need to do now to get this documentary into theaters.

This update will probably be our last one about the documentary posted on the home page. From now on we will return to doing Progress Reports in the DocFilm page, as we did before the European tour. We will also soon be adding the recent European interviews to the Intrvws page.

So first of all, the trip produced some great additions to the interviews we had already taped. Overall they added a world view of UPA. They included, in chronological order; John Canemaker, the noted filmmaker, professor, and author, Frank Mouris, who won an Oscar for his groundbreaking Frank Film, John Culhane, animation historian and professor extraordinaire, Carolina Lopez Caballero, filmmaker and producer of a UPA reportage for Canal+ Spain, Gianalberto Bendazzi, author of the ultimate
international reference book on animation, Cartoons, Gene Deitch, head of the NY Branch of UPA, who we interviewed in San Francisco, but on this trip we interviewed him at his home studio in Prague, Czech Republic. Then, in Amsterdam, Eddy van der Meer, set up a fascinating interview with Michael Helmerhorst, who ran a copy of Tell Tale Heart on his Kem to point out his favorite scenes. In Paris, we had a full crowd for a UPA screening, organized by Sebastien Dabadie, then in Verneuil-sur-Indre, a picturesque village south-west of Paris, we interviewed Paul Dopff, animation filmmaker and professor of animation, and finally the gifted Argentine animation filmmaker, Oscar Grillo, who now lives in London. Plus, all along the way we picked up names of more people to interview, from Zagreb to Toronto.

There are so many people who we would love to interview, and we will indeed interview more. But, we now need to turn our main attention toward putting the 90 minute film together. We want to have it complete by early next year. Three people are now in place;
Charles Davis in LA, Adam Abraham in NYC, and Sebastien Dabadie in Paris, who will be spearheading our drive to finish the film. Our goal is to raise $50,000 to produce a 90 minute rough cut, which we can then show to raise the finishing funds. With these
funds we can finance; making transcripts, writing the script, re-animating Magoo, creating the music, recording a host, acquiring rights, and a number of other miscellaneous items that will allow us to complete the rough cut. The finishing funds will cover things like better quality film clips, making a film negative, striking theatrical prints, and paying all the deferred fees for camera, editing, and more.

Besides UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo, we are also beginning to research the possibility of doing our first documentary on a single artist at UPA, a man who was one of the most influential of all the UPA giants. But little has been written about him. He did almost no interviews, and tended to modestly give everyone around him credit, quietly stepping into the background, while more verbal guys took the spotlight. The tentative title is “UPA’s Gentle Genius: Robert Cannon”.

If you would like to become involved in either or both of our documentaries, visit our Funding page. We need more than funds. We also are looking for copies of the more obscure UPA films, interviews with UPA artists who have died, plus archival footage and
material, marketing and publicity, and just good old fashion man-power. Contact us through our Contact page, and if that fellow who wanted to buy a copy of the demo is still out there, try us again. In the hectic bustle of the internet cafes in Europe, we
somehow lost your email. But, we’re home now, so everything should go a lot smoother now. It was an extremely productive trip, but frantic and very exhausting, so it’s good to be home.

 

10 July- European Tour Ending

The six week UPA interview tour is two days away from wrapping. Since the last update we have interviewed Paul Dopff in his home studio in Verneuil-sur-Indre, France, and will be interviewing Oscar Grillo in his home studio in Ealing, England, tomorrow. Both are wonderful animation artists with a great respect for UPA and it's influence on world animation. The Grillo interview will bring our total interviews for this trip up to about a dozen. But, perhaps the single most interesting event that took place for the UPA project, during the trip, was a screening organized by Sebastien Dabadie. Monsieur Dabadie is a professor of animation history in Paris and a fine animation artist in his own right. We met Sebastien at the Annecy festival earlier in our tour, and talked about the possibility of having a screening when we returned to Paris. We took some stills, but like the last few updates, we will have to add those when we return, because of a robbery we had in Rome.

But, back to the positive part of our trip, we kept in email contact with Sebastien as he set about finding a suitable screening room and lining up a good assortment of UPA films. We also needed a place where we could project our demo of the documentary, which is on DVD. As Sebastien organized the screening, we left Annecy for Switzerland, the south of France, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Amsterdam, before returning to Paris. By then, Sebastien had found the perfect screening room, in the well respected L'Ecole des Image at the Gobliens Institute of Arts, in the 5th arrondisement of Paris, not far from the Sorbonne. The screening took place on the evening of July 1st and we had a full house, even though it was a week night. There were members of the French Film press and others who want to help raise funds for the documentary in Europe. We video taped the event, which included a question and answer period that followed the films, with Sebastien Dabadie in French and Tee Bosustow in English and a bit of bad French.

The program was an interesting mix of UPA standards, shorts from the Boing-Boing television series, and a few more obscure shorts ... Gerald McBoing-Boing, The Oompahs, Unicorn in the Garden, Peter Cottontail, Frosty the Snowman, a McBoing-Boing TV series promo, The Invisible Mustache of Raoul Dufy, Shiraku, the Outlaws (Deerfoot Dan), Dusty of the Circus (the Sad Lion), Colonel Puffington and Mr. Finch (Conniption Calypso), Two by Two, and ending with the delightful Twiliger Twins (Follow Me).

Sebastien Dabadie will be spearheading our efforts in Europe from now on.

 

 

27 June - Gian, Gene, and Helmerhorst

Once we left Annecy, we had one and two day stops through the south of France, Italy, Switzerland, Prague, and Amsterdam. We met a lot of people, collected more information, and tape three significant experts; Gianalberto Bendazzi in Milan, Italy, Gene Deitch in Prague, Czech Republic, and Michael Helmerhorst in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Bendazzi is one of the most respected animation historians in the world. His encyclopedia of cartoons is a classic reference book, translated into several languages, and known by everyone in world animation. We interviewed him in his home office in Milan, with his books and reference materials surrounding him, on book shelves up to the ceiling in two rooms. He is an enthusiastic follower of UPA and it's influence on the animators who followed. He was particularly articulate about Robert Cannon, a man who has received too little attention from other animation historians. Gian also loaned us a rare taped interview he did with Zack Schwartz.

Deitch is one of the few remaining pillars of UPA, having run UPA's New York headquarters, producers of some of UPA's most ground breaking films, with many television spots such as the ones for Jello, done with Saul Steinberg, many promos like the award winning ones for CBS radio, and creating the most popular television commercial characters of the day, Bert and Harry Piel, with the voices of comedians Bob and Ray. We interviewed Gene in his studio in Prague where he was editing his most recent film. As a UPA veteran, his style continues to evolve with each project, as does his method of doing them. He uses a computer now, although the film retains the look of a hand drawn cartoon.

Helmerhorst is a collector of films and stock footage, with a focus on animated films, particularly those that are hard to find. During World War II it was extremely difficult to get UPA films, among others, but after the war he managed to build up his collection with a trip to the United States. We interviewed Helmerhorst in his studio in the heart of Amsterdam. It is filled with films and memorabilia, but we were able to find a spot in one corner where he has a big flat-bed editing system. He is a multi-talented man, working as a pantomimist and theatrical multi-media designer, as well as producing and selling stock footage. He racked up his copy of Tell Tale Heart on a Kem for us, and went through the film, sequence by sequence, explaining why each scene contributed to his overall feeling that it is one of the great animated films of all time, at related it to some of his work with set design in the theater.

We now head for Paris to continue our interviews, and hold a screening of UPA films and our demo on the documentary, to promote the project to influential Europeans. Everyone we meet has been so enthusiastic about the project, we hate to leave, but leave we must (2 more weeks) to start incorporating all our elements into an initial feature length first cut.

 

13 June – International Animation Festival – final days

The Animation festival was probably the most important stop on our swing through Europe. We managed to connect with a number of leaders in the world of animation. One of the points of the documentary is the effect that UPA had on animation all over the world, and what better place to have them all in one place, than one of the biggest annual gatherings of animation artists and enthusiasts in the world.

One of the people there, who found us through our web site, was Sebastien Dabadie, an animation history professor in Paris. After several emails back and forth, we decided to meet after two of the screenings. We saw the remarkable documentary on Ryan Larkin, the subject of this year’s Oscar winning short animated film, “Ryan”. Sebastien was watching a different film in a different theater, and we then met at Café Leffe, one of the “in” spots, on one of the many little narrow cobble stone streets in Annecy. Sebastien is an avid UPA fan, with a large collection of films and memorabilia. We met again the next day at the Bonlieu Centre café, and decided the first step of our new collaboration would be a screening that he will organized for our return to Paris at the end of June.

Another important contact was Gianalberto Bendazzi, who called to invite us to the best party of Annecy, given by Zagreb Films, who has been a major producer of animated films for nearly half a century, and they owe much of their stylistic freedom from UPA. There we met Midhat Adauovic, who we will contact again after the trip to arrange an interview. In a similar manner we hope to interview Marco de Blois of the great Cinemateque Quebecoise, and Gil Alkabetz, who knew Zack Schwartz in Israel. And, true to form, we had to travel all the way to Annecy to meet Myron Emery, who has taken on Jules Engel’s role as head of experimental animation at Cal Arts, in California.

In the hustle and bustle of the festival we did manage to interview one person there, Carolina Lopez Cabllero, another UPA expert, with a vast knowledge and heart full of enthusiasm, who produced a reportage of UPA for Canal+ Spain. For the first time, an
interviewee turned the tables on me and after my interview of her, she turned around and interviewed me (as illustrated in the photo above). I was struck, as never before, that UPA is suddenly becoming a studio that everyone seems to want to know more about. UPA is ‘au courant’, in a big way, as more than one person said during the course of the festival.

And, by the way, the finish television programmer that I spoke of in the last update is Sari Volanen, who we ran into a number of times during the festival, and we will be in touch with her to make her aware of the finest collection of animated shorts in history …
those from UPA.


9 June – International Animation Festival

We took a little breather from interviews to adjust to the time change from New York … two days in London and an overnight stay in Paris. We will return to London and Paris for interviews, but we needed to get quickly to the International Animation Festival at Annecy, in the French Alps. We will be here for four days until it concludes on Saturday. The picture above is Tee Bosustow in the cavernous Centre Bonlieu, the throbbing heart beat of the festival. Young animation fans, speaking languages from around the world, fill the cafés, and brasseries, and this meeting center, with … literally … animated conversations about the latest in animation techniques, films, and artists. Paul Driessen signs his latest book with a drawing for every signature. John Canemaker, a recent NYC interview, has a film in competition here, “The Moon and the Son: an Imagined Conversation”. On the train into Annecy yesterday, we met a young woman from Finland, who programs films for the cartoon station in Finland. To our dismay, she had never heard of UPA, and was even a little foggy on Mr. Magoo, which reinforces our determination to push forward on our documentary, to bring UPA films to the attention of the new generation, even animation programmers now.

 

 

 

5 June - First Round of Interviews

We got three top notch interviews for the documentary during our stay in New York. The first was from John Canemaker, the renowned animation artist, historian, and NYU professor. We will be seeing him again at Annecy, where he has a film in competition. Thanks to Adam Abraham, who joined us at the shoot, and asked some key questions, we got some great answers that had not been addressed yet. The next day we took the train to upstate New York for an interview with Frank Mouris, who won an Oscar for the ground breaking “Frank Film”. The picture above is of the interviewer and interviewee in front of Frank and Caroline Mouris’ eclectic country home and studio. The final interview was with John Culhane, who managed to comment on nearly every film and artist that came out of UPA. He is the cousin of legendary Shamus Culhane, and an enthusiastic and entertaining animation expert, journalist, and instructor. All three interviews are a great addition to our library of interviews for the documentary. Although we stop briefly in London and Paris next, we won’t do interviews again until we attend the International Animation Festival in Annecy, France, on Jun 8th. We’ll try another update from there.

 

 

UPA sails Off to Europe

The time has finally arrived for the six week Upa interview tour of Europe and NYC. If time permits we will update this home page with pictures and comments on some of the interiviews we managed to add to our impressive library of artists and experts for the documentary. Our contact email will not be dormant during this time, if you wish to contact us. Either some one at the home front in LA, or one of us on location in Europe will reply. So, don’t think we are leaving the project behind during this period.

Our rough schedule is as follows ...

May 31st - NYC: 4 interviews
June 5 - London: 1 interview
June 8 - Annecy Animation festival: 6 interviews
June 12 - Zurich: 1 interview
June 14 - Nice: 1 interview
June 16 - Rome: 1 interview
June 18 - Milan: 1 interview
June 20 - Vienna - 1 interview
June 22 - Prague - 2 interviews
June 25 - Amsterdam - 2 interviews
June 28 - Paris - 4 interviews
July 4 - Verneuil-sur-Indre: 1 interview
July 5 - Vimoutiers: 1 interview
July 7 - Lizard Point: 1 interview
July 9 - London: 2 interviews
July 12 - Fly Away Home to LA

 

“UPA: MMM” Update

UPA is featured prominently in the Motion Picture Academy’s continuation of it’s “Great to be Nominated” series, proving that some of the greatest films in history didn’t always get the coveted statuette. Out of sixteen feature films to be shown from May 2 to
August 22, five of the shorts playing with them are UPA films, also among the cream of the crop.

June 20 - (1949) “The Heiress” and UPA’s “Magic Fluke” with the Fox & Crow

June 27 - (1950) “Sunset Boulevard” and UPA’s “Trouble Indemnity” with Mr. Magoo

July 11 - (1951) “A Streetcar Named Desire” and UPA’s “Rooty Toot Toot”

July 25 - (1953) “Roman Holiday” and UPA’s “Tell Tale Heart”

Aug. 15 - (1956) “Giant” and UPA’s “Gerald McBoing-Boing on Planet Moo”

Of course “Gerald on the Planet Moo” was one of the three nominees that that were up for the Oscar that year, which were ALL from UPA. So, of course, UPA got the Oscar, but it was for “Magoo’s Puddle Jumper”. Hope you get a chance to see some of these great features, and shorts.

 

9 April- Golden Awards Banquet

Saturday evening was the Animation Guild’s “Golden Awards Banquet”, honoring people who have had fifty years+ animation careers beginning between 1943 and 1955. UPA was well represented with an old photo of a UPA storyboard session gracing the cover of the souvenir program. There were a good half dozen UPA alumni receiving awards, as well as several presenters, including the most entertaining of all the speakers, Bill Melendez, who delighted every single one of the 400 of us. The evening was a great success, with honorees, and guests lingering past midnight, swapping stories, and catching up. We have Bob Foster and Dave Brain to thank for their tireless hours of work. André Smith video taped the event for us, and we will make it available to attendees, and animation enthusiasts, as a double DVD set.

If you would like more up to date information about the progress of the documentary production, see our DocFilm page. Sale items will soon be up on the Funding page, and one by one all the remaining pages will be converted to this new, cleaner looking, and more efficient, site design. The This Site button gives you an overview of the information in all the buttons.

 

 

 

 


I .Progress Report - 10 April 05

In the last month, we have put three more interviews to tape for the documentary; Bob Dranko, Eddie Friedman, and Mark Kausler, plus, over three hours of tape at the Golden Awards Banquet. We will take a little breather now from taping interviews, while we prepare for our interview tour of Europe, highlighted by the International Animation Festival in Annecy, France, in early June.

Our itinerary is shaping up …
o New York, London, Paris, Annecy, Zurich, Rome, Milan, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Tours, Normandy, and Cornwall. We have a little over a dozen interviews set, with another dozen or so, waiting to firm up. Plus, we are trying to locate still others.

The most exciting stop will probably be at the Annecy International Animation Festival in the French Alps, near Geneva. There we are expecting to be able to interview world animation leaders, who we might not otherwise have been able to meet. We plan to be showing a work-in-progress of "UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo" to all interested parties.

We welcome suggestions from anyone about people we can interview while in Europe, and especially at the Annecy Festival. So, don't hesitate to speak up. Just contact us through the Contact page. As important as this trip is, it has set us back a bit in our production schedule. We are no longer expecting to have a finished feature ready by this fall, however, when it is ready, more like early next year, it will be far more valuable as a thorough look at the artistic legacy of UPA Pictures. Plus, our expanding body of information though these interviews, and other research, will allow us to produce additional programs on UPA, later on.

If all goes well, once the European trip is locked down, we will be able to tape a few more interviews before we leave, and get the writers started on the script. Also important, is starting the transcripts of the interviews, as a valuable research too, and looking for a host, or Narrator, as well as the new Voice of Mr. Magoo.

o

Click the "Contact Us" button, at the top or bottom of this page to ask us questions, and/or offer time, materials, funds, and/or information.

Click the "Funding" button and, if all goes well, by the middle of April, we will introduce the first interviews, films, and archival footage, that will be available for purchase, as one way to raise funds for the documentary, "UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo". You may also want to become an investor, to share in profits, but that's a risk, as there may not be profits.

o


II. Early Background

As one of two sons of Stephen Bosustow, who headed UPA Pictures during its heyday, I was a distracted teenager, who enjoyed UPA, not for its pioneering animation styles, but for its eccentric, entertaining, artists who populated my impressionable teenage life. I knew the various staff members as inventors of extraordinary costumes for the annual UPA Halloween parties, rather than pioneering artists. The significance of UPA didn't really sink in for me until 1958 when I began studying Cinema at UCLA. It was here that I discovered, second hand, the importance of their work.

As the years progressed I asked my Dad, and others from UPA, about their feelings of what they had contributed to the art of animation. But, because I experienced the UPA artists as "screwball uncles", it was difficult to fully grasp their important contributions. Then, when I was living in Paris, for the first time, people recognized my last name, which had never happened to me in Los Angeles. I remember reading one French film book that listed my Dad as one of the top filmmakers of all time, and first among animators, including Disney. That blew my mind.

However, by 1978 UPA was essentially forgotten. But, prodded by film enthusiast friends, I co-produced a UPA Tribute for Filmex in LA, with educator, Marsha Jeffers. Hank Saperstein, who ran UPA by that time, graciously loaned us pristine prints of most of the films we wanted. I didn't realize it at the time, but this was the kernel that put me on the path of producing a documentary on UPA.

Gary Essert, Dave Hilberman, Bill Hurtz & Jules Engel Tee & Steve Bosustow & Tee Bosustow

That two-hour Filmex program included …

Home movies of the 1941 Disney picket line, with comments
I recorded by Art Babbitt, Steve Bosustow, & Bill Hurtz
"Hell Bent for Election", UPA's first film, for FDR's 1944 campaign
"Brotherhood of Man", an early UPA film directed by Chuck Jones
"Flat Hatting", one of a series of WWII Navy training films
"The Magic Fluke", a Fox & Crow for Columbia Pictures
"Ragtime Bear", the first Mr. Magoo short film
"Grizzly Golfer", another early Mr. Magoo short
"Gerald McBoing-Boing", written by Dr. Seuss, their 1st Oscar
an interview with Bobe Cannon for KTLA's 1952 "City at Night"
"Madeline", Ludwig Benelmann's story, directed by Bobe Cannon
"Rooty Toot-Toot", John Hubley's masterpiece
"Unicorn in the Garden", directed by Bill Hurtz
"Tell Tale Heart", director Ted Parmelee, design by Paul Julian
"When Magoo Flew", one of the Oscar Winning Magoo's
"Miserable Pack of Wolves" from CBS's Boing-Boing TV series
"Twiliger Twins", from the series for CBS's Boing-Boing show
"Wounded Bird", another from the CBS television series
a Mr. Magoo commercial for General Electric Light Bulbs
Peil Brothers commercial, a series of spots from the NY studio
"Aurora Kiora" commercial from the London studio
a commercial for Ford Motors, their only live action job

Following the Filmex film program, Marsha Jeffers moderated a live panel discussion with UPA alumni, which included; Art Babbit, Dave Hilberman, Bill Hurtz, Jules Engel, Herb Klynn, Bill Scott, and my Dad. Unfortunately, we didn't have the foresight to tape it.

Soon after that I began the long road of interviewing and taping UPA alumni and animation experts, and finding rare cells and memorabilia. But, it was a sporadic and unfocussed effort. As the years progressed I finally began to think in terms of making a documentary, as time and funds permitted, which weren't much, as I was busy making a living. The first investor came to our aid late in 2001, which enabled me to take what I had compiled so far to the IFP film market in New York City, just two weeks after the horrific 9/11 disaster. I received enthusiastic responses, but no buyers. I wasn't able to raise additional funds for nearly three more years, but in animation circles I became known as "that guy making the UPA documentary", although, as you will see, there were many others involved.

Then, in 2004 things began to accelerate, beginning in March with an hour-long UPA screening at Woodbury University, where I showed;
"Gerald McBoing Boing", "Ragtime Bear", "Madeline ", "Rooty Toot Toot ", "Fudget's Budget", an interview clip of my Dad from a 1978 KCET TV show, a clip of Bill Melendez from the 1952 KTLA TV show, and the demo I created for the IFP/NY film market. After the films, I answered questions about UPA and the documentary, which then had a slightly different title, "UPA: Mavericks, Mutiny & Magoo.

However, the event that really propelled the energy into high gear was a UPA Tribute organized and moderated by Jerry Beck, for ASIFA Hollywood, a branch of the international animation organization. It was shown to a standing room only audience at the AFI. We screen pristine 35mm prints from Columbia Pictures, which included … "Rooty Toot Toot", "Willie the Kid", "Unicorn in the Garden", "How Now Boing-Boing", "The Tell Tale Heart", "Sailing & the Village Band" (Ham & Hattie), "Christopher Crumpet", "Magoo's Puddle Jumper", and my brand new UPA:MMM work-in-progress, which I had compiled for an unsuccessful bid to the ITVS organization. After the films Jerry Beck moderated a lively panel discussion with Bob McIntosh, Joe Siracussa, Alan Zaslove, Eddie Friedman, Fred Crippin, and Mel Leven.

We also had a brief Q&A on my documentary work-in-progress, which I somewhat seriously called, my unfinished symphony, 30 years in the making. This event WAS videotaped … by the very talented Patrick Dunavan, who went on to creatively tape many of our best interviews, with his critical eye for detail.

Patrick Dunavan setting up for the Joe Siracusa interview

Then, late in 2004 we received two more investments, which we are putting primarily toward marketing expenses, starting with this web site.

III. Crew and Participants

There are many people who have helped move this documentary along. If I have inadvertently omitted anyone, please let me know, and we will make the corrections in out next update of the site. The names of the contributors (not including those we interviewed) are listed in roughly the order of when they came aboard …

Marsha Jeffers
Pat Coffee Duran
Jerry Beck
Barrie Nelson
Dan Hilberman
Hana Cannon
Ted Woolery
Jerry Woolery
Mike Glad
Mike Barrier
Dr. Bob Bunes
Ted Newsom
Glenn Anderson
Leonard Maltin
Tom Bogosian
Tim Baskerville
Destiny McCune
Ross Blocker, Woodbury
Jonas Wright, AFI
Mike van Eaton
Jim Burness
Bruce Burness
Mara Zaslove
Patrick Dunavan
Rob O'Keefe
Diane Pershing
Bill Kirchenbauer
Jack Kenny
Dorothy Schecktor
Sasha Junk, Classic Media
Judy Dennis, Smokehouse
Adam Abraham
John Canemaker
Jeremy Palmer
Bob Yukich
Amid Amidi
Michael Bethune
Barbara Bosustow
Frank Macchia
David Evans
Chris Zollner
Amid Amidi
Mark Kausler
André Smith
Antron Manoogian
David Dubrino
Charles Davis
Sylvie Bosustow

Marilyn Miller
Sebastien Dabadie
Gianalberto Bendazzi
Carolina Caballero
Eddy van der Meer

 

IV. Documentary Treatment


UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo

The Story of the Little Studio that
Transformed the World of Animation,
and the Innovative Team of Artists who
Dared to Challenge the Kings of Cartoons!

This documentary focuses on the artistic UPA Mavericks, the Magic of the UPA films, and Mr. Magoo too.

"Magoo Makes News"

It's the story of the art of UPA. The history of the studio will be touched on too, but only briefly, when it bares on the prime issue of how and why this tiny little studio was willing to go out on a limb, against all odds, and create films that had vision, artistry, and class, when nothing like that had been tried before. Plus, we feel that we must break a few rules of documentary film making, if we were going to produce a film on artists who broke the rules of animation.

A key "non-documentary style" element will be reanimating Mr. Magoo to make running comments on the content of the documentary. We are discovering a difficulty in finding someone to nail the Jim Backus voice, plus, there is an additional difficulty of delineating between the new Magoo, commenting on the proceedings, and the original Magoo, who is a part of the subject matter, as seen in the original Mr. Magoo film clips. The overriding vision is to make our story of a rebel little studio, something of a rebellious presentation as well, while still being remaining assessable to a general audience. It's a critical balance that we are beginning to achieve.

This film will not be a chronological telling of the history of UPA, but an exploration of the artistry of UPA. Instead of taking the story year by year, as the History Channel might do, we will organize it in terms of each of it's main artists, focus on some of the key films, and weave in various topics, such as; graphic style, color, animation, storytelling, voice talent, music, sound effects, as the various colors of thread weaving together the major patches of artists and films. For instance, one sequence will be on the film, Gerald McBoing Boing, which won pretty much every award possible for an animated short, even the Best Film of 1951, in Britain, going against live action feature length films.



"Gerald McBoing-Boing"

That film will allow us to explore the director , Robert "Bobe" Cannon, who many feel was the most important animation director of the day, as well as it's author, Dr. Seuss, the background artist, Jules Engel, a key animator, Bill Melendez, even the sound effects editor, Joe Siracusa. They all had important parts to play, and equally as important, they worked as a team, rather than the film passing through various departments, on its way to the theater. One of the main themes of the film will be that UPA not only had the best talent around, but they worked together, supported each other, bounced off ideas, and saw the film through from idea to finished product, as a single creative team.

Of course, some of the details of the structure of the documentary are yet to be defined, because with every interview we tape, every piece of material we uncover, and each film we view for the first time, new elements arise and old elements get solidified, or discarded, or redefined. For instance, in our interview with Leonard Maltin, he had a fabulous statement where he detailed exactly why he felt that Gerald McBoing Boing was the best animated film ever made. When we first edited that sequence, even at this early stage, we realized that the sequence was too long and detailed to fit what the focus of our show. But, it helped us adjust and refine our vision for the show. We are no longer looking at a minute dissection of the studio, or its films, or even artists, but a broader look at the influence that shaped the way they did things, and how that body of work has influenced the generations since. Details will be used to illustrate the overall picture.

We don't want to limit the appeal of the show just to animation aficionados, but to the public at large. UPA after all, had a huge fan base from little laughing kids, to astute experts of animation art. So, although an element of Maltin's Gerald comment will remain in the show, it is greatly reduced in detail, and, hopefully, not only retains the power of Mr. Maltin's feelings, but actually increases the power, by eliminating the minutia. Of course, we reserve the right to re-edit the sequence again, and again, as the entire program takes shape, and this sequence become one part of the whole.

We want UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo not only be informative, but highly entertaining. I can hardly wait to see the finished film myself.


V. First Progress Report - 31 December 2004

As we are about to embark on 2005, our most important project is to get the web site up and running, with some basic material about UPA, the documentary, and how interested people can get involved … finding people to interview, uncovering UPA films and memorabilia, and investing in the production. If you are reading this, we have accomplished our first goal.

Later on we will be adding more material to the site; stills, interviews, film clips, transcripts, and a number of items to generate income for the production. Our goal is to have a final feature length film ready to submit to key festivals by September of 2005. It seems like a tall order, but it is not impossible.

Now that this basic web site is in place, we will return to fine-tuning the DVD demo/work-in-progress, to begin a major marketing and publicity campaign. As funds come in, we will proceed with the production schedule. At the moment these are the projected production and marketing phases …

o Holding additional UPA Tributes, so that we can get the word
out to those who know little, or nothing, about UPA Pictures.
The first event will likely be a large Tribute this Spring, at
the Egyptian Theater, in Hollywood, California.

o Interviewing additional UPA folks and animation experts,
in Los Angeles, and in other locations, in the United
States and abroad. A trip to Europe is being planned.

o Research for interviews, films, & materials. Verbatim
Transcripts of interviews will be made, and Writing
begins for the Narrator and the new Voice of Magoo.

o Once the Script is complete, Animation will start on the new
Mr. Magoo inserts, as well as designing the Dramatizations.
Dramatizations will require staging, non-speaking roles, costumes, props, and a small crew.

o All during this period we will be negotiating for the rights
to license; UPA films and characters, stills, photos,
non-UPA material, and archival footage. Whenever
possible we will make transfers from original negative.

o There will also be some Computer Animation for the Title
Graphics and transitions, and also new Theme Music
will be composed throughout the documentary.

o Other miscellaneous costs will include Legal and Accounting
expenses, plus Production Liability Insurance and
Worker's Compensation Insurance.

o Posting will be completed on an Avid Digital Editing System, with
a final Audio Sweetening session, and mastering from
Digital Video to Film Negative, for striking the final
Theatrical Release Prints.


VI. Progress Report - 18 February 2005

February finds us back into the process of continuing with interviews, the recent ones have been added to our interview page. We are getting more UPA films and art materials, and bringing aboard more people to the team. We are open to any information or material you know about.

We are about to set a date, probably in April, for a large UPA Tribute in Hollywood. We will have a screening of UPA films, with a panel discussion of some of the remaining UPA players, on stage after the films. Plus, the New York and European trip is coming together to interview experts in those locations, probably in June.

The web site, as you can see is also filing up with more information. The Filmography page is quite a bit larger, and although it is still incomplete, even with all the new additions, it is staggering to see the huge body of work that this little studio did in a relatively short amount of time.

Links to our site have brought many visitors in a short amount of time, some with great bits of information or materials. We are now finally beginning to get copies of some of the more obscure films. And, we hope to soon have the investors page up. Our attorney is making sure it is absolutely legal before we put it out in front of the world.

The writing has begun, which will be the structure on which everything will hang. We have three writers working on it separately, so each will be able to create completely different ideas, which is very exciting. Then, even though we have a new Voice for Magoo in the demo, we are continuing to search, because we want to make sure we have the best available.

Rights are being negotiated, but it's slow going. However, there are other areas that have not even begun, such as animating Magoo and shooting dramatizations. But, if we can get the final script and rights wrapped within a month or two, we should be able to make our self-imposed deadline of September.

VII. Progress Report - 1 March 2005


Willie Pyle took us to lunch in his antique Rolls Royce

As we write this latest update, we have added three more interviews to shoot in the next couple of weeks, Bob Dranko, Eddie Friedman, and Mark Kausler. It will be hard to match our enjoyable interview with Willie Pyle last month in Seal Beach, riding to lunch in his Rolls Royce. But, of course, these interviews are not about luxurious lunches, but bringing UPA to a new generation. So, we are happily lining up everyone we can find, to talk about this ground breaking group of UPA artists. So, we are pushing ahead to get as many interviews in the can before our European interview tour in June.

We fly into New York on May 31, and have interviews set up with John Canemaker and Frank & Caroline Mouris. We are also trying to set up one or two more interviews there, before we leave for London on June 4th. Adam Abraham is helping us there, but we are open to any ideas from the vast internet audience.

We will be traveling around Europe for almost 5 weeks, and plan to interview people in London, Paris, Milan, Rome, Prague, and other capitals of European animation. But, the most exciting stop will probably be at the Annecy International Animation Festival in the French Alps, near Geneva. There we are looking to interview world animation leaders, who we might not otherwise have been able to meet. If possible, we will be showing a work-in-progress of in "UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo" to all interested parties. So, we welcome suggestions from anyone about people we can interview while in Europe. We fly back to LA from London, on July 12th.

Holding the fort while we are away, will be one of the newest members of our team, André Smith, who has been an invaluable help recently, working as camera operator, sound engineer, key grip, computer tech, and just all around general assistance. During the Europe trip, André will be our main contact in LA, sending important information to us, and receiving interview tapes from us. Destiny McCune will be making transcripts, and André will start putting together rough cuts, and handling the daily needs of the documentary production. The trip is still nearly three months away, but we need to prepare well in advance, so everything runs smoothly.

o

As the funds and materials come in and production proceeds, we will update more Progress Reports for this section of the site.

Click the "Contact Us" button, at the top or bottom of this page to ask us questions, and/or offer time, materials, funds, and/or information.

Click the "Funding" button and, if all goes well, by the middle of April, we will introduce the first interviews, films, and archival footage, that will be available for purchase, as one way to raise funds for the documentary, "UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo". You may also want to become an investor, to share in profits, but that's a risk, as there may not be profits.