Monday, March 28, 2005
Undervalued Animator Victim of Bonehead Mistake
I got into a little animation history research yesterday. I have this video that lists Professor Bonehead Is Shipwrecked as the 1912 work of Emile Cohl. It also states that it was created in America.
1912 is the right date for Cohl to be in the U.S. of A. Tom Edison was using his patent to block foreign filmmakers from importing film at the time so a lot of French companies had U.S. studios so that they did not have to import.
Emile Cohl was at the Eclair Studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey from 1912 to 1914. (The studio burned down later helping to destroy his U.S rep. The ground the studio stood on is now the Fort Lee on ramp for the George Washington Bridge - a ramp I have used a lot in the past because there is no way to get out of Newark Airport without heading to the G.W. Bridge even if you do need to head into Jersey)
The first problem that arises with this video is that the title card clearly states that this is a Galmont America Film, the wrong studio for Cohl at this time.
The next problem is that there is clearly a panning run cycle / traveling background technique used in this film which means cell overlay or Rip and Slash. Can`t be done any other ways. Raul Berre` came up with Rip and Slash around 1913 or 1914, Bill Nolan came up with traveling background about the same time and Earl Hurd didn`t patent Cell Overlay until 1915 so the 1912 date is really out of the question.
The third problem is that it just does not look like the work of Emile Cohl. The subject matter does not seem like something he would tackle. The technique is crud in places where Cohl had already shown proficiency, and the drawing style does not match the other works of Cohl.
I love Emile Cohl's work and I would love for there to be more of it. I would love for him to have used cell overlay and panning run cycle / traveling background technique in 1912 and get some of the credit he deserves for creating the New York animation industry. (Which he did by the way - Emile Cohl`s studio was visited in about 1912 by 2 mysterious New York artists. Cohl was not very happy about the visit but his bosses made him give the tour. About 6 months later the first U.S. animation studio was founded clearly using lots of his animation techniques.)
Professor Bonehead Is Shipwrecked can not be a 1912 work that is fact, no way. The techniques just aren`t in place yet. I also very much doubt that it is the work of Emile Cohl.
I don`t know who put out this video with the wrong information or why they did so but I am sick and tired of sloppy scholarship in the early days of animation history. Internet Movie Data Base lists this as a 1916 work by Harry Palmer (good for them) but 80% of the other Internet sites give the 1912 Emile Cohl miss information and date from this video as fact and I fear that it will find its way into classrooms and even books.
1912 is the right date for Cohl to be in the U.S. of A. Tom Edison was using his patent to block foreign filmmakers from importing film at the time so a lot of French companies had U.S. studios so that they did not have to import.
Emile Cohl was at the Eclair Studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey from 1912 to 1914. (The studio burned down later helping to destroy his U.S rep. The ground the studio stood on is now the Fort Lee on ramp for the George Washington Bridge - a ramp I have used a lot in the past because there is no way to get out of Newark Airport without heading to the G.W. Bridge even if you do need to head into Jersey)
The first problem that arises with this video is that the title card clearly states that this is a Galmont America Film, the wrong studio for Cohl at this time.
The next problem is that there is clearly a panning run cycle / traveling background technique used in this film which means cell overlay or Rip and Slash. Can`t be done any other ways. Raul Berre` came up with Rip and Slash around 1913 or 1914, Bill Nolan came up with traveling background about the same time and Earl Hurd didn`t patent Cell Overlay until 1915 so the 1912 date is really out of the question.
The third problem is that it just does not look like the work of Emile Cohl. The subject matter does not seem like something he would tackle. The technique is crud in places where Cohl had already shown proficiency, and the drawing style does not match the other works of Cohl.
I love Emile Cohl's work and I would love for there to be more of it. I would love for him to have used cell overlay and panning run cycle / traveling background technique in 1912 and get some of the credit he deserves for creating the New York animation industry. (Which he did by the way - Emile Cohl`s studio was visited in about 1912 by 2 mysterious New York artists. Cohl was not very happy about the visit but his bosses made him give the tour. About 6 months later the first U.S. animation studio was founded clearly using lots of his animation techniques.)
Professor Bonehead Is Shipwrecked can not be a 1912 work that is fact, no way. The techniques just aren`t in place yet. I also very much doubt that it is the work of Emile Cohl.
I don`t know who put out this video with the wrong information or why they did so but I am sick and tired of sloppy scholarship in the early days of animation history. Internet Movie Data Base lists this as a 1916 work by Harry Palmer (good for them) but 80% of the other Internet sites give the 1912 Emile Cohl miss information and date from this video as fact and I fear that it will find its way into classrooms and even books.
