The 200th Post!

I can’t begin to express how much it means that you readers to take time out of your Sundays to read my blog. I submitted my first two blog posts, my introductory post and my first official post on Ben Wright (voice of Roger in 101 Dalmatians (1961) and Grimsby in The Little Mermaid (1989)) on May 25th, 2015, which means that by tomorrow it will have been five years since I started writing this blog which is very hard to believe! 

Looking back on this epic journey, I know I have had a ball with every post that I’ve written. On some pieces I wrote information on subjects that I’ve known about for quite a while, and on others I wrote things that I didn’t discover until I researching them. Amazingly, a lot of those pieces got more reads than I ever could have expected—and in honor of the fact that today will be my 200th post—I thought we could re-explore what made those pieces interesting. Here are the “top-read” blogs from the last five years:  

On March 24th, 2019, I posted the blog “Women Directors: Great Work for a Long Time.” In that blog, I explored how women directors have been directing movies for almost as long as men, but haven’t always received the attention they deserved. From Penny Marshall (dir. of Big (1988), A League of Their Own (1992)), to Nora Ephron (dir. of Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You’ve Got Mail (1998)) to Greta Gurwig (dir. of Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019)), moviegoers benefit greatly from their contributions, and I’m encouraged that female directors are starting to have an equal voice in the movie-making industry. 

On September 30th, 2018, I posted a piece called  “Maurice Chevalier: The Real Lumiere.” This blog acknowledged the legacy of Maurice Chevalier, who was a popular entertainer in both France and America. He appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s (MGM’s) Gigi (1958) and Disney’s In Search of the Castaways (1962) and Monkey’s Go Home (1967) and—my personal favorite— he sang the opening title song in The Aristocats (1970). And after his passing his trademark “boater hat, tuxedo, and cane,” look served as the inspiration for the character of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast (1991).  

On March 31st, 2019, I we looked at “Carl and Rob: Like Father, Like Son.” This blog was about the legacies of Carl and Rob Reiner, who have both written and/or produced/directed television shows and films that have made us laugh. Carl gave us The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966) and the films The Thrill of It All (1963) and Enter Laughing (1967) while Rob broke ground inventing the “mockumentary” genre with This Is Spinal Tap (1984) and then The Princess Bride (1987) and When Harry Met Sally (1989) which he collaborated with Nora Ephron. Few father and son pairs bring that kind of magic to screens. 

On August 24th, 2018, I published the blog “Joe Johnston: Visual Effects Turned Directing Wizard,” a blog telling the story of Joe Johnston, a man who began his career as a storyboard artist on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) and provided the final designs for the characters of Boba Fett and Yoda, along with the vehicles: “Millennium Falcon, X-Wings, Y-Wings, Imperial Star Destroyer, Death Star, and the AT-AT’s.” He also was on the visual effects design team for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) which won him and the rest of the team a well deserved Oscar. He ultimately worked his way up to directing, and started that part of his career, directing Disney’s Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and The Rocketeer (1991). No doubt he is a true movie-making wizard.

It has been incredible these last five years getting to share these bits of information to you readers. Whether you have read all 200 of my posts, or just some of them, I will be forever grateful you all for reading them and I look forward to sharing more information with you in the future. Thanks again!

John Lounsbery: Disney’s Funniest Animator

Some of my earlier blogs have explored Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men.” The “Nine Old Men,” were handpicked to do artwork at the Walt Disney Studios and their exceptional skills helped each of them rise to being the top nine animators at the studio, each of whom left their own legacy at the studio. They also maintained close friendships with Walt Disney throughout his life and several continued working for the studio after Walt’s unfortunate passing on December 15th, 1966. Throughout my blog, we’ve explored the stories and legacies of all but one of the “Nine Old Men,” and I thought we could explore his story today. His name is John Lounsbery.

John Lounsbery was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 9th, 1911, though he was raised in Denver, Colorado. He attended East Denver High School and the Art Institute of Denver. He later relocated again to Los Angeles where he attended the ArtCenter College of Design. While attending there, he had an instructor tell him that Walt Disney was looking for artists and sent him to a job interview. He officially became a Disney employee on July 2nd, 1935 and started his career at the studio as an assistant animator on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). He was mentored under Norm Ferguson who was known at Disney for his creative use of broad, physical movements to suggest acting and personality for characters instead of inner emotions.

John Lounsbery applied that technique to animating characters such as J. Worthington Foulfellow and his sidekick Gideon in Pinocchio (1940). This effort promoted him to film sequence director and next he directed the sequences between Dumbo and his friend Timothy Q. Mouse in Dumbo (1941). He also applied this technique to short films, such as Society Dog Show (1939), and Donald’s Dog Laundry (1940). One of John Lounsbery’s all time favorite Disney characters to animate was Pluto. He was inspired to like Pluto because his mentor, Norm Ferguson, also known at the studio as “Fergy,” also was a fan of Pluto. They liked Pluto because they both thought the character’s thinking process and personality was appealing and fascinating. Lounsbery disliked that Pluto was given more human traits in shorts later produced at the studio. “Pluto was pure dog,” he said. “That’s the way Fergy conceived him.”

John Lounsbery became popular at the studio for directing animated sequences that in a sense, featured slapstick comedy. He directed Donald Duck and his friends, Jose and Panchito, in The Three Caballeros (1944), the Wolf in the “Peter and the Wolf” sequence in Make Mine Music (1946) and Mickey Mouse, Jiminy Cricket, and Willie the Giant in Fun and Fancy Free (1947). In the 1950s, he directed the sequences with the Mice, Cat, Dog, and Horse in Cinderella (1950), the Flowers in Alice in Wonderland (1951), and Tony and Joe’s funny exchange pre-the “Bella Notte” sequence in Lady and the Tramp (1955) as well as King Stefan and King Hubert’s drinking argument in Sleeping Beauty (1959). He directed the barn scene in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) in which the barn animals help the dalmatians evade Horace and Jasper and kick the two crooks off to the side.

Overall, Lounsbery said he preferred just regular character animation and didn’t enjoy directing. He continued character animation on the Goofy short Aquamania (1961) and the farm animals in Mary Poppins (1964). In the ‘70s he was promoted yet again to directing both short films and feature lengths. His short directorial debut was Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974), and he directed the features The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) and The Rescuers (1977), collaborating with Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman, who was another one of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men.” Suddenly, John Lounsbery died tragically due to heart failure during surgery on February 13th, 1976 at the age of 64.

Edward Hansen, who was a production manager and administrator for Walt Disney Animation Studios from 1952-1984 said that “Even in the thick of production, John would always put down the pencil to talk to you. We saw Lounsbery as a god who occupied a place in animation as high as you could get.” It really is a shame that John Lounsbery didn’t live a very long life, but each of his contributions to Disney are humorous and endearing and it’s even more refreshing to know that he was also a kind, generous man.    

S. Ann Sullivan: Someone to Notice

Throughout the history of the Walt Disney Studios, there have been many “unsung” talents. From painter Tyrus Wong, captured feelings in his background paintings for Bambi (1942) to actress Verna Felton who was re-hired by the studio more than any other actor to lend her voice to various animated movies (i.e. Dumbo (1941), Cinderella (1950), The Jungle Book (1967), there were many others who contributed wonderful things for the work of the studio. Unless you read all of the end credits, you never even saw their names. One who deserves some attention is Sara “S.” Ann Sullivan. 

Sara Ann McNeese was born on April 10th, 1929 in Fargo, North Dakota. As an adult, she relocated with her sister to California intent on pursuing a career as a painter. She enrolled at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California where she ultimately graduated and afterwards, was fortunate enough to land a job in the animation paint lab at Disney Studios as a cel painter (who is someone who draws objects on paper and applies them to celluloid, or “cel” as it’s known in the industry). Not long after working on her first film, Peter Pan (1953), she left her job and married Kevin Sullivan, starting a family which would grow to include four children: two daughters, Shannon and Liz, and two sons, Joe and Tom. Sadly, her marriage dissolved in the early 1970s, but she was determined to get back to work at Disney.

She originally restarted her career at Hanna-Barbera productions and painted cels for the short film Freedom 2000 (1974) and the show The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977-1978). Ultimately, she was rehired by Disney in the mid-1980s and began working in the paint lab again on cels for films like Oliver & Company (1988), The Little Mermaid (1989) and the short The Prince and the Pauper (1990), which starred Mickey Mouse. She also briefly worked in the paint labs at Warner Bros., Paramount, and Fox for the films Rover Dangerfield (1991), Cool World (1992), and The Pagemaster (1994). 

The rest of her career was at Disney. She continued painting cells for Disney greats such as The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), Hercules (1997), Tarzan (1999), and Fantasia 2000 (1999). In the 2000s, she painted for The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), Lilo & Stitch (2002), and Treasure Planet (2002), officially retiring from Disney after painting for Home on the Range (2004). Even after she retired, she never lost her passion for painting—teaching art to the children of the neighborhood where she lived with her family in La Mirada, California. Her daughter, Shannon, has described her as “beach” mom, because she loved to visit the beach as well as paint it. Other subjects for her landscapes included portraits of her family members and Jimi Hendrix. She even painted an abstract version of Goofy and Daisy Duck. 

Ms. Sullivan is an unfortunate victim of our unique time, passing away on April 13th, 2020 due to complications from COVID-19, just three days after her 91st birthday. She was a resident of the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home in Woodland Hills, CA, during her final years and another resident who lived there, Chaplain Dina Kuperstock, said that she was nicknamed “Giggles” there because “she had the best laugh of any person I’ve ever known.” I’m sure we can all agree that “The Little Mermaid,” and “The Lion King,” and each of the aforementioned Disney films wouldn’t be the classics that they are had it not been for her beautiful cel paintings. The Disney Studios were lucky to have her on their team, and her work leaves a remarkable legacy.  

Anika Noni Rose: We Gotta Hand It To Her

Anika Noni Rose has been performing on Broadway, Television, and Film for a little over 20 years now. Although that is a short amount of time when compared to other performers, she has already left a remarkable legacy on the entertainment industry, playing strong-willed, African-American women—one of whom was Disney’s first African-American Princess! So far, her career has been quite fascinating.

Anika Noni Rose was born in Bloomfield, Connecticut on September 6th, 1972, to John and Claudia Rose. She developed an interest in acting in High School, performing in a production her Freshman Year. She attended Florida A&M University where she got a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre and then she started studying drama at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California.

She then relocated to New York and in three months’ time, booked her first professional acting job: the role of Rusty in the original cast of the Broadway premiere of Footloose in 1998. She also made her television debut, appearing in episodes of the series Third Watch (1999-2005) and 100 Centre Street (2001-2002). Her “big break,” role however, came six years later when she landed the role of Emmie Thibodeaux in the original Broadway musical Caroline, or Change. (Ironically, the character of Emmie is actually a teenager in the show who supports Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement.) The role won her the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Prior to appearing in this show, however, she also appeared in the film From Justin to Kelly (2003). 

After appearing in an uncredited role as a church choir singer in the movie Temptation (2004), Rose was cast in the role of Lorrell Robinson in Bill Condon’s adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls (2006) starring alongside Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson. The role of Lorrell Robinson required her to wear six inch heels while they filmed the “Dreamgirls” title number just so she could appear right on camera with Knowles and Hudson, which unfortunately caused her discomfort. (Ironically though, Lorrell Robinson is supposed to be the youngest of the “Dreamgirls” trio. In reality Anika Noni Rose is older than both Hudson and Knowles.) Although her performance in the film was sadly overlooked by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Rose did however receive a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Award Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

After making “Dreamgirls,” Anika Noni Rose later beat out Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce Knowles for the voice-over role of Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009). While making the film she requested to Mark Henn, “Tiana’s" supervising animator, that Tiana be left-handed because she is left-handed in real life. “Princess and the Frog,” became the first Disney animated musical to feature a voice cast doing both the speaking and the singing parts of their characters since Beauty and the Beast (1991), and the film received Oscar Nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Songs “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans.” After being cast as Tiana, Rose was quoted as having said “I remember seeing ‘Snow White’ and saying to my mother, ‘Will there ever be a Chocolate Brown?’ She said ‘Probably. Why not?’ I just never thought that the first black princess would be me.”

Voicing Tiana earned Rose the Disney Legend Award in 2011, which is an award that can be given to anyone who has made a special/unique contribution to the Walt Disney Company. She was awarded the night of August 19th, 2011, along with three other Disney voice-over legends, Jodi Benson (voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989)), Paige O’Hara (voice of Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991)) and Lea Salonga (singing voices of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin (1992) and Mulan in Mulan (1998)). All four ladies took turns performing songs from each of the movies, and they also performed a quartet of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” from Cinderella (1950). Rose continues to be the voice of Tiana, including in the special Disney princess cameo in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph (2012).

Before “Princess and the Frog,” Rose starred in an all-black cast in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ Cat On a Hot Tin Roof in 2008. She starred in Tyler Perry’s film For Colored Girls (2010) opposite Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Phylicia Rashad. In 2013, she appeared in role of Angelica Schyler in the workshop production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton at the Vassar College. In 2014, she returned to Broadway a third time in a revival of A Raisin in the Sun. She also continues to appear on television, making guest-star appearances on The Simpsons (1989-present), Bates Motel (2013-2017), and The Quad (2017-2018).

Anika Noni Rose is an exceptional and versatile performer and her body of work is impressive. She’s played roles that did require her to sing and some that didn’t require her to sing, many of which were groundbreaking. Her career certainly deserveså a round of applause!