Tom Oreb’s Pegleg-less Pete Cat
The Tom Oreb model sheet below, irreverently titled “Pegleg-less Pete Cat,” was for a car commercial with Donald Duck, ca. 1955. There’s a cel from the commercial in the book, but we couldn’t fit in this model sheet.
That so many commercials with stylized Disney characters were produced at studio is nothing short of amazing. Had Walt known that his most famous characters were receiving such extreme makeovers, he never would have approved, and in fact, as soon as Walt found out about them, he forbade the commercial division from doing any more stylized versions of the characters. Fortunately, Oreb had already created dozens of reinterpretations of the Disney characters. His mastery of design and shapes is just amazing in these designs. Note how in the model sheet below he plays curves versus straights in Pete’s face. Even in straight-ahead poses, there is nothing even or boring about the character’s design.
such a genius indeed..did he ever make it to the other studios for perhaps some freelance work? I think Tom was exlusive to the disney stable because I’ve never read or seen (yet) of him contribute to projects without having the Disney studio involved in it. In my opinion I think he should be included among the nine old men.
Comment by lloyd — June 16, 2006 @ 2:38 am
one more thing..do you have some stuff on Hawley Pratt i love his layouts on the looney tunes of the DePatie-Freleng Era..perhaps some layout BGs?
Comment by lloyd — June 16, 2006 @ 2:44 am
Someone should take these designs and run with them!
That middle pose reminds me of the theatre poster for FIORELLO! - which is a whole other treasure chest of 50s/60s design.
Comment by Henry Lowengard — June 20, 2006 @ 4:25 am
Lloyd, he did some work for MGM (see Tex Avery’s Symphony in Slang). It’s a shame that he didn’t do more work. He was definitely underused during that era.
Amid, this model sheet is fantastic. I dream to make characters as interesting as this. Thanks for sharing!
Comment by Ward — June 22, 2006 @ 10:07 pm
thanks Ward, well just as i thought, i’d have to agree with what you said. I simply adore his work especially the stuff he did on television; the simplified versions of the Peter Pan Characters.
Comment by lloyd — June 25, 2006 @ 5:18 pm
Ward’s right. Oreb designed Avery’s SYMPHONY IN SLANG. He also did commercial design at Ray Patin Productions in the early-50s. I’ve seen a number of the spots on film but they’re otherwise fairly inaccessible. In 1955/56, he worked a stint at John Sutherland Productions where he designed industrial films like THE LITTLEST GIANT and DESTINATION EARTH. In 1959 and 1960, Oreb worked at UPA on the Dick Tracy and Magoo TV series. He also did freelance at other studios like Era Productions and Playhouse, but I haven’t had much luck tracking down a lot of his freelance work.
Comment by Amid — June 26, 2006 @ 3:58 am
so he did work outside Disney, i forgot that he was one of the designers of Destination Earth you even posted it here, what the hell is wrong with me. Anyway, i hope youtube has some Dick Tracy shorts posted coz last time i checked they had none, i was so glad when i found out they had posted the McBoing Boing short well thanks Ward, Amid for the invaluable info.
Comment by lloyd — June 27, 2006 @ 9:59 pm
This ISN’T in the book? Awww! Well, if this didn’t make the cut, then that must be some book!
Comment by John — July 5, 2006 @ 6:19 am
Believe me John, it really hurt having to cut this out of the book. But there’s a cel in the book from a commercial featuring this version of Pegless Pete. More importantly, Oreb’s model for stylized Mickey is in the book, and that alone should be worth the price of admission.
Comment by Amid — July 5, 2006 @ 11:08 am