Cartoon Modern

A few weeks ago, Jerry posted this ’50s Disney commercial on Cartoon Brew. Below is another Disney spot for Nash cars featuring a stylized Jiminy Cricket. Tom Oreb was responsible for the streamlining of the Disney characters in these commercials; Vic Haboush likely did background layout.

And here’s a nice cel set-up from the commercial. (Click on it for the big version.) I can’t remember how this ended up in my files, but if I’m not mistaken, it comes from the collection of John Canemaker.

ADVENTURES IN MUSIC: MELODY (1953) was Ward Kimball’s directorial debut at Disney. I think it’s a fairly uneven film, both visually and conceptually although there’s still a lot to appreciate in it and I always enjoy watching it. Below are some frames that I scanned in from a 35mm print of the film. They were originally intended for the book, but alas, a lack of space meant they had to be cut out. It actually worked out fine because now everybody can enjoy the stills in hi-res here on the blog. Click on each image to get a supersized version of each image.

And to wrap up the week, here’s some assorted art by Vic. Top to bottom: early-50s art school sketches of jazz musicians, including Gerry Mulligan; some jazzy cats for an unidentified project (probably not GAY PURREE); and a concept drawing for an unproduced religious project at Sutherland’s.

(click on images for larger versions)

Vic made these bold color styling suggestions for the Disney short GOLIATH II (1960), based on the Bill Peet story. Needless to say, Disney didn’t use this approach, and opted for more conservative color styling by veteran background painter Ralph Hulett.

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Vic Haboush week continues at Cartoon Modern with these paintings of sophisticated nightclub scenes. I wasn’t able to positively identify what project, or even studio, they were created for, otherwise they would have most certainly been in the book. The paintings may have been for some unproduced industrial at Sutherland’s. They sort of remind me of Shag’s work, except Vic understands how to use color and create dynamic compositions.

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It’s Vic Haboush week at Cartoon Modern and I’ll be showing examples of his work all week long. I first met Vic back in 2000 while I was researching the life of Tom Oreb for ANIMATION BLAST #6, and we’ve been good friends since. As a sidenote, I’d actually taken figure drawing classes from his son, the supertalented Auguste Haboush, before I’d ever met, or even heard, of Vic. Small world. Vic worked in animation for only a decade or so, before starting his own studio, the Haboush Company, and becoming a successful live-action commercial director.

During his ten years in animation, he was an assistant art director on MELODY (1953) and TOOT WHISTLE PLUNK & BOOM (1953), a layout artist on LADY AND THE TRAMP (1955), SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959) and 101 DALMATIANS (1961), and the art director of UPA’s GAY PURREE (1962), as well as art directing a number of shorts at John Sutherland Productions, such as this classic industrial. With credits like that, I can see why Vic decided to set aside animation: if you’ve already worked on the best, why work on the rest? While Vic’s later career focused mostly on live-action, his company also produced numerous animated TV commercials and shorts, including the Oscar-nominated cartoon THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF UNCLE SAM: PART TWO (1970). Vic was lured back to feature animation a few years ago, and contributed visual development on THE IRON GIANT (1999). You can see some of Vic’s recent paintings at Haboush.net.

This week, I wanted to share some of Vic’s animation artwork from the 1950s. A lot of the work that’ll be posted here deserves to be in the book, but I wasn’t able to fit it in, either for lack of space or because I couldn’t get definite identifications on the pieces. To kick things off, here are a couple concept paintings from the 1950s. Vic recalls that they may have been done for a Donald Duck short, though I can’t imagine which one.

(click on images for larger versions)