In the fall of 1973 the new Disney cartoon feature ROBIN HOOD was to
be released at Thanksgiving. Unlike now there wasn't a new animated
feature every month or so. It had been three years since the last
Disney feature and it was basically only Disney that was making
theatrical animated features for North American release, so this was a
long-awaited film. We then found out that ROBIN HOOD would not open, in Canada at least,
until Christmas day, meaning we'd have to wait even longer! I decided
to take some of our people down to New York around Thanksgiving to see
ROBIN HOOD at Radio City Music Hall. Eastern airline return flights
were around $60 back then. Our two taxis pulled up to Radio City Music Hall, and there, big as
life, were the posters for----- a different movie! I went up to the
boxoffice and said that ROBIN HOOD was supposed to play at
Thanksgiving. Yes, it will be, I was told, at Thanksgiving. That's
when I realized we had gone down on the Canadian Thanksgiving, which
is always about a month before the American one! I knew that Disney had a New York City operation, we went over, not
knowing if there might be anything of interest to see. We were welcomed by a couple of people and they had a good laugh over
our predicament. They said that they had the first twenty minutes of
ROBIN HOOD that they showed to prospective merchandisers and to our
surprise it was all in pencil test form, yet with full mixed track and
camera moves. So we were able to see the raw animation itself, which
we appreciated. When I finally saw the final film I felt the pencil
test version was far more dynamic. Of course color seems to slow down
the actions of a pencil test, though the timing remains the same. In the end the mixup was a good thing. We got to meet the people
there, and some were former animators at Disney so we had a lot in
common to talk about. Over the next few years Disada did a lot of work
out of New York, and I went to the city fairly regularly. Meeting with
the guys at Disney over lunch was always an enjoyable part of my trips
there. One of the people had worked a lot on the rare Disney war
feature VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER of which little was known, so I
learned about that film. They had quite a lot of old storyboard
originals from the 1930s in albums. When I mentioned this to the
Archives in California on a later visit there, it led to their being
sent to the Archives, which felt it should have originals and that New
York should have only copies.
be released at Thanksgiving. Unlike now there wasn't a new animated
feature every month or so. It had been three years since the last
Disney feature and it was basically only Disney that was making
theatrical animated features for North American release, so this was a
long-awaited film. We then found out that ROBIN HOOD would not open, in Canada at least,
until Christmas day, meaning we'd have to wait even longer! I decided
to take some of our people down to New York around Thanksgiving to see
ROBIN HOOD at Radio City Music Hall. Eastern airline return flights
were around $60 back then. Our two taxis pulled up to Radio City Music Hall, and there, big as
life, were the posters for----- a different movie! I went up to the
boxoffice and said that ROBIN HOOD was supposed to play at
Thanksgiving. Yes, it will be, I was told, at Thanksgiving. That's
when I realized we had gone down on the Canadian Thanksgiving, which
is always about a month before the American one! I knew that Disney had a New York City operation, we went over, not
knowing if there might be anything of interest to see. We were welcomed by a couple of people and they had a good laugh over
our predicament. They said that they had the first twenty minutes of
ROBIN HOOD that they showed to prospective merchandisers and to our
surprise it was all in pencil test form, yet with full mixed track and
camera moves. So we were able to see the raw animation itself, which
we appreciated. When I finally saw the final film I felt the pencil
test version was far more dynamic. Of course color seems to slow down
the actions of a pencil test, though the timing remains the same. In the end the mixup was a good thing. We got to meet the people
there, and some were former animators at Disney so we had a lot in
common to talk about. Over the next few years Disada did a lot of work
out of New York, and I went to the city fairly regularly. Meeting with
the guys at Disney over lunch was always an enjoyable part of my trips
there. One of the people had worked a lot on the rare Disney war
feature VICTORY THROUGH AIR POWER of which little was known, so I
learned about that film. They had quite a lot of old storyboard
originals from the 1930s in albums. When I mentioned this to the
Archives in California on a later visit there, it led to their being
sent to the Archives, which felt it should have originals and that New
York should have only copies.
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