The early face of animation

The absence of speech was accepted in early media. Perhaps tolerated by the audiences, and  celebrated by the actors who cut their teeth in silent cinema. Indeed, many silent actors mourned the loss of the silent era,The dawn of the moving image was a new media, and therefore the new way of acting was a novel thing. Doubly so when it came to humorous moving “comics”. However, as technology advanced, the desire for the full experience advanced too. Novelty was moving into art. 

The “acting” of cartoon characters during the silent era is bouncy, and in the same “rubberhose” animation style of the next few years. In the “illusion of life”, it is noted that in the early days emotions were shown in a very “elemental way”. As a silent actor would powder their faces and ring their eyes in kohl to loudly express into the silent void, so did the rubber mask faces of animations early stars act as a means to express the temporarily inexpressible. 

In a true moment of art imitating life, this meant even the stars of silent animations were sidelined for singing and chattering new faces. Koko the clown, a true celebrity of early animation was sidelined for newer, more vocal stars. He did not, however, vanish from the screen, but was occasionally wheeled out to be the vehicle for the celebrity voice of jazz superstar Cab Calloway, or as a comic foil for the more popular Betty Boop and Bimbo the dog. Sound allowed him to remain relevant, even if only for a while, before vanishing into the obscure annals of history.

Betty boop on the other hand was the face of this new era for Fleischer. A babyfaced flapper, originating as a female-dog character for a previously more popular Bimbo the Dog. As the use of sound developed, she lost her unattractive canine features and became a decidedly human woman.

The character is also notable to this day for her “sexy/cute” voice, the product of a search for the perfect voice for the character. They not only been able to sing, but deliver lines and act in a way quite different in any form of entertainment before this. Acting for a fictional being, an animated third party, was a new experience for actors and animators alike. Sound was the bridge between reality and fiction.

The Great Vaudeville migration

From its introduction in France in the early 19th century, Vaudeville grew in great popularity in the United states. From 1880, to the early 1930’s the drastically changed face of popular entertainment was the stomping ground of many of Hollywood’s earliest stars, many of whom made the leap from the stage to the screen with terrific success. 

Mae West, the sharp witted queen of the bawdy comedy, was one of those actresses. With an early career in vaudeville, she made the move to Hollywood in the early 1930s. She states in her autobiography (“Goodness had nothing to do with it”(1959) ) that the release of the first “talkie” , Al Jolson's (poorly aged, and shockingly racist to audiences today)“the jazz singer” that “the bottom had fallen out of the golden goose” and that “the golden days of the pioneer dream merchants was over” She was there to scoop up the opportunity, and with a husky and distinctive voice, took the silver screen by storm.

The movies wanted actors who knew how to talk, and the physical silent comedy, or close mouthed dramatic romance was a thing of the past. To this day, the average person who could not pick West out of a lineup would most certainly understand a hackneyed impression in dulcet tones “come up and see me sometime”. A misquote, but one that has been repeated into history. Sound sells, and sound stays in the collective memory.

An interesting turn in animation of this era, was the obsession with the stars of Hollywood. Animation had a few “stars”, Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop to name a few, but the allure of real world actors was too financially tempting to ignore, and had to be adopted somehow, to cash in on this collective adoration for film actors.

Animation was a form of media ripe for parodies and caricature, and while dancing frogs and trees were all well and good, the audience was split between the full sound, full colour, but often poor quality Vaudeville shows, and the silent albeit it musically scored, black and white screen which offered a more fantastic spectacle.

 West herself shows up in a few star-studded animations of the era. In the 1933 Flip the Frog “the soda squirt” West appears as a customer so attractive she melts the soda Jerks ice cream right of the cone. What is awkward and  noticeable, is the poorly lip synched and badly imitated voice. It makes the viewer question who this character even is. Flip the Frog was not by any means a “polished” cartoon, and stood the test of time much worse than other characters of the time, such as Mickey Mouse, and Betty Boop, who, unlike flip, have distinctive and imitable voices. She is parodied not two years later in the Disney 1935 Silly Symphony “Who killed cock robin”. Here she is portrayed as the glamorous “jenny wren” and the impact is greater. She not only has the mannerisms, but the husky voice to match. It’s a hit. 

Another great vaudeville act that successfully bumbled, joked and honked their way into sound cinema were the Marx brothers. The comedy act turns up time and again in animation of the time, and thanks to the horn honking antics of Harpo Marx, often no other brother is voiced. It can be as simple as that, a honking horn, and the crowd is hooked.

West in 1933 (Flip the Frog, the Soda Squirt)

A more convincing West in 1935 (Silly Symphonies- Who Killed Cock Robin?)

West attracts the attention of the Marx Brothers 1933 (Flip the Frog, the Soda Squirt)

Welcome to this Blog

This blog will be “reporting” on the impact that the advent of sound had on the popularity and the development of early animation.

We will be exploring the importance placed on sound in motion picture entertainment in its early years, from so called silent films to the introduction of talkies. Animation was right there on the silver screen, dogging the footsteps, and at time aping the

 We will be looking primarily at the era between 1927, and 1937, which covers in western animation, the era from the first feature film to feature synced sound, to the premiere of the Walt Disney picture Snow White. This era ushered in a new era entertainment, from the shaky baby steps of the post vaudeville era.

We will begin with the pre-animation/motion picture era of vaudeville, to see the landscape in which this new entertainment form began, and developed legs of its own.