Welcome to Cartoon Conspiracies
where I attempt to unearth some questions and secrets about animation
history that have not necessarily been brought to the surface.
If
you're a die-hard animation buff like me, you're surely familiar with
Winsor McCay, the man that many have declared to be “the father of
animation.” McCay was an innovator in many ways. He was the first
to combine live action with animation in a vaudeville show called
Gertie the Dinosaur
where McCay stood on stage and interacted with an animated
brontosaurus. In Walt Disney's Sunday night television show, he
presented a re-enactment of this famous sketch which you can view
below:
McCay
was also the first to showcase a historic event in the animated
format. The Sinking of the Lusitania
was a short that may have premiered a full two years after the real
life disaster occurred, but for many, it was the first time they were
able to witness the ship's sinking in some form. Since little to no
film footage existed of the crash, McCay went to newspapers and dug
up everything his could on the fate of the Lusitania, making sure
that his portrayal of its demise was as accurate as possible.
McCay
is also one of the first men responsible for the idea of using
celluloid to draw cartoons. In McCay's earliest cartoon short, he
used normal paper to create over 4,000 individual drawings (which
some say he hand-colored all by himself). The result was Little
Nemo, a game-changer in the face
of animation:
Little Nemo, like
other silent film characters at the time such as Krazy Kat and
Colonel Heeza Liar, got his start in the Sunday comics. At the time,
comics were allowed to have space to breathe, and thus, McCay took
advantage of this and was able to create breathtaking scenery that is
still jaw-dropping to this day. Collections of the Little Nemo in
Slumberland (aka In the Land of Wonderful Dreams) comic strips are
not easy to come by for a decent price, but they are more than worth
your while.
Now, believe it or
not, Winsor McCay is not the subject of our article. His creation,
Little Nemo, was given a full length feature film in 1989. You've
probably heard of it. If you're only familiar with this film because
of a certain negative review by the Nostalgia Critic, I implore you
to ignore everything he said and give it a chance. It's not perfect,
but it's still a wonderful little film.
What
is most interesting about Little Nemo Adventures is
Slumberland is its background.
The film was originally going to involve Hayao Miyazaki*, and at
different points in the production cycle, Chuck Jones, George Lucas,
Chris Columbus, Moebius, John Canemaker, Brian Froud, and Ray
Bradbury all had a hand in it. (If you can't tell already, this was a
very troubled production.) Eventually, the film became of the many
collaborations between Disney and Tokyo Movie Shinsha, although not
officially.
As
seen in the film Waking Sleeping Beauty,
while production was going on with Disney's The Black
Cauldron, several of the
studio's best animators left briefly to contribute to Little
Nemo. Ken Anderson, Frank
Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and other Disney legends were brought in to
help with production. Even the Sherman Brothers wrote some new songs
for the film. This is where things get interesting.
Richard
and Robert Sherman are best known as the composers for Mary
Poppins, The Sword in
the Stone, The Jungle
Book, Bednobs and
Broomsticks, and other classic
Disney films. It was after The Aristocats
that the brothers mostly parted ways with Disney's animation
department, as they felt the new management at the studio (post-Walt
Disney's death) was too restricting. They went on to write songs for
others films such as Paramount's Charlotte's Web
and Snoopy Come Home.
Little Nemo in Slumberland
was a reunion of sorts for the brothers and Disney animation. Richard
and Robert wrote some material for the film that was completely
original....or did they?
One such song for
the production was “Etiquette.” It was used in a sequence where,
having chosen to the be the new playmate for the princess of
Slumberland, Nemo finds himself forced to learn the rule of royalty.
The lyrics are not especially creative, as far as Sherman Brothers
standards go, but it is an upbeat and fun song. However, would you
believe that it was originally written for a very different movie?
Waaaay
back in the 60's when the soundtrack for Mary Poppins
was being created, some of the original songs were cut in the
process. “Chimpanzoo” was one of those songs. As seen in this
clip from the Mary Poppins DVD (or Blu-Ray if you prefer), it was
meant to be sung during the characters' outing with Ed Wynn's Uncle
Alfred while having their tea party on the ceiling. As you can see,
the song is a lot bouncier and more whimsical. The lyrics have some
traditionally unique rhymes which one of the hallmarks of a Sherman
Brothers song. (If we really want to get intricate, the song's tune
bares a resemblance to “The Old Bamboo,” a song the brothers
would go on to pen for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.)
So
what happened? What is a song intended for Mary Poppins
doing in a Japanese/American animated feature from the 80's?
Apparently, the Sherman Brothers dusted an old song off twenty years
after the fact and used it for a box office bomb as opposed to the
Disney classic it was meant for. The reason I bring any of this up is
that I never have seen it addressed anywhere. Never I have turned on
a Disney DVD and seen Leonard Maltin go into detail about this story.
In fact, I own both The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
documentary and “Walt's Time: From Before to Beyond,” the
autobiography of the songwriters. Neither one of these mentions this
conspiracy. They both detail Mary Poppins
and Little Nemo, but
it is not mentioned that one influenced a portion of the other. This
is a small, but interesting, bit of trivia that I believe most
animation nuts are not familiar with, and I hope this sheds some
light on it.
Disney's
connection to the work of Winsor McCay can be still be seen today. At
Echo Lake in Disney's Hollywood Studios, Dinosaur Gertie's serve
prehistoric ice cream while paying tribute to a legend of animation.
Join us next time
as we uncover more little known conspiracies in the history of
animation.
By the
way, the photos of my collection and of Walt Disney World were taken
by me. All others were stolen from Google Images.
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