Iwerks was working for Walt Disney when he accepted a contract with Disney's former distributor, Pat Powers, to leave Disney and start an animation studio under his own name. The Iwerks Studio opened in 1930. Financial backers led by Pat Powers suspected that Iwerks was responsible for much of Disney's early success.
Newly hired animator Fred Kopietz recommended that Iwerks employ a friend from Chouinard Art School, Chuck Jones, who was hired and put to work as a cel washer.
Despite a contract with MGM to distribute the cartoons, the Iwerks Studio was never a major commercial success and failed to rival either Walt Disney Studio or Fleischer Studios. In 1936, backers withdrew financial support from the Iwerks Studio, and it folded soon after.
Charactersedit
Iwerks created the characters Flip the Frog, and later Willie Whopper. Several short films was made with both characters.
The Flip the Frog series was the first series from the Iwerks Studio, produced 1930 to 1933.
As the series progressed, Flip became more of a down-and-out, Chaplin-esque character who always found himself in everyday conflicts surrounding the poverty-stricken atmosphere of the Great Depression. After the first two cartoons, the appearance of Flip the Frog gradually became less froglike.
The Willie Whopper series was the second from the Iwerks Studio. 14 shorts were produced 1933 to 1934.
Willie is a young lad who tells of his many outlandish adventures, which are then depicted on-screen. His fantastic accounts are, in fact, outright lies or "whoppers". His stories are usually preceded by his memorable catchphrase, "Say, did I ever tell ya this one?" The character's first film was "The Air Race" (1933).
From 1933 to 1936, the studio release a series of shorts (independently distributed, not part of the MGM deal) in Cinecolor, named ComiColor cartoons, which mostly focused on fairy tales with no continuing character or star. They are now in the public domain.
Iwerks also experimented with stop-motion animation in combination with the multiplane camera. Multiplane animation was Iwerks most prestigious invention.[1] It allowed for a three-dimensional look, separating layers of the background, resulting in a greater feeling of depth.[1] He made a short called "The Toy Parade", which was never released in public. The 1934 animated short "The Headless Horseman" was the first time Iwerks used the technique.[1]
^ abcLenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 68. ISBN0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
November 26, 2023
iwerks, studio, animation, studio, headed, animator, iwerks, contents, financing, characters, flip, frog, willie, whopper, comicolor, cartoon, series, filmography, image, gallery, referencesfinancing, editiwerks, working, walt, disney, when, accepted, contract. Iwerks Studio was an animation studio headed by animator Ub Iwerks Contents 1 Financing 2 Characters 2 1 Flip the Frog 2 2 Willie Whopper 3 ComiColor cartoon series 4 Filmography 5 Image gallery 6 ReferencesFinancing editIwerks was working for Walt Disney when he accepted a contract with Disney s former distributor Pat Powers to leave Disney and start an animation studio under his own name The Iwerks Studio opened in 1930 Financial backers led by Pat Powers suspected that Iwerks was responsible for much of Disney s early success Newly hired animator Fred Kopietz recommended that Iwerks employ a friend from Chouinard Art School Chuck Jones who was hired and put to work as a cel washer Despite a contract with MGM to distribute the cartoons the Iwerks Studio was never a major commercial success and failed to rival either Walt Disney Studio or Fleischer Studios In 1936 backers withdrew financial support from the Iwerks Studio and it folded soon after Characters editIwerks created the characters Flip the Frog and later Willie Whopper Several short films was made with both characters Flip the Frog edit Main article Flip the Frog The Flip the Frog series was the first series from the Iwerks Studio produced 1930 to 1933 As the series progressed Flip became more of a down and out Chaplin esque character who always found himself in everyday conflicts surrounding the poverty stricken atmosphere of the Great Depression After the first two cartoons the appearance of Flip the Frog gradually became less froglike Willie Whopper edit Main article Willie Whopper The Willie Whopper series was the second from the Iwerks Studio 14 shorts were produced 1933 to 1934 Willie is a young lad who tells of his many outlandish adventures which are then depicted on screen His fantastic accounts are in fact outright lies or whoppers His stories are usually preceded by his memorable catchphrase Say did I ever tell ya this one The character s first film was The Air Race 1933 ComiColor cartoon series editMain article ComiColor From 1933 to 1936 the studio release a series of shorts independently distributed not part of the MGM deal in Cinecolor named ComiColor cartoons which mostly focused on fairy tales with no continuing character or star They are now in the public domain Iwerks also experimented with stop motion animation in combination with the multiplane camera Multiplane animation was Iwerks most prestigious invention 1 It allowed for a three dimensional look separating layers of the background resulting in a greater feeling of depth 1 He made a short called The Toy Parade which was never released in public The 1934 animated short The Headless Horseman was the first time Iwerks used the technique 1 Filmography editMain article Ub Iwerks StudioImage gallery edit nbsp Jack Frost 1934 nbsp Little Black Sambo 1935 nbsp Sinbad the Sailor 1935 nbsp Balloon Land 1935 References edit a b c Lenburg Jeff 1999 The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons Checkmark Books p 68 ISBN 0 8160 3831 7 Retrieved 31 July 2022 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Iwerks Studio amp oldid 1179474329, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
