Technicolor News & Views (June 1951)

Dr« Kalmus inspects the vast "color lab," wherein thousands of jars of paint reflect every hue of the rainbow. More than 1000 shades are maintained in stock. A Disney laboratory worker mixes dry pigment in the preparation of paint. He will add liquid compounded from a "secret formula" which causes the paint to adhere firmly to celluloid and prevents cracking. BETTY HUTTON- TECHNICOLOR'S SUPER-SALESWOMAN In Hollywood, the majority of actors and actresses are staunch supporters of TECHNICOLOR, but none more eloquently so than Betty Hutton. “It’s not just my preference for a ‘prettier picture,’ ” Betty insists. “No, indeed—my liking for technicolor can be figured on a straight dollars-and-cents basis. I look better in it; audiences like me better in it. And besides, it usually results in higher grosses at the box office—which all of us like to see.” That the actress has the courage of her conviction in the matter is best illustrated by an anecdote relating to one of her pic- tures of a few years ago. She had been signed for a musical called “Let’s Dance,” in which she was to co-star with Fred Astaire. For Betty, this was more than a good role opposite an established, well-loved screen favorite. It was the reali- zation of a years-long dream—Betty Hutton, the poor kid from Battle Creek, Mich., who had literally sung and danced for her sup- per in those lean days, now the dancing- partner of the greatest master of modern terpsichore that the American stage and screen had ever known. Glowing at the wonderful prospect be- fore her, Betty learned with a definite shock that the picture was to be made in black- and-white. CONTINUED ON PAGE SEVEN WONDERLAND-IN COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE Grauman, master showman whose business acumen even then was legendary in Holly- wood. Grauman took one look at the new TECHNICOI.OR film Sample and fairly erupted with excitement. “Walt, if you make ‘Flowers and Trees’ in the TECHNICOLOR process, you’ve got a booking at the Chinese,” he said. “The picture and technicolor are made for each other! ” This was Disney’s opinion, too—but there was one obstacle. “Flowers and Trees,” a Silly Symphony, was already half com- pleted in black and white. “I started on the greatest campaign of persuasion in my life,” Disney said. “There were plenty of our associates — including sales and financial — who thought I was crazy. Cartoons sold well in black and white, they argued. Why change?” Whatever the arguments in the negative, Disney’s must have been better. The mono- tone version of “Flowers and Trees” was scrapped, and the venture begun anew in Color by technicolor. Its reception by the public afforded the greatest testimonial to the Disney personal judgment that it has ever received. That particular Silly Sym- phony broke all existing records. A girl places "color key" letters and numbers on model sheets as guides for Disney artists. Coloring on individual "cells" (frames) is then done according to numbered areas on the master model sheet. From then on, the hand-in-glove future of Disney and technicolor was clear. “The Three Little Pigs” constituted another sweeping triumph of color for the Disney studio. In 1935, Disney turned to full-scale TECHNICOLOR, and has worked exclusively in the medium ever since, except for a few official government films connected with the war effort. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” be- gun in 1935 and completed in late 1937, was the first feature-length Disney film. It brought the fullest acclaim of critics and public to the shy, modest man who pos- sesses an uncanny knack of imbuing tiny brush-and-ink creatures with full-grown, immensely appealing personalities. Count- ing productions currently on the drawing boards, exactly 19 feature-length pictures in Color by TECHNICOLOR have been es- - 2 - sayed by Disney over the 16-year period since the first. “Alice in Wonderland” is the film the world is eagerly awaiting at this moment— and it will be released through RKO shortly. With “Alice,” Disney and his staff feel they have achieved a new peak in artistry and TECHNICOLOR excellence. “Perhaps it’s not the greatest picture we’ll ever make,” Disney commented, “for I hope never to stop improving our product. But, up to now, ‘Alice’ is our top. There were no problems of technique to solve, no ‘bugs’ to work out. We knew where we were going, every single minute of the time, and I think we got there.” Slated for the future is “Peter Pan” and “The Story of Robin Hood,” the latter to be filmed in England entirely in live action. Disney experimented with this more ortho- dox medium in some of his earlier films, inserting live-action sequences in “Saludos Amigos” (1942), “The Three Caballeros” (1945), “Song of the South” (1946)—in which latter two films animated and live fig- ures performed together—“Fun and Fancy Free” (1947) and “Melody Time” (1948). The success of the all-live “So Dear To My Heart,” followed by the recent “Treasure Island,” has convinced Disney that he can transfer to human drama the same whimsi- cal imagery and appeal which characterizes his cartoon fables, continued on page eight A laboratory worker mixes paint to match the "standard color chart." So accurate are these values that a Disney artist can use a color by number, perfectly assured that the superimpo- sition of the clear plastic of a "cell"—which alters the color fractionally—will bring it ex- actly up to a desired matching shade. Cameraman photographs completed individual "cells" superimposed on background. "Cell" is replaced with another, advancing action, with each frame of film.