The discovery thread briefly mentioned cartoons and comics as a source of design inspiration and I wanted to comment on that.
I just bought a huge 12 disk set of the old Warner Brothers cartoon shorts. You just don't see them on TV anyome and I loved them as a kid and missed seeing them. Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner/Coyote series were always my favorites. Watching these again I am struck by two things.
First, is the prevalence of california modern ala' Eichler, Neutra, Shindler etc, style buildings an homes that are common in these cartoons. There is one in pareticular where Bugs Bunny is heckling an opera singer whose home looks like it came directly from the Case Study Series. I have remembered that cartoon all my life and have always admired that housing design and the plans for my new home are very much in that style.
Second, is the fact that the Roadrunner/Coyote cartooons are all set in the Southwest in surroundings that look very much like the part of New Mexico that I am relocating to.
So...it seems that I'm a product of my formative years watching cartoons. Soon, I'll be living in a cartoon house in a cartoon landscape!
I suspect that
whatever 'modern' furnishings seen in any of the late 40's and early 50's WB cartoons is purely an influence by the animators living in California in the 40's and 50's and being around the new post-war modern looks.
Unfortunately, in terms of animation, 1938-1949 was really the heyday in terms of the level of animation quality and story construction. In the 1950's, influenced by Columbia's UPA limited animation, most cartoons got more simplistic and even thought the stories continues to be good, the animation wasn't quite as amazing.
Huh!? I have the opposite reaction.
I'd say it's obvious that since the WB animator's lived in California during a time when modernism was developing that this is why the style is featured in the cartoons. That's a no-brainer, really.
But as to the late 30's and early 40's being the heyday, I feel absolutely the opposite to your reaction. The disks I bought have those older cartoons as well and I find them to be disjointed in story development and that the characters have no defined personalities unlike the later cartoons. I also find that the earlier ones are much too topically focused on the time period that they were made in and make references to current events that are no longer relevant.
Conversely, in the 50's, Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and crew spent a lot of effort to develop distinct personalities for Bugs, Daffy, Elmer Fudd, etc. They create a signature animation style for each character series as well. I also find that the gags and jokes are more universal and still funny now, where as the older ones aren't funny to me at all.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Anyway,
Yes, Olive. I have noticed the same in these classic cartoons. I have always loved their "set" design.
Occasionally, they use this style where the background is basically monochromatic ... or sometimes one color with outlined art. I love it.
The soundtracks also can't be beat. I have always been amazed that their talent for matching the action of the story with the orchestral sound effects and the musical mood. Such a challenge it must have been!
Whitespike
I was not whining, nor was I saying that Olive was not entitled to her opinion. What were you reading?
My original reply was her suggesting that my suggesting that my knowing that early 1950's California animators were influenced by the furniture around them was a "no-brainer".
I don't understand why the original post I posted would result in a reply like Olive posted.
I am a big fan of Warner Brothers cartoons and something of an amateur historian about them. Olive may not choose to agree, but I felt like I was being dismised as not knowing the heck I was talking about.
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