Saturday, May 20, 2006



Here's a bit of a mystery for you animation fans.

I don't know recall buying this photo, but I must have picked it up at Cinefest, the annual film festival in Syracuse, NY, that has been my source for many of my additions to my still collection in the past 15 years.

There are no identifying numbers or codes on the still that would give me a more firm date, but I would hazard a guess somewhere from 1928 to 1930.

The reasoning behind my guess is the doll at the far left, "Milton," which closely resembles Mickey Mouse. Mickey parodies and steals popped up several places in animation at that time ( there are several Mickey appearances in Fleischer cartoons, for instance).

The dolls all wear a name tag that also reads "See my pals at your favorite theatre."

I'm no expert on the Aesop Fables series. Frankly, many of them just seem amazingly repetitive to me. They just seem to glom together into one big ball of mice running from someone.

What's your take?

© 2006 Gordon Michael Dobbs
This blog is mine alone. Blame me if you don't like it.

1 comment:

Ray Pointer said...

In 1980, I was given a copy of this picture by Miles Kreuger, curator of The Museum of the American Musical Theater. I believe this is the same photo that I gave Mike when he visted me in Alexandria, Virginia when I was assigned as a producer for the Navy Office of Information in 1981.