You notice television, radio, etc. have made a lot of hay off the decline in the fortunes of daily newspapers?

This is from the new posting at mediabuyerplanner.com:

Wall Street firm UBS is predicting that ABC’s owned-and-operated stations could see revenue tank by as much as 30% in the first quarter of 2009.

Such a decline, which would follow an O&O decline of 15% in the fourth quarter of 2008, is likely attributable to a decline in spending by U.S. automakers, writes MediaPost. More bad news is expected to follow in coming months, with revenue expected to fall at least 25% over the next two quarters.

UBS expects that Disney’s ABC network will see a 12% drop in revenue, to $869 million, a less drastic drop than the previous quarter, according to Broadcasting & Cable. Cable will see a 9% decline in advertising, plus a welcome 9% jump in revenue from subscriptions.

Ad revenue makes up 20% of Disney’s total revenue.

In coming weeks, Disney is expected to unveil details on its much-rumored partnership with Hulu. Chatter has it that Disney is in negotiations with Fox and NBC to take an equity stake in Hulu.com. In exchange, Disney would get broader distribution of its ABC shows via the video site.

Disney also recently inked a deal with YouTube to make short-form content available on the Google site, in an effort to gain broader distribution for its ABC television programs.

The corporate media can not support itself in these economic conditions. The more we can get back to local ownership of media based on ads from local businesses the healthier the media will be in general.

And we must develop other ways to pay for content regardless of the platform.

***
DVDs so far this vacation week: Tom Tyler's "Santa Fe Bound, " an above average entry in Tom's series from Poverty Row producers Reliable Pictures. The film has a bigger cast and better sets than many of the Reliables and Tom seems to be enjoying himself in the role of a drifter who falls into the middle of a murder plot to take over a ranch. Perhaps it is because his wife Jeanne Martel played the heroine. The Alpha DVD used a pretty good print with no jump cuts.

"Revenge of Frankenstein:" I've never had the opportunity of seeing all of the Peter Cushing Frankenstein films and now the folks at Big Lots are offering two of the titles in their blow-out of DVDs. How can I resist a $3 DVD? The second film in the series is extremely well-done with a great premise and a fairly remarkable ending. Of course I would watch just about anything with Cushing as he is one of my favorites.

I got to meet him at a Famous Monster of Filmland Convention in NYC in the mid-1970s. he was standing by himself in the lobby of the then Hotel Commodore and I walked up to him and welcomed him to the Unites States. He was extremely gracious and wanted to know who I was and where I came from, etc.

In the days well before people charging to autographs Cushing signed for hours, literally for everyone who wanted his signature.

© 2009 Gordon Michael Dobbs

Remember ballyhoo?

If you do, you must be close to my age. At a time when marketing products is so important, it's astonishing to me how lackadaisical modern marketing really is.

Movies used to be marketed to death. Theater owners – yes, once upon a time, people, not huge corporations owned movie theaters – and those folks were in competition with each other and everything else hoping to get a slice of your entertainment dollar.

Check out this part of a pressbook – a over-sized booklet sent to theaters prior to the run of a film – a hideously cheapjack Sam Katzman serial starring a solid actor named Kane Richmond who was definitely better than this stuff.



It was the philosophy of the time that every movie had to be sold to audiences. Even serials designed for the kiddie trade.

Remember the drive-ins that regularly showed movies you never heard of? But those films had posters and newspapers ads and previews that were designed to rope you in. They had gimmicks – barf bags, insurance policies and whatever it took to get you interested enough to get you to spend your money.

When I ran Tower Theaters in South Hadley, I just had previews, posters, banners and standees to help sell a movie and not all of those items were available for each title. We did things differently than other theaters, but we were the freaks in business called show – that had the show part surgically removed.

Today, the studios build a Web site, talk with the movie press, post a preview or two. They rely on "viral" efforts and on journalists needing to fill space with entertainment stuff that is relatively cheap and easy to do.

I love this "controversy" about someone "leaking" the new X-Men movie out to people. I smell a stunt here. It sort of renews my faith.

Consider how DVDs are marketed. You used to walk into you local video store and be assaulted with posters, standees, talking boxes, promotional items, etc. – all designed to get you to pick a video up. What kind a marketing can you get at the Red Box?

Here's the irony: there are plenty of creative people doing interesting things. There are audiences still eager for something new and original. The problem is how to reach those people. Most of the ways creative/entertainment products used to be distributed have been corrupted or dismantled.

Got a comic book? Is it Diamond worthy? Granted there are few other distributors, but it's not the way it was at the height of the direct sales market.

Have a small press magazine? Good luck in getting one of the last remaining big distributors handle it at a price you can afford?

Trying to get promotion for your music? Can't go the route of getting airplay and in fact in many areas venues aren't even interested in "new" music.

Producing a movie? You can't get theatrical release through independent theaters because there are so few indies left. You can't four-wall either.

I think people with entertainment products are going to have re-invent the wheel so to speak and look at really how effective some of the older ways of reaching your audience really were.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Here's another take on Bissette




from my good friend and talented artist Mark Masztal. Look, he included the typical Bissette plaid shirt, even!

Check out more of Mark's art (and musings) at his dandy blog.

Now is this a contest? Well, if Steve picks any of these (let it be mine, MINE!) I'm going to assemble a weirdo media package for the lucky arteest.

Second Bissette Image




Denis St. John, a student at the Center for Cartoon Studies, depicts a Western Bissette handling snakes and wearing a frying pan.

Denis' blog can be reached here

Denis, unlike me, is of course a real cartoonist as he can draw feet, hands and snakes.

Dogboy has shown me his pencils of a very good Bissette headshot. He is also a real cartoonist.

Cartoonists, you know, get ALL the girls. Or so I've been told.

The media is to blame for economic mess?

One of my favorite Web sites is http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com as it has a wealth of current media news culled from a variety of sources.

Here's a story from today that blew me away:

Americans Blame Ad Agencies, Media for Economic Crisis
Two-thirds of Americans (66%) believe ad agencies have at least some responsibility for the current economic crisis because they caused people to buy things they couldn’t afford, according to findings from a Harris Interactive poll completed earlier this month.

The media is not far behind ad agencies when it comes to responsibility, according to (pdf) the survey (via Marketing Charts). 59% say print media - such as newspapers and magazines - deserve at last some responsibility for the economic crisis, while 56% assign at least some of the blame to news and information websites.

55% of Americans say talk shows on TV or radio, cable news programs (54%) and network and local news programs (53%) all have at least some responsibility, also because they caused people to buy things they couldn’t afford, Harris said.

A significant number of Americans also are willing to look at factors closer to home. Nearly half (46%) assign some of the blame to their friends and family, though the majority of Americans (54%) still say their personal circle of influence bears no responsibility.

The poll also found an age divide over who is to blame for the economic crisis, Harris reported. People ages 55+ are more likely to blame the five media categories and the advertising agencies. In contrast, those ages 18-34 are less likely to say these six groups have at least some responsibility and are more likely to blame their friends and family.

For example, 75% of the older age group say advertising agencies have at least some responsibility compared to 60% of 18-34 year olds. When it comes to print media, 67% of those ages 55+ say they have at least some responsibility while just half of the younger age group say print media has at least some responsibility.

About the survey: This Harris Poll was conducted online within the US between March 31 and April 1, 2009 among 2,220 adults (ages 18+) who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

So, advertising vehicles somehow held guns to the collective head of America and told them to spend needlessly? Popular culture that is reflected through the media certainly has much to do with encouraging people to spend money on various categories of merchandise – entertainment, fashion, etc.

But should we blame the messenger for the recipient accepting and embracing the message? Should the messenger be censoring messages to prevent someone from spending money he or she doesn't have?

I don't think so. Advertising even done in a totally legitimate way still requires consumers to think about claims and offers and evaluate them accordingly.

We got in this mess through a variety of actions – and inactions– from government and big business as well as lack of attention from voters/consumers. No advertiser "made" someone buy a house or a car they couldn't afford.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Okay, here's my best shot at capturing the essence of Bissette in a few lines:



Yes, indeedy this is why I'm a writer – a frustrated secret cartoonist, also.

I only attempted a caricature because arms and legs confound me. Drawing clothing does as well. I'm no good with feet either. And hands! Let's not bring those up.

I can hear the howls of derisive laughter now from my artist friends.

Perhaps I should offer to write the dust jacket bio instead. Maybe Steve would want me to give that a whirl.

Then again maybe not.

Next up in the draw Bissette contest: Dogboy!
© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Why living in the city is a pain sometimes

My wife and I have lived in our home for the past 19 years and generally we've been lucky. We've had no major crime incident. No house fire – although we were struck by lightening and the Fire Department personnel were great – and even the missionary types seem to have put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on our house.

So it is the little things – in the absence of something major – that bug you.

This week the trash collectors do what they do every week. They empty the bin in such away to spill trash onto the street. The trash then blows down the street and into my front yard as well as others.

Why do they do this? Why not pick up what they spill?

In the summer the truck leaks a stream of fluid from its nether region that fills the street with a smell that could stun a skunk.

But my current complaint is the fact that people park on both sides of this narrow street. Take a look.





As far as I know there has never been an effort to ticket these cars. This is a major public safety issue as I doubt that emergency vehicles could make it through what's left of the thoroughfare.

This week I will call the Quality of Life Flex Squad to see if the police have a solution for this situation.

***
Mark May 1 on your calendar media fans:
The Valley Press Club's Annual Roast of newsmakers and
journalists is slated for Friday, May 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the Keg Room, 87 State St. Tickets are available in advance or at the door. The roast satirizes personalities and stories in the news. Various local and state politicians are expected to attend along with the public. Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe and Holyoke Police Chief Anthony Scott and other public officials are expected to attend.

The event includes food, a raffle and a cash bar. The proceeds benefit the club's scholarship funds for journalism students. Members of the area media and Springfield City Hall staff members are among the participants in the roast .The emcee is Jim Polito, a former reporter and anchor for abc40. WAQY-FM Rock 102 radio personality John O'Brien of the "Bax and O'Brien Show" will also participate. Tickets to the roast are available in advance by sending a check made out to "Valley
Press Club" for $10 per person, mailed to Valley Press Club, P.O. Box 5475, Springfield, MA 01102. To reserve a ticket, or for information, call (413) 575-4954.

Tickets at the door are $15. The Valley Press Club consists of active and retired journalists, and public relations
professionals from corporate and nonprofit organizations throughout the Pioneer Valley. During the year, the Valley Press Club conducts luncheon meetings with newsmakers and elected officials, co-sponsors and presents a communications conference at Western New England College, and raises funds for scholarships, among other activities.

The Web site address is valleypressclub.com.
***
For those interested, I'm still working on my sketch of Steve Bissette. It will debut tomorrow!

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Can YOU draw this man?



No, not the gentle looking guy on the left, but the rather belligerent toothless looking geezer on the right.

Why that's no stand-in for Gabby Hays – it's acclaimed artist, writer, teacher and lover of bizarre stuff Stephen R. Bissette!

The guy with the baseball hat is our mutual friend Joseph Citro – a great author of books such as "The Vermont Ghost Guide," "Weird New England" and a new book out later this year on the monsters of Vermont.

Now Joe needs a drawing of Steve for the book jacket and while we were discussing this I chimed in that I would do one.

You see, if you scratch a writer there is a yearning arteest beneath the surface. The difference between the visual arts and the written ones is the immediacy of reaction – and acceptance – from audiences.

So writers crave for the day somehow people will instantly appreciate their collection of words just as artists have experienced since the first caveman drew a mastodon on a stone wall.

Now here are the things you need to know about Bissette:

1. He does have teeth
2. His favorite shirt color is plaid.
3. This is a rare photo of him without a hat. NO BASEBALL CAPS! Steve wouldn't be caught dead in one.

I'm working on my drawing, which will be awful because I am a writer not an artist. Steve once had me draw a dino cartoon in a sketchbook of his, among the same pages with real artists. I dutifully submitted for what I knew would be ultimately humiliating and crafted a joke about an enormous dino turd.

But I'm prepared to risk embarrassment again.

So send me a jpeg of a sketch to mdobbs at crocker dot com and I'll post them here.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Container ports along the Connecticut?

I've sent the following story to a number of local elected officials and business leaders to see what they think of the idea. What do you think?

Thirty years ago, the Sunday Republican ran a lengthy piece written by a
young Springfield attorney about a public works project that could
dramatically improve the transportation infrastructure for Springfield, West
Springfield, Holyoke and Chicopee. His idea did gain some political support
and did progress to a certain point before it was killed.

He now believes the time is right to reconsider it.

Charles Ryan IV, the eldest son of the former Springfield mayor, had
suggested establishing a container port on the Connecticut River. The river
would have had to have been dredged in certain locations and the lock
systems at Windsor Locks would have had to undergo modifications. The result
would have been a river that could support barge traffic from the Long
Island Sound to Holyoke.

The improvements to the river would then allow private commercial
development along its banks to flourish, in Ryan’s vision.

A container port here in the Greater Springfield area, he contended then
and now, would be the perfect addition to the freight rail yards in West
Springfield, the Westover civilian airport in Chicopee and the intersections
of Interstate 91 and the Massachusetts Turnpike.

What stopped the project from moving forward was an evaluation in 1986
that assessed the economic potential versus the costs. The conclusion was
that the cost didn’t justify the outcome,
Local industrial development officials disagreed then and Ryan disagrees
with the report to this day.

Ryan explained to Reminder Publications that in light of the Obama
Administration’s efforts to provide jobs while improving the nation’s
infrastructure, this project should receive reconsideration. He said it
would provide construction jobs and then enduring private sector employment.

He believes that Springfield and other communities have not received the
level of economic development dollars and projects as other parts of the
state or nation.

What makes the project even more attractive in 2009 is the hydroelectric
generating facility that had been part of the original proposal, Ryan
asserted. In 1990 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rated the
potential of such a facility at 90 megawatts.

Ryan recalled that he had been speaking with his father and uncle when
he thought of the idea. While in Law School at Boston College, he visited
the Army Corps of Engineers office in Waltham where he was told a similar
plan had been developed during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt
but was never implemented.

According to a report commissioned by the Army Corps of Engineers the
dredging of the river and construction of locks and dams in Hartford and
Enfield, Conn., had been authorized in 1930 and then again in 1935, but none
of this work was undertaken.

The Connecticut River is navigable from Long Island Sound to just north
of Hartford, where modern navigation is prevented by the locks at Windsor
Locks, Conn. The locks were developed in 1829 to allow river traffic to
travel around the Enfield Rapids. With the advent of railroads in the 1840s,
Ryan said, the locks were used less and weren’t properly maintained.

To build a container port facility in Hampden County, Ryan’s plan called
for the following elements:
• The redesign of the lock system to pass through the Enfield (Conn.) rapids
• As part of that lock system update, the construction of a dam with a
hydroelectric generation system and a fish lift system
• The dredging of the river north of the lock system to ensure the proper
depth.

Ryan’s 1979 opinion piece and his subsequent one-man campaign to
generate support were successful, but perhaps part of that attention came
from the times. William L. Putnam, the founder and owner of WWLP, wrote Ryan
about the project describing it as “the greatest economic development idea
in my lifetime.”

Ryan noted in 1983 there had been considerable attention placed on the
condition of the Connecticut River. There had been a successful fight
opposing a plan from the Metropolitan District Commission to divert water
from the river to augment Boston’s water supply. By 1983, about $800 million
had been spent to clean up the river’s pollution. Springfield had built
Riverfront Park and there were increasing numbers of shad and salmon
returning to the river.

Congressman Edward Boland supported the project, Ryan said, and assisted
in securing the attention of the Army Corps of Engineers in compiling an
evaluation released in January 1986. He said that Boland’s successor,
Congressman Richard Neal, had also shown support, but that Senators John
Kerry and Edward Kennedy had not been involved.

Essentially the evaluation had to estimate how much economic activity
would be generated by having the potential of barge traffic on the river
versus the costs of the project.

The report concluded, “The total cost of the project, if it were to be
built today exclusive of real estate, terminal facilities and mitigation, is
estimated at $335 million with annual costs estimated to be at $32 million.
Total project annual benefits amount to $27 million resulting in a benefit
to cost ratio (BCR) of 0.7 to 1. Specific navigation annual costs and
benefits are estimated at $12 million and $6 million respectively yielding a
BCR of 0.5 to 1. Based on the above findings, navigation as a project
purpose is not economically justified.”

Adjusted for inflation, the cost of the project today would be
approximately $670 million. The Boston Globe reported in 2008 the final cost
of the Big Dig would be $22 billion.

Ryan did not accept the report’s findings. In a rebuttal, he wrote,
“Specifically the study fails to project commercial navigation as regards
bulk, container or other modes for export or import, virtually whatsoever;
as the study’s models were predicated on all shipments resulting in empty
backhauls. This effectively negates any realistic appraisal of bulk or
container shuttle service, while doubling the study’s ‘costs.’”

He was not alone in fighting the report’s methodology. Earl Weller, the
chair of the Mayor’s Industrial Development Advisory Committee in Holyoke,
wrote the Army Corps of Engineers in May 1986, stating, “However, the
Committee is concerned that some contributing costs savings or benefits were
either understated or ignored in your analytical work. For example, it
appears that the projections of the job retention and producing effects of
the project were extremely conservative. Also there is no accounting in the
study for potential flood control savings and benefits resulting from a
deeper river bed.”

Weller asked for a careful reconsideration of the project and despite
additional lobbying from Ryan, it never came.

In the second part of this story, local political and economic
development leaders will be asked to look at this project from today’s
perspective.

© 2009 Gordon Michael Dobbs

Ah, politics!
Sorry I've not posted this week but it's been very busy at work.
You may have heard of the most talked about story in the Valley this week, The following is the police report:

At 8:40 P.M. police officers were dispatched to "Max's Tavern" 1800 West Columbus Avenue for a disturbance involving two females. When the officers arrived on scene they observed a female on the stretcher of an AMR Ambulance. She was being treated by the EMT's on scene. She was identified as Susan Dawson age 44 of Agawam, MA. Ms. Dawson told the investigating officers that she was "the Mayor of Agawam". She told the officers that she was at a function in the City of Springfield and stopped at Max's on her way home. She went on to state that she went to the ladies room and on her way out a 61 year old female acquaintance from Longmeadow, Massachusetts attacked her. This woman grabbed her by the hair with both hands and threw her to the ground. When she was on the ground the 61 year old attacker kicked her several times. Ms. Dawson told the officers that she believes she was knocked unconscious for a brief moment due to the attack. After the attack a busboy intervened and the Manager told the busboy to make sure the 61 year old attacker did not leave the premises. The busboy reached out to block her exit and the female Longmeadow resident grabbed the
busboy by the throat with both hands and started to choke him. The busboy broke the grasp and the 61 year old female confronted Dawson again who was seated on the patio now calling her a name. The attacker was then observed entering a red motor vehicle which was operated by an unknown female. Mayor Dawson was treated and released at Baystate
Medical Center.

Agawam Mayor Susan Dawson has been advised to seek her own complaint in Springfield District Court. The Assault and Battery was not committed in a Police Officers presence and at this time is non-arrestable.

We now know Dawson was having dinner with her longtime boyfriend who is seperated but now divorced from his wife, who was the attacker. And apparently she is pressing charges.

The radio boys at WHYN had a field day with this one – I bet Bax and O'Brien did as well – and The Republican has done three stories so far, the latest being in today's paper – all on the front page.

Here's the question, though: does poor judgement in an elected official's social life really mean anything any more? Dawson is pretty dumb for dating a married man. Period. But, being stupid about your personal life isn't necessarily a crime and in this case there was no crime committed by the mayor. So how much of a story is this?

I think it's a story because it says something about character and judgement. I'm sure there are some people who would disagree with me.

By the way, I don't know Dawson other to say "hello." I don't cover Agawam. I have no axe to grind with her.

And I don't condone the wife's actions. There was no need for violence. I'm sure she could have exacted her revenge in a courtroom.

Dawson came into office with a margin of 38 votes and is running for re-election in a small town full of people who are going to talk about this incident from now until November. it will be fascinating to see how she handles this issue, especially since she is pressing charges so there will be renewed stories about it in the press in the coming weeks.

if she were smart, she would drop the charges, hold a press conference and explain that perhaps she had a lapse in judgement in dating someone still legally married. It's worked for other politicians and it might work for her.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

If you're a news junkie or just someone interested in the role media plays in informing the public as part of our way of governing, then check out the on-line New England Press Association e-bulletin.

FAN BOY ALERT! I WAX NOSTALGIC OVER A FILM THAT BY ALL LOGIC AND STANDARDS I SHOULDN'T




Ron Ely in regulation torn shirt as Doc Savage from the 1975 film

I was going to write about "Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze" being a "lost" film – "lost" in the sense that it never had a decent theatrical release and that its video release never made it past VHS. My tape was released in 1986 and – I'm happy to say – looks just fine, as fine as a VHS tape can look.

Warner Bros. though is now making the movie and many other previous unreleased films available for $20 through its "vault" program. The DVDs are stripped down – no extras. At least they will be out in the market place.

"Doc Savage" holds a pecular place in my fan boy heart. I actually saw it in the theater – the AMC multi-plex at the old Mountain Farms Mall in Hadley, Mass. That theater was my home away from home. As a commuter to UMass, I would do as much of my homework in the library so I could catch a suppertime show at AMC. I think the admission was $1.25 at the time.

I saw as many movies as I could in those days, both in theaters and on campus where almost every night some club would be showing some movie to raise money.

Warner Brothers booked "Doc Savage" into the Hadley AMC and I was among the handful of people who saw it there. I wouldn't doubt if I didn't see it more than once, because in the pre-video age YOU NEVER KNEW IF YOU WOULD EVER SEE THAT MOVIE AGAIN.

I did the same with "J-Men Forever."

The film is pure camp, but it did strike me as smarmy as the "Batman" television series. The film had the advantage of having a well-cast group of actors with a lead performer who actually looked like Savage was supposed to look like. There was some decent action and some good-looking sets and gimmicks.

Perhaps the oddest aspect of the film is the use of John Philip Sousa marches. See what I mean.



Whatever happended to Ron Ely? I loved his Tarzan television series as a kid as well.

I was so intrigued about this film I actually was able to talk to its producer George Pal about it. He had an office at Paramount and I simply called him and spoke to him.

What the hell did I do! Here was a great animator, a long-time independent producer, the guy who brought us "The War of the Worlds," The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao" and "The Time Machine," among many others. I should have prepared for a serious interview with a film maker I admired.

But I was a dumb kid and just talked to him about what would turn out to be his last movie.

I can't find my notes, but I clearly recall him telling me that a change in studio execs and a poor marketing campaign had doomed the film. He had intended to produce a series.

There had been a rumor director Michael Anderson had shot "straight" takes of scenes and then camp ones, but Pal denied it.

There are a ton of films that have not yet made it to DVD, which is why I still have a lot of VHS tapes sitting on shelves. I'm glad that "Doc Savage" is no longer one of those.

Now will someone put "Firesign Theater's Hot Shorts" on DVD? Please?

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© 2009 Gordon Michael Dobbs

Okay, I've had my first full day on Twitter and I was amazed at just how many messages can be generated by a relatively small group of people. Since I had the messages come to my cell phone as well it was making its little text sound with great regularity.

The last message came in about 10:15 p.m. or so and this morning the first message arrived at about 7:30, waking up my wife who said, "I hate high technology." She really doesn't. She just hates getting up.

I realize that I'm using Twitter in a different way than my friends and I'm hoping this application has merit for people. I have to admit if I go to Jake's for lunch I probably should "tweet" on my choice of meal. After all I do describe myself as "fat man" on my Twitter bio!

Stuff that gets into my mail box...

I thought this had to be a joke, but apparently it isn't:

April 22 update: And now I'm to censor the thing at the request of the guy WHO SENT TO ME, A MEMBER OF THE WORKING PRESS!

Hi,
I'm a UMass Amherst Grad, current medical student at XXXXX and am originally from XXXXX. I recently designed a new product in which you and your readers may be interested. While working in a hospital, I noticed many of my patients were embarrassed about the soiled condition of their all-white underwear. To fix this problem, I created a pair that would hide all stains and eliminate the embarrassment. It's simple- a pair of underwear that's yellow in the front and brown in the back! You never even have to wash them!

Although not practical in the real world, I realized these would make an excellent gag gift. NO-WASH UNDERWEAR has since grown from a simple idea to its own company located in Massachusetts. Our original boxers and other NO-WASH gifts are now available on our website and on store shelves around the nation! As a medical student, I have also been in contact with local charities and children's hospitals to raise funds through our "Buy A Pair And Show You Care" campaign.

Please let me know if you would be willing to help spread the word and highlight NO-WASH UNDERWEAR in the Reminder. I would also be more than happy to send you a free pair of NO-WASH Boxers. Just let me know the size and address and I'll send them your way. Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
XXXXX

NO-WASH UNDERWEAR
XXXXX

You know we have to do a story on this!

Changes, changes, changes...attend just one Podcamp and see what happen!

Okay, I've set up a Western Mass. Newsgroup that I will be point press releases on pretty much when I get them myself. The idea here is to provide readers of my blog with more content that, hopefully, will be of interest and benefit to them, especially if they are bloggers themselves and not getting these notices.

I've also joined Twitter and will be sending those little messages out via my cell phone during the day on what is happening...they will be headlines of stories of I'm following.

I promise on a stack of Bibles I will not be using Twitter to tell people what Lucky the Wonder Bichon is doing. Or Ginger the Wonder Cat.

My idea is to pump up content here so readers will come back.

Tell me what you think!

Podcamp Unconference

I attended the Podcamp Unconference that was conducted at Open Square in Holyoke on Saturday and I'm very glad did. I've been mystified about social media such as Twitter and Facebook – yeah I know it's not new, but it is to me – and the Unconference helped me wrap my head around some uses for these applications that I think would advance several schemes of mine.

My pal Bill Dusty was there along with writerjax a splendid writer/pr person whose work I've long admired. And I met Tish Grier whose blog "The Constant Observer" is now something I'll read every day.

What liked so much was the exchange of information that came fairly organically and democratically from the participants. My many years as a journalist was actually seen as an asset by some in discussions about hyper-local news coverage and citizen journalism.

I guess that made up for my profound ignorance on other issues!

I did have one on-going beef with a guy that started the moment I arrived. He identified himself as a former Agawam resident who now lives in the Worcester area and was criticizing Holyoke. He said that while driving to Open Square he questioned whether or he should attend it based on his quick assessment of the city.

I defended Holyoke and noted that so much is happening organically in the town among young people seeking an inexpensive place to start a business or creative endeavor. I pointed out the great things happening at Open Square.

But I'm a Western Massachusetts patriot. I want to operate seeing the glass half-full rather than half-empty. A little positive thinking assists in dealing with inevitable storms of life.

I don't think he understood for a moment that most of the people at the Unconference were doing the same kind of thing that is happening in Holyoke and Open Square. Just like the owners of Open Square are re-developing what an urban center should be in the 21st century, the Podcampers are re-thinking how content is distributed and how people communicate.

He didn't buy my arguments. Hey, it's a free country. My advice is not to leave Worcester.

© Gordon Michael Dobbs

This year's trip to Cinefest

Once again I trekked to the near frozen northwest and Syracuse NY to attend Cinefest 29 this past weekend. Cinefest is a delightfully grassroots hardcore assembling of film fans, archivists, historians and collectors who get to see forgotten films, uncut or reconstructed versions of movies and archival curiosities.

It's not a snooty crowd at all. People actually care about film and are as happy to see a German silent art film as they are a George O'Brien B Western. This ain't Sundance where too many of the audience members seem to focus on everything but the films .

Cinefest specializes in American and British film from the silent era to the late 1940s, although a more recent film occasionally sneaks by.

By its eclectic nature the programming can challenge your cinematic prejudices. There have been many times when I steadfastly refused to see a certain movie because of the subject or star only to be convinced I should see it and then found that was indeed the case.

This year's highlights included a "Screen Snapshot" short from the early 1950s that was a tribute to many of the screen cowboys of the previous 20 years. An episode of the early television show "Life with Buster Keaton" was also alto of fun.

"Wheel of Life" (1929) a romance set in colonial India was creaky and laughable, while "The Circle" (1925), a romantic dramady based on the play by Somerset Maugham, was surprisingly good.

The show screened some of Joan Crawford's home movies, which proved to be a revelation to me. I never thought Crawford was any great beauty, but these in scenes, many in color, she is striking wearing little or no make-up and looking relaxed. There was one shock in the reel, though – shots of Crawford bare-assed and sunbathing of the roof of her home.

The biggest treat was the American premiere of the 1958 film "the Secret Man" produced by my friend Richard Gordon. Richard is a Cinefest devotee and he introduced the film, which, for a number of reasons never received distribution here. The taut little spy film was written by Brian Clements ("The Avengers") and was directed by Ronald Kinnoch.

Shot in four weeks in London using many outdoor locations, this film is a perfect example of the most successful approach to low-budget film making: you tailor a script to your budget rather than try to stretch a budget to fulfill a script. Kinnoch directed the film with an eye to gritty realism and star Marshall Thompson delivers a very realistic under-played performance.

It's a typical Cinefest movie in that I wanted to find it on DVD so my wife could see it.

That was also the case with "The Perfect Specimen," a great 1938 romantic comedy directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn and Joan Blondell – two performers who I would watch in almost anything. This film doesn't turn up on television due to story rights and the print came out of Flynn's person collection.

"White Gold" (1927) was the last feature I saw and boy what a fascinating movie. The plot involves a beautiful cabaret performer who falls in love with the son of a sheep rancher and makes a valiant effort to fit in but is thwarted by her father-in-law who is jealous of his son's love for her. The Dutch actress Jetta Goudal gives an excellent performance.

Over the next several days I'll post some of the items I found in the dealers' rooms.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Just got this release. I'm planning to go as I really do want to understand the social side of the Net that has so far confounded me.

HOLYOKE – By now, we’ve all heard of iPods and podcasts. But what’s a PodCamp?

PodCamp is one example of an ‘unconference,’ or unorganized conference, at which participants choose the topics they’d like to discuss. It’s geared toward new media enthusiasts and professionals of all types, including bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, social networkers, as well as the people who read, watch, and listen to them.

This month, PodCamp will come to Western Massachusetts for the first time. On March 28 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., members of the marketing, business, design, technology, and music industries will gather on the second floor of the mixed-use, retrofitted mill building Open Square in Holyoke for an unconference that aims to promote education, innovation, and collaboration between technology and media professionals.

Morriss Partee, owner of EverythingCU.com in Holyoke and a coordinator of the event, said Western Mass. has a very active new and social media community, and as such is primed and ready for a successful PodCamp.

“We have a thriving community here of some truly amazing people,” he said. “This is a chance for Western Massachusetts bloggers, business people, artists, and academics to get together and make connections, and for everyone to learn how social media can enhance their business, cause, or organization.”

Additionally, co-coordinator Tish Grier, chief community officer of Placeblogger.com, said that the PodCamp concept is also well-suited to the region due to the myriad issues, especially economic concerns, that face the area and the entire country.

“It's easy to think that issues going on in the ‘big city’ don't have much of an impact on Western Massachusetts, but those issues, like the loss of the daily newspaper, impact us as well,” she said.

There is no agenda at an unconference, and the list of potential topics is virtually endless. However, sessions often include a “social media 101” and an overview of current and emerging new media tools. Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops, power strips, and cameras, and can come and go as their schedules allow.

The cost of the program is $20, attendance is limited to the first 60 people to register at http://podcampwesternmass.eventbrite.com

What cops in a city the size of Springfield have to go through – reports from SPD Sgt. John Delaney.

"A woman scorned – On 3/15/09 at 6:35 P.M. Officers Brian Beliveau and David Robillard arrested the following suspect:
Doriana McCormick age 22 of 17 Highland Avenue,
West Springfield...charges....
a) Breaking and Entering Motor Vehicle With Int. to Commit a Felony
b) Malicious Damage to a Motor Vehicle

"Prior to the arrest Ms. McCormick went to 632 Dickinson Street where her ex-boyfriend lives and smashed his rear window out completely on his 1997 Maxima. She then went to town on his front windshield with a liquor bottle. She then proceeded to tear apart his dashboard and took out his stereo and DVD player. Ms. McCormick then stole a backpack containing an X-Box game.



"The new girlfriend of Ms. McCormick's 'ex' witnessed the hysterical female commit the crime and run down the street and get into a waiting Chevy Impala and speed away. The police were called and the responding officers spotted the scorned woman on Trafton Road. the officers stopped the female and recovered the stolen items in her car. She was placed under arrest.
photos of car and Ms. McCormick enclosed.

***
"Officer Juan Hernandez was stopped at a light in full uniform and on duty in a marked police car. The officers was at the corner of Main and Saratoga Street at 2:33 A.M. when he observed a subject traveling down Main Street and picking up speed. the officers watched as he approached and the driver, who was now traveling faster, turned the wheel of the car so the vehicle he was driving was aimed right at Officer Hernandez. The officer stated in his report that 'the driver made direct eye contact with me while smiling and gripping the steering wheel with both hands.' The driver tried to ram the police car on purpose and Officer Hernandez had to put the cruiser in reverse to get out of the way.



"The driver of the Chevy then raced away towards West Columbus Avenue and jumped on RTE 91. the officer called the description of the car out over the police radio and the State Police on RTE. 91 heard the description and observed the Chevy traveling too fast and smash into a guardrail on the highway. The driver attempted to still drive down the highway. At one point the driver exited the car and looked like he was going to run. The officers ordered him to lay on the ground and instead of complying he jumped back into the drivers seat and attempted to drive away. (...this guy just kept making bad decision after bad decision). He was arrested.

"Nector Perez age 28 of 28 Cameron Street Springfield...charges....
a) Assault With a dangerous Weapon (M.V. on Officer Hernandez)
b) Failure to Stop for Police
c) Reckless Operation of M.V.
d) Suspended License
e) Resisting Arrest

"It unclear to investigating officers why Perez was acting in such an irrational manner.

"There was a so called 'Home Invasion' at 653 State Street in Apartment 4-C. The resident of that apartment claims that a somewhat "known" female knocked on his door to gain entrance. Once the door was opened two masked Hispanic males barged into his apartment demanding money. The 55 year-old victim then claims that he was tied up with an electrical cord and his wallet was stolen with $200.00 cash. The victim states that the robbers were looking for 'more money.' During the incident the victim states that he was cut with a knife. there was a small laceration on his wrist. The female was described an Hispanic, short about 5'02" with medium build, twenties, blonde hair and is known as 'Mari' or 'Maria.' Detective Jeffery Martucci is investigating. The dwelling located at State and Terrance Street is considered a high crime area."

This clip is from the restored version of Gulliver's Travels from E1 Entertainment now on DVD.

Gulliver's Travels can finally be seen in a version on home video close to its original theatrical look

With the success of “Snow White” in 1937, many Hollywood studios were pondering animated features, but only one producer created such a film – Max Fleischer.

The innovative animation producer who brought Betty Boop and Popeye to the screen was under pressure from his distributor Paramount to make a film in time to be released at Christmas of 1939.

The studio did so and “Gulliver’s Travels” was such a hit that MGM brass mused that perhaps the live action “Wizard of Oz” should have been a cartoon!

The film was sold in the 1950s to a television distributor, which did re-release the movie to theaters, but along the way the film’s copyright was not renewed and it fell into the public domain.

With the advent of home video, dozens of different versions of “Gulliver’s Travels” have been in the marketplace, most often muddy and splicy second generation prints.

Now E1 Entertainment (formerly Koch Entertainment) has released a new “restored” version of the film on a new DVD. The film has clean and crisp image and the color matches – to the best of my memory – to the 35mm Technicolor prints I’ve seen.

As readers of the blog undoubtedly realize I’m very prejudiced when comes to the works of Max Fleischer and his talented studio and I do like “Gulliver’s Travels” a great deal, although it is a film with many flaws.

A simplified and sanitized version of Jonathan Swift’s classic, the film centers on Gulliver settling the differences between two kings who can not agree which national song should be played at the wedding of their children. The musical score is bright and bouncy in the tradition of 1930s musicals and there are some great moments of animation.

The difficulties with the film are the characterizations. The prince and princess who are to be married are simply vehicles for the performances of the national songs. The princess, animated by Grim Natwick who had a reputation for knowing how to put across female characters, is remarkably bland, The prince has only one line of dialogue, which is marred by an inappropriate almost hap-hazard voice.

Gulliver, himself, is a very passive reactive character, only taking action in response to what is going on. He seems in a contact state of bemusement and used the phrase “My, my” way too much.

The nominal star of the show is the obnoxious town crier Gabby who fares much better here than in the series of shorts that followed the feature with him as lead. Much of the humor is supplied y the three spies who are charged with killing the giant.

Perhaps the scene which stops the film dead in its tracks is the one in which Gabby and Gulliver are walking together. Gabby is recounting a tall tale in rhyme with Gulliver responding with “my, my.” The sequence does not to advance the plot or the characters.

The Fleischer staff established the design style of having the little people done as cartoons, while Gulliver is rotoscoped. It was an interesting decision as it separates Gulliver’s world– “the real world” – from that of Lilliput.

While it’s not the studio’s best work – the 20 minute Popeye specials are more entertaining and their second feature “Mr. Bug Goes to Town” is better realized – it’s certainly is charming and has entertainment appeal today. There are scenes of wonderful animation and invention and I’ve always enjoyed the sequences in which Gulliver is captured as well as the one in which he is cleaned up by the townspeople. These scenes continue the Fleischer theme of mechanics that pops up in some many of the studio’s cartoons.

Another great sequence is the outdoor banquet illuminated by firelight with Gulliver’s hand” dancing with the Lilliputians.

There is one troublesome thing though about this new release and that is the film has been formatted for wide screen television event though the original film was not shot in a wide screen format. Although the image is letter-boxed, it technically should be window-boxed – with band of black defining the original screen image. I’m now sure if there is missing image area as I really need to compare it to the original print. It does look much better than any other DVD or VHS tape I’ve seen.

For copyright purposes, there have been extra sound effects added to the film – that way a “new” version has been created. I find these additions to be unnecessary, but at least they are not intrusive.

The film has three extras – two of the subsequent seven-minute shorts featuring the character Gabby from the feature and a segment from a “Popular Science” short that is a mini-documentary about the studio. The two cartoons have been window-boxed but are shown without their credits – a lousy thing for a “restoration” to do – and there is no explanation for the documentary footage.

These complaints aside, this presentation of “Gulliver’s Travels” is the closest I’ve seen on home video to the intent of its creators.

***
The making of “Gulliver’s Travels”

Max Fleischer had experimented with longer form animation with great success in 1936 with a two-reel special Popeye cartoon for the Christmas season. “Popeye Meets Sinbad the Sailor” had gorgeous color, effective use of the Fleischer 3-D sets and a marvelous script. Exhibitors and audiences loved it, and the studio was preparing another two-reeler for Christmas of 1937. Disney, though, had an 83-minute feature, and Fleischer, his staff and the rest of the film industry wanted to see if audiences would accept a long cartoon.

“Snow White” was released nationally in February of 1938 and its success prompted and announcement from Paramount Pictures. Paramount, Fleischer's distributor, said that Max would be producing a feature for them. They would be fronting some of the production money for Max and also would help Max build a brand-new studio near Miami, Florida. Fleischer had settled a strike in October, and had decided to move his operations from New York to Florida. The Fleischers had vacationed in Florida and the warm climates, generous local tax incentives and lack of union activity appealed to him.

So the studio’s plate was quite full. Max had to produce his studio’s first feature-length cartoon, move the operation from New York to Florida into a new studio he was helping to design and maintain the studio's commitment of short subjects. Disney worked on “Snow White” for five years. Paramount had given Max a release date of Christmas 1939.

During the same period, “Variety” reported that Universal and Walter Lantz would be making his feature debut with an adaptation of “Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp.” This feature apparently never made its past pre-production.

In June, Max signed a contract with Paramount to produce “Gulliver’s Travels.” Like Disney, the Fleischer brothers had chosen a “pre-sold” property that had a certain amount of name recognition. How Jonathan Swift's sometimes bleakly satiric novel would be adapted into a family feature was another problem.

According to a discussion guide prepared for high school teachers by the Educational and Recreations Guides in January 1940, there were several different scripts, several of which had Popeye playing Gulliver. Dave Fleischer had wanted a light Gilbert and Sullivan-style operetta, while Max wanted something closer to Swift – “a truly sociological pictures, retaining the full weight of Swift’s satirical theme with modern implications.”

The final script was publicized as a compromise. The cartoon would have a surplus of music and would have the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu not over which end to open of a hard-boiled egg, but rather their national anthems. If Max's intentions were to actually convey some of Swift's satiric rage, this script was scarcely a compromise. There is little of Swift in the Fleischer's “Gulliver’s Travels.”

Fleischer hired the song-writing team of Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin who had won the Best Song Oscar in 1938 for “Thanks for the Memory” to write the songs for the feature. According to the study guide, Rainger and Robin suggested the musical theme for the war.

Even resident tunesmith Sammy Timburg, whose usual chores were composing and scoring the studio's shorts, got to write a song for the film – perhaps the movie’s biggest hit “It’s a Hap Hap Happy Day.”

Acclaimed composer Victor Young was hired to write the musical score. Young was nominated for 22 Academy Awards during his career, which was cut short by his early death at age 56 in 1956.

The studio then did something that raised a few eyebrows in the film industry. Animation voice actors seldom got credit for their contributions to cartoons and were often fairly anonymous radio actors. The Fleischers signed up two of the nation's most popular radio singing stars, Lanny Ross and Jessica Dragonette to perform the songs sung by the Prince and Princess in the movie. This was the first time any “name” personality had been recruited to do voice work in cartoons.

Ross recalled to me his experience working on GT. He had known Fleischer since they lived in the same building and had accepted the job like any other.

“I was told the Prince was very small, and I thought I should do something the make my voice sound small. So, I stood on my knees in the recording studio,” he said with a laugh. He really didn't receive any direction on how to perform and his contact with the production was minimal. The publicity value, though, of having established performed involved with movie was considerable.

Pinto Colvig, who had done considerable work at the Disney Studio, including creating the voice of Goofy, was recruited to do the voice of Gabby the town crier who discovers Gulliver on the beach. Jack Mercer performed the voice of King Little of Lilliput while Miami radio personality Sam Parker of WIOD did the voice of Gulliver and performed the rotoscoped actions as well.

Although Ross and Dragonette received screen credit, none of the other vocal performers did.

By March of 1939, GT had been laid out, and the studio began hiring additional animators to help with the workload. A half-million drawings were required to produce GT, besides the work necessary to produce the studio's short subjects. Studio veteran Myron Waldman remembers the Fleischers were in a mad rush to hire people, some of who were not qualified as animators. This influx of talent, primarily from the California animation studios, created tension in the studio.

“Many of the people who came from the (west) coast thought they were better than us,” Waldman explained. The studio was still divided because of the strike, and the new additions to the staff didn't help.

There were about 250 original Fleischer employees who made the trip to Miami. That staff grew to about 600 in order to make the production of the feature and the shorts possible.

John Walworth was one of those new additions. Walworth was working at MGM when he was hired away to work on GT. He worked with studio vet Joe Oriolo, who felt insulted that he had to animate some of the many crowd scenes in GT.

“Joe sub-contracted some of these scenes to me to do under the table,” said Walworth with a laugh. “So I did them along with my other work.”

The quality of the animation varies greatly. Some of it was seemed rushed, while other scenes are very good. Waldman attributed this uneven quality to the number of new animators plus the near-impossible schedule. Some of the new animators were amazed the studio didn't do extensive pencil tests as did Disney and there was only one Movieola to view rushes. Critics of the studio have seen the lack of pencil tests as an example of the Fleischer Studio “crudeness.” Certainly Max may not have thought pencil tests were necessary (although one GT pencil test was in the collection of a former Fleischer animator), but perhaps the schedule dictated by Paramount just didn't allow it.

While the movie was being animated, Max was working with Paramount's Harry Royster on the merchandising of GT. Waldman explained that he had gone to Max once and asked why the studio didn't merchandise Betty Boop more.

“He said to me, ‘This is an animated cartoon studio, not a toy factory.’ He didn't want to get into it then,” Waldman said.

Perhaps Fleischer had seen the enormous success of the Disney merchandising and had decided he too wanted to jump on that bandwagon. The Betty Boop material had been minimal and Fleischer had no merchandising rights to Popeye. With the move to Miami impending, Mae Questel decided to stay in Mew York, which helped to kill the Boop series. With Betty Boop gone, Fleischer pinned his merchandising hopes to GT. Paramount's new licensing department arranged for 65 different GT products including dolls, coloring books, a Big Little book and pajamas among others.

With the splash the newly established television industry was making in cities such as New York, Fleischer and Paramount took the unusual step of offering for sale the television and radio rights to the picture. Clearly they were confident GT would be as much as a success as “Snow White.” In huge ad in the June 14, 1939 edition of “Variety,” Paramount trumpeted “The Biggest News of the Screen Year! A Full-Length Feature Cartoon Completely Filmed in Color!” With most movies in black and white and with only one other color feature-length cartoon existing, GT was indeed special.

By August, both the new studio in Florida and the feature were reaching completion. The film’s budget had gone over the expected $900,000 mark and was to reach approximately $1.5 million. The Miami press welcomed the new studio as Florida had often attempted to become the "Hollywood of the East," and the studio was the subject of a number of stories on Oct. 9, 1939.

The recruitment of animators brought two former Fleischer animators back to the studio. Both Grim Natwick and Shamus Culhane had done considerable work at the Disney Studio, and now accepted Max's offer to work on GT. Culhane was given crowd scenes to animate upon his arrival.

“Mob shots. I came in right at the end of the picture and they had a whole mess of them waiting for the very end of the job. I got things like the whole crowd is waving at Gulliver as he leaves...Jesus Christ!... after being a specialist working on ‘Snow White’ I get stuck with this junk to do. But because of my background by that time I could do it very well, but it was a pain in the ass. I hadn't done that kind of thing since a started at Walt's,” Culhane remembered.

Natwick recalled the casual atmosphere of the studio. He was given Dave Fleischer's office to use while directing his 1,000 feet of GT. Natwick offered his assessment of the differences between Fleischer and Disney.

“Max did something so very different. They were two different people. Disney was a Yankee, coming from several generations of Americans. I believe Fleischer was probably the first generation...And they (the Fleischers) were American in every sense of the word. Disney had this in-bred thing that he didn't have to think about doing something, but the Fleischers did. They accepted exactly as it was in the society in which they lived. And they grew up in the Jazz Age, and their cartoons are jazz cartoons.

“Disney had an aristocratic studio. Actually at Fleischer's I never had a room of my own. There were one or two or three big rooms with one desk sitting behind another. But at Disney, we had private rooms, and they had a little buffet service. If you wanted a drink of pop or something or an apple to eat, you could phone the girl downstairs and it would be brought up, by errand boy,” Natwick said.

In the Dec. 6, 1939 edition of “Variety,” Max announced this studio would produce another feature, as he was quite confident of the success of GT. A Spanish-language version was prepared for Latin and South American markets and 41 prints would be available for Christmas Day release with another 50 ready for New Year’s Day.

Paramount planned a massive advertising campaign designed to have a penetration of 60 million people. Full color ads were scheduled for “The Saturday Evening Post,” “Life” and “Good Housekeeping,” a first for productions from the Fleischer Studios.

“Good Housekeeping” did a lavish spread on the film in its Feb. 1940 edition, providing a first person – but fanciful– look at the creation of the film’s story. Supposedly a re-creation of the story sessions that led to the script and characterizations, the story is interesting in that it depicts Max interacting with Bill Turner on plot details. There is no mention of Dave Fleischer, the credited director of the feature, in the story.

The film had truly put a strain on the Fleischer staff. Not only did the staff have to move from its home in New York City to a new facility in Miami, but the contracted schedule of short subjects also had to be maintained.

Cartoons and features in the studio’s “Flipper” magazine in its December 1939 edition referenced the workload. Seymour Reit, the creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost, wrote the following poem for the “Flipper:”
“A Song of Impatience
“The feature’s finished,
The feature’s done
Work is over and worry’s begun
Come bite your nails,
Come tear your hair,
Come harry the gods in hysterical prayer.

“We mumble morosely,
All joy we despise
As we watch the growth of rings ‘neath our eyes
And we wait for the day that
The critic unravels
The wondrous merits of ‘Gulliver’s Travels.

“Hark! Winchell and Fidler
and Nugent and all!
When ‘Gulliver’ opens,
Heed promptly the call.
We know it’s a ‘wow
And we’re sure it will click,
But hurry, we beg you, and tell us that quick!”

The Miami premiere of GT was Dec. 18, 1939. Paramount officials, Florida politicians, members of the Miami social elite and entertainment figures met at the Sheridan and Colony theaters for the screening. A special police unit held back a crowd straining behind rope barricades hoping for a glimpse of the rich and famous, according to a contemporary newspaper account. Overhead, a balloon floated carrying a banner for the film.

One publicity feature was an appearance by Gulliver himself. No, not Sam Parker, but a nearly seven-foot –tall unidentified man decked out in a Gulliver costume.

The next day, The Miami Herald reported on a congratulatory luncheon attended by Lanny Ross, Jessica Dragonette, Paramount executives and local officials. Max said, “Eighteen months ago when the decision was made to produce ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ as a feature, we faced some very real problem. For example, more than two years is required to produce an animated cartoon feature in color and sound, provided one has a large enough staff sufficiently experienced and coordinated to do the work.

“When we started this picture we lacked space, manpower and the machinery for feature work. We only had one and half years instead of two years in which to build, move, organize, equip and complete the picture by Christmas 1939.”

Although Max added some humorous remarks, his message was clear: GT had been an almost impossible task.

While the public made GT one of the top moneymaking films of the year, the critics were less than impressed. Frank Nugent of The New York Times dismissed the film as a “fairy tale for children, “ calling “Snow White “a fairy tale for adults. Although entertaining, GT was not up to the Disney standard, he added.

“Variety” was more positive. “An excellent job of animation, audience interest and all-around showmanship,” it reported.

The film could have surpassed the box office it did if there hadn’t been a war in Europe, where it was argued Swift’s book was even better known.

The Gabby character was deemed popular enough to be the star of his own series of eight cartoons in the 1940 to 41 season. Although there are some laughs in the shorts, Gabby was too grating a character to be a long-lasting star.

© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

The following is one of the two Gabby shorts on the new DVD, although this is not from the DVD.