Gerald McBoing-Boing (1951) Opening Sequence

I started watching the great 1951 UPA short, Gerald McBoing-Boing again, and forgot how cool the opening sequence was, so I decided to post it up for ya'll. This is obviously a really important piece of 1950's animation, if not the most influential animation and design of its time. The entire video is posted below the pictures, I highly encourage you to watch it. I'm highlighting this opening sequence because I haven't seen something this neat in any recent cartoons, and professionally-made and distributed animated shorts are pretty scarce nowadays. Sorry about the edges of the pictures getting cut off. That's Blogger's fault.



Directed by Bobe Cannon, an ex-Looney Tunes animator from the 30's and 40's and a UPA mainstay. Story by Dr. Seuss! McBoing-Boing animator Bill Melendez went on to voice Snoopy and Woodstock in all the Peanuts cartoons, though he sadly just passed on. He also was an animator on some Looney Tunes. Designer Bill (William T.) Hurtz went on to direct some Rocky & Bullwinkle episodes, as well as the 1989 feature Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.





















Boing!

Boing!

What a cool way to introduce the characters and the scene! Here's the whole thing: