Major Blog Post 8- UPA and Mr Magoo

Posted on by Wendy Kong

UPA is as known as the United Productions of America which was founded by Zack Schwartz, David Hilberman, and Stephen Bosustow in 1943 as Industrial Film and Poster Service after the Disney animators’ Strike in 1941. John Hubley, a layout artist who worked for Disney and a few of his colleagues were unsatisfied with the ultra-realistic style of Disney animation. To sustain itself, UPA entered the crowded field of theatrical cartoons and secured a contract with Columbia Pictures. The animators of the UPA applied their stylistic ideas and imagination to the characters of Columbia The Fox and the Crow with Robin Hoodlum (1948) and The Magic Fluke (1949).

The first appearance of Mr. Magoo was in the Ragtime Bear (1949) which was a hit in the box office. We also watched this animation during class. I love the story of it a lot because it is really exciting that the bear was pretending to be Mr. Magoo’s nephew all the time! The style of UPA’s animation is more graphic compared to Disney animated films which I think made everything more cartoonish and I also enjoyed looking at it. Mr. Magoo is a nasty, stubborn old man that can not see things well. However, I like the humor and drama created by him. I watched some other clips of Mr. Magoo as well. Here is one that I found quite interesting. Hope you guys will like it and watch it till the end!! ^v^

Mr Magoo: Thin-skinned Divers

Wendy Kong

Major Post 8: Ragtime Bear

Posted on by Sydney McPherson

Ragtime bear is from UPA and was created in 1949. It was the first appearance of character Mr. Magoo, a nearly blind old man who enjoys peace and quiet. From the first scene Magoo’s personality is already introduced as we see him crash into the tree, which is soon explained by his poor eyesight as he tries to read the road sign in front of him. To show that his glasses magnify what he sees, Mr. Magoo’s eyes also grow larger when he wears them. He is stubborn and fully believes that he has everything under control although he decides to ask for help with reading the blurry sign. He believes that his nephew and everyone else are scatter-brained and don’t pay attention, which is ironic since Mr. Magoo is the one who is utterly confused.

The bear is shown as being oblivious to what is important to the people and only cares about Waldo’s banjo. When Waldo falls into the abyss, the bear reaches for the banjo instead of Waldo, letting him fall. Similarly, when Mr. Magoo falls off the stairs at Hodge Podge Lodge, the bear saves the banjo before it hits the ground but doesn’t catch Magoo.

Magoo is later fooled by his own weakness in believing that he has just shot his nephew. Upon realizing Waldo is alive, Magoo returns the banjo to him but still threatens to use the gun again, showing that his character has not developed much, as he’s still stubborn. Also, the bear hasn’t changed either, as he continues to play notes on the banjo, despite Magoo’s threatening to shoot at the next sound the instrument made.

Both the bear and Mr. Magoo are stubborn characters who want everything to go their way. They both face difficulty because of each other and neither change by the end of the story, which is not the norm with the character development I’ve seen in today’s animations.

Sydney McPherson

The life of dear Stephen Bosustow

Posted on by victoriacourchesne

Major Post 6 By Victoria Courchesne

Stephen Bosustow, heard of him? How about how he helped Ub Iwerks form the UPA studios, producing many of the Mr.Magoo shorts that would become Oscar winners? Ah, now you are remembering! Well sit back, relax, and read on while I give you a deeper insight to the life of the animator known as Stephen Bosustow. Born on November 6, 1911, Stephen’s friendship with Ub began early on in the 1930’s when he worked on Ub’s film “Flip the Frog”. That friendship could be what brought Stephen to the Disney animation studios in 1934 where he worked for 7 years. The next events should be familiar to you; Stephen and many other animators walk out on Disney in 1941 and he, Ub Iwerks, and several other animators founded the United Productions of America (UPA). While he was a producer at UPA, Stephen oversaw 43 Mr. Magoo shorts, winning him 3 Oscars and several award nominations. His career with the UPA halted after the company was sold in the early 1960’s and Stephen then went on to form a production studio of his own. “Stephen Bosustow Productions” featured mainly educational-based shorts. The short Is it Always Right to Be Right? (1971) won a Oscar for Best Short Film in 1970. In my next post, I will discuss the film in an analysis.

I picked Stephen as a topic to write on because he was born in Victoria Canada.

Sources:

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/stephen-bosustow

https://collections.new.oscars.org/Details/People/9241

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0098322/

https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1957/12/7/the-silly-splendid-world-of-stephen-bosustow