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The Romance of Mickey Mouse
Mr. Silverstone is the managing director of United Artists. the company which sponsors Mickey Mouse and the Sly Symphonies in Great Britain. He recently made a call at "the. home" of Mickey In Hollywood, and here gives some interesting facts `re-' garding the Mouse's history.
Ink splotches are, as a rule, annoying. But when they have produced - so world-famous 2. screen star as Mickey Mouse, I confess I was anything but an- noyed to receive an Invitation to meet the one and only splotch begetter, Mickey Mouse's creator.- Walt Disney's studio is on the outskirts of
Angeles, a modern Spanish building, laid out with that languorous look which is typical of all Spanish buildings But that quiet-looking exterior is deceptive. Inside, are embodied the very latest ideas in studio construction.
Los
The building consists of central· offices. two expansive wings heusing two large music scoring studios, and five unit studios where, work the 150 "animators" who bring Mickey to the screen. Flanking these are the labora- torles and stone rooms. A com- plete projection room and recor- ding stage. 75 feet by 40 feet, occupies. an extra unit of the ...studios.
""Tell me, Mr. Disney." I asked. "how was Mickey Mouse born?"
The answer was characteristic
of Walt Disney's modesty.
"I can't say just how the idea came. My brother and I worked previously and made good on that cartoon animal, Oswald, The Cat. And then suddenly Oswald gave up the ghost. Well, we had used a cat, and a mouse seemed to come in the natural sequence of things.
"We felt that the public, especi- álly the children. Uke animals that are cute and little. I think we are indebted to Charlie Chap- lin for part of the idea. We wanted something appealing, and we thought that a tiny bit of a mouse would have something of the wistfulness 0 Chaplina little fellow trying to do the best he could."
himself
Mickey Mouse in the most un- temperamental
I star
know. Although 200 people are on Walt Disney's," pay-roll, yet Mickey draws no salary. And - get this spacious Hollywood studio can boast that it is the largest sound cartoon plant in the whole world.
Walt Disney is still a young man of about 30. And he strikes one as filled with the dynamic energy of "youth. Unassuming and modest. I do not think you could pick him out from among his staff. At the studio he is Just one of the boys, and never overshadows his staff. The whole job of recording Mickey Mouse's doings is a magnificent example of team work.
From the instant one sets foot in the spacious doorway of the.. studio one feels in the 'very air that Mickey Mouse is a personage. he is treated seriously, and almost reverently, by everyone in that studio.
Artists by the dozen labour diligently for Mickey, Musicians compose and rehearse music for Mickey. Truck drivers, electri- elans, 'carpenters, writers; typists, labour day by day. for Mickey. His own little car stands quietly
Mickey Mouse
The artists, a musical director and a "song and dance". man gather in conference. It must be an idea that has appeal to all. Often someone will say, No. Mickey wouldn't do that. He isn't that kind of a fellow." Some- times the talk lasts two or three days before the artists can get out their boards and proceed with the actual drawings.
The story being completed. It is ready for the artists, each of whom has his definite part of the picture to draw. Disney himself always makes the assignment, as he knows just what type of draw- ing each man does best. Some draw the animals, others draw scenery. While still others draw wagons, automobiles, boats, and other fantastic “props.”
if may be well to explain that every motion picture actually 1s nothing more than a series of still pletures, each one advancing the action a little farther. For ex- ample, it may take. 50 still plc- tures, each very slightly different. to show a girl opening a door. Likewise it may take 50 drawings to show Mickey wagging his tall one side to the other. The aver age 700 feet cartoon requires from
10,000 to 15,000 drawings with 25 to 30 backgrounds.
The artists all work with a lightweight. semitransparent drawing paper placed on an illu- minated drawing board. The light paper and illuminated draw- ing board are necessary, because, "after one drawing has been com- pleted the second piece of paper is placed on top of it so that the artists are able to follow the pre-
vious one closely enough to make. the movement smooth.
com
After the drawings are pleted they are turned over to.. a crops of girls whỏ trace them on sheets of celluloid. Then they are filled in with the proper shades of black, white or grey, after which they are ready to be photographed. The cameraman's Job Is. perhaps, the most mono- tonous of all. Unlike the camer- aman on any ordinary picture,
Above the
ira is hwn garage. door is painted "Mickey."
Disney, his creator, still pre- pares his scénarios. Then a "gag" meeting is call to consider the, story and add funny actions and situations.
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he cannot photograph an entire sequence by merely turning the crank of his camera. Each in- dividual pieture must be photo- graph separately, and since it requires 16 pictures to make a foot of fim, even the most ex- perienced man,, cannot turn out more than 50 feet to film a day.
It requires anywhere from one to four sheets of celluloid with their drawings to make up a sin- gle picture to be recorded for the firished im. As an example, supposing there is to be a scene. of Mickey riding across the de- ser on the back of a wagon. On one sheet of celluloid, would be the desert background. On the second one would be a drawing of the wagon. On the third one would be Mickey. And 1 his little playmate, Minine Mouse, happened to be with him, she would be on the fourth sheet. Consequently, instead of 16 draw- ings to each foot of film, it some- times requires 64 separate draw- ings.
"Sometimes we write our musl- cal score to at the pictures, and at other times, we create the ple- ture to fit the music." remarked, Disney," "It all depends upon whether we get an idea for a story or for the music first. Many peo- ple have remarked about the per fect rhythm' we have in our pic- tures. That's not hard to un
derstand, inasmuch as the Human element dosen't enter into our pictures. Everything we do is me chanical, so it is just a question of co-ordinating the two chanical, departments--drawing and music."
me-
Working alone, it would take a man about two years to turn out an ordinary Mickey Mouse " flm of seven hundred feet. In the Disney studio it takes a force
10.0.
of 50 men and women two weeks to complete a feature. They al- ternate between the Mickey Mou- se pictures and the Silly Sympne- ny cartoons.
in
"The greatest "break" Mickey, and; incidentally, his creator, ever had was when talkies came in. Up to that animated cartoons had been considered as "fill-ups theatre programmse. But to-day Mickey's name goes up in electric lights just as do the names of star players.In the feature pic ture,
When talkies came Disney knew that he must synchronise sound with his cartoons if he was to
to find a market for them. There- fore he immediately set about making B feature which was drawn espcially for synchronis- ation with sound and music.
The Beautiful English Star Anna Neagle and Fernand Greavy in a scene from Noel Coward's musical sensation "Bitter Sweet" coming soon to the King's Theatre,
Profiles of 1934
"The fashion in profies," de- clares James Wong Howe, Metro- Goldwyn Mayer cameraman. "are changing."
"The 1834 profile won't look like the 1933 profile at all. It will be a new profile altogether.
"Lads and lassies who hope to crash into Alms this year will have to judge themselves by a new standard, for that's how they will be judged."
A
The amiable Wong doesn't at- tempt to say that all screen juveniles this season will have to look like Wallace Beery, but he does say:
20
"Anybody can remember when the ideal masculine profile had to look like the" collar advertise
ment. That was only two three years ago. Last year, we had a slight tendency toward the Barrymore profile. But this year the juvenile can't look like that at all.
He'll have to own a chin like Clark Gable's, sort of rounded at the bottom with a hint of a dim- ple. He'll need a good strong mouth, something like Robert Montgomery's. His nose is not especially important, except that it can't look like Jimmy Durante's. His eyes must be strong, and set reasonably for- 'ward in his head like Ramon Novarro's. His forehead must not be too high, nor yet too low. John Gilbert's is a good exam- ple. His hair is not important, except that It must match the rest of his face,
"The profile of the leading lady of the new year is entirely different, too. "First, of all she mustn't have a proud little nose; "Her chin, whilst firm, must have a certain softness, like Joan Crawford's. It can't be a hard, stubborn chin.
"Her mouth is decidedly feminine, neither too large nor too small. A good example of the new style in mouths is Lupe Velez." It must be mobile, quick, to reflect expressions.
"Her eyes may be blue, brown" or grey, but they must te large, yet not too large for the rest of her face. I think eyes like Madge Evans' are the best example.
"Her forehead should be straight and moderately high, not bulging You could take Greta Garbo's forehead for a model.
"It doesn't... matter whether she's blonde or brunette," as long as her hair is soft and well- groomed.
'If you can find a couple of people that fulfil these require ments, bring them around and I' put
them under personal contract.
2
Then he took his film to New York of the synchronisation pro- cess, as at that time there was no available independent sound apparatus in Hollywood which could have managed the business successfully,
Even then it was not until after "Steamboat Willle," the first Mickey Mouse drawn especially for synchronisation, had taken the public by storm that Disney was able to get a
nation-wide release för his product. That picture started Mickey on the road to a popularity that has rarely been enjoyed by any other star. And he still glitters as one of the brightest stars in the cine- ma heavens.
To-day Mickey is being repro- produced as dolis, jewellery, toffee, on chinaware, children's dress goods and in a dozen other ways. Mickey Mouse received the enor mous total of 800,000 fan letters last year from every corner of the; globe. His name in Cermany. is Michael Maus, in France Michel, Souris, in Spain Miguel Ratono- cito and in Japan Miki Kuchi.
Strange, isn't it, that all of this fame and popularity should come to just a little splotch of ink?
:
Manon la Crevette
of.
"Bitter Sweet" :
Ivy St. Helier regards the Char- acter of Manon in "Bitter Sweet " as being the greatest part she has ever played and this opinion means a good deal when it comes "from the lips of one who has ap- peared in every kind of theatrical part, including straight plays. comedy, pantomime, problem plays, Shankespeare and ballet.
There is an interesting story behind the creation of this role for Ivy St. Heller,
In 1919, before the name of Noel Coward was known to the public, Miss St. Helier was ap- pearing in a variety bill at a Man- chester music hall in songs at the plano. Noel Coward was in the same bill playing in a sketch. He repeatedly tried to get introduc- tions to Miss St, Heller because he had written two songs which he thought might suit her. Ivy, St. Heller finally heard that this was the case and wilingly asked him. to see her one afternoon and play. his songs. She then went to the manager at her hotel, where she only had a bedroom, being un- able to afford anything more, and
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arranged with him that on the Broadcast by Z.B.W.
afternoon in question he would let her have the use of a draw- ing-room and at the plano,
When the young man arrived she gave him tea and then ask- ed him to play the two numbers. He sat down as the piano very nervously,
They were charming but hard- ly vociferous enough for use in the music hall-and Miss St. He- lier said so. She also offered, a word of advice, first making sure that it would be accepted in the right spirit—as indeed It was.
"Your openings to those two songs," she told Noel Coward, "are apologetic. "Never apologise for anything. You must start by arresting the attention of the audience. After that you can go on and build up your effects."
In later years' Noel Coward, re- called that conversation with Miss St. Heller and they still joke about it. When Noel Coward was producing." Bitter Sweet" at His Majesty's Theatre, London, with Ivy St. Helier playing Manon, he returned the ten-year-old com- pliment.
"Go on, dear," he said from the stalls, during one of the early rehearsals, let's have it. Never apologise for anything."
..
That interview in Manchester marked the beginning of a friend- Ship which still endures. It was several meetings later when both happened to be week-ending with Ivor Novello that "Bitter Sweet " was first mentioned Miss Bt. Heller asked Noel Coward what he was writing at the moment and he replied that it was an operetta, with book by himself and to be produced by himself. And he added, "I am not pro- mising anything-but there may be a part in it for you."
No more was sald and Mias Bt. Heller thought no more of it since in the theatre such things have a habit of being forgotten.
The sequel came afew months inter. Miss St. Heller met a friend who also knew Noel Co- ward very well and who hasten- ed to tell her that Noel Coward was back (from one of those famous lone excursions), that hé had written" Bitter Sweet" and that hehad specially written a part for her. **
A fornight passed and still no definite news came, Then one morning, when Miss St. Heller had almost given up hoping, the telephone bell rang and a voice at the other end of the line said: "Come down and hear your music," Numerous questions rushed into Mlas St. Helier's mind and she had just started to frame. one of them when the volce said again emphatically: "Come down and hear your `music.”
So she went and she played the part of Manon for.nearly two years at His Majesty's Theatre and for six months in a tour of major provinéival centres.
The nim version of: Noel Co- ward's auperb operette," Bitter. Sweet, United Artists release coming soon to the King's Thea- tre, marks the screen debut, of, Ivy Bt. Heller.
..
on 355 Metres
1-2.15 p.m.,„. European Program-
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1 p.m., Local Time and Weather
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1.03 p., Recorded music. 1.15 p.m. A relay of the Hong Kong Hotel Orchestra from the Hong Kong Hotel Grill Room
the by courtesy Management (During the in- tervals recorded music will be broadcast from the Studio). 1.30 p.m. Rugby Press News, etc. 2.15 p.m., Close Down
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6-6.15 p.m. Children's Studio Con-
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Marian Nixon and Howard Lally have the leading romantic roles in "Doc- tor Bull," the new screen play from Fot in which Will Rogers has the seller role.
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7.30-9 p.m. Recorded music.
Orchestral---Pomp and Circum- stance March (Elgar No. 3 in C Minor). Orchestral--Pomp and Circum-
stance― March (Elgar) (No.. 4 in G Minory......... London Symphony Orchestra conduct ed by Sir Edward Elgar, O. M. Vocal Gems-Harry Lauder (arr. Byng)..... Scottish Male Voice Singers. Instrumental-Sonata in F Minor
(Brahms, Op. 120, No. 1) Lionel Tertis (Viola) and Mar- riet.Cohen (Planoforte). Orchestral-Fantasia on Scottish Alrs (arr. Mulder)... De Groot and His Orchestra. "' Vocal Duet Dear Little Cafe
"Bitter Sweet" Coward);, Vocal Duet-TH See You Again ("Bitter Sweet" Co- 9.30-10.28 pm, Recorded Music.. ward) Peggy Wood and 10.28 p.m.. Rugby Mid-day Press George Metaxa.
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