Which animator is more famous — Walt Disney or Paul Terry? Few people would dispute the answer today, but what if we journeyed 100 years into the past?
The latest edition of my cinema history column Animation Time Machine celebrates the 1924 release of “Alice’s Day at Sea,” the first film ever to emerge from The Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio — the same company we know today as Walt Disney Animation Studios.
At the time, the name “Walt Disney” was not widely known. Audiences were more likely to recognise the name of “Paul Terry,” creator of “Aesop’s Fables,” one of the most successful animated film series of the 1920s.
Here’s how Paul Terry described his approach to animation in an interview for Exhibitors Trade Review, published in March 1924:
“There is no question but that all human beings — large, small, rich, poor, educated and ignorant — are fundamentally alike in one certain respect. Some years ago, I decided that this was in being peculiarly childlike. And I discovered also that the sort of humor that appeals to children, appeals practically to everyone. In other words the child is father to the man so far as humor is concerned. That gave me my cue in using animals in my animated cartoons. To see ourselves as others see us, in the form of animal caricature, is a successful form of satire that dates back to the days of Greek Mythology, and it was only a question of applying this time tested form to the modern scheme of life.”
To learn more about Paul Terry, Walt Disney and the 1924 release of “Alice’s Day at Sea,” read the complete Animation Time Machine article at Animation Magazine!
Graham Edwards 