First some really quick Thunderbean news:
We’re working hard to get a big batch of the seven ‘Special’ discs out the door right now, along with the Sneak Preview 2024 disc. We should be through them by Friday. Buster Bear has been freed! We’ve also opened the ‘Special Disc’ vault for old special discs, but only through Sunday— so if you’ve missed any you wanted they’re available at the Thunderbean Shop.
And – onto our reel!
One of my favorite things is finding something really odd while collecting, and even better to be able to use it on one of the sets we do. Here is one of those oddities- a reel of commercials from around 1957, likely produced by the same small studio in Denver, Colorado. I found these all on Ebay some years back; all were 16mm prints from a Denver ad agency. I was happy to have won all of them and strung them together on a reel if memory serves.
In the 50s there was some animation production in Denver, but the bigger production facility in Colorado was called Alexander Film company in Colorado Springs. They opened in 1928 and produced industrial films for many years, but boomed in the 50s with TV production. Years back our very own Craig Davison lent me a print of a short television story about the studio. It’s on the Cartoon Commercials, volume 1 DVD we did years back. I don’t have it handy for this post, but here’s another promotional film from the late 50s for the same studio:
It’s possible Alexander film company made these little spots, but probably more likely they were done by another small studio in Colorado. At any rate, they’re pretty fun- although many are pretty primitive in terms of animation. The Denver Milk Producer spots are some of my favorites with their strange animation and funny slogans. One of the local spots (for a car dealership) features cowboys and Indians, and it seems especially keen to follow some of the more Mid-Century Modern sensibilities happening in the 50s.
As we’re wrapping up the Mid Century Modern, Volume 3 set, I’ve decided to add this reel back onto the set, even though only some of them really have those sensibilities. They’re interesting in their contrast and local flavor.
Here’s the *almost* final version of the reel. There’s some more tweaking to do on grading and steadying, but it’s close!
Have a good week all!
