When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA

What do Franklin Roosevelt, Dr. Seuss, the U.S. Navy, and Mr. Magoo have in common? They are all part of the surprising story of the pioneering cartoon studio UPA (United Productions of America). Throughout the 1950s, a group of artists ran a business that broke all the rules, pushing animated films beyond the fluffy fantasy of the Walt Disney Studio and the crash-bang anarchy of Warner Bros. Instead, UPA’s films were innovative and graphically bold—the cartoon equivalent to modern art. When Magoo Flew is the first book-length study to chronicle the complete story of this unique American enterprise. The book features cameo appearances by Aldous Huxley, James Thurber, Orson Welles, Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Jim Backus, Eddie Albert, and Woody Allen, as well as a select filmography of the best of UPA.

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When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA

What do Franklin Roosevelt, Dr. Seuss, the U.S. Navy, and Mr. Magoo have in common? They are all part of the surprising story of the pioneering cartoon studio UPA (United Productions of America). Throughout the 1950s, a group of artists ran a business that broke all the rules, pushing animated films beyond the fluffy fantasy of the Walt Disney Studio and the crash-bang anarchy of Warner Bros. Instead, UPA’s films were innovative and graphically bold—the cartoon equivalent to modern art. When Magoo Flew is the first book-length study to chronicle the complete story of this unique American enterprise. The book features cameo appearances by Aldous Huxley, James Thurber, Orson Welles, Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Jim Backus, Eddie Albert, and Woody Allen, as well as a select filmography of the best of UPA.

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When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA

When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA

by Adam Abraham
When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA

When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA

by Adam Abraham

Hardcover

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Overview

What do Franklin Roosevelt, Dr. Seuss, the U.S. Navy, and Mr. Magoo have in common? They are all part of the surprising story of the pioneering cartoon studio UPA (United Productions of America). Throughout the 1950s, a group of artists ran a business that broke all the rules, pushing animated films beyond the fluffy fantasy of the Walt Disney Studio and the crash-bang anarchy of Warner Bros. Instead, UPA’s films were innovative and graphically bold—the cartoon equivalent to modern art. When Magoo Flew is the first book-length study to chronicle the complete story of this unique American enterprise. The book features cameo appearances by Aldous Huxley, James Thurber, Orson Welles, Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Jim Backus, Eddie Albert, and Woody Allen, as well as a select filmography of the best of UPA.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780819569141
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Publication date: 03/09/2012
Pages: 332
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

ADAM ABRAHAM has written for film, television, and theatre, and he has taught at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He lives in England.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
BEFORE THE BEGINNING
Fantasyland in Revolt
Wartime Experiments
UPA AND THE ANIMATED IDEAL
Industrial Films
Columbia Pictures Presents
Modern Art Triumphant
INTERRUPTION
The Red Menace
FLIGHT OF ICARUS
Mr. Magoo: Blindness and Insight
Television and Advertising
An Arabian Goodnight
After the Fall
Epilogue
Notes
Select Bibliography
Select Filmography
Image Credits
Index

What People are Saying About This

John Canemaker

“At last! The story of UPA, the influential little-studio-that-could—and did—challenge Disney’s domination of animation design and content, has finally been told accurately, with wit, clarity, and insight.”

Leonard Maltin

“This splendid, and long-overdue, book traces the colorful history of the studio that sought to reinvent American animation. Abraham has done his homework and weaves the individual stories of UPA’s many artists and personalities into a seamless and highly readable narrative. A first-rate piece of film history.”

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