RESCUERS: Medusa's Shipboard Suite

LADY AND THE TRAMP

I always enjoy hearing from readers. It is a special kick to get emails from around the world.

Today I received two cheery emails from a gentleman named Pete Turner, from Sutton Coldfield, England.

He sent THIRTY gorgeous backgrounds from LADY AND THE TRAMP, and generously gave permission to share them with you.

Enjoy these, readers! I know Pete spent a great deal of time and creative energy digitally recreating these.

Thank you, Pete! All I can say is WOW! Here is the first installment:

more SOLID SERENADE

SOLID SERENADE (1946)

Two terrific background paintings from the Tom and Jerry film "SOLID SERENADE" (MGM, 1946).

These are digitally re-created pan B/Gs, before and after some cool jazz music by Tom. The string bass wreaks major havok.


I used the view with the mail slot open so we could see the entire painting of the back yard. The mail slot door is of course a cel overlay.

LILO'S ROOM

Here's another installment of wonderful background art from LILO AND STITCH. These feature Lilo's bedroom.

First up, her bed and nightstand. Gotta love that hula dancer lamp!

Here's another bedside view:

This digitally re-created pan B/G took a long time to piece together, but it was worth the time. Lilo is a quirky character, and her room is a perfect match. It's filled with so many wonderful eclectic details: glow-in-the-dark moon and star stickers, a sea shell, a windowside lei, miniature trucks, a toy sailboat, a yo-yo, even a hockey stick...

Here's a close-up of the right side of the pan....

Here's a complete view of the easel...

Finally, a lovely rendering of the view from the foot of the bed looking toward the door. Notice the woodgrain in the bedposts, the casual draping of bedspread fabric across the bed's frontpost, and the way light illuminates the edges of the woodwork...

LILO AND STITCH: Home

DESTINATION MEATBALL (Universal, 1952)

This Woody Woodpecker cartoon produced by Walter Lantz just screams 1950s, and induces some irresistible nostalgia for baby boomers. I remember watching Woody on TV, even at the local "Starlite" drive-in movie theatre. Furthermore, the cartoon exactly captures the look of the era's supermarkets. Just like the "Piggly Wiggly" back home!

The style of the title card alludes to the to the Sci-Fi films of the era, but that's misleading. Woody is simply hungry, and Buzz Buzzard (supermarket owner) has his hands full dealing with Woody's appetite for mischief.

No mere backgrounds for this cartoon - the painted "sets" (!) are attributed to artist Fred Brunish.

The opening pan background is digitally re-created here.

This very clever B/G of Woody;'s wristwatch reveals the day not in hours but by a timetable of meals! 9 am is a stack of pancakes swimming in butter. Noon is a salad with olives and toast (more butter). 3 pm is tea time (how utterly civilized). 6 pm is dinner: a huge slab of steak, with french fries, peas, two dinner rolls (even more butter) and a big piece of pie for dessert. Now THAT'S nostalgic!

Next, a vast array of artery-clogging red meat in the butcher section:

An undressed chicken:

The sleek lines of the checkout counter, complete with turnstile and scale...

This loooong pan B/G looks exactly as I remember my childhood grocery stores, except for the trap door in the middle of the aisle...

Next, the bakery, complete with wedding cake cel overlay.

And the bakery B/G without without the wedding cake cel overlay. Note the paper doily!!!

And finally, the meat locker...


This artwork doesn't take itself too seriously, but is still stylish in a lean way. Great fun!