Based on designs by Joe Grant, who wrote and drew many Disney classics, “Lorenzo” is a very funny cartoon about a large blue cat that has to fight his tail as a result of a hex placed on it. Software was used to add brushstroke textures to the designs and it looked great. The cartoon appeared before the film Raising Helen.
“Redux Riding Hood” was the oddest of the bunch because it didn’t seem like Disney animation at all with its odd sense of humor and incorporation of 2-D collage. It was supposed to be part of a series directed towards adults entitled “Totally Twisted Fairy Tales” that got cancelled. Created by the Disney Television Animation department, Michael Richards voices the wolf who invents a time machine in an effort to fix his one great mistake in life. The short has many funny moments, but goes on a little too long. At 15 minutes, I believe it was the longest one of the evening and it wears thin as the gag gets repeated.
The evening closed out with “Runaway Brain” starring Mickey Mouse whose brain gets switched with a monster’s. It appeared with A Kid in King Arthur's Court, the live-action George of the Jungle, and A Goofy Movie, and is available on DVD in the Walt Disney Treasures collection Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Vol. 2.
Roy and the other speakers were having as much fun sharing these cartoons and their backstories as the audience was watching them. It had to be one of the best events the Newport Beach Film Festival had during this year’s run. He suggested “maybe next year” they would return with other cartoons from the vault. I would highly recommend fans of both Disney and animation seek this presentation out if ever they repeat it.
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