From: jack.bohn64@gmail.com   
      
   Among the things Mark Leeper wrote:   
      
   > when seen in its widescreen format, much of it still looks very    
   > good sixty-five years later. The beautiful planet-scapes and    
   > space-scapes would not be surpassed until STAR WARS. For the pre-    
   > digital age, the effects are very impressive. And the scenes are    
   > all the more impressive in widescreen format.   
      
   2001 says, "Am I a joke to you?"   
      
   Just a side-mention of the TV cropped version.  Back when I was looking for   
   the special effects tricks, this showed the tiger on a rise of ground, then   
   Adams having to shoot it as it leapt for Altaira, but the tiger only entered   
   the frame when it had    
   already been replaced by animated dissipating clouds, making it look like they   
   had cheated more than they actually did.   
      
   > MGM was not able to do themselves all the effects for FORBIDDEN    
   > PLANET and got some technical aid from Disney Studios. The result    
   > is that several of the scenes have the unmistakable feel of Disney    
   > animation. When we see sparks in Robby's dome, or long arcs of    
   > electricity, they look like Disney animation. When walking to the    
   > reactor, we see a scene in the power shaft that looks very much    
   > like Disney animation. I assume they also did the rays coming out    
   > of the blasters, but not very well. The line of the blast remains    
   > steady even though the gun is shaking around.    
      
   Not the first time MGM favored Disney over their own animators!   
   "Anchors Aweigh" (1945) featured a fantasy segment of Gene Kelly dancing with   
   a cartoon.  He originally wanted Mickey Mouse.  It was when Disney turned down   
   the request that they went with Jerry Mouse.  This was while Tom & Jerry were   
   in the midst of a    
   four-year run of Academy Award wins, in a nine-year run of nominations!  (I   
   think I read that at the time nominations were not competitive, a few titles   
   were submitted by each studio, in most cases by the executive in charge of   
   keeping the animators from    
   running amuck around the real studio.)   
   I tell myself it was justified by getting an "effects animator": Disney could   
   specialize, having someone special to do all the water and wave effects for   
   The Sorcerer's Apprentice in "Fantasia," while the others basically had   
   everyone as basically    
   character animation, and made do with their water seeming to have intelligence   
   and purpose.   
      
   --    
   -Jack   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)