Korty Films

To tide you over while I'm currently working on my interview with TWICE UPON A TIME's art director, Harley Jessup, I thought I'd show you some clips of what John Korty and his Korty Films did animation-wise before they got the ball rolling on TWICE. Well, before you do that, first check out David Nethery's Inkling Chronicles blog for an interesting article written by Korty on using a Bolex camera: John Korty: The Bolex Reporter 1963.

If you read John Korty's IMDB entry, you'll see that he got his first directing job with BREAKING THE HABIT, which was animated in his trademarked cut-out style. It got nominated for an Oscar in 1964. It's not available to view online. Believe me, I've tried, but there's nothing. Korty directed some live action films here and there, but then was able to land a sweet gig in the 70's: Sesame Street. He and his Korty Films did some incredibly charming cut-out animation for the landmark children's show that still looks as sharp, expressive and timeless today as it did back in the 70's and 80's. The subtle acting you see in some of the clips featured below is excellent and should be studied and analyzed by all animation students today. The fact that these characters are limited to mere flat planes doesn't stop the original animators working on them -- they give these boys and girls (and various animals) so much character through their mannerisms, postures, poses, and facial expressions. To me, they're not paper and Pellon, they're flesh and bone. Gorgeous to look at and completely memorable. I'm a big fan now after watching these clips over and over.

Here are a few that have popped up on (sorry) YouTube:











I totally remember this one:



This last one is a Dutch version of Korty's only real returning character series for Sesame Street: Thelma Thumb. There's nothing else, clip-wise that's out there currently. Anyone willing to upload some old Thelma Thumb's for us? We'd be greatly appreciated. To figure out what's going on in this clip, read a brief synopsis of what Thelma's about HERE. (Thank you, Muppet Wiki!)



Have fun checking these out! I know I did.