Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-10-30
THE CARTOON COMEDY, LAST
MYSTERY OF THE MOVIES
How the Lightning Artist Makes This Pen and Ink
Marve-Four Thousand Separate Draw
ings to Reel

TN SPITE of the press agent. there is
i still one movie mystery. 1t is that pen
and ink marvel technically known as the
carton comedy.
Everybody knows these pictures, and a
good many people claim to have origi-
mated them. Some Of us met them nrst
through Lyman Howe. To every travel
picture he pinned on ridiculous httie
burlesque. At the end of film OF
military academy for instance, the Dill
of stork obtruded itself into the blank
Of the screen. The bird followed the Dili'
likewise an inkwell. The bill sucked up
ink and then proceeded to Ora" some
warlike figures, which promptly came u
life and went through military evolutions.
such as Juggling a cannonball from the
mouth of a 42-centimetre gun. AT the
end the whole thing blew up. and pieces
coming down through the air formed
letters .'Intermission" on the screen
The most famous cartoon comedy was
ono nv windsor Mckay, featuring les
sic, the Icthosaurus. Since then the
drawn movie has become a regular part
of the output of many of the Dig coihpa-
riies Lubin has an artist VINO di'iues ms
reel with negro comedy. Edison handles
IFS series from novel angle. Each PIC
ture begins with an ordinary reai me
scene between Edison actors One OF tne
characters introduces book OF carIooiis'
The picture on the page expands 10 the
fuII size of the screen and goes through
it's eyolutions Then at the end comes
the close of the real life incident.
One of the most popular and clever
series Of cartoons is that issued Dy
Pathe with Colonel Heeza Liar or
THE Police Dog as its hero J. X.
BRAY the originator of these drawings
claims to be the first TO put motion INTO
the drawing itself. Mr.. Bray started
his experiments over seven years ago.
and that was when motion pictures were
still very young. Today he is the head
of a whole organization devoted to max
ing his pictures, has a corps OF artists
working under his supervision and has
patents on his process which cover the
use of transparent material or material
made transparent by any agency what
ever in the making o. animated claW-
ings-
On another page will be found re-
production of one of Mr.. Bray's draw
ings To produce n series OF comic
eyolutions on the film. the artist draws
thousands of such sketches, each III
tie different in the detail of its actions.
The background is standardized to GER
tain extent making it necessary to draw
in only the moving figures. Each pic
ture is separately photographed. draw
ing following drawing in the order OF
events which they develop. while the
camera slowly. very, very slowly CHICKS
it's shutter.
1t takes between four and five thousand
drawings to make 1000 feet or one reel of
film. In addition to the colossal toi!
of the art work it takes a week TO
photograph the drawings one at a time.
Great speed united with unvarying ac-
curacv is essential. Every stroke of the
pen must count. Mr.. Bray works so
fast that he is able to keep four trained
artists linking in the outline drawings
which he makes. The necessity for ac-
curacy is evident, when it is learned
that the drawings are maGnifed on the
screen at least % times.
Mr. Bray spent years in study before he
attempted to make an animated cartoon
film. For months he haunted the Bronx
Zoo in order to study the animals there
and analyZe their motions. He even
bought n large farm across the Hudson
from Poughkeepsie and stocked it with
various animals in order to further ex-
tend his knowledge of animal anatomy.
The result of these studies finds express
sion in the life-like motions of the
various animals which move across his
films.
Mr. Bray was recently interviewed in
his sunny New York studio engaged I'm
conducting Heeza Liar through another
series of escapades. Tall. slender and
blonde he looks more like successful
business man than an artist