For me, the Dover Boys marked the time when Jones left behind for good the "cute" look and made animation art that pushed the known limits.
What a hoot. The staged poses of the characters lampooned the stuffy portraiture of the Victorian era, gaining breakneck speed and stopping suddenly...it must have been hard to "time" this film.
The sequence in which Dan Backslide steals the "runabout" stands alone in cartoon history--Jones creates an almost 3-D world, and his use of the rubbery single-frame "takes" to highlight the rapid moves was inspired.
Of course, the goofy guy in the bathing costume finally wins Dora (he was the only character to exhibit any fluidity, finally freeing Dora to dance along in syncopation). What was the message here-? How the heck would I know-? Was Dan's resemblance to Dick Powell accidental-?
What a hoot. The staged poses of the characters lampooned the stuffy portraiture of the Victorian era, gaining breakneck speed and stopping suddenly...it must have been hard to "time" this film.
The sequence in which Dan Backslide steals the "runabout" stands alone in cartoon history--Jones creates an almost 3-D world, and his use of the rubbery single-frame "takes" to highlight the rapid moves was inspired.
Of course, the goofy guy in the bathing costume finally wins Dora (he was the only character to exhibit any fluidity, finally freeing Dora to dance along in syncopation). What was the message here-? How the heck would I know-? Was Dan's resemblance to Dick Powell accidental-?