Note 31: Under the heading
When Storm P. introduced the cartoon, the author Erik Nørgaard is also guilty of
an exaggeration in his otherwise excellent book Living Images in Denmark. From
the old Cinema to modern times ... One of his captions says, among other
things, that "Storm P. drew each of the many thousands of drawings in the
film. Later, the cartoon process was simplified by trick-tables, etc." See
the said work, p. 135. - First, Storm P.'s cartoons are largely made with
so-called cut out technique, ie. that the figures or parts thereof are cut or
cut out of paper or cardboard, almost like the parts of a bumblebee. During
shooting or shooting, move the parts, e.g. arms, legs, head and body, exposure
for exposure or image by image, possibly. two exposures or images of each
drawing or movement phase. At the later showing of the film at normal speed,
which at the time was around 16-18 frames / sec., It looks as if the figure is
moving more or less vividly, depending on e.g. on the animator's sense of
motion analysis and timing etc.
Personally, I have not had the
opportunity to see a cartoon by Storm P. in which there appears such a large
number of drawings as have been mentioned. On the other hand, there may well be
several thousand images (exposures) for each film, as e.g. 16 bill./sec. x 60
sec. is equal to 960 frames per minute. Assuming that the film is on e.g. 5
minutes means it consists of 4,800 images. A 10 minute cartoon will therefore
hold twice the number of images, namely 9,600. The number of over 18,000
drawings that Ellen Storm Petersen mentions would mean that the film should
have a playing length of almost 19 minutes (!), Which is completely unlikely in
this context. But perhaps Mrs. Storm P. alludes to her husband's four short
cartoons with the three little men, which together have a playing time of about
20 minutes, that is to say about 19,200 pictures, not to be confused with the
number of drawings, which may have been at most half.
Speaking of Storm P.'s alleged
efforts as the world's first cartoon pioneer, reference can be made to FILM UV,
media pedagogical journal, 18th year. no.85-86, December 1984. In this, Chris
Brøgger tells in the article Animation film - technique and aesthetics (p.6-7)
i.a. the following: "A small anecdote, which unfortunately can neither be
confirmed nor disproved, claims that Robert Storm Petersen in the years immediately
after Nordisk Film's start in 1906 created the world's first cartoon.
Photographer A. Graatkjær said several years ago that Storm during a lunch
break in the studios in Valby drew a flower bud, which he made Graatkjær take
one picture of, after which he erased the drawing and drew a new one slightly
larger, which was also taken in a single picture. "a fully sprouted
flower. Since the film cannot be traced, and since both Storm and Graatkjær
have long since died, we can only enjoy the story, which is at least
good." - Yes, good, but far from true in the claim about Storm P. as an
international cartoon pioneer, as shown above. But note that photographer Axel
Graatkjær describes Storm P.’s first cartoon attempt as if this was drawn with
writing chalk on a blackboard, as several other contemporary foreign cartoon
pioneers had also done and did. And hypothetically, it could be thought that
Storm P. had already at that time seen examples of similar cartoons in Gaumont
or Pathé's film week reviews.