Til start: Dansk Tegnefilms Historie
DANISH CARTOONS 1930 – 1942
Danish cartoon nestor, Jørgen
Müller (Myller), who has the honor of having made the first Danish
entertainment cartoon with sound, Columbus - A bank coup (1934). In
addition, he - together with his first student, Henning Dahl Mikkelsen - in
1938–42 was a teacher for a younger generation of students, who would later
influence Danish cartoons well into the century. - Photo from the portrait film
"It started with Storm P.". Bellevue Studio 1983.
As mentioned in the previous section,
Storm P.'s own work in Danish cartoon production was completely unique in the
years 1919 to approx. 1925, when Karl Wieghorst took over the work. Competitors
such as Alfred Georg Olsen, with the artist name "Skibstrup", and the
artist Richard Johnsen, could not compete with Storm P. at all, at least not in
terms of originality and artistic quality.
But it must also be noted that Storm P.'s
cartoon business did not get any direct successor who could immediately take
over and continue where he left off. However, at that time there was a
schoolboy from Aalborg who had seen some of Storm P.'s cartoons in the cinema,
and they allegedly aroused his interest so much that he set out to try to make
a cartoon himself.
The boy's name was Jørgen
Müller, and he was born in 1910 in Aalborg as the son of a well-known and
well-to-do wine merchant and later consul, Sigurd Müller, as people in the city
probably knew who he was. As mentioned, the son, Jørgen Müller, began to take
an interest in the cartoon medium as a boy. It was in the early 1920s, and was
allegedly due in particular to some of Storm P.’s cartoons, which caught his
interest. As a 16-year-old schoolboy, he tried to make cartoons himself, but
initially gave it up again because he could not really figure out how to do it,
to get a reasonably good and acceptable result.
Jørgen Müller's widow, Mrs. Edel Müller,
b. Hansen, told me in 1998 that after finishing school, Jørgen Müller had
been in the grocery store for two years, i.e. 1926-28, but that this subject
did not interest him. But even though it did not really bother the father, who
would rather have seen the boy follow in his footsteps, he made sure that he
was sent to the German capital, Berlin, where he became a student at an
advertising agency.
Jørgen Myller in England
At the advertising agency's
design studio, the then 18-year-old Jørgen Müller received his basic education.
He quickly proved to have a flair for advertising drawing, and as a 19-year-old
he was therefore sent over to the advertising agency's branch in London. Here
came the gifted young man shortly after in connection with a couple of
England's cartoon pioneers, Sidney Griffiths and Brian White.
Both had previously worked for Cardiff Film, Wardour Street, London, where they
collaborated on Griffith's cartoon series Jerry the Troublesome Tyke,
which from May 1925 to around 1928 could be seen in cinemas in the film week
revue Pathé Pictorial. The series with the puppy Jerry replaced Pat Sullivan's "Felix
the Cat", which Pathé had lost the rights to show. Brian White was
used to drawing and animating small dogs, having previously worked as an
animator on G. E. Studdy's cartoon series "Bonzo". (Note 1)
In the portrait film It Began with Storm
P., Jørgen Myller tells about his time with Griffiths and White, that no cells
were used, but that they animated and drew on paper, as some of the earliest
cartoon pioneers had done. And in order not to have to draw the background on
every single drawing, they made sure that the figures were always in the lower
part of the sheet of paper, while the background was in the upper third of the
sheet. Then the top third of the sheets on which the figure was found were cut
away so that the line drawing of the background became visible. The sheets of
paper used were for the purpose the hole in the bottom edge by means of a hole
punch of the kind commonly used for archiving office papers. The holes in the
sheets fit exactly to a metal rail with two approx. 6 mm high pins, and in this
way it was possible to keep the sheets in exactly the same place during the
process, both while animating and while the drawings were being photographed on
film.
Thereafter, both animation drawings and
backgrounds were recorded on black and white High Contrast Monochrome Film,
which meant that the paper edge of the animation drawings, which was visible to
the naked eye, did not appear on the film. However, this technique was only
useful in the technically relatively primitive commercial cartoons produced at
the time. The method, on the other hand, did not work in connection with the
use of Multichrome black and white film, which makes it possible to use a
spectrum of shades of gray from black to white. And even less could the method
be used in connection with shooting on color film. Griffiths and White started
using color film, the so-called Ray Color System, as early as 1933, but then
Jørgen Myller was fairly well established at his own cartoon studio in
Vesterport in Copenhagen. (Note
2)
It was around 1929 that the demands on the
cartoon technique increased markedly. There should now be a background over the
entire cartoon image, and therefore the fast and relatively easy technique from
before could no longer be used. One therefore had to switch to using the more
advanced method that had long been developed and used in American cartoons,
namely, to copy the animated drawings onto transparent celluloid sheets, the
so-called cells. This meant that you could see the painted background quite
clearly behind the figure / figures. Greater demands were also made on the
animation itself, as they began to sketch animated key-poses, which were
subsequently drawn and intermediate drawn and then drawn up on cells and
colored. In addition, the animation was 'timed', ie the movements of one or
more characters and the length of a scene in feet, ie. 16 bill./sec. It later
meant that one could also determine the movements of a figure in musical tempo
in the form of beats, which were measured using a metronome, e.g. 8-image
clock, 16-image clock, etc. Later, however, a so-called stopwatch of the kind
also used in sports contexts was used.
After the series with the cutter Jerry had
ended, Griffiths and White primarily produced small commercial cartoons, and it
was during this period that Jørgen Myller got in touch with them and quickly
proved to be firm for the profession. So firm that he was soon given the task
of drawing and directing a cartoon feature, Tiptoe Through the Tulips, which
was intended to appear on stage in connection with a performance by the then
famous Jack Hylton and his band. It was after his employment with Griffiths and
White that Jørgen Müller understandably replaced the German ü in his surname
with an English y, which was otherwise just as useful in Denmark as in England.
(Note 3)
It caused a great stir among filmmakers
and cinema owners all over the world when the speech and sound film appeared in
1927. There was also a great uproar in cartoon circles when Disney's first tone
cartoon, Steamboat Willie, came on the market in 1928. It was difficult
at first. by figuring out which sound film system to use for movies as well as
for cartoons, and moreover, different cinemas had different sound systems
installed. As far as cartoons were concerned, they also had problems finding a
method that could make the animation fit the sound or vice versa, e.g. a
figure's speech or song should preferably fit synchronously to the figure(s)'s
mouth movements. Such problems had been solved at Disney, just as so many other
technical and artistic problems that had arisen in connection with the
production of modern cartoons had been solved.
Letterhead for Jørgen Myller's
first cartoon company. The original is in color.
Animated Cartoon Company -
Copenhagen
In 1929, when sound film
technology had become more common, Griffiths and White formed the company
Comedy Cartoon Sound Films Company, where they, among other things. produced
the cartoon Topical Breezes. At that time, Jørgen Myller was still employed by
the company and continued to do so until 1931, when he had felt like starting
for himself and therefore returned home to Denmark, where he settled in
Copenhagen. It was then, as later, that most of Danish film production took
place. But since Storm P. around 1925 and Wieghorst had given up working on
cartoons a few years later, there were no longer any significant cartoonists
and cartoon producers in Denmark.
So it was a relatively virgin market that
the then 21-year-old Jørgen Myller returned home to. It was therefore a matter
of creating a need and a demand for, first and foremost, advertising cartoons.
To this end, he entered into a business partnership with the financially savvy
Frenchman Yvon Denise, and under the company name Animated Cartoon
Company, Vesterport, Copenhagen, a number of cartoons were produced in the
years 1932-34. First and foremost, advertising cartoons, as Myller’s cartoon
company immediately from the start secured orders for advertising cartoons from
the advertising agencies Monterossi and Bergenholtz. (Note 4)
This drawing shows Jørgen
Myller and Anker Roepstorff, who by chance met each other and got into a
conversation in the gramophone shop "Det Runde Vindue" in
Frederiksberggade in 1932. Roepstorff was employed by Animated Cartoon Company
as an idea man, screenwriter and cartoonist. The drawing, which was drawn by
Jørgen Myller in 1942, belongs to © Mrs. Inge Roepstorff.
Jørgen Myller's new cartoon studio soon
received a lot of press coverage, probably brought about by Yvon Denise, and
already in the year of establishment 1932, Anker Roepstorff was employed
as an intermediate illustrator and screenwriter. Both the jazz-interested young
people, Myller and Roepstorff, had met by chance in the gramophone shop
"Det Runde Vindue" on Frederiksberggade, where they had fallen into
conversation. This led to Roepstorff's employment in the firm, and it was
initially to last until 1934, when Myller suddenly and unexpectedly for his
employees again went to London, to work for Sidney Griffiths.
But before that, the company had a large
stake with its own, hand-drawn letterhead and printed text, which, like the
company name, was of course written in English: ANIMATED CARTOON COMPANY -
COPENHAGEN. Office: Ellehøj 3, Hellerup. Production: Jørgen Myller. Sale
Department: Yvon Denize. Musical Arrangers: Carlo & Chr. Thomsen. Music by:
Jack Hylton and His Orchestra - Kai Julian and His Band. (Note that the word
'Compagny' in the company name is misspelled with a 'g', where in English it is
otherwise spelled Company. Likewise, 'Musik by' is spelled in Danish with a 'k'
error instead of 'c', i.e. 'Music city').
In the meantime, some younger ladies had
been hired for drawing and coloring, just as the cartoonist Richard Møller had
also been hired as an intermediary in the company. But just as important had
the painter's friend from Skive, Henning Dahl Mikkelsen, arrived. About this,
Myller said appreciatively and without reservation (freely quoted): "He
proved from the very beginning to be a kind of genius for making
cartoons!" (Note
5)
Jørgen Myller's first animator
student, the very tall and only 17-year-old Henning Dahl Mikkelsen, is seen
here drawn in 1933 by Anker Roepstorff. The drawing belongs to © Mrs. Inge Roepstorff.
Myller’s first animator
student
Henning Dahl Mikkelsen was
born on January 9, 1915 in Skive as the son of the city's leading hardware
store. The boy's drawing talent had already attracted attention during school
time and especially when he came to high school. He graduated as a 16-year-old
in 1931 and then apprenticed as a painter with a local painting company.
However, the family moved to Struer, where the radio factory Bang & Olufsen
was based. That fact led to the young Mikkelsen, who had long since begun to
practice comic commercials and the like, already at the age of 17 drawing the
simple but excellent and since then famous logo for the radio factory B&O,
which is used that day Today.
However, Henning Dahl Mikkelsen had become
aware that he wanted to be a cartoonist, and preferably a cartoonist, and he
had therefore begun to wonder if he should interrupt his apprenticeship. The
triggering moment for his fateful decision came as a result of one day in 1932
he read in the newspaper or some magazine about Jørgen Myller and his cartoon
company in Copenhagen, and it made him want to try his hand at this genre. He
then wrote to the master and attached some samples of his drawing art. As a
result, the young Mikkelsen, whom we will now call Mik for convenience,
although he first assumed this artist name several years later, was hired and
therefore traveled to the capital, where he actually came to live most of his
time in Denmark. (Note
6)
At that time, in 1932, Jørgen Myller and
Anker Roepstorff were both 22 years old, while Mik was only 17 years old, but
already a very skilled cartoonist and animator, who in time would prove to take
over Myller’s position. However, Myller and Mik came together to influence a
generation of Danish cartoonists, who in the years 1938 to 1946 were their
talented students. First at Gutenberghus 1938-39 and later at VEPRO 1939-42,
and even later as freelance assistants. There were names like Børge Ring, Bjørn
Frank Jensen (Bjørn), Kjeld Simonsen (Simon), Børge Hamberg, Erik Christensen
(Chris) and Erik Rus. Even later, when Mik had become independent and had set
up his own studio, 1942-46, it was names like Helge Hau, Kaj Pindal and Ib
Steinaa.
Scene image from Jørgen
Myller's first Danish short entertainment cartoon with sound. In the photo, the
main character Columbus is seen as an English street cop, looking at a poster
with a picture of the wanted criminal Sugar Foot Bill. It's clear to see that
the film and its design had taken inspiration in American entertainment
cartoons and especially in Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising's cartoon series with
the Negro boy Bosko. © 1934 Jørgen Myller & Animated Cartoon Company.
Originally, it was the
intention and plan that the Animated Cartoon Company would produce a series of
short cartoons with Columbus, but it proved impossible to finance the project,
especially since the pilot film "A Bank Coup" made a huge deficit.
The cow in the picture plays an important role in the film. © 1934 Jørgen
Myller & Animated Cartoon Company.
Compared to Columbus, here is Hugh
Harman and Rudolph Ising’s Bosko, who was the main character in a series of
cartoons that began in 1930 and ended around 1940. The films with Bosko had
many similarities with contemporary Mickey Mouse cartoons, both in terms of
action and animation, but never became as popular as these. It's Columbus on
the right.- Bosko © 1930-40 by Hugh Harman & Rudolph Ising. - Columbus: ©
1934 Jørgen Myller.
But on behalf of the small company in
Vesterport, both Myller, Mik and Roepstorff had big plans for the future: They
wanted to produce short entertainment cartoons a la Disney for both the Danish
and foreign markets, preferably the English. To that end, as early as 1933,
what can rightly be called Denmark's first modern and professional
entertainment cartoon with sound was created. It was entitled "A Bank
Robbery". The film's main character is a little Negro boy named Columbus,
who most likely had his role model in Hugh Harman’s and Rudolph Ising’s at the
time popular cartoon series with the Negro boy "Bosko", which was
born in 1930 in the movie "Bosko, The Talk-ink Kid ”. The series, produced
by Leon Schlesinger, was part of Warner Bros. cartoon series, of which Merrie
Melodies and Looney Tunes quickly became world famous. These two series were probably
intended as a kind of counterpart to the Disney Silly Symphony series. The
Bosko series continued until 1940. (Note 7)
First Danish cartoon (with
sound)
Under the headline "First Danish
cartoon", Politiken was able to announce the following on 9 February 1934:
Jørgen Myller's cartoon hero
"Columbus" debuts on Sunday.
A couple of years ago, the young Danish
cartoonist Jørgen Myller returned home from London and drew up big plans for a
consortium that would release a whole series of cartoons, inspired by him. It
has obviously had its difficulties, and so far only a few commercials in his
line have been seen in cinemas. After all, it is not so straightforward to
compete with Walt Disney. Now, however, comes his first entertainment cartoon,
which premieres in Carlton on Sunday as a form program for the second place in
the magazine featured Bali films.
Jørgen Myller's cartoon hero is the Negro
boy Columbus, who in the first film, "A Bank Robbery", appears as an
officer who pursues the gangster Sugarfoot. The persecution takes place i.a. on
a cow on roller skates, and as Columbus somewhere runs from his shadow, it
shouts for him. When the gangster has to break open a safe, it is not done with
the help of a blowtorch, but by first filling the mouth with hydrochloric acid
and blowing it around the lock.
The film is composed of approx. 8000
drawings, and the music is partly original, partly old well-known melodies such
as. a waltz by Waldteufel played while a pair of twins run on roller skates.
The music is arranged by the two well-known jazz musicians Erik Kragh and Leo
Mathiesen and recorded by these two and five musicians from Tuxen's orchestra.
It is also the musicians who have recorded the various roles, and the language
is English for the sake of the film's sales abroad. Jørgen Myller is currently
working on a new cartoon that will be a kind of parody of "Carmen".
A soldier came marching along
the country road: "One two, one two! … “This is how H.C. Andersen's famous
adventure begins. And from this drawing from Jørgen Myller’s and Dahl
Mikkelsen's 8-minute cartoon from 1934, it is clear that the two hopeful
cartoonists had intended a cheerful version of the action's action. © 1934
Jørgen Myller & Animated Cartoon Company.
The fairy tale "The
Tinderbox" (in Danish: “Fyrtøjet”) as an 8-minute cartoon
Jørgen Myller has told that
Mik received DKK 150 in salary per. month, and Roepstorff DKK 100. What Myller
himself received, the story does not report anything about. But I wonder if he
has received a slightly higher salary than the other two. However, Myller was
disappointed to find that, from an economic point of view, it had not paid off
to produce the Columbus film. Admittedly, the cost was not great, but the
revenue on the film was even less.
Above is the fairy tale's
three magical powers in the form of three fast and helpful dogs, who end up
fulfilling the soldier's desire to marry the sweetheart of his heart, the
princess of the kingdom. The characters are drawn in the common American and
European cartoon style of the 1930s. © 1934 Jørgen Myller & Animated
Cartoon Company.
But despite the difficult production
conditions, it is probably so important that the small team during 1934
produced an 8-minute cartoon entitled "Fyrtøjet", which was of course
based on H.C. Andersen's fairy tales of the same name. It is not known exactly
whether it was Myller or Mik who designed the film's characters, or maybe they
did it together, but at least it turned into some glorious, grotesque
characters in the best ‘old-fashioned’ cartoon style. However, this style was
modern in the 1930s. (Note
8)
Above is the adorable,
innocent princess and her opposite pole, the horrible witch of superstition
that the soldier chops off as she does not want to tell him what she wants with
the 'firecracker' he has brought for her down in the hollow tree.
As you probably know, the fairy tale
"Fyrtøjet" ends happily with the three dogs preventing the soldier
from being hanged and instead marrying the kingdom's princess. The king and
queen and all the authorities must see themselves set aside in favor of the new
king, the soldier, and his queen, the princess. © 1934 Jørgen Myller &
Animated Cartoon Company.
As early as around 1933, Anker Roepstorff
had an idea for a comic cartoon about Bizet's opera "Carmen", for
which he wrote a detailed screenplay the following year. The playing time of
the film would be about 9-10 minutes, which is a little longer than the length
of a normal short cartoon, which was 7-8 minutes. The intention was that the
film, like "Fyrtøjet", would be produced for the English market, of
which Jørgen Myller had some knowledge via his English connections in London.
As far as is known, the film was started up, but it did not come any further in
the first place, simply because Myller and his company did not own the king's
coin and were on the verge of bankruptcy. Therefore, the project simply had to
be put aside in favor of more urgent and rewarding tasks.
However, it was the mentioned situation
that was the reason why the good Jørgen Myller one day did not show up for his
work at the studio in Vesterport. No one had any idea what had become of him,
but his friends and colleagues knew from experience that he had a slightly
bohemian nature and could occasionally find a way to "roam" to the
humble places in Copenhagen. So at first no one wondered. This was done only
when he had not appeared the next day and no one had heard from him either.
Anson Dyer's Color Cartoon
Studio, Anglia Films
This time, however, it turned
out that Myller had acted resolutely, for a few days later Mik received a
letter from him, and to his surprise Mik could see from the stamp of the
envelope that it had been sent from London. The letter stated that he, Myller,
had opened a new studio on Jermyn Street in London. But just as importantly,
the letter included an invitation to Mik to travel over there as soon as
possible and take Roepstorff with him. (Note 9)
It then became the task for Dahl Mikkelsen
and Anker Roepstorff to continue the Animated Cartoon Company and complete the
tasks that were already in order. It has probably been about commercial
cartoons for either Monterossi or Bergenholz or for both. However, as
mentioned, they received the letter from Myller, in which he urged his two
friends and colleagues to close the studio in Vesterport and then travel over
to him in England, because there would be cartoon work for them at British
Utility Film Ltd., Charing Cross Rd., London, the same company that Myller
himself worked for.
1934-35 the three friends worked together
in the said company, and so did they when they switched to the newly started
Color Cartoons Studio, Anglia Films Ltd, Jermyn Street, London S.W. This
company was on the initiative of the cartoon pioneer Anson Dyer created and
owned by the financier Archibald Nettlefold, who had previously collaborated
with Dyer when he in 1927 made "The first full-length animated cartoon
feature film": "The Story of the Flag".
As previously mentioned, Anson
Dyer was the initiator, artistically responsible manager and director at Anglia
Films, but the daily production was supervised by Jørgen Myller's former
teacher and friend, Sidney Griffiths. Under the latter's knowledgeable
leadership, an intensive production of cartoons began right from the start,
first and foremost by the cartoon series with the musketeer Sam Small as
the main character throughout.
Above, Jørgen Myller drew
Roepstorff during their joint stay in London from 1935–37, where they and Mik
worked for Anson Dyer at Anglia Films. The handwritten texts on the drawing
refer in particular to the work with cartoons: "We delete the list and the
names of the various lodgings, as the film must not be too long." - “Call!
NOTE! Remember PAN from Copenhagen to London” - ”Roep. The following drawing
(missing) is from ”Carlsberg” - The bottles on this are drawn - as you know -
not with scratch feathers, but Madonna ”[Madonna is slang for beer opener] -
Drawing by Jørgen Myller © 1942 Inge Roepstorff.
Both Jørgen Myller and Dahl Mikkelsen
worked as a mix of designers, animators and directors on the cartoons they got
to do in the company. Anker Roepstorff continued as a screenwriter and
cartoonist, and without any evidence of this, it must be considered probable
that Roepstorff worked as a cartoonist on the Sam Small cartoon series. The
first film in the series was titled "Sam and his Musket", and
it premiered in 1936. (Note
10)
Situation picture from Anson
Dyer's cartoon series with the musketeer Sam Small, of which 1935-37 a total of
6 films were made, which were animated by Jørgen Myller and Henning Dahl
Mikkelsen. Anker Roepstorff was the cartoonist and creator of these and several
other of the cartoons produced by Anglia Films. - © 1935-37 Anson Dyer &
Anglia Films, London.
Bizet's opera
"Carmen" as a 10-minute cartoon
At an early stage, Myller, Mik
and Roepstorff managed to convince Anson Dyer that it would be an obvious topic
to make the cartoon "Carmen", and Dyer was also involved in the idea.
As mentioned, Roepstorff had already written the screenplay at home in Denmark,
so the next thing was to design some suitable characters for the film. That
task was handed over to Mik, who drew some absolutely charming and comical
characters: Carmen, Don Jose also called Don Pedro and the toreador Escamillo.
Production began and the film premiered at the same time as "Sam and his
Musket", in 1936. (Note
11)
Towards the end of the 1930s,
however, the three Danes with Anson Dyer began to long for home to Denmark and
their families, but perhaps Mik and Myller in particular also thought that they
wanted to work for themselves. In any case, it was not because there was a lack
of assignments at Anglia Films for the three, because Anson Dyer was reportedly
upset that at least Roepstorff resigned. But the fact is that Roepstorff was
the first to return home to Copenhagen in the spring of 1937, where he was
hired as a guide at the Carlsberg brewery during the summer. It lasted until
the summer of 1938. See about this in Anker Roepstorff's biography here on the
website.
During his stay in England, Mik had
occasionally been at home in Copenhagen, mainly to contact the advertising
agency Monterossi, partly to watch and check the cartoon or cartoons that his
assistant at the agency, the advertising cartoonist Bjørn Frank Jensen, had
meanwhile completed after his publication, and partly to negotiate new
assignments. After finishing his work at Anglia Films, Henning Dahl Mikkelsen,
presumably in the autumn of 1937, also left England and traveled back to
Copenhagen, where he now really settled down as a cartoonist and supplier of
cartoon work. (Note 12)
To the left, Jørgen Myller is
seen at the animation light desk and in the middle as a background painter. To
the right, the finished result is photographed on the trick table.
Unfortunately, the photographer's name is not known. The three photos are from
Jørgen Myller's time at Gutenberghus Reklame Film 1938-39. - © 1939 B.T.,
January 1, 1939.
Gutenberghus Reklame Film and
VEPRO
Shortly afterwards, Jørgen
Myller also returned to Copenhagen, where he soon contacted Gutenberghus
Reklame Film. According to Myller, a partnership was formed between
Gutenberghus and himself. It should have been called "International Color
Cartoon Company", a name that was never used. But a fact is that in the
next years’ time, commercials were produced for e.g. Houlberg Pølser,
Steff-Pølser, Persil Washing powder and the hair dryer Hansa. It was again
Anker Roepstorff who had written the scripts for these films. And especially
the films for Houlberg Pølser and Steff-Pølser became extremely popular among
cinema-goers of that time.
Jørgen Myller told in 1983 that in 1938 he
had three students in his cartoon studio at Gutenberghus, namely Børge Ring,
Bjørn Frank Jensen and Per Lygum. With the first two it is true enough, but the
latter must be a memory error, because Per Lygum first became a student at
Jørgen Myller many more years later, more precisely in 1948, when Myller worked
as a directing animator at Dansk Farve- og Tegnefilm A/S 'production of the
pilot film for the feature film "Klods-Hans".
October 1938 - April 1939
Roepstorff was employed by Gutenberghus Reklame Film, where he assisted the
similarly returned Jørgen Müller, among others. on a series of excellent
commercial cartoons for Houlberg Pølser, for which he partly wrote scripts and
partly was an intermediate cartoonist. He then returned to Carlsberg as a guide
from April to September 1, 1939. In 1940, Roepstorff again worked for Jørgen
Müller and Dahl Mikkelsen, who had meanwhile become artistic directors at VEPRO
A/S in Hovedvagtsgade, and he followed when the company in 1941 moved to
Svanemøllevej in Hellerup. (Note
13)
Above is a sketch of VEPRO A /
S 'logo. But whether it was Myller who originally designed the logo is not
known, but it is at least him who made the above sketch in 1942 in connection
with a wedding greeting to Inge and Anker Roepstorff. - This and a number of
other drawings by Myller on the same occasion belong to © 1942 Mrs. Inge
Roepstorff.
Above is the always diligent
and energetic Anker Roepstorff, who in the years 1939, 40 and 41 almost
spray-painted the intermediate drawings at a pace that other artists had
difficulty following. The drawing was drawn by Jørgen Myller in 1942 and is one
of a series that Inge and Anker Roepstorff received on the occasion of their
wedding. © 1942 Inge Roepstorff.
The particularly interesting thing about
Jørgen Myller and his work as artistic director and chief illustrator at VEPRO,
is that he does not mention anything about it at all in the portrait program "It
started with Storm P." Myller says in it directly that it was
Gutenberghus he worked for in the period 1938 to 1942. This is also true to
this extent, as Gutenberghus Reklame Film was a customer of VEPRO. In a lengthy
telephone conversation I myself had with Myller in the spring of 1985, he
energetically denied that he had ever worked for a company called VEPRO. This
was so much more peculiar that there is clear and unequivocal documentation
that Myller - as well as Mik and Roepstorff and others. - was employed by VEPRO
from the spring of 1939 until the autumn of 1942, when the company's Danish
branch closed.
Drawing by Jørgen Myller which
alludes to the love affair between Anker Roepstorff and Inge Caroc, who was a
photographer at Gutenberghus at the time when Myller and Roepstorff also worked
in the house. With a pencil, Myller has written: "Roep Remember plenty of
speed lines" and "Background music "A'int HE Sweet". The
drawing, which is extremely well-liked, is one of a series of drawings that
Myller made as a gift on the occasion of Inge and Anker Roepstorff's wedding in
1942. - © 1942 Inge Roepstorff.
According to Mrs Inge Roepstorff, the
explanation for Myller 'memory failure' must be sought in the fact that VEPRO
was a German-owned company, which was also run by a German director, Jürgen
Stengel, with his wife, Irmgard Stengel, as secretary. There was no problem in
the fact that the company was German-owned. The problem, on the other hand, was
that Danes worked for the company during Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark
1940-45. Direct cooperation with the Germans, especially after 1941, was
considered something in the direction of nationally harmful business. Danes who
did so were described in the illegal press as collaborators, and the word alone
sounded ominous at the time. But it was worse to get the term
"guardian" hooked on him. During the occupation, this was the case
for a number of Danish manufacturers and companies that produced and delivered
goods to the Germans. During the liberation days in 1945, a large number of
Danes were arrested by the resistance movement's 'soldiers', the freedom
fighters, and charged with nationally harmful activities, either as
collaborators, guardsmen or even stabbers. Many of these were subsequently
convicted in Danish courts, some were sentenced to death, others to long prison
terms, while in some cases there was no legal basis for the charge, which is
why the persons in question were therefore released. (Note 14)
Above, on the left, Jørgen
Myller is seen using the spray gun on a background, a sophistication, which
cartoonists were usually quite happy about. However, only a few understood how
to handle this special painting tool. - To the right are the trick photographer
Marius Holdt and Jørgen Myller behind the trick table, in the process of making
a scene ready for recording. - © 1941 Mandens Blad.
In the photo to the left,
Jørgen Myller is seen in the foreground, while four ladies are sitting in the
background in the very demanding task of copying the animation drawings onto cells.
In the photo to the right, a group of younger ladies is seen coloring the
mentioned cells. In the background to the left, however, is a single man,
namely in all probability the cartoonist Erik Christensen (Chris), who has
probably given a hand due to an urgent task. In addition, Jørgen Myller
demanded that all employees, including animators and cartoonists, should
participate in almost all processes in cartoon production. Photos: © 1941
Mandens Blad.
Above, most of VEPRO's staff
are seen at the Christmas party in 1941, while the company, according to Mrs
Roepstorff, was still in Hovedvagtsgade. Sitting on the floor in the front row
from left: Henning Dahl Mikkelsen (Mik), Anker Roepstorff (Roep), Jytte Claudi,
Jørgen Müller (Myller), Erik Christensen (Chris). - Middle row from left:
Unknown, unknown, unknown, Jenny Holmqvist, unknown, director Jürgen Stengel,
Karen Hjerrild, the secretary Mrs. or Ms. Jørgensen or Johansen (?; Mrs.
Roepstorff thinks it is Mrs. Irmgard Stengel), unknown, Else Emmertsen (half
standing). - Rear row from left: Unknown, Børge Hamberg, unknown, Kjeld
Simonsen (Simon), Esther Andersen, Bjørn Frank Jensen (Bjørn), the rest have
not been identified, except for the gentleman in the background on the right,
who is identical with photographer Marius Holdt. - Photo: Dansk Billed Central
1941.
Bjørn Frank Jensen has also made some
remarks about his perception of Myller and Mik. He writes:
"[…] As for VEPRO, I just want to add
a personal impression from that time regarding Müller and Mik - Müller was a
better artist, he had more technique, but Mik was a much better animator with a
nice fluid line, imagination and feeling for pantomime (see Ferd'nand). But he
did not have Müller's sure sense of color.
In-between drawing for Mik was never
difficult, as was often the case with Müller's animation. The films we made on
VEPRO are not so clear to me. I only remember one movie of Mik with two men
putting up a light commercial on the roof of a building. That was as far as I
remember a very successful film.
Müller used lots of speed lines, dust
clouds, etc., while Mik was more careful with those kinds of effects. Müller
made wonderful color drafts for the films in watercolor and often very
beautiful backgrounds. That said, he was (and is) a better artist than Mik. […]
”
You can then agree or disagree with that.
Myller was truly a good artist and in a way also a good animator, but when you
e.g. considering Mik's drawings in Lars Jacobsen's book about Mik, one strongly
doubts Bjørn Frank's subjective assessment of Myller and Mik's respective
abilities as cartoonists and animators now also holds true. Personally, I am of
the opinion that Mik was both an excellent artist and a good animator.
But it is in any case a fact
that a large number of really good commercials were produced at VEPRO in the
years 1939-42. Many of the films were intended for foreign countries, but some
were also made for the Danish market. This applied, for example, to "The
Pig of the Gods", 1940, which was based on an idea and manuscript by
the author Harald H. Lund. The film was produced by Gutenberghus Reklame Film for
Steff Pølser, which at the time was in competition with Houlberg Pølser. The
latter Myller and Mik had previously made commercials for in 1938-39, and they
actually continued to do so after they started working for VEPRO. Anker
Roepstorff wrote the script for "The Chef's New Scam", one of a
series of cartoons for Houlberg Pølser, which was produced by Gutenberghus
Reklame Film at VEPRO.
The interesting thing about "The Pig
of the Gods" was especially the fact that Myller and Mik had designed the
film's characters as caricatures of well-known Danish politicians with i.a.
Prime Minister Stauning at the helm. Production of the film had begun, but not
yet finished, when the German occupation of Denmark took place. Now there were
concerns that the film in a - admittedly good-natured - way made a little laugh
with the famous politicians, and therefore they jogged in a hurry to change the
appearance of the characters. It happened according to Myller knows that one
e.g. provided the beardless with beards.
The commercial cartoon "Pig of the
Gods" is one of the most characteristic of its kind from the 1940s. It was
drawn and animated in the best Myller and Mik style, and the subject was
perhaps of particular interest to Mik, as he transferred the theme to the comic
book The Ancient Gods. The series ran in the magazine "Landet" in the
early 1940s, and in 1943 it was published together as a Christmas booklet
entitled Thor and his hammer. (Note
15)
The final image of the film is clearly
intended as an allusion to the film company MGM's logo with the roaring lion's
head surrounded by a laurel wreath with the inscription "Ars Gratia
Artis" ("Art Honors the Artists"). Instead of the lion's head
and the laurel wreath, you see a pig's head surrounded by a decorative 'wreath'
of sausages, which at the bottom is decorated with a pair of pig masks a la The
Royal Theatre's two masks for amusement and tragedy, respectively. At the
bottom is the text "Steff Pølser". The pig says in a voice that
sounds in the direction of Prime Minister Stauning's well-known and
characteristic voice at the time: “It is ff! - It's a Steff!”
Watch “Pig of the God's
": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1kw3QUQtOI
Many people's collaboration is
required, just to produce a shorter cartoon of 2 minutes of playing time. Above
is a part of the young female cartoonists, whose task is partly to copy the
animated drawings precisely to the celluloid sheets, and partly to color the
latter with special colors. The lady standing between the two rows of tables is
Else Emmertsen, who was head of the drawing and coloring department at VEPRO. -
Photo: © 1942 THE NEW RADIO MAGAZINE.
Above, one of VEPRO's female
employees shows how the drawn figures copied onto the celluloids look when they
are colored. - Photo: © 1942 THE NEW RADIO MAGAZINE
VEPRO on Svanemøllevej in
Hellerup
Probably between Christmas and
New Year 1941/42, VEPRO moved from Hovedvagtsgade in Copenhagen to a large villa
out on the relatively quiet Svanemøllevej, where production continued until
further notice. In the pictures below, you will be able to convince yourself
that - at least at times - the studio was busy.
A cartoon usually begins with
a script or a screenplay and then a so-called "Bar Sheet", on which
the action of the film and the movements of the characters are arranged in
musical beats. In the picture to the left, Anker Roepstorff is seen with such a
Bar Sheet in his hand, while Jørgen Myller stands behind him and explains the
film's plot, as this appears from the hung story board. Every professional cartoon
is usually arranged via a story board. The picture to the right shows the key
animator, in this case Mik, drawing and animating a character. - Photos: © 1942
THE NEW RADIO MAGAZINE.
Above is a clear example of
what the so-called in-between drawing is basically about, namely, to draw the
intermediate phase drawings between the key drawings. - Photo: © 1942 THE NEW
RADIO MAGAZINE.
In the picture to the left,
Else Emmertsen is seen spray-painting a pre-painted background, which will add
various visual effects. - In the picture to the right, the photographer Marius
Holdt is seen recording a scene on the trick table. The so-called trick
photography is the last link or phase in the cartoon production, apart from the
laboratory work. - Photos: © 1942 THE NEW RADIO MAGAZINE.
Above is a left-hand portrait
of Karen Bech, taken in 1943, shortly after the time at VEPRO. Miss Bech, as she
was called daily, is also seen in the other two photos, which are from 1942 and
taken on the balcony of the villa on Svanemøllevej in Hellerup, where Vepro was
located in 1942. The picture to the right shows standing from left: Karen
Hjerrild, Tove Møller and Betty Köser. Sitting from the right are Grethe
Wrangel, Miss Bech (with her legs up) and Ingebjørni Einarson.
Below left are: Ingebjørni
Einarson, Miss Bech (still with her legs up), Grethe Wrangel and Betty Köser.
Standing to the right is Karen Hjerrild and the legs of Tove Møller. - The
three private photos and several others belong to Karen Bech, married to
Egesholm, who has kindly made these available to Dansk Tegnefilms Historie.
After VEPRO was discontinued
at the end of September 1942, Myller and Mik tried to continue the company's
production under the name "Mik & Myller Film", and they had been
successful for a short period. In 1943, Jens Henriksen was hired as a commercial
film director at Gutenberghus Reklame Film, and he hired a few cartoonists who,
on the basis of Mik’s key drawings, made intermediate drawings, drew, colored
cells and photographed the commercial cartoons produced at the time. It was
about i.a. about "Brikodan" "Bird song Malt coffee" and
"Meet the cold with heat", which is supposedly from 1943-45. (Note 16)
Jørgen Myller and
the weekly magazine "Hjemmet"[F1] [F2] [F3] [F4] [F5] [F6]
However, Jørgen Myller had so
far left the cartoon industry and had thrown himself into his work as an
illustrator and illustrator. To practice the difficult art of illustration, he
had acquired some American magazines, such as the Saturday Evening Post, whose
front pages were usually drawn by well-known American cartoonists and
illustrators such as Norman Rockwell. However, these were magazines from before
the ban on imports of American goods came into force around 1941, after America
had declared war on both Japan and Germany. These slightly older leaves could
still be bought in "Concerno" on Gl. Mønt, a business that traded and
traded in used magazines and gramophone records.
However, Jørgen Myller had probably
already shortly after the liberation in 1945 started selling his beautiful and
skillfully drawn front pages to an American magazine. But unfortunately for
Myller, there were people in America who found the resemblance to other front
pages of American magazines so striking that there had to be plagiarism. A
lawsuit was therefore filed against the magazine in question and thus
indirectly against Jørgen Myller, but I have no knowledge of what came out of
the case. The only thing I remember is that Dagbladet Politiken soon after published
a large-scale article on the Back, where they showed the undeniably great
similarity that existed between Myller’s' front pages and the front pages of
the American magazines, which were obviously not drawn by Myller.
However, the unfortunate case
did not damage Myller’s' career as a draftsman and career in Denmark, where in
1950 he was hired as a draftsman and illustrator at Ugebladet Hjemmet. He had
already worked for this magazine in 1938-39, when he worked for Gutenberghus
Reklame Film. It was especially as a cover artist on "Hjemmet", but
also as an illustrator of short stories and serials that Myller’s name became
nationally known. The magazine's then image editor (Who?), Who knew Myller's
more comical drawings very well, got the idea one day that it could be fun with
front pages with a myriad of children making a lot of beards and fuss. This
concept was in a way quite close to cartoons, so therefore the image editor
approached Jørgen Myller, to get him to take on the task. It was the
introduction to a large number of similar front pages over the years, and in
this way the concept of "Myller drawings" or "Myllerier"
arose.
Jørgen
Myller and "Idéfix" etc.
In 1975 Jørgen Myller left his
permanent job at Ugebladet "Hjemmet" and returned for a time to work
with cartoons, though not as a freelancer, but instead as an animator on
cartoons with Asterix and Lucky Luke with Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny's
cartoon studio, IDÉFIX, In Paris. Myller especially animated Obelix in some of
the longer cartoons, but also the dog Idéfix in a series of short cartoons for
French TV. This work he continued with for some years, during which he resided
in Paris for periods. But the latter films he sat and worked on at home at his
drawing studio in Værløse, and a couple of times a year he traveled to Paris,
to hand over his key drawings.
Occasionally, however, Jørgen Myller also
took on some cartoon assignments for domestic companies. In 1975, he made an
instructional film in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Ferrosan's
advertising manager Helge Hau, who himself had a past in the Danish cartoon
industry. In addition, in 1976 Myller had undertaken to make a commercial for
"Underberg Bitter", which was produced by Jørgen Bagger
Filmproduktion. However, it turned out that Myller could not cope with the
task, which the producer did not realize until a few days before the film's
deadline. In his quit, Jørgen Bagger therefore turned to TEGNEFILM I/S, which
consisted of Flemming Jensen and Harry Rasmussen. Hard pressed, but with the
prospect of acquiring a new customer, the two undertook to make the small
15-second spot in about a day and a half, with the night included. It succeeded
beyond expectation.
Around 1976-77, Myller was hired
by DR TV's sports department, which wanted him to make some funny cartoons as a
prelude to TV-Sporten. These little glorious cartoons were spoken by Gunnar
"Nu" Hansen. According to Lars Jakobsen, Myller also made some small
cartoons for the B&U department, e.g. a series of films about
"Ole", which I have never heard of.
Around 1983, Myller again became an
illustrator at the weekly magazine "Hjemmet", where he again
illustrated short stories and serials in the same familiar style as before.
Many readers really liked Myller's easily recognizable beautiful and colorful,
but perhaps also a little too sweet illustrations. As far as is known, Myller
had since then stopped dealing more with cartoons.
After a long and eventful life, Jørgen
Müller died in 1995 in Værløse near Copenhagen. He turned 85, and his name has
- together with Henning Dahl Mikkelsen’s - since the 1930s had a special sound
for several younger Danish cartoonists.
________________________________
Portrait of the younger
Henning Dahl Mikkelsen, who had a rather long and promising career in the Danish
cartoon industry 1937-46. In addition, he spent some years in London, where he
worked with Myller and Roepstorff for the English cartoon company Anglia Films.
In addition to his cartoon work, Mik, as he called himself and was called, also
worked as an advertising cartoonist and illustrator. However, he will probably
be best known for his world-famous cartoon Ferd’nand. Photo: © Eric Dahl
Mikkelsen, California.
A little more about Mik’s
career
After VEPRO was closed and Mik
& Myller Film was discontinued in 1942, Mik continued as a draftsman,
illustrator and animator and cartoon director, and there was no shortage of
various tasks. You can get an overwhelming impression of this through Lars
Jakobsen's excellent biography of Mik. As an example of one of Mik's comics, of
course, his wordless streak with the little man with the funny hat: Ferd’nand
can be mentioned first and foremost. The idea for the series had been conceived
during the few years Mik stayed in London, but he only really started drawing it
after returning from here. The series soon became very popular, first abroad
and then also in Denmark, where it appeared in several provincial newspapers,
just as annual Christmas booklets with the glorious little man and his wife and
son also began to be published. Anker Roepstorff, who had helped develop the
Ferd’nand series during their joint stay in London, continued for many years to
provide ideas for the series. Among other things, this will be the case. could
read about in Roepstorff's biography here on the website. (Note 17)
Above, Mik is seen drawing his
world-famous little and always silent husband, Ferd’nand, who has been loved by
both children and adults almost since his ‘birth’ in 1937. Mik continued to
draw the series until around 1973, when it was taken over and continued by the
cartoonist Al Plastino. - Photo: © Eric Dahl Mikkelsen, California.
Another of Mik's comics was The Hansen
Family, which ran in the magazine "Landet". And that was a
cartoon version of the hugely popular radio show of the same name. It was
written by the playwright Jens Locher and was broadcast by Danmarks Radio for
the first time on 2 April 1929. Here it could be heard every Sunday for more
than twenty years. In the 1930s, Jens Locher had also written about the Hansen
family's hardships in short story form and with illustrations by the cartoonist
Gerda Plow Sarp. Mik’s comic book version, for which Jens Locher also wrote the
scripts, began in 1942, and from 1944 to 1946 the series could also be
purchased as a Christmas booklet. (Note 18)
Another of Mik's comics should be mentioned
here, namely the adventure series "Lise and Lasse". It too could be
seen as a serial in the magazine "Landet" in 1944. It was again
Harald H. Lund who had delivered the text. The series was also published as a
book: "Lise and Lasse in Vitamin Land", as well as two small
coloring and history books for children. (Note 19)
Above, Mik is seen drawing and
animating his first Ferd’nand film, Ferd’nand on a fishing trip. It was his
first cartoon with the popular cartoon character, but did not become his last.
Photo: © 1944 Berlingske Aftenavis.
However, it was still the cartoon medium
that was closest to Mik's heart, and in 1944 he had been commissioned by
Palladium Film to make a longer cartoon feature in the feature film The
Gelinde Family. The film, which is about a bohemian family, had a
screenplay by the author and poet Mogens Lorentzen and was directed by Svend
Methling with fine actors like Ebbe Rode, Karin Nellemose, Ib Schønberg and
with the child actors Jonnie Jepsen, Benny Fagerlund and Ilselil Larsen. The
film premiered on November 26, 1944.
The film was excellent so far, but of
course the cartoon freaks especially noticed the cartoon feature, which was
designed as a circus arena. In comes a female animal
trainer and a corps of horses, ie. the horses had the shape of driverless
bicycles. The d female animal trainer then performs the 'horses' in an elegant
and impressive dressage number. Despite the fact that the cartoon section was
kept in a simple white line on a black background, it really made an impression
with its beautiful and skilled animation. (Note 20)
An appropriate heading for the
above drawing could be "The Proud Father". The drawing of Ferd’nand
as the proud father of Little Ferd’nand, Mik drew on the occasion of his son
Eric’s baptism in 1960. Mik drew similar drawings in connection with the
baptisms of his other children. - Drawing: © 1960 Mik / e-mik.
Mik's success:
"Ferd'nand"
But just as crucial was the
fact that Mik also in 1944 made his first cartoon with Ferd’nand in the lead
role. The film's script was written by Anker Roepstorff and was entitled
Ferd’nand on a fishing trip. It was ASA Film that had commissioned the film as
a pre-film for the farce film Grandma Goes Crazy, which premiered on
October 30, 1944. The Ferd'nand film was fairly well received by the press and
audiences, who due to the war this year had to do without the popular American
cartoons. Therefore, the success was immediately followed by another Ferd’nand
cartoon: Ferd’nand on a bear hunt, which was, if possible, even more fun and
glorious than its predecessor. It was shown as a trailer for the feature film Panic
in the Family, which premiered on August 6, 1945, a few months after the
liberation, when American films and cartoons and especially Disney cartoons had
returned to cinemas. As a result, the Danish films and not least the Danish
cartoons did not have the appeal to the audience that was necessary and that
one could have wished for.
But with these two unfortunately only
black-and-white Ferd’nand cartoons, Mik had the opportunity to unfold and
demonstrate his great talent as a draftsman, animator and director. To help
with the films, he had, among other things. received assistance from Kaj
Pindal, Ib Steinaa and Helge Hau. (Note 21)
Above is an original
pencil-drawn animation sketch that Mik made to instruct his assistant, Helge
Hau, in how Ferd’nand should rotate with his arms. The situation appears in the
cartoon Ferd’nand on Bear Hunt (1945). The sketch was donated by Helge
Hau in 2001 to © Dansk Tegnefilms Historie, and it remains so far in Harry
Rasmussen's custody.
However, it turned into another cartoon
with Ferd’nand in the lead role, namely four small commercials in color for
Cloëtta Mjölkchoklad. The films were produced by the Swedish cartoon company
Sago-Konst in Stockholm. The production took place in such a way that Mik sent
his key drawings over to the Swedish company, whose employees then pure and
intermediate, drew up, colored and photographed the films. (Note 22)
Mik's big dream about
Hollywood
Over the years, it had been
Mik's big dream to come over to California and work for cartoon king Walt
Disney. He tried before the war, but did not succeed, and during the occupation
it was impossible to leave the country legally. After the war, however, the old
dream woke up again, and at first Mik sent a cassette with some of his cartoons
over to Disney's address, but the cassette returned unopened. However, he did
not give up for that reason, but decided in August 1946 to travel to Hollywood,
where he knew the actress Aase Madsen (Osa Massen). He had gotten to know her
during his stay in London. She traveled to Hollywood in 1938 and recorded her
first American film shortly after.
However, it did not work out to get a job
as an animator at Disney, which Mik did not meet. The people he spoke to at
Disney acknowledged his great talent, but would rather hire him as a story-man.
Mik was not happy with that and he therefore tried his hand at Hanna &
Barbera at MGM's cartoon studio, which did not lead to anything either. After a
three-month stay, Mik returned home to Copenhagen, where he continued his work,
especially drawing his Ferd’nand cartoon, and with it he had greater success.
But Mik had not given up on
his dream of California and Hollywood, which fascinated him, not least because
it was there that his beloved Disney cartoon had come and gone. At home, there
was not much cartoon work to be had, not even commercial cartoons, which had
and still have it in droves. Either there is a lot to do or almost nothing at
all.
Probably partly due to the working
situation at home, Mik traveled in earnest to California in 1948, where he
settled and especially concentrated on continuing his series with Ferd’nand. As
far as is known, he was not hired by Disney this time either, although B.T. actually
wrote that he did. It was not until several years later that Mik resumed his
interest in making cartoons himself, and it became some short cartoons with his
long-world-famous little man. (Note
23)
Incidentally, one would have thought that
Mik must have been more than happy about the international success of the
Ferd’nand comic, but that was actually quite far from the case. This was mainly
due to the fact that he was regularly in need of new ideas for the series. At
times, he felt downright annoyed all the time having to invent or come up with
new ideas that could suit the little man and his character. Mik certainly had
several people who provided him with ideas for the series for a fee, and among
these people was especially Anker Roepstorff at home in Copenhagen. The two
corresponded regularly throughout the years that Mik lived in America. Some of
Mik’s letters to Roepstorff unequivocally testify to the great anguish he
occasionally had with the Ferd’nand series. (Incidentally, reference should be
made here to Anker Roepstorff's biography). At one point, Mik even thought of
abandoning the series, and according to Lars Jakobsen, that was the reason why
Mik and his American distribution company, United Feature, in 1973 chose to let
the cartoonist Al Plastino (b. 1921) take over and continue the series.
Even later, in 1989, the series was taken over and drawn by the Dane Henrik
Rehr, who, however, moved to New York and settled!
Final score
For more than 30 years, Henning
Dahl Mikkelsen had created a home and a life with especially his immediate
family in God's own country. He and his wife, Jessie, had four children, three
daughters and a son. The son, Eric Dahl Mikkelsen (b. 1960) became a
draftsman himself and sought to continue his father's work, i.a. by continuing
the series of Ferd’nand cartoons that his father did not manage to complete
before his death. Mik died of a heart attack on June 2, 1982, just 67 years
old. But his work as an illustrator, animator and cartoonist had delighted
several generations of Danes, and his glorious and unforgettable cartoon
"Ferd’nand" had delighted even more people around the world. (Note 24)
The "Fyrtøjet" once
again
Left title text for Richard
Møller's cartoon version of H.C. Andersen's fairy tale "Fyrtøjet"
(1940). - Right portrait of Richard Møller approx. 1939-40. Drawing and photo:
© 2007 Busen / Knud Møller.
Since the following account of
the cartoonist Richard Møller and his career, and especially of his
production of a short cartoon version of H.C.Andersen's fairy tale
"Fyrtøjet", was written, it has happened by fate or coincidence that
Richard Møller's son, artist Busen Knud Møller , has contacted us with more
accurate and in-depth information about his father. This has led to the need
for a certain revision of the information presented so far in good faith and,
in the main, correct information, and this has therefore been done.
In 1939, the cartoonist Richard Møller
tried to make his own cartoon version of the fairy tale "Fyrtøjet".
His prerequisites were that he was naturally interested in the cartoon medium,
but professionally he had been an intermediary with Jørgen Myller, as he was
artistic director of the Animated Cartoon Company in 1932-34, and he was, as
far as is known, later also employed for a period as intermediary at VEPRO. But
unlike Myller and Mik’s cartoons of the same name, which were primarily
intended for the English market, Richard Møller had calculated his film for the
domestic market, even for the home cinema. At that time, there were a number of
people who had acquired 16mm film projectors and that is precisely why there
had been a certain need and demand for 16mm film at reasonable prices.
It was the director of the then almost
newly started Teknisk Film Compagni, Knud Hjortø, who together with his
companion, the film photographer Fritz Jensen, wanted to try to meet the need
for films for the home cinema. Whether it was Richard Møller who approached
Teknisk Film with his idea, or it was Knud Hjortø who approached Richard
Møller, is not clear. But in any case, an agreement was reached to produce an
approx. 10-minute cartoon with the fairy tale "Fyrtøjet" as the
subject.
Above left is Richard Møller
at the drawing board. To the right is a scene from Richard Møller's cartoon
version of the fairy tale "Fyrtøjet". As can be clearly seen, the
characters are drawn in the traditional cartoon style of the 1930s. However, it
was especially the fact that the animation in the film was unprofessional that
caused the production company to discard it. It became, as far as is known, the
artist's last attempt to make his own cartoons. See about this in biography for
Richard Møller. - Drawing: © 1940 Richard Møller & Teknisk Film Co. -
Photo: © 2007 Knud Møller.
About four months before Denmark's fateful
fate on April 9, 1940, when German troops invaded and occupied the country,
life went on as usual in the small homes. Newspapers and magazines wrote, as
always, about big and small outside and at home, for information and
entertainment for the curious and interested reader. In the monthly magazine
AVERTERING, a magazine for the advertising and advertising industry, which
later changed its name to the exclusive MANDENS BLAD, you could read an article
written by the famous Danish film director Carl Th. Dreyer. Under the
headline "NEW WAYS FOR DANISH FILM - AND H.C.ANDERSEN", Dreyer wrote,
among other things, that if one wanted to do Andersen's memory a favor, the
best way to pass on his adventures would be to retell these as cartoons, but to
note at a higher artistic level than was the case with the American cartoons,
especially Walt Disney cartoons. Dreyer writes about this, referring to Walt
Disney's long cartoon "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" from 1937,
i.a. following:
"Measured by the artistic
standard of art, it [the Snow White film] is not a significant work, and its
many pleasing and endearing properties can be pointed out - imperfections,
especially the somewhat glossy psychology of the main characters and the often
scratchy and grating, often flat and fresh color effects. Walt Disney is an
entertaining and inventive cartoonist and well versed in the craft of
cartooning, but he is certainly not a great artist.
Now it is obvious that the cartoon in
terms of style and literary content does not have to forever trample on the
heels of the weekly magazines' somewhat childish comics, and it is just as
obvious that it is within the limits of possibilities to lift the cartoon's
vivid illustrations from their current form up in a real artistic plane. But
precisely here, Denmark would be able to make an effort that could be of the
greatest benefit to Danish art and Danish film.
In H.C. Andersen's fairy tales, we Danes own
one of the largest literary assets in the world. We also own a number of
significant drawing and painting artists who, ahead of all other artists and
painters in the world, feel that they are rounded off by the same soil and have
absorbed the same moods as H.C. Andersen. . Shouldn't we be the closest to
creating the cartoon H.C. Andersen adventure films that the Snow White film has
paved the way for?
To convince you, in comparison with the
Snow White film, I ask you to employ the following thought experiment: imagine
a cartoon or painted film about one of H.C.Andersen's adventures, created by a
Vilhelm Pedersen - or a cartoon or painted film about one of Asbjørnsen's
adventures created by the Norwegian fairy-tale artist Th. Kittelsen. There is
certainly no one who will deny that either of these two possesses a fantasy
that in fullness is on a par with Walt Disney, but their art is far more
refined, more refined, showing human warmth and compassion behind the comedy.
Their drawings seem like good music.
If one were to think today of producing a
drawn or painted film about one of H.C.Andersen's adventures, the task would
first and foremost be to find the living Danish artist or painter who, with the
help of technical assistance, could best "draw" or "paint"
"The chosen adventure."
After this in a way optimistic
'telling-off' for Danish artists and filmmakers, Dreyer sets out to set a
(unrealistic) 'budget' for an imaginary feature film - he calls it in the
language of the time a "all-night cartoon" - which he calculates to
cost DKK 60 per meters of color film (in 1939 prices). In doing so, Dreyer
arrives at the conclusion that such a film would cost less to produce than a
feature film about H.C. Andersen's life, which at that time was also often
discussed in the media.
As far as Carl Th. Dreyer. The
short of the long, however, is that Richard Møller was one of those who read
Dreyer's article, and this is told the following day, January 3, 1939, in the
dinner newspapers Aftenbladet and B.T. The former brought the news under the
headline "Danish H.C. Andersen-Cartoon under Work", and the latter
under the headline "'The “Fyrtøjet” as a cartoon". In the B.T.
article, written by journalist Maurice, the text read as follows:
The young cartoonist Richard
Møller has raised capital for the first Danish H.C. Andersen cartoon, and he
immediately begins the work
In a great article yesterday in
"Advertising", Film Director Carl Th. Dreyer advocated to create a
Danish H.C. Andersen cartoon. The plan is already being realized. A young
Copenhagen artist has raised the necessary capital to create a cartoon, and he
will do all the work himself. The cartoonist is Richard Møller and B.T. has had
a conversation with him this morning, where he talks about his plans.
- I have been dealing with these Thoughts
for a long time, says Richard Møller, but only now are they realized. I have
provided the necessary Capital and lack only pure Trivia, which, however,
cannot come to play any Influence. I am getting started as soon as possible ...
What are you going to do then?
- I start with "Fyrtøjet".
Originally it was my idea to create a cartoon about the Danish Vikings, but
when people started talking so much about an H.C. Andersen film, I changed my
mind. I staggered between "The Pig Boy" and "The Torch",
but in the first round it will be the latter. It must be a 3-400 meter film and
it must be made according to the same principles that Walt Disney uses in its
production. The text is to be edited by Paul C. Olrik ... I have previously
been involved in making advertising cartoons, so I am familiar with the
technique. I have also worked with Jørgen Müller, who tried to make a Danish
cartoon, but did not get that far! MAURICE (Source: B.T. January 3,
1939)
Apart from the fact that
Aftenbladet could not tell which of H.C. Andersen's adventures Richard Møller
wanted to film, a couple of information emerged that is at least new to me. In
the article, which is signed Sven, it says a bit towards the end the following:
RICHARD MØLLER
It is not yet entirely clear which of H.C.
Andersen's Adventures one will film, but if the first Attempt is successful, it
is the intention to continue with more of the famous Adventures. In the first
round, you will make a 300 meter long film that will play from 10-15 minutes,
and it will of course be a speech film. The oral positions will be drawn in
such a way that the text of the film can later be spoken in foreign languages,
so that the fairy tale film can possibly be sold abroad.
It should take approx. 30,000 more
Drawings, and Richard Møller will draw them all together with his only
Assistant Erik Rus Christensen. The film could be finished in three months.
(Source: Aftenbladet, January 3, 1939)
Regarding Richard Møller's
assistant, Erik Rus (Christensen), reference is made to the following section: "The
game maker Peter Pep".
In Politiken for January 4, 1939, one could read the following and see a
drawing for "Fyrtøjet" by Richard Møller, which subsequently caused
consternation among the magazine's cultural readers:
Cartoon about
"Fyrtøjet"
Funded by anonymous
Businessman, young Advertising Designer starts making H.C. Andersen Cartoons:
While it is still uncertain what will
happen to the great Danish H.C.Andersen-Film, a healthy young Advertising
Designer, the 24-year-old Richard Møller, who has previously worked for various
Advertising agencies but is now a freelance, has received the necessary capital
made available by a Copenhagen businessman who absolutely wishes to remain
anonymous.
- How did you get into making cartoons? Do
we ask Mr. Mills.
- I have previously made various Commercial
Cartoons, says Richard Møller, and for some time I have been tinkering with an
Entertainment Cartoon about the Vikings. But now Carl Th. Dreyer's suggestion
that the best way to make H.C. Andersen films would be to retell his fairy
tales in cartoons has changed my mind. That is to say, before others get ahead
of me, I immediately start a cartoon about the "Lighthouse". If it
makes Happiness, then comes the "Pig Boy" and other of the fairy
tales in the next round.
- What do you estimate the cost of such a
cartoon?
- For approx. 5000 Kr. for a cartoon of
3-400 meters, and I have already had capital made available for the first film
by an anonymous Copenhagen businessman. I make all the pictures myself together
with my Assistant Erik Rus Christensen and some "Drawers", who
transfer the drawings on celluloid boards, and the text must be prepared by
Paul C. Olrik, with whom I have worked for a long time.
Preliminary Draft of the
Soldier and
The dog with the Teacup Eyes.
- But the music?
It has not yet been decided whether it will
be a synchronic rhythm music that corresponds to the movements, or a nationally
emphasized background music, but in both areas we have many who can both
compose and play it.
Do you not think it will be difficult to
get financial benefits from such a film, since the cinemas in Denmark get all
extra issues delivered for free?
In this case it must be possible to make an
exception, and I also hope for a Scandinavian market, possibly an international
one. The speech can also be spoken in other languages, just like in "Snow
White". Gtz
The optimism did not fail anything so far,
at least not with Richard Møller, but he had quickly delivered a highly
unfortunate drawing as an illustration of Politiken's mention of his cartoon
project "Fyrtøjet", and it immediately caused a stir in the 'city of
literature'. Already that evening, a crippling critique hailed down on the poor
head of the poor well-meaning character. It was Berlingske Aftenavis who
apparently first came up with the criticism of Richard Møller's intended
cartoon project, as the journalist, who signed V.O.X., and who - with reference
to Carl Th. Dreyer's previously mentioned and quoted article - i.a. delivered
the following svada:
"There is undoubtedly something true
in Mr. Dreyer's assertion, but the problem does not get any easier in this way.
For just as it was immensely difficult to appoint the Poet who had poetic Sense
and Ability to write an Andersen film that did not compromise the interesting
but very difficult Subject, it will be no less difficult to find the Artist who
can satisfy the demands one must make for a cartoon about Andersen and his
adventures. And there is good reason to warn against Haste in a timely manner.
For already today a young artist jumps forward and tells how to cut the lunch
bag. In "Politiken" a preliminary draft of a drawing of
"Fyrtøjet" is published as a speech film. You see a picture of the
soldier and the dog with eyes as big as teacups. And a businessman is said to
have made capital available for a further elaboration of an Andersen film along
these lines.
And what lines are it then?
How do you think about this Cartoon? In the Mickey Mouse style? The dog is a
caricatured Horror and the Soldier is the Mickey Mouse figure who dances with
flat legs and mitts and has a face like the desperate Mouse where the Mouth
goes from Ear to Ear.
One may dare to go across the tastes of
the times and warn against repeating Andersen and his adventures in this
terrible style. This American form of comedy, which places older people of old
upbringing in the most perilous melancholy, should in no way be used in the
retelling of Andersen's fine poetry, which belongs to another sphere. This
Comic is not Danish. It is devoid of what we understand by Humor, even though
it rapes desperate individuals in a desperate Time. Andersen's beautiful Fairy
Tale should not be tainted with this devouring caricature.
A warning is necessary, for otherwise in
the general confusion we may one fine day see the Snow Queen and the Little
Mermaid in the second trot to jazz music, the nightingale croaking and the wild
swans wailing and screaming to the saxophone. And it will be a sin for the
rising generation.” (Source: Berlingske Aftenavis January 4, 1939)
Although by reading the article above, one
cannot avoid getting a suspicion that the journalist himself has belonged to
the category "older People of Old Upbringing", then one must give the
person right a bit along the way, because the criticized drawing was perhaps
not the luckiest choice the cartoonist could have made, and not at all the right
appetizer for the literary city's literary elite. Politiken's editorial staff
felt threatening intellectual clouds pulling up, and already in the next day's
Politiken "a kind of denial was brought, which distanced itself from
Richard Møller and his cartoon project, and which read as follows:
Without Connection to Carl Th.
Dreyer's Proposal
... ominous Draft!
In connection with our great article the
other day about Carl Th. Dreyer's interesting proposals regarding the execution
of artistic H.C. Andersen cartoons here in Denmark, the plans that the young
advertising artist Richard Møller deals with, can of course not be seen at all.
As we mentioned yesterday, Richard Møller wanted to make a 400 Meter Cartoon
about "The Lighthouse" - inspired by Carl Th. Dreyer's article - as
he pompously stated, but the above draft seems undeniable to show with all
clarity the misunderstanding. As one submitter in "Politiken" says
today: "The test presented here is so ominous that one must look with
concern at what still awaits us ..."
This "Draft", which - quite
apart from the modest desires one must nurture for talent - stands in screaming
opposition to the mere text of the fairy tale, has of course nothing to do with
Carl Th. Dreyer's suggestions to make; but there are many indications that it
will also meet interest in the right place. The proposal has, as we foresaw it,
been lively discussed among the Danish artists, who should have conditions for
creating the work, so it is not at all impossible that Carl Th. Dreyer's Thoughts
will actually be realized - though not by Richard Møller! --r. (Source:
Politiken 5 January 1939).
With the "Submitter" mentioned
in the article, reference is made to Associate Professor Aage Mantzius, who on
January 5 under the heading "The cartoon about the Fyrtøjet"
directed an even sharper critique of Richard Møller's drawing for his intended
cartoon project than the journalist V.O.X. had done the day before in the same
newspaper. "Politiken", however, justly sought to defend the artist
with the following final comment to the associate professor's salute:
There will surely be general agreement on
the correctness of the views expressed here. But I wonder if the explanation
should not be that Mr. All of a sudden, with the Days' notice, Møller has been
able to put both his determination and his finances in motion and has not yet
had time to read the fairy tale, so that the drawing is based on weakened
childhood memories.
The mentioned article was illustrated by
an ironic commentary drawing by the artist Ingvar:
An advertising cartoonist has immediately
started making an H.C. Andersen cartoon (Source: Ingvar in
"Politiken" January 5, 1939)
However, it was Ekstra Bladet who later
the same day, January 5, 1939, gave Richard Møller an opportunity to give a
more detailed explanation of the per se harmless drawing, which he had probably
hastily made as an illustration for Politiken's article the day before. . The
journalist, who signs Spada, who on the newspaper clipping is stated to be Ole
Vinding (?), Is concerned, however, on behalf of the young artist, who he
apparently does not trust the necessary expertise in the field of cartoons,
which clearly shines through the article, as after referred to Associate
Professor Aage Mantzius' post in this morning's Politiken, continues as
follows:
Out to look at Suits
The young Richard Møller is
twenty-four years old, full of good will and walking on desire and sorrow at
having made his first drawing so ill-considered.
- It is completely wrong to think that my
film will look like the sample I gave yesterday, it was just a sketch, and it
was wrong. I know, but we can all fail. Do not think that I have not read H.C.
Andersen, and that I do not go to work with the greatest piety. Today I am
going to the Museum to look at costumes ....
In what time do you think the adventure
takes place?
- Hm!
An insignificant Pause.
- I think of course that I would very much
like to know the Suits from H.C. Andersen's Time. Vilh. Pedersen's
Illustrations are probably correct, and I intend to just do Studies with them
as a starting point. I do not want a Cockroach to sit wrong or there to be
other inaccuracies.
- Do you go after the lyrics?
Of course, but a manuscript must be
written anyway to arrange the series of pictures, so that the cartoonists know
what they have to go for.
- How long will the film be?
- I think approx. 300 meters, if I want it
longer, I risk getting into "gags", which are the fairy tale
stranger.
I sigh quietly and think
worriedly: "gags"! Richar Møller eagerly moves on while:
- The film is without colors, there is no
way for them. I expect to get advice to spend 5-6000 DKK. on it. It will cost
about twenty kroner per meter.
- How many Drawings are needed?
I do not yet know that there will be 52
pictures for each meter, but there may be many more drawings, let us at least say
an average of 75. It will take three to four months for three comrades and
myself to make this. I think we can do the job. By the way, it is an old idea,
already several years ago I suggested it to the cartoonist Jørgen Møller [i.e.
Jørgen Myller], with whom I worked a few years ago.
Very difficult ---
We have asked Mr. Jørgen
Møller [Jørgen Myller], who is one of those in this country who is best known
for Cartoon Technology, about commenting on the Information, Mr. Richard Møller
has given us, and he says:
- Sir. Richard Møller worked for me five
years ago, when I had an independent cartoon company in Vesterport. I well
remember that we then discussed an H.C. Andersen film, but nothing came of it.
I do not believe in a Danish cartoon industry in earnest as long as the
American companies, which have had their expenses covered in the states, supply
cartoons free of charge to Danish rental companies together with the big films.
This Traffic is directly harmful to us who are in the Industry at home. Sir.
With a film without colors, Richard Møller will not be able to hope to make a
competitive film. I also do not think he can settle for 5-6000 DKK. Let us say
he must use a Size in Celluloid Sheets, which costs 15 Cents, and he must use
35 Sheets per. Meters, it is only one and a half thousand kroner for the
drawing material itself, then come salaries, recordings, music and speech,
etc., and finally the film cannot cope with the colored Americans of the same
length.
As you can see, there are
great difficulties for a Danish cartoon, and the means, both material and
technical, are completely lacking to us.
(Source: Ekstra Bladet on 5
January 1939).
As it turns out, the cartoonist had obviously
been a little intimidated by the harsh criticism that unexpectedly met his
beloved cartoon project. And it probably has not reassured him either to read
the final section of the article, in which the considerably more experienced
Jørgen Myller at his request made his comment on Richard Møller's plans for a
short Danish cartoon. Myller believed - and rightly so - that such a film would
not have great chances of making its way into Danish cinemas. According to his
expert opinion, this was due to the fact that the large American film companies
paid the costs of the short cartoons, the so-called "fillers", which
usually came with the feature films. This was especially true of movies from
companies like Paramount, Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, MGM and Columbia
Pictures. Disney's short cartoons were in the 1930s i.a. distributed by
Universal Pictures, later Gloria Film and even later the Disney company Buena
Vista took over the distribution of both Disney short and long cartoons.
FOR FEBRUARY or March,
TECHNICAL FILM CO. CO. to finish the cartoon "Fyrtøjet". It will be
approx. 12,000 Images. Here is the film's dog - the one who has eyes as big as
teacups. (Source: Drawing by Richard Møller in Ekstra Bladet on January 5,
1939)
As mentioned, it did not live up to Richard
Møller's plan to be able to produce "Fyrtøjet" in a few months. As
recently as October 1939, the film was still on the drawing board. For some
time there had been silence in the press about the project, but on December 10,
1939, the journalist Sven in Aftenbladet could tell the latest news about the
film:
The artist Richard Møller
discusses one of the drawings
The film with Director Hjortø
(left).
First Danish H.C. Andersen
Cartoon almost finished
It will be on sale shortly
after New Year
The first Danish cartoon is
nearing completion. It is the young cartoonist Richard Møller who has drawn
H.C.Andersen's "Fyrtøjet", and only in the new year will the film go
on sale, so that everyone who has narrow film cameras at home can roll the
famous Adventure for their children - or their guests the afternoon. Richard
Møller has drawn the film all by himself, and since it is about approx. 250
Meter Normal film - it becomes a substandard film that plays for approx. 10
minutes -, you will understand, it has been a pretty big job.
Richard Møller has been involved in the
production of the first Danish H.C. Andersen cartoon for over three months, and
he has drawn between 10-12,000 drawings. It is Teknisk Film Co. that has the
cartoon produced, and it will go on sale at all photo retailers across the
country, and despite the great work that underlies it, it will only cost
approx. 25 Kr. That is about the price one has to pay for the corresponding
Meter Film!
Richard Møller has succeeded in producing
H.C. Andersen's figures in such a way that they meet both the technical
requirements - among other things about the round, soft lines - and the
requirements that can be made artistically for the realization of H.C.
Andersen's fairy tale characters. And in the Text one has adhered entirely to
the Style of the Fairy Tale Poet.
There is a possibility that
"Fyrtøjet" will later be shown in the cinemas that can roll short
films, so that a larger audience can also see it. Sven
(Source: Aftenbladet, December
10, 1939).
Among Richard Møller's
newspaper clippings about his production of "Fyrtøjet" is also one
probably from Politiken for 12 December 1939, and it could supplement the
account of the making of the film, if the first half, according to the
newspaper, would be "broadcast on Tuesday", while the premiere - on
the second half of the film - had been postponed until the spring of 1940:
Danish H.C. Andersen cartoon
ready for spring
On Tuesday, the cartoonist
Richard Møller will broadcast the first half of "Fyrtøjet" on
Substandard film.
After much bitter strife,
there has long been silence about the group of Danish cartoonists who in the
spring proclaimed that they wanted to make a cartoon about one of H.C.
Andersen's fairy tales.
At the time, they were sharply attacked by
H.C. Andersen lovers, who claimed that it would be blasphemous to try to
transfer the poet's genius to a prosaic film strip. Whether it was the stir
that was raised about the case, or internal disagreements, is not known, but at
least the group of artists was dissolved, and only the artist Richard Møller
was left, who alone decided to complete the plans. And on Tuesday, the result
of his preliminary work is available in the form of a 60-meter narrow film over
the first part of "Fyrtøjet". Richard Møller tells about his work:
For the last three months, I have worked
15 hours a day to finish the film. I have been alone in drawing it and have
been funded by Teknisk Film Co. After a consultation with Director Hjortø from
here, the film has been drawn as a pantomime with H.C. Andersen's Fairy Tale as
a direct script. Nothing has been changed except the Danish texts, which for
the sake of understanding have been modernized into everyday language.
- Has Walt Disney been the Model?
- No, not at all. I have tried
as much as possible to avoid any Americanization of the film. Quite apart from
the fact that Denmark does not have cartoonists at all - myself included - who
master Disney's elegant line, it has been my task to make a Danish H.C.Andersen
film, which is probably kept in a fun line, but still with the retention of
Danish Adventure atmosphere. For that reason, no tone has been added either -
we are content with texts and - when the film once appears in normal film - as
well as subordinate music.
- When will the film be made public?
We have had many interested inquiries
from cinema owners, but until February, when the second part is also finished,
it will at least not be shown in any theater. [...]
From the H.C. Andersen cartoon
"Fyrtøjet"
(Source: Politiken 12 December
1939).
In the article above, we are told, among
other things, that the small group of allegedly 3 cartoonists on
"Fyrtøjet", including Erik Rus and Richard Møller himself, had been
dissolved due to mutual disagreements, and therefore Richard Møller alone
continued work on the film. We are also told that the film "Fyrtøjet"
is now produced as pantomime, i.e. as a silent film without spoken lines, but
probably with Danish subtitles or intermediate texts, as in the silent film
era, for the sake of comprehensibility. Next, we also learn that the film has
been split into two parts, and that one part would be finished in the middle of
the same month, December 1939, and that the second part could be expected to be
finished in the spring of 1940.
The article also mentions that there are
plans to transfer the finished film to "normal film", which probably
means 35mm film, and that it will then be provided with background music, so
that "Fyrtøjet" will be shown in cinemas, as otherwise is said to have
shown interest in it.
However, it was in the prominent weekly
magazine of the time, BILLED BLADET, that in the magazine's no. 1, 1940, i.a.
could state that Richard Møller's "Fyrtøjet" received an extremely
positive and sympathetic publicity. The magazine sacrificed two illustrated
full pages to engage its readers in the interesting cartoon project. Under the
heading "FYRTØJET som dansk Tegnefilm" you could read the following
cuff:
"After much talk about a Danish H.C.
Andersen film, we can now finally wait for it. But it will not be a film about
H.C. Andersen, we will see, but a Danish cartoon about "Fyrtøjet". It
is the new "Technical Film Co.", led by Mr. Knud Hjortø, who has
taken the initiative, and the young artist Richard Møller is the man who
becomes the creator of the famous H.C.Andersen figures, as we see them in the
film, the 20th Century Great Adventure, which will now tell the 19th Century
world-famous Danish Adventures.
Richard Møller has to make
15,000 pencil drawings at his worktable before the "Lighthouse" film,
which is to play 11 Minutes, can roll across the screen. To the left of this
[i.e. above] he is in full swing, and on the transverse strip [see below] we
see the forewords to the fairy-tale cartoon "Fyrtøjet". - Caption and
photo: © BILLED BLADET no. 1., 1940.
Section of photo above. The
subtitles, which must be read from above and below, read: “Teknisk Film
Compagni presents: / Fyrtøjet / after H.C.Andersens Eventyr / in Danish
Drawings by: Rich. Møller / edited by: Fritz V. Jensen / Production: Teknisk
Film Compagni København”
According to Forms such as the
one above, the Cartoon is prepared. The road is long from the idea to the
finished film, every single detail in the characters, their facial expressions,
replicas and plastics, must be carefully discussed and planned. - Caption and
photo: © BILLED BLADET no. 1, 1940.
Once the pencil drawings are
complete, they are transferred by a "puller" to a celluloid plate. In
the picture above is the film's technical employee, Mr. Arne Jensen, just with
a Celluloid plate. - Caption and photo: © BILLED BLADET no. 1, 1940. [It should
be added that Arne Jensen, b. Copenhagen. 12.10.19, began his career at a film
laboratory, and switched to film photography via film text and trick film work.
Stated to have been an employee on the cartoon "Fyrtøjet", which is
possible but not verified. In 1952, he set up the company Photo Finish,
specializing in target photography].
Miss Margrethe Drescher adds
color to the drawings once they have been transferred to the celluloid plate.
With the technique available to the young Danish company, it is possible to
perform the color effects in up to 5 different shades. - Caption and photo: ©
BILLED BLADET no. 1, 1940.
Here are a Handful of Scenes or Wallpapers as
it is called in Cartoon Language. Some are quite like backdrops for a puppet
theater, but the country road below is much wider, as it - as can be seen from
the outline sheet on the previous page - is to be used as a sliding background.
- Caption and photo: © BILLED BLADET no. 1, 1940.
Then you can finally take
photos. Here sits one of the "Technical Film"'s Leaders, Mr. Fritz
Jensen by the Camera, under which you can see both Background and Celluloid
plate with one of the Figures of the Lighthouse. 15,600 photographs must be
taken before the camera can be set aside and the final touches put on the work.
- Caption and photo: © BILLED BLADET no. 1, 1940.
But H.C. Andersen we still get
a glimpse of in the Forewords, where he introduces the Picture Adventure. - Caption
and photo: © BILLED BLADET no. 1, 1940.
Good evening, Soldier! Where you have a
nice Saber and a big Knapsack, you are a real Soldier. Now you must get as much
money as you want! - Caption and photo: © BILLED BLADET no. 1, 1940.
Then the soldier let himself
be dumped into the hole, and now, as the witch said, stood down in the great
corridor, where many hundreds of lamps were burning. - Caption and photo: ©
BILLED BLADET no. 1, 1940.
You should not look so much at
me,
said the soldier, you could hurt your eyes! And then he put the dog on the
witch's apron. - Caption and photo: © BILLED BLADET no. 1, 1940.
By the way, a big thank you to Richard
Møller's son, Busen Knud Møller draws, partly for his enthusiasm about the
subject, and partly for his many contributions in the form of copies of his
father's drawings, newspaper clippings etc., without which the story of Richard
Møller and his pioneer cartoon "The Torch" would not have been nearly
as full-bodied and exciting as it is in my opinion now. A big thank you also to
the illustrator and author Lars Jakobsen, whose tireless search for especially
older Danish cartoons and material regarding. these, and in this case BILLED
BLADET's article about Richard Møller's cartoon “Fyrtøjet”, have been kindly
made available for this version of Danish cartoon history. Unfortunately, so
far neither he nor Knud Møller have managed to find a copy of the cartoon
itself "Fyrtøjet".
As will be apparent from what
has been announced above, it is alleged that Richard Møller had taken the idea
and inspiration from the cartoon version of "Fyrtøjet", which he had
allegedly discussed with Jørgen Myller, but as the latter says, "did not
turn into anything”. But there were at least plans for such a cartoon with
Myller and Mik in 1933-34, and according to "Drenge Bladet" for 1934,
the film was allegedly produced (see above), and it is also not unlikely that
Møller may have acted as intermediate cartoonist on the film, which neither he
himself nor Myller has announced anything about. This may be because Myller
either did not want to inform about it, or he may have simply forgotten or
repressed it, as he later ‘forgot’ or ‘repressed’ to have worked at VEPRO. As
mentioned, Richard Møller's own project was started as early as 1939. However,
it was not this project that the film director Carl Th. Dreyer indirectly
opposed in his article, "New Roads for Danish Film - and
H.C.Andersen", which was published in the magazine AVERTERING for January
1939 (see about this above and in the section "Langtegnefilmen
“Fyrtøjet": Forhistorien"), but conversely Richard Møller , who
complied with Dreyer's invitation to make a Danish H.C.Andersen adventure
cartoon. But apart from that, neither Knud Hjortø, Fritz Jensen nor Richard
Møller themselves seem to have taken Dreyer and other prominent critics so
seriously that they did not dare to embark on the cartoon project. Of course,
they have not been able to avoid knowing the criticism, but have chosen to
ignore it - fortunately.
And it must be noted that the Danish
cartoon industry had difficult times and was running at a relatively low flame
at the time, as only cartoons, more precisely commercial cartoons, were
produced by Jørgen Myller and Henning Dahl Mikkelsen and their employees, until
April 1939 Myller’s studio at Gutenberghus Reklame Film, and then also and
especially at VEPRO.
But the saga of Richard
Møller's cartoon "Fyrtøjet" does not end with what has been said above
about the project. He still had to complete the second part of the film, and in
the meantime he was also confused with director Hjortø and his companion, the
film photographer Fritz Jensen. The two's patience had gradually been put to
the test, not least because it took longer than expected with Møller's
completion of the second part of the film, whose premiere was now postponed to
the autumn of 1940. Richard Møller, for his part, had personal problems to
contend with. and meanwhile Denmark had been occupied by Nazi Germany, and
that, of course, did not make things easier or better. The National Journal
could tell in an article on 26 July 1940 about Richard Møller's continued and
persistent attempts to have the film completed.
The H.C. Andersen cartoon
finished for the Autumn
Its creator, the artist
Richard Møller, produces 200 drawings daily
The young cartoonist Richard Møller, who has
now been working on his cartoon of H.C. Andersen's fairy tale
"Fyrtøjet" for almost a year and a half, is beginning to see an end
to the very great work he has embarked on in recent weeks.
From his Holiday Exile near Aarhus, where
he is currently resting after a nervous breakdown, caused by overexertion, he
tells about his film - the first of its kind, made in Denmark:
Rich. Møller
- I originally started in Collaboration
with Teknisk Film Co., but after a short time we gave it up, and since then I
have worked alone with Filmen. This spring the first half was finished, and in
all I have at present made about 7000 drawings.
- How many drawings can you make a day?
- Average approx. 200 - The background is
already drawn on all the pictures, so it is only the scenes that have to be
worked with.
- Has there been interest in the film?
Yes, in its own way, but it is difficult
to get any Danish companies to finance the copies and the distribution of the
film on the market. Until now, I have had to pay for it all - and before the
film is finished, it will probably cost me 8-9000 DKK.
- Is it so colored?
- If it were to be, I would not have been
able to make it under DKK 250,000! No, I'm content with the colors White, Gray
and Black.
- How long will it play?
- Between 10 Minutes and a Quarter. This
means that it will be released as a pre-film for an ordinary feature film, and
as far as possible I will try to get it out at the same time all over Denmark.
I have admittedly had various inquiries from abroad to get it out there, but I
must not deny that I would rather see it come up here at home - not least out
of consideration for the national character of the film. I have strived to make
the film as Danish as possible; The drawings are kept in an ordinary round, Danish
line without the exaggerations that are found in the American cartoons.
- When do you expect to be finished?
Now only in the autumn, so that the film
can at least have its possible premiere here at home this year.
Danish Cultural Film interested
in the Film
In connection with Mr. Møller’s
Information, we have asked the Director of Danish Cultural Film, Director
Thomas P. Hejle, how the Cultural Film will possibly stand up to bring the film
forward, if it is otherwise considered suitable. Director Hejle says:
At the present time it is difficult to
comment, as I have not had the opportunity to see any of the film, but I can
say so much that I am very interested in Mr. Møller's work, and can see nothing
but that there must be a certain opportunity to get the film through Danish
cultural film. It is very important for us to get in touch with people who
produce something, so Mr. Møller must be welcome if he wishes to contact us.
them- (Source: National Journal of July 26, 1940).
Unfortunately, no documentation has been
found that Richard Møller had his film made completely finished, nor whether he
possibly followed the invitation from Thomas P. Hejle and approached Dansk
Kulturfilm. In any case, Richard Møller's "Fyrtøjet" is not mentioned
in FILMENS HVEM HVAD HVOR - Danish titles and biographies 1929 - 1967, but this
could be due to the fact that the film is partly a 16mm narrow film and partly
a silent film. If some hard-working 'detective' should be lucky enough to get
on the trail of a film copy of Richard Møller's "Fyrtøjet", we would
of course like to hear from him.
In historical retrospect, it must be said
that on the basis of Richard Møllers with all due lack of experience in cartoon
technique, including especially animation technique, it was both technically
and artistically an overly ambitious and bold venture to want to produce an
approx. 10-15 minute cartoon. That he even chose to film a well-known fairy
tale by H.C. Andersen, and drew in a comic style, primarily intended for
children, hardly made things better or easier, which i.a. Carl Th. Dreyer's
harsh preconditions for a Danish cartoon and the learned gentlemen's concern
about Richard Møller's plans testify.
But based on still images from
the film alone, it seems to me unfortunate that as far as is known, no original
material has been preserved, just as there is apparently not as much as a
preserved meter film from Richard Møller's version of "Fyrtøjet".
After all, he and he could probably have deserved it.
However, Richard Møller's decidedly
well-meaning and stylistically interesting cartoon version of the fairy tale
"Fyrtøjet", as already mentioned, unfortunately suffered a bad fate,
as its first producer, Knud Hjortø, TFC, did not think that the quality of the
first part of the film met expectations. had previously submitted to the
project. One would therefore neither continue production nor distribute the
film. If Richard Møller wanted to make his film, he was then referred to do it
on his own. But the problems that had been around the "Fyrtøjet" film
were something the press did not fail to mention in connection with the mention
of Teknisk Film Compagni’s following cartoon project, Erik Rus' and Børge
Hamberg's little cartoon with the boy Peter Pep in the lead role.
A Little mischief: Peter Pep
In 1940, two of the students
at Myller and Mik at VEPRO got a chance to make their own cartoons. It was Erik
Rus and Børge Hamberg, who until now had only worked as intermediaries at
VEPRO, who had wanted to try their hand at a 5-minute cartoon. Erik Rus had got
the idea for a series of entertainment cartoons with the boy Peter Pep in the
lead role, and he quickly got his friend and colleague Børge Hamberg interested
in the project.
What gave the two 20-year-old youngsters
the chance to make their own film was that Richard Møller's cartoon version of
"Fyrtøjet" was actually discarded by Knud Hjortø and Fritz Jensen,
who apparently thought it was especially unprofessional in terms of animation.
they would not distribute or sell it.
All sails were therefore set when Teknisk
Film Co. alternatively chose to produce the "Peter Pep" film, which,
however, for safety's sake, was content to give a playing time of 5 minutes.
Erik Rus apparently had considerably more time to analyze movements and draw
key drawings than, for example, Richard Møller, just as Børge Hamberg was a
fast and efficient assistant and intermediate draftsman. The collaboration went
well, and in the course of approx. four months, the two had a small 5-minute
black-and-white cartoon ready. Along the way, the film's scenes had been filmed
by Teknisk Film Compagni's photographer Fritz Jensen, as they were finished, so
that you could make sure that everything basically worked as intended. But the
film was without sound and thus dumb, especially because neither then nor later
were there quite a few people who had 16mm cinema projectors with the option of
optical sound reproduction.
For the film's few forewords,
they had chosen to show Peter Pep's smiling head surrounded by a range of
radial rays, somewhat similar to what one could - albeit immensely more
professionally - see in Disney's cartoon series with the famous characters
Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. The subtitles for the first of the
two Peter Pep films produced looked like this:
Technical Film Co.
presents
"PETER PEP"
"Peter Peps
Assassination"
Exclusive T.F.C. Copenhagen
Designed by
Erik Rus
Above is a situation from the
production of the first Peter Pep cartoon, which premiered on December 6, 1940.
To the left Erik Rus at the drawing board, he is disturbed in his work by the
boy Finn Jensen, who was the 'model' for the Peter Pep character . In the
background is Børge Hamberg watching. The situation is of course arranged by
the journalist and the press photographer, who would like to bring an
interesting story home to the editorial office. - Photo: © 1940 Billed Bladet
no. 51. December 17, 1940.
As far as is known, only two cartoons were
produced in the planned series with "Peter Pep", the first of which
was referred to as "Peter Pep and shoemaker Snørestøvle” (= “Lace-up
boot"), but the film was entitled "Peter Pep's Assassination".
The second and probably last cartoon in the Peter Pep series was titled
"Fast Emergency", and in it shoemaker “Snørestøvle” does not appear
at all.
It must be said in the interest of the
truth and the profession that the two Peter Pep cartoons had several good
qualities, including one by and large acceptable animation, but professionals
like the contemporary cartoons made by Myller and Mik, not to mention Walt
Disney or Max Fleischer's cartoons, they certainly were not. It soon became
apparent that the needs of the narrow-minded filmmakers and their desire to buy
such cartoons had been overestimated. It looked so much more like one could
still be lucky enough to buy some of Disney's earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons,
copied down to 16mm black and white film, and admittedly without sound. Most
people could easily live with that, though, because the Disney people's ability
to do a visual action and funny and crazy gags was so great that no other
cartoon people in the world could compete with them.
An excellent example of two so-called
key poses, in this case designed by Erik Rus. Here it is Peter Pep who picks up
an egg from the nest and looks at it. - Drawing: © 1940 Erik Rus & Teknisk
Film Co.
Draft scene in the first
"Peter Pep" cartoon. To the left is shoemaker Lace-up boot, which
strikes resignedly with his arms because there is no work for him to do in the
shoemaker's shop. However, Peter Pep gets a bright idea of how he will be able
to get his friend a job. - Drawing: © 1940 Erik Rus & Teknisk Film Co.
Two situations from the first
cartoon with "Peter Pep and the Shoemaker's Lace Boot" or "Peter
Pep's Assassination". Above are two of the situation pictures that were
used in connection with various newspapers and magazines' coverage of the film
in December 1940. - Drawings: © 1940 Erik Rus & Teknisk Film Co.
The photo on the left shows
Børge Hamberg, pretending to instruct Finn Jensen in the position the boy must
occupy so that the artist Erik Rus (photo on the right) can draw Peter Pep in
the same positions. Here again, these are images for press use, in this case
for Billed Bladet, which on December 17 brought a double-sided illustrated
mention of the first cartoon with Peter Pep. - Photos: © 1940 Billed Bladet. -
At the top right is another scene for use in various newspapers and weekly
magazines' coverage of the film. - Drawings: © 1940 Erik Rus & Teknisk Film
Co.
A few more examples of images
in connection with the press coverage of the Peter Pep film. It was considered
a bit of a sensation that only two men, Erik Rus and Børge Hamberg, had drawn
and animated the 5-minute long cartoon. In particular, they were impressed by
the many drawings that had been used to bring the film's characters to life,
and the number 8000 drawings were mentioned. However, this should be understood
as the total number of drawings, of which approximately 4000 animation and
in-between drawings and as many copies on celluloids. Drawings: © 1940 Erik Rus
& Teknisk Film Co.
When VEPRO closed…
At the beginning of 1942,
VEPRO moved to a large, beautiful villa on Svanemøllevej in Hellerup. Here
production continued, though not without increasing difficulty. Admittedly,
films were made for both German and Danish advertising agencies, for the latter
it was about Gutenberghus Reklame Film, Monterossi and Bergenholtz. But presumably
as a result of the war and the occupation, the demand and number of orders for
advertising cartoons was declining sharply, and the prospect of closing the
company threatened on the horizon. This was of course a problem, not least for
the many employees who could risk being left without work if the company had to
close. (Note 25)
By the way, Myller and Mik had resumed
their plans to make adventure cartoons, and they had at least a couple of
projects on the table around 1941-42. First and foremost, Perrault's
"Cinderella" and then Grimm's "The Brave Tailor", the
latter fairy tale, Walt Disney had produced an absolutely excellent short
cartoon over as early as 1938. (Note 26)
This photo from 1942, when
VEPRO had moved to Svanemøllevej in Hellerup, shows from the left the
illustrator and animator Kjeld Simonsen (Simon), chief draftsman and director
Jørgen Myller and intermediate draftsman Børge Hamberg. The three gentlemen are
reportedly immersed in the discussion of ideas and drafts for one of the
cartoons VEPRO was still producing at the time. - Photo: © 1942 Det Ny
Radioblad.
It was during this period that some of the
young cartoonists, Børge Hamberg, Erik Rus, Bjørn Frank Jensen, Kjeld Simonsen
and Erik Christensen, in addition to drawing children's books, illustrations
and joke drawings for newspapers and magazines, also started making their own
small cartoons. Among other things. to the home theater. At that time, as
mentioned, there were quite a few private people who were in possession of
narrow film equipment, including 16mm film projectors, and it was therefore
assumed that these families could be an obvious market for such films.
VEPRO's management agreed that those of
the cartoonists who managed to obtain their own cartoon assignments were
allowed to use the company's facilities. It also happened that at the same time
as the company had moved to Svanemøllevej, contact had been made with the
photographer and film producer Marius Holdt, who was hired to operate the by
that time advanced trick film equipment, which had been installed in the villa
in Hellerup. (Note 27)
As
mentioned, a number of advertising and public relations cartoons were produced
at VEPRO in the years 1939-42, and the orders for these usually came via or
from Copenhagen's three largest advertising agencies, Gutenberghus Reklame
Film, Monterossi and Bergenholtz. The German pharmaceutical company Bayer, a
subsidiary of the powerful IG Farben Industrie, thus ordered via Monterossi a
cartoon about the malaria medicine "Paludismo" or
"Atebrin", which was intended for display in African and South
American countries, where the dreaded and often fatal malaria was widespread. (Note 28)
On Tuesday, July 21, 1942, in the dinner
newspaper B.T.’s column “B.T. Film ”, edited and written by Kaj Berg Madsen,
under the heading “Three cartoonists get a chance”read the following:
“Three young Danish cartoonists will now
have their great chance to show what they are capable of. The film company
"Bavaria" has engaged the Copenhageners Erik Rus, Børge Hamberg and
Erik Christensen to make an all-night cartoon. All three of them have signed a
contract with "Bavaria" some time ago, and as soon as the holiday is
over, they travel to Berlin to start work. It is not yet possible to say with
certainty what the film will be about, but it is the first all-night cartoon to
be made in a German film studio.”
The three cartoonists mentioned traveled to
Germany shortly after, to work on the cartoon producer Hans Held's cartoon
studio at Bavaria Film in the Berlin suburb of Potzdam. Here they also came
across a couple of other Danish cartoonists, namely Arne "Jømme"
Jørgensen and Otto Jacobsen, who were also employed at the studio. The
so-called all-night film - which is meant to be a cartoon of ordinary feature
film length - was, as far as is known, "Störenfried" ("The
Peacemaker"), a film for the Nazi German Ministry of Propaganda.
Another interesting thing about VEPRO is
the statement that “once - when the war is over and conditions have become more
stable - it is the company's opinion, in addition to the special commercial, to
expand production to real feature films. Imagine if you could beat Disney! ”
Yes, think, back then in 1941 many people still believed that the Germans would
win the war so that conditions could once again become "stable", also
here at home and obviously under Nazi domination! And imagine if you could have
made the annoying sovereign 'cartoon king' Disney incompetent, so you, ie.
German-dominated Europeans, including Danish cartoonists and others, could take
overpower as obedient ‘slaves’ in favor of Nazi Germany in particular.
In hindsight, however, it is probably so
interesting that Myller and Mik apparently dreamed of making a feature film, as
Myller had already stated in a newspaper interview in January 1939, ie at a
time when he worked for Gutenberghus Advertising Film. Interesting in 1941,
because the production of the feature film "Fyrtøjet" was only about
a couple of years in the future, which we will hear considerably more about in
the section The feature cartoon
"FYRTØJET": Prehistory. (Note 29)
© 2007 Harry Rasmussen.
The feature cartoon "FYRTØJET"