Jack Kinney?

[Pilmedium]

Many later Donald Duck cartoons have the director listed as "Jack Kinney". Is this really a nickname for Jack King? If so, why did he use that name? If not, where did this person come from?
:confused:

[Thad Komorowski]

No, that is not Jack King, that is a totally different director. Kinney was one of Donald's essential directors, like Chuck Jones is to Bugs Bunny. Jack King DID however direct several Donald cartoons in the late 40s, including favorites like "Donald's Dilemma" and "The Trial of Donald Duck".


-Thad

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Pilmedium
Many later Donald Duck cartoons have the director listed as "Jack Kinney". Is this really a nickname for Jack King? If so, why did he use that name? If not, where did this person come from?
:confused:

Jack Kinney, a person in his own right and distinct from Jack King, directed the Goofy "How to... " cartoons at Disney. His "Hockey Homicide" (1945) is often cited as one of the more "Warner-like" Disney cartoons, for its fast pace and violence. There's also a great off-the-wall moment when a clip of Monstro the Whale from "Pinocchio" suddenly pops in for a moment.

Where he came from, I don't know, but you'll see him referenced in most of the Disney cartoon books.

[Matthew Hunter]

I've always loved those Goofy cartoons, is that who did them? Greatness.., some of the few Disney cartoons I ever really cared anything about. I think the one they showed in my drivers ed class a couple years ago was called "Motor Madness", and their were tow versions...one with just the cartoon and one designed to educate drivers with "Von Drake" (a sort of Uncle Scrooge lookalike with a German voice and professor outfit) narrating as opposed to the usual 'narrator'.
I also like the one where Goofy and Max participate in a waterskiing competition. This was very Warner-like, in fact a little crazier than most of the stuff WB was doing by then...it's a later one, like early 50's.
-Matthew

[Dave Mackey]

Originally posted by Paul Penna
Where he came from, I don't know, but you'll see him referenced in most of the Disney cartoon books.

Jack Kinney wrote a book of his own called "Walt Disney And Assorted Other Characters", sort of a visual autobiography illustrated with many caricatures by Kinney. He discusses his years at Disney plus his later years including a stint as a director of Popeye cartoons.

He's not Jack King, who retired from animation in '47 while Kinney kept going strong for years afterward.

[Sogturtle]

My wee little ;) two-cents on Jack Kinney~

Jack Kinney actually joined Walt's establishment as a very young man, as he was at Disney by at least the early 1930's. His first credit as a real full animator (that I know of right now) is on "The China Shop" (Jan. 1934), though he is credited earlier on "Santa's Workshop" (Dec. 1932), but his work there must have been VERY slight as he is one of 20 (TWENTY!!) animators credited. Almost certainly the 1933-34 exodus of Jack King, Tom Palmer, Paul Fennell, and Joe d'Igalo caused the promotion of Kinney and others upwards at Disney into animators and storymen. His name turns up as animator on the 1935 "The Band Concert" as well. Jack Kinney started receiving credit as storyman by at least 1936, as on "Donald And Pluto" co-authored with Roy Williams, and animated by (amongst others) former Iwerks and Fleischer director/head animators, Shamus Culhane and Al Eugster. Other story credits would include "Moose Hunters" (1937), "Boat Builders" (1938), "The Brave Little Tailor (1938), and "Society Dog Show" (1939).

Thus having had a background in both animation and story it was a matter of time before Disney would trust him enough to direct a cartoon... The problem was the same as in 1932-33, other people in the way ahead of him (Jack King, Wilfred Jackson, Ben Sharpsteen, Burt Gillett). It was only when some of these became too enmeshed in feature direction (or quit) that the way was paved for Kinney to try his hand at directing. Thus his first directing doesn't occur till 1940, though Disney was pleased enough to have him direct sequences in several of the features of the Forties. From that point on he turns up as a regular director alongside Jack King.

When Jack KING retired in the late Forties his Donald Duck unit was awarded to... Jack HANNAH!!! Jack Kinney though would continure directing shorts till he left Disney in the mid Fifties (okay Disney left him ;)). Intriguingly enough he was selected by UPA to direct their 1959 feature "1001 Arabian Nights" instead of any of their own directors!! He will (for good or bad) though go down as the prime director of the early 1960's King Features Popeye cartoons. Those bearing his moniker were animated at Format Studios (a UPA spinoff). (I hope that work is not mentioned on his headstone). His last major animation work would have brought him to... Warner Bros. But we won't pursue that...


And it should be mentioned that his brother Dick Kinney also had a lengthy career in animation at Disney and elsewhere as well.

[Daffyfan2002]

It's strange that I don't know as much about Disney cartoons that I do about Warner Bros. cartoons. I mean I have seen quite a few Disney toons, and I watch "Mickey's Christmas Carol" every year when it airs. But I just seem to be so much more into Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.

[Pilmedium]

1) Both have been credited on Donald Duck cartoons

2) Their last names are similar, making me think it was a nickname.

3) How many Jacks could there have been at Disney studios?

[Sogturtle]

Originally posted by Pilmedium
1) Both have been credited on Donald Duck cartoons

2) Their last names are similar, making me think it was a nickname.

3) How many Jacks could there have been at Disney studios?

Br'er Pilmedium~

WE WON'T flog you THIS time :D :D All of us understand, no big deal. As far as how many Jacks there could be at Disney simultaneously, there were definitely three and more working there from the mid-Thirties onwards (Jack King, Jack Hannah, Jack Kinney + ??). And all of them ended up in direction!! Similarly there were multiple men there named "Dick", and sure enough one 1930's cartoon features animation by no fewer than three of these!

[J Lee]

Never mind the Jacks, look at how manny "Isadores" there were high enough in animation to receive credits in the 1940s -- Freleng and Ellis at Warners, Klein and Sparber at Paramount. Almost as odd as as all those Kansas City people dominating the Hollywood studios by the early 1930s.

Kinney and his brother apparently were the leaders of the "subversives" at Walt's studio in the 1940s who tried to get away from the cute stuff and do more Warners-style humor. In that way he played the role of Disney's Avery or Clampett to Hannah's Jones, who started with the cutsey stuff when he first took over as director in the 40s ("Chip and Dale" anyone?) and then saw the light in the 1950s and started gagging up his shorts (this of course, also makes Charles A. Nichols the Bob McKimson of the Disney short subject department, while Jack King was, well, Jack King, though I suppose things improved enough for him to at least be the equivalent of Walt's Hardaway and Dalton).

Kinney's work with Popeye compaired with Kneitel's on the KFS cartoons proves Jones remark about his work on the T&J series compared with Hanna-Barbera: "Nobody is ever ever going to work as well with another man's characters as the originators." Jack was the better director, but Seymour and his head animators had 27 years experience with the sailor under their belts when the made-for-TV stuff began (Format's roots in the UPA-we're-so-above-doing-mere-chase-and-violence-animated-cartoons attitude probably didn't help things any to begin with, the same way it likely hurt their work with the Road Runner and Coyote five years later).

[Jack]

Originally posted by J Lee
Never mind the Jacks, look at how manny "Isadores" there were high enough in animation to receive credits in the 1940s -- Freleng and Ellis at Warners, Klein and Sparber at Paramount. Almost as odd as as all those Kansas City people dominating the Hollywood studios by the early 1930s.
That is weird, was Isadore a common name? I know there were a lot of Roberts at just WB (McKimson, Clampett, Givens, Canon, and Gribbroek just off the top of my head).


Jack :D

[Thad Komorowski]

Charles was a pretty common name in the classic cartoons too.


-Thad

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Dave Mackey


Jack Kinney wrote a book of his own called "Walt Disney And Assorted Other Characters", sort of a visual autobiography illustrated with many caricatures by Kinney. He discusses his years at Disney plus his later years including a stint as a director of Popeye cartoons.

D'oh! I even have that book and didn't think to cite it.

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by J Lee
Never mind the Jacks, look at how manny "Isadores" there were high enough in animation to receive credits in the 1940s -- Freleng and Ellis at Warners, Klein and Sparber at Paramount. Almost as odd as as all those Kansas City people dominating the Hollywood studios by the early 1930s.

A story surfaces every so often that Disney, on at least one occasion, referred to Isadore "Friz" Freleng as "I.P. Freely," in reference to a familiar gag. Apparently there was a lot of friction between the two when Freleng worked for WD in the early days.

[Sogturtle]

Originally posted by Paul Penna


A story surfaces every so often that Disney, on at least one occasion, referred to Isadore "Friz" Freleng as "I.P. Freely," in reference to a familiar gag. Apparently there was a lot of friction between the two when Freleng worked for WD in the early days.

Paul~

Friz was quick to confirm the friction in the early Walt days, stating that Walt was quite prone to overly-criticize his work and pick on him. Freleng finally confronted him on it and the situation improved somewhat, but still culminated in his quitting and returning to Kansas City. Shortly afterward was the infamous Oswald/Charles Mintz incident, and Friz was summoned back to Hollywood by Hugh Harman...

Interestingly enough Freleng's animation for Walt had improved so drastically that he'd been made one of the lead-animators, paired with Hugh Harman (the other pairing was of Ub Iwerks with Rollin "Ham" Hamilton.