'Famous' fire at WB studio?

[BobChief]

In the history of the Warner Bros. studio, particularly its animation operations, there was a major, damaging fire. When was it, and what items significant to WB animation were lost?

(I don't have the answer in front of me, but can dang sure recall reading it in one of the many books on animation that used to be available to me, either from school or public libraries.)

[Jack]

From a TV show that had an animation art dealer on as a special guest, I heard that after the original studio closed down in 1964, they needed space for offices or something and took any animation art they happened to have in storage and they burned it to get rid of it. This is because the value of animation art hadn't been realised, and WB profitted more by having offices than by having a bunch of drawings in storage.

That's all I know.

Jack:D

[Bobby B]

Originally posted by BobChief
In the history of the Warner Bros. studio, particularly its animation operations, there was a major, damaging fire. When was it, and what items significant to WB animation were lost?

(I don't have the answer in front of me, but can dang sure recall reading it in one of the many books on animation that used to be available to me, either from school or public libraries.)


In Leonard Maltin's "Of Mice and Magic", a footnote about the redrawn LT's says that they had to be done that way because the studio burned all of its original artwork to make more space.