Zack Schwartz, who designed this film was a veteran of The Warner, Disney, Screen Gems and UPA Animation Studios. I met him when he taught animation history locally. He told me about this cartoon. Zack had based the design of his film on ancient art. Willougby's magic hat is woven from the hair Delilah snipped from Samson's head. While the design of the film was more than 5,000 years old critics hailed it as a breakthrough in modern design. This film led directly to the birth of UPA. After Zack told me his story I worked on tracking down a print. I found several but they were soft focus with poor sound. Then one day I got a sparkling original print. You will understand, seeing it, why people were so excited with it. This is just one of the fifteen titles that will be on view in this week's program.
