I was perusing my YouTube feeds the other day when I stumbled upon this gem of an animated ad, made for Chevrolet by the legendary Jam Handy company in 1936.
The plot is pretty simple: Cinderella’s two ugly step sisters make off with the coach, leaving Cinderella with no way to get to the ball. It is up to a coterie of forest creatures (elves? gnomes? They are never named in the film) to craft a coach for Cinderella using only materials of the forest. In doing so, they give the viewer an insight into the functioning of a “modern” automobile.
Some of the things illustrated include an engine made with fireflies as the spark plugs, tires made from caterpillars, vent windows, and shock absorbers.
While it is easy to think of Cinderella as being a modern creation by the Walt Disney Company, the Cinderella fairy tale has actually been around for centuries, and the animated Disney Cinderella movie wouldn’t come out until 1950.
The animation on this film is exquisite – only tad below what Walt Disney was creating at the time in terms of sophistication and quality. Pay particular attention to the scene where the birds tie the bow around Cinderella’s dress: Walt Disney supposedly poached this scene for his 1950 Cinderella feature. The cost of producing this film had to be astronomical, between the painstaking animation and three-strip Technicolor process.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about this movie (other than the fact that it got made at all) is how soft the selling is. An actual Chevrolet (a 1937 sedan) does not appear until the closing seconds of the film, seen above. Otherwise, it could be an ad for just about any automaker.
Chevrolet apparently agreed with me, and when they commissioned a followup film in 1937 (A Ride for Cinderella), a Chevrolet car featured much more prominently throughout.
This was great to watch; I had no idea there could ever be a connection between Cinderella and Curbside Classic!
My favorite part is the getting the fireflies to properly aim the headlights. And while it wasn’t a Disney production, a lot of the animation bears a striking resemblance to Disney’s Snow White, which came out around the same time (& Disney’s Cinderella) — so I suspect several of the animation artists shifted between studios.
And regarding the Cinderella story itself, some of the older versions are quite interesting to read, to see the differences between them and the modern version. I have a 1915 book of children’s stories, for instance, and I like the Cinderella version a lot. For example, there’s virtually no physical description of Cinderella in that version (leaving the reader to image what she looks like), and then in the end she forgives her stepsisters and even invites them to her wedding.
Anyway, this very enjoyable. Thanks for posting.
I don’t think Snow White came out until 1937. It is interesting that this little commercial short predated all of the famouns Disney “Princess” classics.
What a strange way to advertise a product that no child could ever buy. Maybe I’m looking at this too rationally. Love the steam-powered “Modernizer”.
If you happen to enjoy old cartoons, I recommend the 1931 Fleischer Studios short “Bimbo’s Initiation”. Another major WTF moment, though a bit different from that Chevrolet one…
It proceeded this Chevy advertising campaign by about 60-some years:
Cartoons were an all-ages thing back then. Many were made for an adult audience.
Isn’t that still true today? e.g Simpsons and Family Guy
Hmm… yes and no. This Cinderella Chevy thing is very kid-oriented. Tex Avery’s 1945 classic Swing Shift Cinderella, on the other hand…
I went over to Jerry Beck’s Cartoon Research and found these. FASCINATING!
http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/frank-goldmans-unofficial-remakes-of-the-rhapsody-of-steel/
http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/nicky-nome-rides-again/
The lead character is named Nicky Nome, Frank Goldman was the director. Six of these films were apparently made out of an intended twelve. Apparently all six have survived to the present.
These toons were part of a Chevy “Direct Mass Selling” campaign.
http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/animation-in-jam-handys-direct-mass-selling/
The 1937 Chevy makes perfect sense for a film copyrighted 1936, once I learned “A Coach For Cinderella” wasn’t released until mid-1937.
The animation is indeed quite good. Most appears to be done with cell drawings, such as seen in the Disney animated movies of the period, with some of Max Fleisher’s Rotoscope method (which would have been available in 1936, as his patent had expired in 1934) used to give fluid motion to Cinderella when she first appears. Find Fleischer’s excellent Superman cartoons from 1941 for good examples of Rotoscope, or just go to You Tube and review a ha’s Take On Me music video. The form and ensemble style of movement of the forest creatures also mimics that in Disney’s Silly Symphonies. Really quite remarkable-the period equivalent of that Honda ad where all the parts come together to make an Accord. Where do you guys find this stuff?
I had no idea that these had ever been made. These had to be some of the most expensive “commercials” ever made, but then maybe by offering them to movie distributors for showing in theaters they did not have to pay for air time.
As one who is into old music as well as old cars, my favorite part was The Peanut Vendor playing in the background as The Modernizer was in operation. That was the song that launched the Rhumba craze that was in full swing in the mid 30s. It is said to be the first example of Cuban/Latin music that became popular in the US.
Amazing animation! I had to watch the part several times where the birds tie that ribbon, it’s just so fluid and beautiful.
And to think all this was done without CGI, all with hand-drawn cells.
I collect animation cells, as does my sister (who got me into it). I can only imagine what any surviving cells from this would sell for.
To give you an idea of the market: Remember the opening skating scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas? Beth has two of the cells – and then went for five figures apiece twenty years ago when she bought them. Nowadays, you can probably buy a decent new automobile from the proceeds of such a sale.
And of course, Thirties Disney cells are the real collectible – assuming you can find one (most cells were dipped in acetone so the cell itself could be reused – yes, that’s where the running joke in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? comes from). I’ve heard that there are a few from the Night on Bald Mountain section of Fantasia in existence. Try Mercedes S-Class prices.
A Chevrolet seems too common to be Cinderella’s carriage. Wouldn’t she prefer a Cadillac or a Packard?