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From: hofbauer@utcsri.UUCP (John Hofbauer)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: First Color Films
Message-ID: <1021@utcsri.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Apr-85 21:02:30 EST
Article-I.D.: utcsri.1021
Posted: Fri Apr 12 21:02:30 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Apr-85 00:44:07 EST
References: <556@cornell.UUCP> <1315@yale.ARPA> <4651@ucla-cs.ARPA> <1814@zehntel.UUCP>
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Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto
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> The first Technicolor film for public release was the Disney short "Flowers
> and Trees" (1932).  Apparently, Disney was so taken with the Technicolor
> process that he bought the exclusive rights to it (for anamation only?) for
> the next five years.
> 
> If "Flowers and Trees" looks a little washed out today, it's because the
> drawings were painted with *watercolors*!
> -- 
>                     Jack Hagerty, Zehntel Automation Systems
>                           ...!ihnp4!zehntel!jackh

I saw a perfect 35mm print of "Flowers and Trees" direct from the
Disney vault last year and it was gorgeous, as were all the other
Disney cartoons produced in Technicolor shown in the program.
If it looks "washed out", it must have been a 16mm TV print.

I might add that "Flowers and Trees" was the first 3-STRIP technicolor
film for public release. If memory serves me right, Disney became
the first to use it only because no one wanted to try it. Its success
convinced Hollywood that it was a viable process. Of course it is
much easier to control drawings than live action so another three years
passed before "Becky Sharp" appeared. Remember that the process required
3 different negatives be exposed through different filters. It took
some doing to get this into a single camera suitable for location
shooting. There is a fascinating article on the restoration of
"Becky Sharp" in the Nov. 1984 issue of AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER.