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Disney
Cartoon
#11,
CinemaScope
Special:
"Grand
CanyonScope"
(December
23,
1954)
by
Albert
Gutierrez
Widescreen
movies
must
have
really
been
a
sight
to
see
in
the
1950s.
Imagine
living
your
whole
life
seeing
fictional
worlds
in
square
boxes.
Then,
suddenly,
a
travelogue
called
This
is
Cinerama
comes
out
and
it
extends
your
viewing
range
to a
146-degree
curved
screen.
After
that,
various
widescreen
processes
began
to
emerge.
Unlike
the
standardized
Academy
Ratio
of
1.37:1,
widescreen
was
shown
in
various
ways,
the
more
well-known
ones
being
CinemaScope,
Todd-AO,
VistaVision,
Technirama,
Super
Technirama
70,
Panavision,
Super
Panavision,
Ultra
Panavision,
etc.
Each
one
promising
grand
and
epic
films
that
made
going
to
the
theatre
an
event
once
again,
offering
you
a
view
that
could
never
be
done
justice
on
television.
In
honor
of
the
widescreen
process,
this
week's
Saturday
Matinee,
and
the
next
eight
weeks
that
follow,
will
cover
all
nine
of
Disney's
CinemaScope
shorts.
But
first,
some
background
information.
Walt
Disney
was
always
looking
towards
the
next
innovation,
and
just
as
he
embraced
sound
and
color
film,
he
also
embraced
the
widescreen
process.
The
studio
first
used
widescreen
in
1953
with
the
live-action
period
drama
The
Sword
and
the
Rose.
The
film
was
shot
in
the
Academy
Ratio
(the
square),
and
matted
in
widescreen-capable
theatres
to
1.66:1
(the
rectangle)
in a
process
they
called
"Giant
Miracle-Screen".
Disney
stopped
calling
it
"Giant
Miracle-Screen"
after
this
picture,
but
continued
to
shoot
most
of
their
live-action
films
in
Academy
and
matte
to
their
now-preferred
ratio
of
1.75:1.
The
shot-in-widescreen
format
was
still
used,
but
only
on
four
additional
live-action
films
in
Walt's
lifetime:
20,000
Leagues
Under
the
Sea,
The
Great
Locomotive
Chase,
and
Westward
Ho,
the
Wagons!
in
CinemaScope,
and
Swiss
Family
Robinson
in
Panavision.
 (courtesy
of
1994
VHS
&
shameless
photoshopping)
Walt's
cartoon
shorts,
however,
were
always
shown
in
Academy,
save
for
the
studio's
experiments
in
CinemaScope.
A
total
of
nine
shorts,
as
well
as
Lady
and
the
Tramp,
were
made
in
CinemaScope.
Ultimately,
shooting
in
CinemaScope
proved
to
be
more
expensive
than
live-action.
While
a
camera
simply
can
simply
film
more
footage
in
live-action,
CinemaScope
cartoons
required
animators
to
create
60%
more
image
than
they
did
on
an
Academy
Short,
as
it
now
had
to
fill
the
sides.
 (courtesy
of
1998
Laserdisc
&
2006
DVD)
Lady
and
the
Tramp started
out
as
an
Academy
film,
and
now
had
older
scenes
re-shot
with
new
picture
on
the
sides,
and
newer
scenes
animated
twice
-
once
in
Academy,
and
again
in
CinemaScope.
The
above
example
shows
a
scene
animated
twice,
as
the
placement
of
the
dogs
is
closer
in
the
Academy
version.
The
Academy
version
was
made
as a
safeguard
for
theatres
not
yet
equipped
with
CinemaScope's
anamorphic
projection
lens.
It
was
no
surprise
that
1959's
Sleeping
Beauty
(which
would
be
done
in
70mm
Technirama)
would
be
the
last
animated
Disney
film
in a
wide
ratio
until
1985's
The
Black
Cauldron
(also
in
Technirama).
Economics
and
labor
made
it
easier
to
simply
shoot
Academy
and
matte
to
widescreen,
as
seen
below
in
Robin
Hood.
The
animators
worked
with
the
same
space
they
had
for
the
past
few
decades,
only
now
knew
that
a
portion
of
the
top
and
bottom
would
not
be
seen.
 (courtesy
of
2000
&
2006
DVDs)
Now
to
this
week's
Saturday
Matinee!
Rather
than
go
in
chronological
order
of
the
CinemaScope
shorts,
I'll
examine
the
nine
shorts
in
an
order
determined
simply
by
what
number
I
draw
out
of a
hat.
This
week's
short
is
CinemaScope
short
#2,
"Grand
CanyonScope."
Please
note
that
the
screen
caps
show
how
the
2.35:1
ration
of
the
short
looks
in
the
standard
1.78:1
ratio
of
widescreen
televisions.
The
black
bars
is
space
not
used,
not
picture
missing.

Ranger
Woodlore
lectures
a
tour
group,
and
makes
sure
to
tell
them,
"Spread
out,
folks,
this
is
CinemaScope!"
Suddenly,
the
small
compact
group
spreads
out
to
fill
much
of
the
screen.
Among
this
tour
group
is
Donald
Duck,
who
seeks
to
experience
the
Grand
Canyon
his
way.
This
includes
dropping
rocks
into
the
canyon,
doing
a
rain
dance,
and
causing
an
argument
with
himself
thanks
to
Echo
Cliff.
During
a
riding
trail
of
the
canyon,
Donald
asks
Ranger
Woodlore
to
take
his
picture,
and
the
flash
causes
his
burro
to
nearly
go
blind.
It
stumbles
along
off
the
trail
and
Donald
eventually
falls
into
Ranger
Woodlore's
arms.
As
they
try
to
find
the
burro,
Woodlore
instead
comes
across
a
mountain
lion,
who's
been
hibernating
since
the
Civil
War!
He
scares
off
Woodlore,
and
then
chases
after
Donald.

Throughout
the
chase,
Woodlore
continues
to
appear
to
admonish
Donald
for
breaking
the
rules,
as
they
speed
along
the
trail,
remove
rocks
from
a
pond,
and
ultimately
destroy
the
entire
Grand
Canyon.
Woodlore
warns
the
tourists
to
run
for
their
lives,
and
there's
a
grand
crash
of
rocks
and
dust.
We
then
see
Woodlore
chastising
Donald
and
the
lion.
He
tells
them,
"The
National
Park
Rule
Book
states,
and
I
quote
'when
a
natural
object
is
marred
or
defaced,
it
must
be
restored
to
its
original
state.'
So,
start
digging!!"
He
gives
them
two
shovels
and
Donald
and
the
mountain
lion
then
proceed
to
dig
a
new
Grand
Canyon.

Of
the
studio's
nine
CinemaScope
shorts,
seven
of
them
featured
Donald
Duck,
and
"Grand
CanyonScope"
has
always
been
my
favorite
of
the
group.
Not
just
because
it
was
a
Donald
Duck
short,
but
because
it
took
advantage
of
the
CinemaScope
process
better
than
its
fellow
shorts.
It
was
aware
that
this
would
be a
wide
view,
and
making
the
Grand
Canyon
as
its
setting
leads
to
nice
backdrops
and
scenes.
In
addition,
the
gags
are
always
funny,
with
the
rain
dance
being
my
favorite.
This
short
would
also
mark
the
second
of
five
theatrical
cartoon
appearances
for
Ranger
J.
Audubon
Woodlore,
and
the
second
appearance
of a
nameless
mountain
lion
who
first
appeared
in
1948's
"Soup's
On"
and
apparently
is
cousin
to
1951's
"Lambert
the
Sheepish
Lion"!
"Grand
CanyonScope"
is
available
on
DVD
in
two
sets.
The
first
is
the
out-of-print
"Walt
Disney
Treasures:
Chronological
Donald,
Volume
Four,"
which
also
features
an
informative
audio
commentary
for
the
short
by
Leonard
Maltin
and
Jerry
Beck.
The
short
is
also
more
easily-accessible
in
the
still-in-print
20,000
Leagues
Under
the
Sea:
Special
Edition.
It
makes
sense
adding
it
there,
as
"Grand
CanyonScope"
was
attached
to
the
film
in
theatres,
thus
helping
to
recreate
the
theatrical
experience
in
your
own
home.

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