The Art of the Title Card: How to Be a Detective

We are introducing a new series here at 2719 Hyperion that celebrates a largely overlooked and little appreciated component of classic animated shorts - the title card.  While largely generic and plain during the Disney Studio's early years, full canvas illustrations became the standard for title cards from the late 1930s onward.  Examples ranged from the minimal to the elaborate, but were almost always striking in design, composition and execution.  Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine the artist behind any given card.  Conventional wisdom suggests either the Layout or Background credited individual was responsible so that is the attribution we will make here.

Our inaugural entry is from the 1952 Goofy short How to Be a Detective.  The design employs a clever mashup of magnifying glass and disguise elements to create a noir inspired vignette.  Al Zinnen was the credited layout artist; Dick Anthony did the backgrounds.

Explore the 2719 Hyperion Archives:
How to Be a Detective - December 12, 1952

Happy Anniversary, Mr. Saunders

This month marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Disney incarnation of A. A. Milne's beloved character, Winnie the Pooh.  The animated short subject Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree premiered in theaters on February 4, 1966.  From humble beginnings, an IP empire was born.  It was the only Disney-produced Winnie the Pooh film released in Walt's lifetime.

Surprisingly, unless you have an old school VHS machine or a laserdisc player, you cannot view Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree in its original form.  In 1977, it was absorbed with Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too into the feature length The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  After VHS and laserdisc releases, those short subjects were essentially retired in favor of the longer compilation.

Professional Disney Adult Driven to Begging!

This week's best clickbait.  And trust me, I don't search for this stuff.  

"I’m a Professional Disney Adult. Here Are 9 Things I’m Begging You to Bring to Your Disney World Hotel in 2026"

Okay, what is a Professional Disney Adult?  I recognize that influencers have strategically spun the term Disney Adult from a negative into a perceived positive, but I thought Disney Adult-ism related more to extreme and potentially dysfunctional fandom.  The author here seems to be defining it as a respected vocation and clearly not a non-profit one.  I get it, from an editorial standpoint, Disney Adult is likely more palatable in a clickbait headline than the more honest "influencer."  But "professional?"  Where does one get their Disney Adult degree?  Or their influencer degree for that matter?

The premise of the post is that you spend so much time in your Disney hotel room that you absolutely need among other things, a humidifier ($28), white noise machine ($15), portable hanging shelves ($33) and a laundry hamper ($8).  Who spends that much time in their hotel room??? I mean it's Disney World, not a remote cabin in the backwoods.

The supposed subtle pitch (I'm Begging You to Bring . . . ) translated means "I'm begging you to buy any or all of these 9 things so we can earn a nice commission.  Why would you be begging otherwise?  Sure, all the necessary disclaimers are there, but it all seems just so . . . insincere.  The trend in clickbait headlines is to personalize, but if your best friend talked to you this way, you'd probably cock an eyebrow and quickly change the subject.

Sadly, this type of click-driven, revenue generating online journalism has become a shameful standard.  And too many once reputable news and information sites have tragically adopted these editorial practices and replaced journalists, historians and travel writers with self serving influencers selling you anything and everything you don't need.

Snapshot: Alligator Swamp R.I.P.

The Rivers of America was sadly on its deathbed when I visited Walt Disney World this past June.  The barricades were mere weeks away when Alane and I took one last trip on the Liberty Belle riverboat.  It was a bittersweet voyage as it brought back memories of my first visit to the Magic Kingdom in 1973 when I would have circled the waterway in either the Admiral Joe Fowler or the then recently christened Richard R. Levine.  The mostly static vignettes viewed from the decks remained every bit as charming as they did five decades ago.  Alligator Swamp is now but a Snapshot and a happy memory.

The Life and Times of the . . . Hyperion Kid?

About ten years ago, I began a writing project that was largely inspired by Bill Bryson's very entertaining memoir The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.  Bryson chronicled his growing up in the Midwest and in doing so, created both a vivid portrait and historical encapsulation of post-war Baby Boom America.  I wanted to do the same, albeit frame my early life's journey as a very personal reflection of Disney entertainment in the popular culture.  I knocked out a few chapters, but as it always seems to happen, family and work soon pushed it to the back burner, and I declared that frequently repeated mantra, "I'll get back to it eventually."

Well, hopefully, eventually is now here.  Retirement has arrived, creating the opportunity for me to return to 2719 Hyperion on a more consistent basis.  It's a very different world from when I launched this site close to twenty years ago.  Finding readers in the current online environment will be a challenge.  Social media and influencers  have, in my opinion, soured and trivialized what was once a healthy community of Disney journalists and historians.  It may be tilting at windmills, but I want to give it a go.

My intention is to publish my aforementioned memoir in installments here on 2719 Hyperion.  I also intend a return to Addressing the Many Worlds of Disney Entertainment when possible.  If you are new to my endeavors here, welcome!  If you were a regular visitor in past, welcome back!  Comments are always welcome.  Talk to you soon!

Sally's Question

Certainly even more relevant today than it was on October 5, 1963.  A now sentimental moment when one cultural icon acknowledged another.  Memories of their creators continue to diminish, but Mickey Mouse and Snoopy will live forever.  Perhaps that is what Walt and Sparky would have wanted. 

Knock, Knock - Anyone There?

 Probably not.  But what the heck.  Retirement beckons and it's time to visit some old haunts.  More to come, if only for my own self-satisfaction.