The newspaper comic strip has for a great many years been quite an institution in American life, and it was to be expected that sooner or later it would make its way to the motion picture screen. The purpose of the comic strip has always been to amuse, and since the motion picture has always been a powerful medium of amusement and entertainment, the application of cartoon principles to the motion picture was a logical feature in the development of the motion picture art.
Cartoons were used in motion picture almost from the very beginning, as would be expected from the fact that the motion picture as we all know, is merely a succession of still pictures; and if these still pictures can be made by photographic means, they can be made also by artists using pen and pencil.
There have been many in the history of the motion picture who have been active in the introduction and development of the cartoon, but there is one man who stands head and shoulders above them all, in that he has not only produced cartoons, but has developed them far beyond what ordinary persons like ourselves could imagine only a few years ago. To make a cartoon, and to make a real living thing out of it; to develop it into lovely colored bits of fantasy and story; to make the characters of legend and fairy tales come to life, and walk and talk, and arouse in us emotions equal to those we experience when viewing pictures of live human actors it is almost too much to believe.
I am sure, after these remarks, the name of the person to whom I refer, who has this year been awarded the Progress Medal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, is still a deep secret. But, just between us, it's Walt Disney the man whose "Mickey Mouse" and "Minnie Mouse" are important matters to all the children of America and to millions of children in other countries, and add immeasurably to the pleasure and happiness also of sophisticated grown-ups. The Disney Silly Symphonies, those lovely colored fantasies, are, without doubt, America's finest contribution to the world's folklore. Legend and fairy tales have come to life and have become part of our own lives.
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