The History Of Technicolor
Technicolor Coorporation was created in 1915 by Kalmus, Comstock, and Wescott firm. Their first system, Technicolor System One was scrapped after they released The Gulf Between in 1917. It was a flop because, according to the projectionist, it was difficult to adjust the prism to get the colors to properly show, often making the actors appear green or red.
In 1922, Technicolor System 2 was created. The first film using this renovated design was Toll of the Sea, which was released in November of 1922 in New York. The film was Technicolor's first real success, although the entire film was not in color. Since this process was new and still temperamental, they could only produce the key scenes or important points in color.
Several more movies were released in color, such as The Big Parade, The Phantom of the Opera, The Merry Widow, and Ben-Hur in 1925. Similar to Toll of the Sea, only the main scenes appeared in color; the rest remained black and white.
The use of Technicolor slowed tremendously when the Great Depression hit in 1929; many film companies began to rethink the use of technicolor. Making movies and cartoons was expensive enough, and studios felt it was a waste to spent extra money on color.
Walt Disney Studios got involved with technicolor several years later. In 1932, Herbert Kalmus, one of the key minds behind Technicolor, approached Walt Disney. Technicolor had produced a new 3-color system; instead of just its usual red and green or blue, it now offered both blue and green at the same time. Kalmas offered Disney this new system, which Disney eagerly accepted. "Flowers and Trees", the 29th short in the Silly Symphonies series, was almost complete, but Walt insisted it be redone using technicolor. Roy Disney and many animators thought this was incredibly risky and foolish. Despite their objections, Walt pushed for it. "Flowers and Trees" was a huge success and caused many other film companies to notice Technicolor. Walt Disney Studios won the first Academy Award for Best Cartoon in 1932 for the short. Kalmus and Disney created a five-year contract for the use of the 3-color system for the rest of the Silly Symphonies. Since it was still fairly expensive, Walt believed the Mickey Mouse cartoons were popular enough without adding color.
The use of Technicolor slowed tremendously when the Great Depression hit in 1929; many film companies began to rethink the use of technicolor. Making movies and cartoons was expensive enough, and studios felt it was a waste to spent extra money on color.
Walt Disney Studios got involved with technicolor several years later. In 1932, Herbert Kalmus, one of the key minds behind Technicolor, approached Walt Disney. Technicolor had produced a new 3-color system; instead of just its usual red and green or blue, it now offered both blue and green at the same time. Kalmas offered Disney this new system, which Disney eagerly accepted. "Flowers and Trees", the 29th short in the Silly Symphonies series, was almost complete, but Walt insisted it be redone using technicolor. Roy Disney and many animators thought this was incredibly risky and foolish. Despite their objections, Walt pushed for it. "Flowers and Trees" was a huge success and caused many other film companies to notice Technicolor. Walt Disney Studios won the first Academy Award for Best Cartoon in 1932 for the short. Kalmus and Disney created a five-year contract for the use of the 3-color system for the rest of the Silly Symphonies. Since it was still fairly expensive, Walt believed the Mickey Mouse cartoons were popular enough without adding color.