Quasi at the Quackadero
Encyclopedia
"Quasi at the Quackadero" is a 1975 animated short by Sally Cruikshank
. This cartoon follows two ducks and a pet robot at an amusement park in the future where time travel is exploited. In 2009, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
.
, while a graduate student at the San Francisco Art Institute
, in San Francisco, California
, created the animated short "Chow Fun" (1972), editing it at the city's Snazelle Films, a commercial-film
company that also rented space and film equipment. This led to Cruikshank being hired there, and becoming head of animation by the end of summer 1972. While working at Snazelle, Cruikshank developed "Quasi at the Quackadero", her best-known work.
Initially given working title
s that included "I Walked with a Duck", "Hold That Quasi", and "Quasi Quacks Up", the 10-minute, 35mm short, with 100 watercolor backgrounds and approximately 5,000 cels, took two years for Cruikshank to draw, followed by four months for photography and post-production
. Cruikshank independently financed the $6,000 budget, which went primarily for cel painting, sound recording and lab and camera work. Underground cartoonist
Kim Deitch
, then Cruikshank's boyfriend, did much of the inking
, using dip pen and rapidograph, with Kathryn Lenihan doing most of the cel painting.
with a New Wave
wardrobe" and whose Mae West
-like voice was supplied by Cruikshank, and robot Rollo. They progress through the Quackadero, a Coney Island
-esque sideshow with such attractions as the Hall of Time Mirrors, which depict the viewer as he or she will look in "old age" or "100 years from now"; the Roll Back Time Machine, in which Quasi watches a skyscraper's life running backward; the Think-o-Blink Machine, which illustrates one's thoughts; the game show
-like act "Your Shining Moment"; Madame Xano's, where the audience can see last night's dreams; and the Time Holes, in which one can lean on a railing and see a live slice of three million years ago unfold. The music, by the Berkeley, California
band the Cheap Suit Serenaders
, used slide flute, xylophone, ukelele, duck call, boat whistle and bagpipe to create what Cruikshank called the "strange, gallopy feeling" of 1920s/1930s dance-band music, of which she is a devotee.
"Quasi at the Quackadero" won awards and was shown at the Los Angeles Film Exposition
, and made its first theatrical booking at the Northside Theater in Berkeley, not far from Cruikshank's home at the time at 1980 Arch Street in that city.
In 2008, a portion of it appeared in the opening credits of the direct-to-DVD animated feature Futurama: Bender's Game
.
: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals (Atlanta: Turner Publishing, 1994; ISBN 1-878685-49-X), edited by animation critic and historian Jerry Beck
.
In 2009, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
.
Sally Cruikshank
Sally Cruikshank is an American cartoonist and animator whose work includes animation for the Children's Television Workshop program Sesame Street, and whose short "Quasi at the Quackadero" was inducted into the United States National Film Registry.-Early life and education:Sally Cruikshank was...
. This cartoon follows two ducks and a pet robot at an amusement park in the future where time travel is exploited. In 2009, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.
Production
Animator Sally CruikshankSally Cruikshank
Sally Cruikshank is an American cartoonist and animator whose work includes animation for the Children's Television Workshop program Sesame Street, and whose short "Quasi at the Quackadero" was inducted into the United States National Film Registry.-Early life and education:Sally Cruikshank was...
, while a graduate student at the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
, in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, created the animated short "Chow Fun" (1972), editing it at the city's Snazelle Films, a commercial-film
Sponsored film
Sponsored film, or ephemeral film, as defined by film archivist Rick Prelinger, is film made by a particular sponsor for a specific purpose other than as a work of art: the films were designed to serve a specific pragmatic purpose for a limited time...
company that also rented space and film equipment. This led to Cruikshank being hired there, and becoming head of animation by the end of summer 1972. While working at Snazelle, Cruikshank developed "Quasi at the Quackadero", her best-known work.
Initially given working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
s that included "I Walked with a Duck", "Hold That Quasi", and "Quasi Quacks Up", the 10-minute, 35mm short, with 100 watercolor backgrounds and approximately 5,000 cels, took two years for Cruikshank to draw, followed by four months for photography and post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
. Cruikshank independently financed the $6,000 budget, which went primarily for cel painting, sound recording and lab and camera work. Underground cartoonist
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
Kim Deitch
Kim Deitch
-Sources:* at Lambiek's Comiclopedia-External links:* Ford, Jeffrey. *Heller, Steven. **...
, then Cruikshank's boyfriend, did much of the inking
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
, using dip pen and rapidograph, with Kathryn Lenihan doing most of the cel painting.
Plot
The short starred Quasi, characterized by one writer as "an infantile duck with buck front teeth, thick glasses and a red cape", voiced by Deitch; Anita, which one writer described as "Betty BoopBetty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
with a New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
wardrobe" and whose Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
-like voice was supplied by Cruikshank, and robot Rollo. They progress through the Quackadero, a Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
-esque sideshow with such attractions as the Hall of Time Mirrors, which depict the viewer as he or she will look in "old age" or "100 years from now"; the Roll Back Time Machine, in which Quasi watches a skyscraper's life running backward; the Think-o-Blink Machine, which illustrates one's thoughts; the game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
-like act "Your Shining Moment"; Madame Xano's, where the audience can see last night's dreams; and the Time Holes, in which one can lean on a railing and see a live slice of three million years ago unfold. The music, by the Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
band the Cheap Suit Serenaders
R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders
R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders are a string band playing songs from, and in the style of, the 1920s. Their three 33⅓ rpm albums, all recorded in the 1970s on the Blue Goose label, were titled R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders , R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders No. 2 , and R....
, used slide flute, xylophone, ukelele, duck call, boat whistle and bagpipe to create what Cruikshank called the "strange, gallopy feeling" of 1920s/1930s dance-band music, of which she is a devotee.
"Quasi at the Quackadero" won awards and was shown at the Los Angeles Film Exposition
Filmex
Filmex was an annual Los Angeles film festival held in the 1970s and early 1980s. It was the predecessor of the American Film Institute's Los Angeles International Film Festival...
, and made its first theatrical booking at the Northside Theater in Berkeley, not far from Cruikshank's home at the time at 1980 Arch Street in that city.
In 2008, a portion of it appeared in the opening credits of the direct-to-DVD animated feature Futurama: Bender's Game
Futurama: Bender's Game
Futurama: Bender's Game is the third of the four direct-to-DVD Futurama films that make up the show's fifth season. It was released on November 4, 2008 on DVD and Blu-ray....
.
Awards and honors
It was voted #46 in the book The 50 Greatest CartoonsThe 50 Greatest Cartoons
The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, consisting of articles about, and rankings of fifty highly-regarded animated short films made in North America, as well as many other notable cartoons. It generated a significant...
: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals (Atlanta: Turner Publishing, 1994; ISBN 1-878685-49-X), edited by animation critic and historian Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck is a well-known animation historian, with ten books and numerous articles to his credit. He is also an animation producer, an industry consultant to Warner Bros., and has been an executive with Nickelodeon and Disney....
.
In 2009, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.
External links
- View film on YouTube (uploaded by copyright holder)