Monday, August 12, 2013

Animation: INDOOR SPORTS by Tad Dorgan (1920)

INDOOR SPORTS was a comic panel by Thomas Aloysius Dorgan or "Tad" Dorgan (1877-1929). 

Paul D. Robinson animates the feature for the International Film Service.



From the description:

Thomas Aloysius Dorgan (April 29, 1877 -- May 2, 1929), also known as Tad Dorgan, was an American cartoonist who signed his drawings as Tad. He is known for his cartoon panel "Indoor Sports" and the many words and expressions he added to the language. He created his first comic strip, Johnny Wise, for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1902. By 1905 he was working in New York City at the New York Journal as a sports writer and cartoonist. Jack Dempsey described him as "the greatest authority on boxing."In addition to his work as a sports journalist, Dorgan did a humor feature, "Daffydills". His dog cartoons, including Judge Rummy, evolved into the strip Silk Hat Harry's Divorce Suit. This was accompanied by a one-panel gag series called Indoor Sports which became his main feature. Dorgan is generally credited with either creating or popularizing such words and expressions as "dumbbell" (a stupid person); "for crying out loud" (an exclamation of astonishment); "cat's meow" and "cat's pajamas" (as superlatives); "applesauce" (nonsense); "cheaters'" (eyeglasses); "skimmer" (a hat); "hard-boiled" (a tough person); "drugstore cowboy" (loafers or ladies' men); "nickel-nurser" (a miser); "as busy as a one-armed paperhanger" (overworked); and "Yes, we have no bananas," which was turned into a popular song.
In the New York Times obituary, he was bracketed with George Ade and Ring Lardner as a popularizer of "a new slang vernacular." His obituary also credited him as the originator of "Twenty-three, Skidoo," "solid ivory," "Dumb Dora," "finale hopper," "Benny" for hat, and "dogs'" for shoes.[1] W. J. Funk, of the Funk and Wagnall's dictionary company, placed Dorgan at the top of the list of the ten "most fecund makers of American slang.
Tad Dorgan died on 2 May, 1929, at his home in Great Neck, Long Island. He had been suffering from heart disease for several years and even though he spent most of that that time bedridden he was able to continue working up to a few days before his death. The end came not long after he came down with pneumonia.
Ressources: UCLA Preserved Silent Animation, imdb.org, Wikipedia.org

1 comment:

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