Written as a Film Note for Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

There is an old Hollywood story that goes something like this. Only three years and six movies into his acting career, Gene Kelly had a novel idea for his next film, 1945’s Anchor’s Aweigh. He wanted to dance with an animated character and his first choice, unsurprisingly, was Mickey Mouse. Kelly and his assistant Stanely Donen brought it before Walt Disney. Walt impressed and encouraging, but Mickey Mouse would never work in an MGM film.

Around the same time, two young men, who arrived at MGM around the same time as Kelly, named William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, had created a comic cartoon cat and mouse duo named Tom and Jerry. In 1944, when Kelly was looking for a dancing partner, the Tom and Jerry series was coming off back to back Academy Award wins in the Animated Short Film category. When Walt turned Kelly down, the other mouse became the obvious choice. Gene Kelly danced with Jerry Mouse in 1945’s Anchor’s Aweigh and made cinematic history as the first dance with an animated character. The animation was a painstaking process, and to his credit, it is said that Disney’s got MGM to take the risk on the sequence. Everything down to Jerry’s dancing reflection was perfected. It proved to be a good career move for all involved. Anchors Aweigh garnered five Oscar nominations. Tom and Jerry went on to win a total of seven. Continue reading →

Written as a Film Note for Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Stanley Donen was never nominated for an Oscar, so in 1998, the Academy did what was right and awarded him an honorary Academy Award. Donen danced with his Oscar on stage before declaring the secret behind his directorial success. “You show up,” he said. “You show up- and you stay out of the way. But you gotta show up or else you can’t take the credit and win one of these.” Continue reading →