Watching defunctland because I'm waiting for folks to show up for mahjong, and it reminded me that Disney had a series of cartoons called Silly Symphonies. And I thought: "huh that's incredibly similar to Looney Tunes _and_ Merry Melodies; who copied who?"
And well, it was the Warner Brothers copying the Disney Brothers this time by 1 year
@chimerror You'll excuse the hyperfixation;
Most animators bounced between Warner, Disney and the Fleischers but Disney intentionally cranked out Silly Symphonies to work on/test out stuff as prep for "Disney's Folly," a feature length animated film nobody expected to work. Then in 1948, there was a huge strike at Disney, which Uncle Walt took like you'd expect, and lots of animators split for WB, which is why pre-1948 Looney Tunes stuff is eh fairly okay and then suddenly it's sheer genius.
@Leucrotta I think it would be more than a bit overstating, but the liberalizing cultural effect of animators is worth noting
maybe just because I really admire them I think that lol
@Leucrotta "animators are braver than the troops" -- Chimerelda E. Error
@chimerror If you really want a neat read about this stuff, Talking Animals and Other People by the late great Shamus Culhane is worth it (even if the part I remember best is that for a while Fleischer Studios was next to a brothel, and both businesses would routinely close for the employees' poker night).
@Leucrotta oh I'm certain, I remember something about how looney tunes animators would often include celebrity impersonations because it was a way to show support for actors on the other side of a picket line than the animators.
Because animators then were more like VFX Artists are often not unionized, I guess.