For about twenty years, animated films have done very well when converted to stage, and yet the reverse is hardly ever true.
In 1953, one of the greatest animated films that never was got scrapped because of politics and paranoia. The story of John Hubley's aborted animated adaptation of the Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow is seemingly all but forgotten except by those who have special interest in the fields of theatre and animation. Luckily, Finian's Rainbow received a revival on Broadway in 2009, which I hope will renew some interest in this project. In the meantime, check out the article I linked above. It has some great storyboard art, and the complete story of this movie that never was.
For those who are not familiar with Finian's Rainbow (and who can blame you), the plot briefly concerns a leprechaun who comes to a small village and combats bigotry. Which is awesome, and you know it. It has a lush score with words by the guy who wrote the lyrics to The Wizard of Oz. In a word, brilliant.
The film would have been the first animated film created with an adult audience in mind, and would have featured the talents of such giants as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson. Here's a song from the show sung by Sinatra in an unrelated album:
The failed Finian's Rainbow affected a great deal of the animated musical sub-genre, I believe. More after the jump.
In 1953, one of the greatest animated films that never was got scrapped because of politics and paranoia. The story of John Hubley's aborted animated adaptation of the Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow is seemingly all but forgotten except by those who have special interest in the fields of theatre and animation. Luckily, Finian's Rainbow received a revival on Broadway in 2009, which I hope will renew some interest in this project. In the meantime, check out the article I linked above. It has some great storyboard art, and the complete story of this movie that never was.
For those who are not familiar with Finian's Rainbow (and who can blame you), the plot briefly concerns a leprechaun who comes to a small village and combats bigotry. Which is awesome, and you know it. It has a lush score with words by the guy who wrote the lyrics to The Wizard of Oz. In a word, brilliant.
The film would have been the first animated film created with an adult audience in mind, and would have featured the talents of such giants as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson. Here's a song from the show sung by Sinatra in an unrelated album:
The failed Finian's Rainbow affected a great deal of the animated musical sub-genre, I believe. More after the jump.
