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 | KINSELLA & MORGAN FILM COMPANY(1917-1925?) |  |
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The Kinsell & Morgan Film Company was formed in 1917 by the magazine illustrator E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan to produce cartoons and live-action shorts for the War Aims Committee. I have been unable to find any information about Horace Morgan. Some sources have conflated him with Horace "Kewpie" Morgan the American character actor, but this seems wrong, as Kewpie was making films in America throughout 1917-1919. He may have been a live-action filmmaker, or perhaps, given the techniques used, an American with animation experience. The animated films, made under the banner of Kincartoons, lean heavily on the 'Lightning Artist' drawing of the subject (it fascinated audiences and was quicker to produce than the subsequent animation) but differ from their contemporaries by eschewing rendered artwork for a more modern line drawing approach, enabling the employment of multiple drawing animation along side the use of cutouts. Only small areas of the picture are animated, and these tend to be simple movements (typically 5 drawings) that are then repeated ad lib. While this may have been achieved by the 'slash and tear' method it is possible that cels have been employed (perhaps for the held portions). Cutouts were also used, and often animated figures were cut out to enable cyclic movement across the screen. An acquaintanceship with the stage comedian George Robey led to him being featured in the Kincartoon Simple Simon both in live-action as the supposed artist/animator (the short is credited as "by George Robey") and in caricature as the eponymous hero. He also starred in the Kinsella & Morgan live-action comedy short George Robey's Day Off. There is some discrepancy in the dating of the films: this may be due to the fact that after an initial release via the War Aims Committee the films were subsequently re-released by other distributors, principally the newly-formed Stoll Picture Productions. |
Filmography (Kincartoons) | ||||
| A Patriotic Message | 1917 (War Aims Commitee/Ministry of Food) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producers: | E P Kinsella, Horace Morgan | |||
| Script/Direction: | E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Animator: | E P Kinsella | |||
| Colour: | Black & White | |||
| Length: | 350 ft | |||
| Stand by the Men who have Stood by You | 1917 (War Aims Commitee/National War Savings Committee) | |||
| Producers: | E P Kinsella, Horace Morgan | |||
| Script/Direction: | E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Animator: | E P Kinsella | |||
| Colour: | Black & White | |||
| Length: | approx. 310 ft (5 mins) | |||
| Old Father William | 1917 (War Aims Commitee/National War Savings Committee) | |||
| Producers: | E P Kinsella, Horace Morgan | |||
| Script/Direction: | E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Animator: | E P Kinsella | |||
| Colour: | Black & White | |||
| Length: | approx. 360 ft (6 mins) | |||
| Jack and Jill | 1917/8 (War Aims Commitee/National War Savings Committee) | |||
| Producers: | E P Kinsella, Horace Morgan | |||
| Script/Direction: | E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Animator: | E P Kinsella | |||
| Colour: | Black & White | |||
| Length: | approx. 253 ft (4 min 15 sec) | |||
| Simple Simon | 1917/8 (War Aims Commitee/National War Savings Committee) | |||
| Producers: | E P Kinsella, Horace Morgan | |||
| Direction: | E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Script: | George Robey, E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Animator: | E P Kinsella | |||
| Performer: | George Robey | |||
| Colour: | Black & White | |||
| Length: | approx. 265 ft (4 min 25 sec) | |||
| There was a Little Man and He had a Little Gun | 1918 (War Aims Commitee/National War Savings Committee) | |||
| Producers: | E P Kinsella, Horace Morgan | |||
| Script/Direction: | E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Animator: | E P Kinsella | |||
| Colour: | Black & White | |||
| Length: | 350 ft | |||
| The Story of the Camel and the Straw (New Version) | 1918 (War Aims Commitee/National War Savings Committee) | |||
| Producers: | E P Kinsella, Horace Morgan | |||
| Script/Direction: | E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Animator: | E P Kinsella | |||
| Colour: | Black & White | |||
| Length: | 248 ft | |||
| Shipyard Activity | 1918 (live-action film with animated sequence) | |||
| Producers: | E P Kinsella, Horace Morgan | |||
| Script/Direction: | E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Animator: | E P Kinsella | |||
| Colour: | Black & White | |||
| Length: | approx. 489 ft | |||
| Lord Pirrie's Appeal to Shipyard Workers | 1918 Pathé Gazette (reuses material from A Patriotic Message) | |||
| Producers: | E P Kinsella, Horace Morgan | |||
| Script/Direction: | E P Kinsella and Horace Morgan | |||
| Animator: | E P Kinsella | |||
| Colour: | Black & White | |||
| Length: | approx. 489 ft | |||
Links to Other Sites | ||||
Imperial War Museums Film Collection: links to several Kinsella & Morgan films. | ||||
Peter Hale
Last updated 2015
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