RKO Studios Copy of Willis O'Brien's Unrealized Stop Motion Animated Dream Project "Creation" (1931). ...

Description

RKO Studios Copy of Willis O'Brien's Unrealized Stop Motion Animated Dream Project "Creation" (1931). Vintage original studio bound and bradded, typed carbon copy, 316-saffron-colored paged screenplay with cover reading, "CREATION" (complete script) and dated, "April 10, 1931." Marked with studio production No. 521, ink stamp and other production information. Including 5-pink pages titled "General Note On Prehistoric Animals, Their Manufacture And Operation" running through all the in-depth details of the animating process from the creatures to be brought to life on screen to their expense to the photographing of them. In an already rare script, this section provides one of the most first-hand explanations of the early process of stop-motion animation ever written. Excerpts from this fascinating section include, in part:

"PERSONNEL :
Willis O'Brien invented and manufactured these animals a number of years ago and is the only man who has successfully interjected them into a picture. It is contemplated that the technical and mechanical work in this picture in so far as it relates to the animals will be made possible by employing him and an artist who has worked with him named Crabbe...

MANUFACTURE:
...All of these animals will be from sketches drawn by the celebrated artist, Charles R. Knight, of the American Museum of Natural History, who is a recognized authority. They are variously from fifteen to thirty-six inches in length and are built of imported German dental rubber over a brass framework which is cast in molds. This framework is hinged with universal friction joints so they are able to move their legs, necks, hands, etc. ...the "Close up" animals, there is a bladder which is pumped up and the air released to give the appearance of breathing...The animals to be used and their numbers are as follows:

2 Beluchithariums
6 Allosauri
3 Brontosauri
3 Triceratops
1 Icthyosaurus
2 Pterodactyls...

COST :
Based on previous picture, the outside cost of the "closeup" animals would be two hundred and fifty dollars each and the others about one hundred dollars each, making the total cost of manufacture on this basis $5,250.00...

METHOD:
The animals can be photographed almost anywhere, no sound stage being required and no sound camera equipment being necessary. It is planned to give individual noises such as roars, etc. to these animals as through the element of fear and terror is heightened...

EQUIPMENT:
One of the biggest items in connection with the photographing of the animals is the camera rental...On each miniature set, three negatives should be made of each camera angle, using 40, 50- and 75-millimeter lenses on nine cameras...These cameras are run by an electric motor which operates a shaft connecting all of them, so that by pressing a button, they animator takes one frame on all the cameras simultaneously..."

There is also 1-pink page of FOREWARD which indicates that Willis O'Brien and his team were well aware of the sense of imagination they were cultivating in and serving to their audience, in part:

Specifically, the story is designed as a basis for melodramatic picture, utilizing the animals of the saurian and dinosaurian eras. Actually, of course, as near as scientists can determine, the two ages were widely separated, but it is quite possible, in fact even highly probable, that many monsters of the deep lived far into that time when huge animals of the Triassic Age roamed the earth...

...On the theory that the average person is not far removed from the elemental, that civilization and education have given a veneer which is not very deep, that we are all still children at heart, fascinated by size, by books filled with pictures, by tales of valor, by "once upon a time" stories, this is offered as an attempt at entertainment on a colossal scale with that modicum of educational value always to be found in pictures of great size possessing replay possibilities and international popularity.

This "Creation" script represents Willis O'Brien's intended dream project. Intended as the feature that would feature the best of his arts and filmcraft and the culmination of all of his innovation in stop motion Special Effects. The fantastical story begins when a submarine is blown off-course by a storm and ends up traveling through a subterranean channel to end up on the inside of a giant volcano housing a land suspended in prehistoric times. The story has undeniable homage, if not snatches from the likes of H.G. Wells and the plot is primarily action-based with some cursory character development. But exposition and human interest take a backseat to the spectacle.

O'Brien was disappointed when RKO Pictures cancelled this, his pet project. Studio head Merian C. Cooper found the story boring. However, Cooper remained impressed by O'Brien's effects work and envisioned applying O'Brien's Stop Motion genius to Cooper's own project featuring a giant gorilla. O'Brien's abandoned Creation dinosaur models and figures were repurposed for what would become his magnum opus, King Kong (1933). "Kong's" success is world renowned and an indelible part of Hollywood lore. The movie rescued a struggling RKO from financial ruin and elevated O'Brien to revered legendary status as a landmark filmmaker and special FX innovator that continues to influence modern moviemakers today. Exhibiting age, handling and minor wear. In vintage very good to fine condition. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions.

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