Monday Morning Inspiration

WORKING DOLLARS is a John Sutherland industrial film from the mid-’50s that can be downloaded for free at Archive.org. Unfortunately the film print is awful – scratched up, spliced and faded – and one can only imagine how much cooler a clean print of this film would be. The film’s super-appealing designs and layouts are by Bernie Gruver (1923-1985) and the solid animation is by Emery Hawkins, George Cannata and Jim Pabian. I don’t know much about Gruver, but his design sense is terrific. At Playhouse Pictures, where he worked from the late-’50s through the mid-’60s, he designed the very distinctive Friskie Puppies spots, and then Gruver worked with Bill Melendez for many years on the PEANUTS specials including the classics like A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS and IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN. Here’s a look at Gruver’s Friskies designs: