Monday, August 25, 2008

Old View-Master reels are cool

I jury-rigged my scanner to scan an old View-Master reel to get a better look of a frame I liked.

By the way, a more optimistic writer would have named the above character "Captain Hand."

10 comments:

Kevin said...

They are very cool. My favorites from back in the day were of the type you posted: 3-D figures based on animation or drawings.

But for me, the best of the best were reels featuring Peanuts. They always had great scenes with the Peanuts dolls (okay, action figures) and words that leapt from the scene kinda like in the 1960s "Batman" series. Like this, but bigger and cooler:

http://www.animated-news.com/archives/Peanutsvmaster.jpg

And check this out:

http://frequential.blogspot.com/2008/04/unsung-geniuses-florence-thomas-of.html

Kerry Callen said...

Thanks for the links, Kevin. I love those old Peanuts reels!

It would probably be a licensing nightmare, but I wish someone would put out a book featuring all that great 3-D work done in the 50's and 60's.

Kevin said...

Maybe it wouldn't be so tough. We're basically talking Disney, United Feature Syndicate and Warner Bros. (who has the licenses for Hanna-Barbera cartoons).

I happen to know of one company that is a licensor of all three, as well as of View-Master (given that the company produced an ornament of a viewer and reels for the 2008 line). I think that company also publishes gift books, too.

D W said...

I wanna know how you jury-rigged your scanner to capture the view-master reels?!?

Kerry Callen said...

The scanner had a weird attachment that allowed it to scan in slides. I used part of it to scan the reel. I don't have the scanner anymore. (Hey! I just used "scan" and/or "scanner" in every sentence!) Scan!

Brian B said...

Cool scan. I love the modeled ones best too.

I scanned some Flintstones and animated them to try to recreate the 3D feel.

Not the same but close.

Check em out

http://whatmydadsaw.blogspot.com/search/label/view%20Master

Kerry Callen said...

Another nice link! Thanks, Brian!

Heather Dixon said...

This is fantastic. A few months ago I discovered that my friend had a huge collection of the Disney viewmaster reels. I spent hours looking at them (almost in tears) because they were so beautiful. I was so sad they couldn't be photographed. I'm delighted to see I was mistaken...I hope more will find their way to the internet soon!

Unknown said...

Vintage View Master reels are treasures that need to be discovered and enjoyed by the new generation. Sharing this on the internet will definitely increase awareness about the reels. Thank you for sharing! And just like what Heather said, I wish more reel collectors would share theirs. That will be awesome!

Image3D

Anonymous said...

I have the original viewmaster camera from the viewmaster factory. It is modified for electronic flash. They used this camera to take the photographs for the viewmaster reels. I also have a model 500 stereo projector and sivler linticular screen. It was giving to me by viewmaster when I closed the plant down. When they sold the name, they asked if i was interested in selling the camera back. I said no because it has 2 perfectly matched lenses. Anyone have an idea what the value of these items are?