Boards Quote by Walter Lantz
“The fascinating thing about the studio was that there was no story department. They would put a little notice up on the bulletin board saying: 'The next Oswald will take place at the North Pole. Anybody having any gags, please turn them in before such a date.' If you turned in gags regularly, the way Tex Avery, Cal Howard, Jack Carr and two or three others of us did, you'd be called into the gag meeting. The group would go into Walt's office and talk about whatever the subject of the cartoon was. Walt would put it into some kind of form and that was the story--no scripts, no storyboards.”
About This Quote
Source Film: Warner Bros. Cartoons, 1930s–1940s (studio practice)
Creative process relied on spontaneous gag ideas rather than formal scripts, fostering collaborative improvisation.
In simple terms: Ideas were generated and refined in meetings without scripts.
Key Takeaway
Embrace spontaneous collaboration.
Themes
creativity
collaboration
animation
improvisation
Mood
playful
energetic
Type
anecdotal
industry
When to use this quote
- animation production
- writing rooms
- creative brainstorming
- team meetings
Key Concepts
storytelling
ideation
group dynamics
Questions to Reflect On
- How does spontaneous idea sharing affect final product quality?
- What structures could balance freedom with coherence?
A Different Perspective
May lack narrative cohesion or lead to inconsistent tone.
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