Norm Blackburn

Birth : 1903-04-28, England, UK

Death : 1990-02-21

History

Blackburn began his career as an animator for Walt Disney before moving to NBC in New York. While at NBC, he was responsible for redesigning the Howdy Doody puppet.

Movies

The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives
Animation
Christmas Eve. A poor orphan boy trudges through the snow, pathetically. He finally arrives at his miserable cabin. While he is crying, Santa arrives and, singing the title song, offers to take the boy to his workshop. They arrive, and the toys go wild (in the full version, they sing the title song, but this has been censored in some versions due to outdated stereotypes). He plays with a few toys. A candle falls off the tree and starts a fire. The toys try in vain to fight the fire; the boy hooks up a hose to a set of bagpipes and takes care of it.
Ride Him, Bosko
Animation
Ride Him, Bosko! is a western-flavored cartoon with lots of shooting gags involving body reduction, and card characters singing! There's also an alcohol gag that has a really strong one turning a male piano player into a woman instantly!
Bosko's Dog Race
Animation
Bosko enters his dog, Bruno, in a dog race.
Pagan Moon
Animation
On a tropical island, a native boy sings "Pagan Moon" to his sweetheart. Later, he plays music underwater with an octopus-pianist and other jazz-loving sea life.
Bosko's Fox Hunt
Animation
Bosko joins a wacky fox hunt. But if the hunt worries anyone, it isn't the fox.
You Don't Know What You're Doin'!
Animation
Piggy picks up his girlfriend and takes her to a theater where a hot jazz orchestra is playing.
Lady, Play Your Mandolin!
Animation
In this first Merrie Melodie short, things are hopping at a certain Mexican café. And then Foxy walks in and the customers go really wild.
Yodeling Yokels
Animation
Bosko and Honey yodel happily in the Alps until a series of disasters end with Honey rushing downriver on an ice floe.
Ain't Nature Grand!
Animation
Bosko fishes, and sings and dances with frogs. But two ladybugs use a wasp as an airplane, and a beehive and tree branch as a machine gun to drive him away.
Hold Anything
Animation
Bosko is a construction worker who impresses Honey by making music from everything in sight, including a decapitated mouse, a typewriter and a goat filled with hot air.
Sinkin' in the Bathtub
Animation
The film opens with Bosko taking a bath while whistling "Singin' in the Bathtub". A series of gags allows him to play the shower spray like a harp, pull up his pants by tugging his hair, and give the limelight to the bathtub itself which stands on its hind feet to perform a dance.
Poor Papa
Animation
Oswald gets a visit from the stork ... again and again and again. He has to resort to a variety of strategies to stop the continual flow of babies.
All Wet
Animation
Oswald takes a job as a lifeguard to keep an eye on Miss Rabbit, who in turn stages a boating accident hoping Oswald will come to save her.
Great Guns
Animation
Oswald's country is at war, like many other volunters he joins the army and finds himself soon in the trenches. A short battle leaves him wounded, but at least in the field hospital where his girlfriend is working.
The Mechanical Cow
Animation
Oswald wakes up grumpy and takes it out on his alarm clock, afterward trying his best to wake up the mechanical cow sleeping in the bed beside him, with limited success. They finally do get going, sailing around the barnyard offering milk to denizens of the farm. When kidnappers arrive and takes Oswald's girlfriend away, he and the cow set off to rescue her.
Oh Teacher
Animation
Oswald's sweetheart is stolen by a schoolyard bully, so he has to fight him during recess to win her back.
Trolley Troubles
Animation
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit runs a trolley but finds the job is more trouble than its worth in his debut short.
Alice in the Big League
Animation
Alice attempts to umpire a big league baseball game where the animals begin to take exception to her bad calls.
Alice the Beach Nut
Animation
Alice visits the beach where Julius is working as a lifeguard. Suddenly an emergency arises and Julius must rescue a drowning swimmer.
Alice's Medicine Show
Animation
Alice and Julius are in a traveling medicine show, and part of their job is to sell patent medicine to audiences.
Alice in the Klondike
Animation
Julius and Alice go prospecting for gold in the Klondike and strike it rich. However, they have to protect their claim against Pete, who wants to take it for himself.
Alice's Channel Swim
Animation
Julius and Pete have a contest to swim across the English Channel, with Alice as the referee.
Alice's Picnic
Animation
Alice and her friends decide to go to the park and have a picnic. Everything is going well until a gang of rats steals their food. Alice and her friends decide to go after the rats and get their food back.
Alice's Three Bad Eggs
Animation
Alice and Julius have to hold their western fort against The Three Bad Eggs and a band of marauding Indians.