An Upper Berth in the Ross Car

Here’s another one of Paul Julian’s inside gags that caught me by surprise. It’s from “All Abir-r-r-d” (released 1949). You can barely catch it in the frames below; I imagine it would be easier on a Blu-Ray version.

Julian loved hiding names of the members of Friz Freleng’s unit in the background. That happens in the opening animation in the titles of this cartoon. If you can see this first frame well enough, you’ll notice the names on the two rail cars. One is “Ross” and the other in “Champin.” Virgil Ross and Ken Champin were animators on this short.



And in this shot, the cars are labelled “Frizby” and “Hawley.” Friz Freleng directed the short and Hawley Pratt laid it out (I think the next car simply says “Baggage”).



As you can see, Art Davis and Emery Hawkins also animated this cartoon. Hawkins had been in the Davis unit before it was disbanded and Artie moved over to Friz’s unit.