Technicolor

Technicolor is a series of motion picture film color printing process that the first 2-strip version came out in 1916. It was a major favorite in every film studio. The more notable 3-strip version came out in 1932. Disney had used this process from 1932 to 1935, and had an exclusive contract to use the 3-strip process for three years.

Technicolor was used in animated works such as Flowers and Trees, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella, and Live-action works such as Song of the South, So Dear to My Heart, Treasure Island, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men and Mary Poppins.

Disney had used the dye-transfer printing process since the 1950s. Such featurettes like True-Life Adventures, People & Places, and Gala Day at Disneyland were used with the Technicolor dye-transfer printing process and filmed with another color process. A main contribution to the decline of Technicolor in the 1970s was that studios started to use simpler and cheaper process like Eastmancolor and Deluxe. The last animated feature film in Technicolor was The Rescuers and the last animated short film in Technicolor was Mickey's Christmas Carol. Disney has since used modern color stock on their films. However some modern films frequently used the refined version of the process such as Roller Coaster Rabbit, Trail Mix-Up and Toy Story. but the main process itself is obsolete.

History

In May 1932, the first three-strip camera was completed. The camera has not been perfected for live-action photography yet, so Kalmus set off to test the new camera in the animation field. His team had no luck and every other studio preferred making cartoons in black and white without the added expense. Suddenly, they approached Walt Disney Productions and they asked if he would like to try out the new system. Walt Disney was excited to hear the news and agreed to use it as an experiment on one of his Silly Symphonies. Originally intended to be a black-and-white cartoon, "Flowers and Trees" was redone in color. The film was shown in theaters at Grauman's Chinese Theater in July of 1932 and was a smash hit. The colors in the film marked a milestone in animation history and Disney decreed that all future Silly Symphonies would be in color.

With Technicolor on the helm, Disney and his team experimented with the language of color. Some of the characters were gray, others were not. This is because United Artists suggested that no more than a maximum of twenty colors could be used. By 1934's Funny Little Bunnies, Disney and his team finally embraced the full palette and showed what Technicolor could do with different hues and shades.