Youtuber Canver's Ink. recently posted an excerpt from this cartoon named "Two Bears"  and presumably released in 1930, and I'd love to know which animator made this.

The particularity of this cartoon is that its animation style is clearly inspired by Bill Nolan, which is surprising because although the Oswald the Rabbit cartoons produced between 1929 and 1930 by Lantz and Nolan had an animation style that clearly stood out from the competition, their influences on other studios seem to have been much less than those of Disney and Fleischer, who were much more often imitated.

For this reason, it would be very interesting to know who was the main animator on this cartoon.

It could be Nolan himself or better likely someone who assisted him at Lantz during this period. I know a bit more about this film but have to keep confidential about it for now..... I can say that I've seen a version of THE FIGHT that is more complete and with a few more scenes

It could be Nolan himself or better likely someone who assisted him at Lantz during this period. I know a bit more about this film but have to keep confidential about it for now..... I can say that I've seen a version of THE FIGHT that is more complete and with a few more scenes

I'm delighted to see that you know more about this animated film than I do, despite your obligation of confidentiality.

Like you, I believe that the animation was provided by someone who must have worked closely with Bill Nolan, perhaps one of his intervallists, but of course, confirmation of this theory has yet to be established. This quest to discover the production details of this fascinating film never ceases to fill me with joy and curiosity !

I can sure say that it's not Bill. The methods used in the animation here are slightly different, and the linework is a bit more rough; definitely an assistant.

Youtuber Canver's Ink. recently posted an excerpt from this cartoon named "Two Bears"  and presumably released in 1930, and I'd love to know which animator made this.

The particularity of this cartoon is that its animation style is clearly inspired by Bill Nolan, which is surprising because although the Oswald the Rabbit cartoons produced between 1929 and 1930 by Lantz and Nolan had an animation style that clearly stood out from the competition, their influences on other studios seem to have been much less than those of Disney and Fleischer, who were much more often imitated.

For this reason, it would be very interesting to know who was the main animator on this cartoon.

It's hard to label it "directed" because the idea of a cartoon being a stylistic personal expression was a Warner invention. Then MGM and Jack Kinney followed suit. There is not much a difference between Lantz and Nolan, so watching it will get someone nowhere.

---

It's hard to label it "directed" because the idea of a cartoon being a stylistic personal expression was a Warner invention.

Let's not be so pedantic and missing the point here. Also, technically speaking, the specialization of shorts per director was somewhat a thing midway through the original Fables run.

Kaz is right in that a director style dates to the silent era. The idea of a real director in animation (not just someone who does all the creative work with the help of assistants) seems to begin approx. in the late 1910s with John Foster's IFS cartoons (I've seen his Katzenjammer Kids cartoon THE DUMMY, which is credited to him, where he casted at least two other animators along with him), the Fleischers on the early Kokos (Dave did not animate, but he worked closely with Max and the animators for planning the cartoon's story and animation), and later on with Paul Terry, who eventually stopped animating on the Fables but regularly contributed to story and the overall creative direction of the studio. During with early 1926 releases, the Fables studio reorganized into the earliest version of a director-lead studio. In fairness, most of these directors went back to the system of doing most the work themselves, besides John Foster (whose cartoons have a very free for all feel in the animation) and soon after Jerry Shields, who usually used two other animators with him in his cartoons. Frank Moser animated almost all of his cartoons from 1926-29 singlehandly to my knowledge, Mannie Davis had a similar reputation but I know he did rely on other animators a little more, and Henry Bailey seems to of been the same. When you watch the different directors and their cartoons, you can see how this effects the gag style in their cartoons, particularly Moser who seemed to care about animating action rather than gags, similar to Jack King later on. When Foster took over Terry's position, the amount of animators per film increased dramatically, and Davis and Bailey had bigger differences in their story style, Bailey particularly leaned towards darker, edgier ideas for his films. I'd love to write more on this subject, but I haven't seen enough Fables to say more

You could go all the way back to the beginning of the medium in citing examples of a cartoon "being a stylistic personal expression" of the artist(s) in charge of making it (the films' "directors" in essence, if not in official title or specific role in a production system)—some qualifying even more so than the later material by Warner, M.G.M., et al. (by virtue of the directors/head-artists personally doing more, sometimes all, of such creative work as devising stories and gags or actually animating that was delegated more to underlings in those later studios). It's kind of inherent to the creations of artists with at least substantial creative control/freedom over their work, without much or any meddling or restrictions from higher-ups.

Kaz is right in that a director style dates to the silent era. The idea of a real director in animation (not just someone who does all the creative work with the help of assistants) seems to begin approx. in the late 1910s with John Foster's IFS cartoons (I've seen his Katzenjammer Kids cartoon THE DUMMY, which is credited to him, where he casted at least two other animators along with him), the Fleischers on the early Kokos (Dave did not animate, but he worked closely with Max and the animators for planning the cartoon's story and animation), and later on with Paul Terry, who eventually stopped animating on the Fables but regularly contributed to story and the overall creative direction of the studio. During with early 1926 releases, the Fables studio reorganized into the earliest version of a director-lead studio. In fairness, most of these directors went back to the system of doing most the work themselves, besides John Foster (whose cartoons have a very free for all feel in the animation) and soon after Jerry Shields, who usually used two other animators with him in his cartoons. Frank Moser animated almost all of his cartoons from 1926-29 singlehandly to my knowledge, Mannie Davis had a similar reputation but I know he did rely on other animators a little more, and Henry Bailey seems to of been the same.

In fact, like Jerry Shield, Harry Bailey relied heavily on his two assistants, Norm Ferguson and Bill Tytla. Ferguson's animation is in fact virtually identical to Bailey's, suggesting that the two men must have worked closely together on the production of the fables.

When you watch the different directors and their cartoons, you can see how this effects the gag style in their cartoons, particularly Moser who seemed to care about animating action rather than gags, similar to Jack King later on. When Foster took over Terry's position, the amount of animators per film increased dramatically, and Davis and Bailey had bigger differences in their story style, Bailey particularly leaned towards darker, edgier ideas for his films. I'd love to write more on this subject, but I haven't seen enough Fables to say more

Indeed, the fables co-directed by Bailey are undoubtedly the most memorable, whereas those co-directed by Davis are much softer from 1931 onwards, probably because Davis seems to have been heavily influenced by Mickey Mouse shorts, whereas Bailey was clearly influenced by Fleischer cartoons and Silly Simphonies. After John Foster's departure, the differences between Bailey's fables and those of Davis became more pronounced; while Davis now only produced films about Cubby Bear, who was an interesting but nonetheless bland imitation of Mickey Mouse, Bailey produced increasingly intelligent and surreal fables, notably those made with Otto Soglow's comic strip characters, which are in my opinion the best cartoons he made in his entire career. Sadly, Harry Bailey and Mannie Davis were sacked and George Stallings took over the running of the company, but he never lived up to the standards of his two predecessors, and it's fair to say that by this time Van Beuren was no longer Van Beuren...