Just watched this live action/animated educational film directed by Frank Capra with UPA's Bill Hurtz handling the animation stuff on Google Video as linked on the Mark Evanier site. In it, we see Dr. Frank Baxter as Dr. Research talking to Fiction Writer Eddie Albert about ways in explaining the uses of the sun to the audience. Mr. Writer then opens the curtain as we see in animated form, Mr. Sun (Marvin Miller) and Father Time (Lionel Barrymore in his final performance) arguing about Sun's importance over the years. Both Writer and Research explain to them, and us, all the advances that the sun made possible. Many of the facts presented here can be pretty overwhelming and I admit I wasn't always paying attention. Still, it was fascinating to watch various animated visuals illustrating just how important the sun is to various technologies. And the cartoon segment featuring a character named Chloro Phyll (Sterling Holloway) was pretty amusing. I partly question having Father Time at the end praise the Lord since it didn't seem to have been relevant to what went before. Still, I recommend Our Mr. Sun both for its educational merits and for anyone interested in vintage animation and the work of Capra. P.S. Bill Hurtz' birthplace, like mine, was in Chicago, Ill.
Review of Our Mr. Sun
Our Mr. Sun
(1956 TV Movie)
Our Mr. Sun is a pretty entertaining live action/animated educational film from Frank Capra and the UPA studios
27 August 2009