Louis Bunin (28 March 1904 – 17 February 1994) was an American puppeteer, artist, and pioneer of stop-motion animation best known for his 1949 adaption of Alice in Wonderland.

Early works

While working as a mural artist under Diego Rivera in Mexico City in 1926, Bunin created political puppet shows using marionettes including a production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape. Photographer Tina Modotti took many pictures of Bunin and his puppets, including her renowned work, "The Hands of the Puppeteer."[1]

Career

On his return to the United States, Bunin created animated three-dimensional puppets to appear in the 1939 New York World's Fair in New York City. His 1943 political stop-motion satire, Bury the Axis, is well known. Later Bunin landed a job with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he created the stop-motion Prologue to the famed film, Ziegfeld Follies. He was subsequently fired as a casualty of McCarthyism.[2]

Alice in Wonderland (1949)

Bunin went on to create a feature-length stop-motion animation film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland in 1949, starring Carol Marsh as a live-action Alice. A lawsuit from Walt Disney prevented it from being widely released in the U.S.,[3] so that it would not compete with Disney's forthcoming 1951 animated version.[1] Further, the film was kept out of Britain as his representation of the Queen of Hearts was seen as too close and too unkind to Queen Victoria.[4] The film was restored with 12 additional minutes and shown at museums around the US, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.[5]

Death

Creator of the popular Talking Utica Club Beer Mugs and a plethora of memorable short films, Bunin died of a stroke on 17 February 1994 at age 89 in Englewood, New Jersey, USA.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lou Bunin, obituary. New York Times, February 20 1994.
  2. ↑ Senses of Cinema
  3. ↑ "Cinema: Battle of Wonderland". Time. 16 July 1951. Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  4. ↑ Time Out London
  5. ↑ Bunin's Alice|Cartoon Brew
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