The Magic Pear Tree (1968) Dir: Charles Swenson| Oscar Nominated Short

We do not own this film, it is presented here solely for educational purposes.

This is a short directed by Charles Swenson (Dirty Duck, A Mouse and his Child, Twice Upon a Time, Rugrats, Aaah Real Monsters!) for Murakami-Wolf Productions. Based off of a famous tale from Boccaccio's "Decameron", it stars Agnes Moorehead (Chantelle), Paul Frees (Jean Navarro), and Keenan Wynn (Marquis).

The first of only 2 animated films to receive an M rating (the short lived middle classification before PG and PG-13 existed), it was released theatrically attached to John Schlesinger's Best Picture winning/X-rated "Midnight Cowboy." It would also be nominated for an Oscar (a prize Swenson's collaborator Fred Wolf had won 2 years prior with his short film "The Box") unfortunately that year the award would go to the G-Rated "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," the final produced work of the legendary Walt Disney.

Harry Nilsson, who had written the soundtrack to "Midnight Cowboy," saw the animation at a screening and immediately asked Murakami-Wolf to create an animated version of his 6th studio album "The Point," which became the first ever animated feature to air on primetime television in the United States:    • The Point [1971] Full Movie | Buddy Foster...  

Swenson would work with Murakami & Wolf throughout the remainder of the 70s and early 80s, producing television specials before becoming the full time Executive, Creative Producer, and occasional Director at Klasky/Csupo from 1992-1997 working on shows like "Rugrats," "Aaaahh!!! Real Monsters," and "Santo Bugito" His last animated work was the television series "Mike, Lu, and Og." He has since retired and now spends his time as an author and painter.

Check out his website here: https://charlesgswenson.com/

00:00 Opening Titles
00:29 Jean Navarro Arrives
02:25 A Walk in the Garden
04:02 Three Things
07:16 A Picnic by the Pear Tree
09:17 Credits

Credits|
The Players:
Jean Navarro-Paul Frees
Chantelle-Agnes Moorehead
Marquis-Keenan Wynn

Story:
Giovanni Boccaccio
Jimmy Murakami
Charles Swenson

Music:
Laurindo Almeida

Animation:
Charles Swenson
Duane Crowther
Dave Brain
Ron Campbell
Assistance:
Jim Duffy
Vince Davis

Production Graphics-Jack Heiter
Animation Checking-Ann Oliphant
Animation Photography-Dixon|Vasu
Photographer-Mike Gersman
Re-Recording-T.V. Recorders
Film Processing-Deluxe|General
Negative Cutting-Virginia Wood

Editing-Rich Harrison
Production Supervisor-Sherm Thompson
Executive Producer-Jerry Good
Producer-Jimmy Murakami
Director-Charles Swenson

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