from Grahame L. Newnham B.Sc.
Imre Hajdú better known by his stage name Jean Image was a Hungarian-French director, script writer and producer of French animation films. The stage name, "Image" is based upon the French pronunciation of "Im-Haj", the first syllables of his name. He was born in Budapest, Hungary on 26 January 1910 and died on the 21st October 1989 in Paris, France. He had worked with Halas in the 1930s.
In 1948, he founded the Films Jean Image company, a number of animated films were produced including "Rhapsodie de Saturne" (1947) - animated short; "Ballade Atomique" (1947) - 10 minute animated short; "Johnny The Giant Killer" (1950) - 80 minute fantasy animated feature; "Bonjour Paris" (1953) - 68 minute animated feature; "L'Aventure De Pere Noel" (1957); "Aladdin & His Magic Lamp" (1970) - 71 minute fantasy animated feature, and "The Secret Of The Selenites" (1984) - 76 minute animated comedy film. Many of these can be viewed on YouTube.
By 1960 he had devoted himself to producing television cartoon series. Two of these series (Kiri le Clown and Joe), have become very popular. Jean Image was also the author of a book on animation titled "Le Dessin animé : initiation à la technique" (1979).
"Some of his early work has a certain vigour but it signally lacks taste, and by now the volume of his productions has so far outrun his resources that nearly everything he makes today is trite and facile to the point of being virtually unwatchable. (Ralph Stephensen - 1967)
A number of Jean Image cartoon extracts were released in France on 9.5mm by Hefa Films, but sadly none were released on 9.5mm in the UK. All these 9.5mm prints were mute, black & white.
I have tried to list all the 9.5mm film releases below, showing the various versions of each title. Owning copies of just a few titles and a bit of guesswork, has enabled the original source of some of these cartoons to be identified. Maybe there are still a few more to spot?
Watch my 9.5mm mute French Hefa Films print of 5003 "Pigeon Vole"
30Aug2018
Watch my 9.5mm mute French Hefa Films print
of 5008 "La
Tour, Le Ver Et Le Petit Oiseau" 30Aug2018
Hefa 9.5mm 100ft/30m film box
"Bonjour Paris" FR 30Oct1953 68 mins
Production company: Les Films Jean
Image
Produced & Directed by: Jean Image
Music: Jean Yatove
Animation: Therese David, Denis Boutin, Marcel Breuil, Pierre
Watrin
The Eiffel Tower has an interesting and
eventful walk around France.
(An episodic animated feature, probably intended for younger
children. Two courting birds (pigeons?) begin at Notre Dame, but
involve the Eiffel Tower. The Tower is then seen fishing in thes
Seine and later dissapearing from Paris to holiday in the Alps.
There are panning shots over static scenes with music and songs,
but it would have been far too costly to try and produce a fully
animated feature for a relatively small audience. Filmed in
Technicolor though. - gln )
9.5mm mute Hefa France as J(HF)5002 "Prenez Garde Au Serpent Du Mer" ("Take Care Of The Sea Serpent")
* 9.5mm mute Hefa France as J(HF)5003 "Pigeon Vole" ("Flying Pigeon")
9.5mm mute Hefa France as J(HF)5004 "Pimpants Pompiers" ("Smart Firemen")
9.5mm mute Hefa France as J(HF)5005 "Ou Est Passee La Tour Eiffel?" ("What Has Happened To The Eiffel Tower?"
9.5mm mute Hefa France as J(HF)5006 "La Tour Eiffel En Visite" ("The Eiffel Tower Goes On A Trip")
9.5mm mute Hefa France as J(HF)5007 "Poisson Pas Ordinaire" ("Uncommon Fish")
* 9.5mm mute Hefa France as J(HF)5008 "La Tour, Le Ver Et Le Petit Oiseau" ("The Tower, The Worm And The Little Bird")
9.5mm mute Hefa France as SB(HF)5701 "La Tourterelle Le Tourterelle" ("The Turtle Doves")
9.5mm mute Hefa France as SB(HF)5702 "Qui A Vole Le Metro?" ("Who Has Stolen The Metro?")
9.5mm mute Hefa France as SB(HF)5703 "La Tour Eiffel A Disparu" ("The Eiffel Tower Has Dissapeared")
9.5mm mute Hefa France as SB(HF)5704 "Les Vacances De La Tour Eiffel" ("The Eiffel Tower's Holidays")
9.5mm mute Hefa France as SB(HF)5705 "Petit Peintre Et La Sirene" ("Little Painter And The Enchantress")
(Maybe some of these extracts from the feature can be edited together to make a longer 9.5mm film, but much better with the original sound track!)
"L'Aventure De Pere Noel" FR 1957 - 10 minute animated short
Production company: Les Films Jean
Image
Director/Story: Jean Image
Animation: Charles Sansonetti
Music: Michel Emer
Father Christmas on his sleigh is spotted from an aeroplane en route to America. In New York welcoming arrangements are made, but where is Father Christams?
9.5mm mute Hefa France as J(HF)5001 "Le Pere Noel A New York" ("Father Christmas In New York")
9.5mm mute Hefa France as SB(HF)5706 "Le Pere Noel En Amerique" ("Father Christmas In America")
* before the film ref. number indicates a copy in gln collection J before a film ref. number indicates a 100 foot/ 30 metre short M before a film ref. number indicates a 200 foot / 60 metre film SB before a film ref. number indicates a 300 foot / 100 metre film
References: The Great Cartoon Stars by the late Denis Gifford (Jupiter Books) The Animated Film by Ralph Stephenson (1973 Tantivy Press, London) Catalogue Général Films 9.5mm 1922-1986 by François Poussin Wikipedia - what would we do without the internet!
Sorry about my attempts at the English translations!
Any corrections, or additional information will be greatly appreciated!
e-mail me, Grahame L. Newnham at: presto @ pathefilm.uk
(no gaps in actual e-mail address)
| There is a DVD release of the Jean Image feature cartoon 'Bonjour Paris' Try Amazon.fr |
 |
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Created 22Jul2018 .. Last updated: 12 May 2019 .......
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