What Was the Chemical Smell at Art of Animation

Scent-O-Vision was a system that released odor during the projection of a moving picture so that the viewer could "smell" what was happening in the movie. The technique was created past Hans Laube and made its just appearance in the 1960 film Scent of Mystery, produced past Mike Todd Jr., son of movie producer Mike Todd. The process injected 30 odors into a motion-picture show theater'southward seats when triggered by the picture'southward soundtrack.

Roughly similar concepts of integrating odor experiences into entertainment performances have dated dorsum to at least 1868 for live theatre, with the first usage for moving picture being in 1906, and other like approaches were used in the same era, such as Full general Electrical's "Smell-O-Rama" of 1953 and the competitive organization called "AromaRama" in 1959. Various similar concepts have also been used since so, such as John Waters'southward "Odorama" enhanced version of his film Polyester in 1982.

History [edit]

In 1868, a novel effect was used at the Alhambra Theatre of Variety in London when Rimmel scent was sprayed into the theatre during the Magic Dance of The Fairy Acorn Tree.^[one] The employ of scents in conjunction with flick dates dorsum to 1906, earlier the introduction of sound. In this first instance, a 1958 issue of Film Daily claims that Samuel Roxy Rothafel of the Family unit Theatre in Forest City, Pennsylvania, placed a wad of cotton wool wool that had been soaked in rose oil in front of an electric fan during a newsreel about the Rose Bowl Game.^[2] However, between 1903 and 1915, in that location were no games held, and then it is unknown what the newsreel was about, although the Rose Parade (which has been held annually since 1890) seems probable. In 1916, the Rivoli Theatre in New York was equipped with the ability to pump scents into the theatre for the brusque film Story of the Flowers.^[3]

During the screening of the film Lilac Time in 1929 at the Fenway Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, the managing director poured a pint of lilac perfume into the plenum chamber of the theatre'due south ventilation organisation and then that the audition would olfactory property lilac when the pic'southward title appeared.^{[four] [5]} The same year, during the showing of The Broadway Melody, a New York City theater sprayed perfume from the ceiling.^[6] Arthur Mayer installed an in-theater smell system in Paramount's Rialto Theater on Broadway in 1933, which he used to deliver odors during a film. Even so, information technology would take over an hour to clear the scents from the theater, and some smells would linger for days afterward.^[vii]

All of these early attempts, nonetheless, were made by theater owners and not part of the films themselves. The audience could exist distracted past the scents instead of focusing on what the picture director intended. Furthermore, because of the size of the theaters, large amounts of perfume had to be released to reach all members of the audience. This caused another problem: the homo nose has a difficult fourth dimension transitioning between smells until the molecules that triggered one smell are completely cleared from the nose, and with that volume of perfume, the scents would mix, condign muddled.^[6]

Walt Disney was the first filmmaker to explore the idea of actually including scents with his 1940 motion picture Fantasia, only eventually decided against pursuing this for toll reasons.^[eight]

Laube'south technique, which he initially dubbed "Scentovision", was introduced during the 1939 New York World's Fair.^[9] The system connected pipes to individual seats in theaters, so that the timing and amount could be carefully controlled past the projectionist using a control board. The first feature length film using the process was the 35-minute Mein Traum which was screened during the fair on October 10, 1940.^{[half dozen] [10]} The New York Times reported in 1943 that Scentovision "is said to take produced odors as quickly and easily every bit the soundtrack of a movie produces sound",^[6] but Laube, a Swiss national, returned to Europe in 1946, unable to interest whatever film or television studios in his invention.

Further attempts with releasing scents timed to key points in a moving-picture show happened at the Vogue Theatre in Detroit, Michigan in 1940 with Boom Town and The Ocean Militarist.^{[6] [11]}

General Electric developed a system in 1953 that they chosen Scent-O-Rama. They demonstrated its potential past exhibiting a iii-dimensional prototype of a rose accompanied by floral scents.^[12]

In 1955, Laube, with financing from the Stanley Warner Corporation, gear up a working model of his system at the Cinerama-Warner Theatre in New York to bear witness a x-infinitesimal airplane pilot film. In November 1957, the arrangement, owned by Laube and Bert S. Good, was patented in the United states of america.^[xiii]

Competition with AromaRama [edit]

In September 1958, an announcement was made about a picture called Screen Scent No. 1 to be filmed in March 1959 using a fragrance process called "Weiss-Rhodia Screen-Odor" to be produced by a company headed past Charles H. Weiss, a public relations executive. The film was described equally a "kaleidoscope of comedy, drama and travelogue". The process had been developed over two years by Rhodia, Inc.,^[14] a subsidiary of Rhône-Poulenc.

In October 1959, it was reported that Walter Reade Jr. was rushing to release The Red china Wall, an Italian-fabricated travelogue through People's republic of china at the Palace Theatre in New York City.^{[15] [16]} The arrangement to be used for the picture show was unlike to that of Smell-O-Vision equally it sent scents through the air conditioning system of a theater.^{[16] [17]}

The particular technique was invented past Charles Weiss, who stated in a 1959 advent on CBS'south television programme To Tell the Truth:

I ... have invented a procedure to make movies smell. I call the process AromaRama. After more than than 2 and a half years of work, our picture Backside the Great Wall will open up December 2 at the Mayfair Theater in New York. In addition to seeing the action and hearing the dialogue, our audiences volition be able to smell the scenes. More than 100 unlike aromas will be injected into the theater during the motion picture. Among these are the odors of grass, world, exploding firecrackers, a river, incense, burning torches, horses, restaurants, the scent of a trapped tiger and many more. We believe, with Rudyard Kipling, that smells are surer than sounds or sights to brand the heartstrings crack.^[a]

The picture show was somewhen released as Behind the Great Wall on December ix, 1959 at the (recently renamed) DeMille Theatre in New York,^[18] just a calendar month alee of Scent of Mystery, and the competition betwixt the two films was chosen "the battle of the smellies" past Variety.^[xix] The film was directed past Carlo Lizzani with the "AromaRama" procedure conceived and directed past Charles Weiss.^[xx] The film was accompanied by a range of 72 smells that included incense, smoke, called-for pitch, oranges, spices and a undiscriminating of geese.^[10]

Too the slightly earlier release engagement, the proper name AromaRama itself made fun of Todd Sr.'s Cinerama process, and the choice of film was also deliberate, equally travelogues were one of Cinerama'due south specialties.^[21]

An alternate explanation of the provenance of the word "AromaRama" was provided by Weiss: "Screenwriter Henry Myers (Destry Rides Again) came up with the name "AromaRama" because the process was to the sense of smell what Cinerama was to the sense of sight. AromaRama echoed Cinerama rather than made fun of information technology. Backside the Great Wall was chosen because benefactor Walter Reade felt many of the scenes would exist even more impressive with scents added. Because it had won major awards in Europe, it was expected to be well received in America – and information technology was.

The film received scathing treatment from The New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther, who called it a "stunt" that had an "creative benefit" of "nil". The accurateness of the odors was described as "arbitrary ... elusive, oppressive or perfunctory and banal ... but synthetic smells that occasionally befit what one is viewing, but more than often they confuse the atmosphere". By contrast, the flick itself, which was not fabricated with AromaRama in mind, received loftier praise.^[18] Further negative reviews came from The New Yorker.

Not all reviews were unfavorable. The New York Herald Tribune, in its review titled "AromaRama Premieres Here: Audience Smells What It Sees and Hears in Movie", the uncited critic writes: "With a few pocket-sized exceptions, the audience last night pronounced the successtion of smells a total success from the get-go, which consisted of an opening from Chet Huntley, tv commentator, who demonstrated what was about to happen by slicing an orangish while the odor track suffused the theatre with a odour of oranges being sliced." A follow-up article in the December 13, 1959 Sunday Herald Tribune said: "Curiously enough, they exercise not give the impression of existence diddled in or wafted from any specific direction (although they are said to exist linked to the airconditioning organisation.) Really the individual smells simply appear in the nostrils without any effort existence made to sniff or strain for them. And what is more remarkable, each individual smell disappears promptly when the paradigm smelled leaves the screen ... There is no question most its effectiveness in creating illusions of reality."

The Sunday News awarded the film iii+ i⁄3 stars out of a possible 4 stars in its review titled "'Behind Keen Wall' Puts Smell on Screen". Reviewer Dorothy Masters wrote, "Several wise men anticipated the birth of AromaRama, the major prophet being Charles Weiss, a public relations executive, who journeyed distant to enlist the support of a chemical company, an electronic air-filter plant, a camera equipment firm and an industrial timer organization. Together they devised a workable system for analogous the picture of an orangish with the smell of an orangish."

The December 21, 1959 edition of Time Magazine stated in its review of "Behind the Great Wall", "The AromaRama process itself, adult by a public relations executive, Charles Weiss, is fairly ingenious. The film carries a 'scent track' that transmits cues to an electronic 'trigger' that fires a salvo of odour into the theatre through the air-conditioning ports. The AromaRama people claim that they can reach every nose in the house within two seconds and remove the scent well-nigh equally fast. The perfumes are congenital upward on a quick-evaporating base (Freon) and equally the air is drawn off for filtering it is passed over electrically charged baffles that precipitate the aromatic particles. The fragrances were developed by Rhodia, Inc." Rhodia was a subsidiary of Rhone Poulenc.

The film's poor reception threatened to derail the debut Scent of Mystery before it fifty-fifty opened, every bit the cinematic printing now expected the odor release system to be poor.^[22]

In its first week in New York information technology grossed $33,400 from 29 performances.^[23]

Charles Weiss connected to experiment with motion pictures and aromas, adding fragrances to classic black and white films to demonstrate how smells might be used in the future.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Scent of Mystery [edit]

Todd Sr. had staged a series of musical films at the 1939 World'south Off-white and met Laube during this time. 15 years later, Todd and his son were thinking of ways they could enhance their film Around the Globe in 80 Days. They remembered Laube'south invention and although they decided not to utilise it for this film, Todd Jr., after his begetter's death, was intrigued enough to sign Laube to a moving picture deal.

Laube's system, which was renamed "Smell-O-Vision" past Todd, had been improved in the intervening fourth dimension. At present, instead of the scents being manually released, information technology used what he called a "smell brain", which was a series of perfume containers linked in a belt, bundled in the guild that they would be released. The belt was then wound effectually a motorized reel. As the film threaded through the movie projector, markers on it would cue the brain. Needles would pierce membranes on the containers, releasing the scents, which would and then be blown past fans through the pipes to individual vents underneath the audience members' seats. The cost of outfitting a theater to conform the system was anywhere from US$xv,000 at Chicago's Cinestage theater^[17] to $one,000,000 elsewhere^[12] ($137,396 to $9,159,730 today).

Both Laube and Todd understood that the system had aesthetic limitations. For case, a heavy drama was non the sort of motion picture that could employ information technology well. Thus, the system was to be deployed with the mystery-comedy Scent of Mystery, which would be the offset film in which smells revealed sure plot points to the audience. For example, i character is identified by the smell of pipe tobacco.

Reception [edit]

Odor-O-Vision did not work as intended. According to Multifariousness, aromas were released with a distracting hissing dissonance and audition members in the balcony complained that the scents reached them several seconds afterward the activity was shown on the screen. In other parts of the theater, the odors were as well faint, causing audition members to sniff loudly in an endeavor to take hold of the scent. These technical problems were more often than not corrected after the first few showings, but the poor word of oral fissure, in conjunction with generally negative reviews of the movie itself, signaled the end of Smell-O-Vision.^[six] A 2000 Time reader survey listed Smell-O-Vision in the "Top 100 Worst Ideas of All Time".^[24]

Odor of Mystery was shown with an animated curt titled Old Whiff, which was nigh a bloodhound who had lost his sense of smell; the dog'south vox was provided by Bert Lahr.^{[17] [25]}

Legacy [edit]

German carte du jour from the film Polyester

In homage to Smell-O-Vision, American film director John Waters released an enhanced "Odorama" version of his film Polyester in 1982. Waters included scratch and sniff cards that the audition could apply while watching the movie. Each bill of fare contained x numbered spots that were scratched when that number flashed in the bottom correct corner of the screen. Although this arroyo solved the problems inherent in previous attempts at this engineering, it did not gain widespread usage for other films. The idea, however, was duplicated four times: firstly in the UK by ITV in June 1985 when an edition of science programme The Existent Earth and Saturday morn children'south program No. 73 were both aired in "Aromavision" with accompanying "Aromapack" scratch and sniff cards distributed with listings magazine TVTimes;^[26] the second time in the mid-1980s when MTV aired Scent of Mystery in conjunction with a convenience store promotion that offered scratch and sniff cards; the third time was the 2003 animated moving picture Rugrats Get Wild, the makers of which claimed it was a homage to Waters.^[27] The fourth time was with the 4th installment of the Spy Kids moving-picture show series, in which scratch n' sniff cards were given to pic goers, who were instructed to scratch the number equally it came upwards on screen.^[28]

Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort currently make use of this idea, in their 3-D films and other attractions. Disney's Animal Kingdom'south It's Tough to Be a Bug releases an unpleasant aroma coinciding with a stink bug on-screen, causing an audience reaction; similarly Mickey'due south Philharmagic at the Magic Kingdom and Disney California Hazard produces pie scents. Soarin' Over California, Soarin', and Soarin' Effectually the Globe include orange blossoms, pine forest, ocean air fragrances, grass, and cherry blossoms as the scenery flies below the passengers. Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! briefly takes riders through a ginger scented sushi business firm. Information technology is unknown, however, if the technology behind this is the same or a derivative of Laube'due south work.

In 2006, NTT Communications, a Japanese telecom giant, developed a new way to display odors during the release of Terrence Malick'southward The New World. During seven cardinal moments throughout the film, scents were emitted by an internet server that was linked to the reel of film, effectively downloading the scent.^[29] The scents used were supposed to evoke from the audience the emotions that were trying to be expressed in the pic.^[29] Scents included floral for romance scenes, peppermint, and rosemary for tear-jerking moments; orange and grapefruit for joyful sequences; and eucalyptus, tea tree, and herbs for aroused scenes.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2010, the Norwegian film Kurt Josef Wagle And The Legend of the Fjord Witch by director Tommy Wirkola was released to cinemas with scratch and sniff cards that the audience could use while watching the movie. Ane year subsequently, the American flick Spy Kids: All the Time in the World by manager Robert Rodriguez used the aforementioned idea, advertised as "4D Smell-Scope".^[thirty]

There have been further attempts to develop like systems for the apply with boob tube or advertising screens using gel pellets or inkjet printers to spray minor amounts of scent.^{[31] [32]}

Regal Cinemas launched a new theater type,^{[ when? ]} called 4DX, which incorporates smells into the movie experience.^[33] Other off-screen features are incorporated into 4DX likewise, including movement enabled chairs, fog, strong scents, and h2o and air to simulate wind and rain. Regal currently operates 18 theaters with 4DX.^[34]

Portrayals [edit]

Apr Fools' joke [edit]

In 1965, BBC TV played an Apr Fools' Twenty-four hour period joke on their viewers. The network aired an "interview" with a human who had invented a new technology called "Smellovision" that allowed viewers at home to experience aromas produced in the tv set studio. To demonstrate, the man chopped some onions and brewed a pot of coffee. Viewers called in to ostend that they had smelled the aromas that were "transmitted" through their television sets.^[35]

In tv [edit]

The 1944 Merrie Melodies drawing The Old Grey Hare includes a paper article which reads "Smellovision replaces telly" seen by Elmer Fudd later on he manifestly visits in the distant future of the year 2000. However, another part of the article which was not read out loud past Elmer hints criticism from then-Merrie Melodies music composer and former Walt Disney colleague Carl Stalling, stating that "Carl Stalling Sez It Will Never Work!"

Steve Urkel invents a helmet-based smellovision device on an episode of the sitcom, Family unit Matters and convinces Carl Winslow to endeavour it out. As usual, however, the device quickly goes haywire, burning Carl's hair in the process.

On the animated sitcom Futurama in the episodes "The Honking" and "That's Lobstertainment!", Smell-O-Vision has successfully taken off. In the latter episode, Harold Zoid, a washed up moving-picture show player, comments he flopped after they invented "Smell-O-Vision". In the former episode, at that place is also a reference to the system when the logo is shown at the start of the episode. It reads at the lesser "Now in Aroma-O-Vision" and some other has the judgement "Odor-O-Vision users insert nostril tubes now". In improver, the episode "A Big Slice of Garbage" introduces the Smelloscope, a telescope-similar device that allows people to smell distant catholic objects.

In the PBS Kids game show Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman, The first episode of its 3rd flavour is entitled "The Debut Of Odour-O-Vision".

In 1995, the BBC's Children in Need brought scratch and sniff scent-o-vision to the masses. Through the Saturday evening family prove Noel's Business firm Party, viewers could experience various odors to complement their television experience.^[36] A like event called "Evil-smelling Telly" for Drawing Network'due south Cow and Chicken animated series involved scratch and sniff cards likewise, lasting from April 26 to xxx, 1999.^[37]

Run across also [edit]

• Digital lollipop
• Digital scent technology
• iSmell
• Smelling screen
• Synesthesia
• The Quondam Grey Hare, a Warner Bros. cartoon that mentions "Smellevision"

References [edit]

1. ^ Chuck Weiss, whose reputation was gained creating special news-making events in New York City, the most competitive market in the Us. His appearance on To Tell the Truth, included his affidavit as read by host Bud Collyer. Originally aired November 5, 1959 and rebroadcast on Game Show Network on March nineteen, 2009.

1. ^ "Another Early 'Smellie'". Variety. January half-dozen, 1960. p. 35.
2. ^ Gilbert 2008, p. 148.
3. ^ "'Smellies' Back in 1916?". Variety. November 27, 1940. p. 21. Retrieved 2021-01-04 – via Archive.org.
4. ^ Gilbert 2008, p.^{[ page needed ]}.
5. ^ Fowler, Albert E. (January 13, 1960). "Fragrance of Long Ago". Diverseness. p. half-dozen.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Smith, Martin J.; Kiger, Patrick J. (February 5, 2006). "The Lingering Reek of Smell-O-Vision". Los Angeles Times. p. 26.
7. ^ Gilbert 2008, p. 151.
8. ^ Gilbert 2008, pp. 151–152.
9. ^ "Swiss Inventors' 'Smellie' Adjunct To Pix; Other N.Y. Aerodrome Items". Variety. September 11, 1940. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-01-04 – via Annal.org.
10. ^ ^{a b} Robertson, Patrick (1993). The Guinness Book of Moving picture Facts & Feats (5th ed.). Abbeville Press. p. 168. ISBN1558596976.
11. ^ "Detroit Tries 'Smellie' With 'Smash Town'". Variety. November 27, 1940. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-01-04 – via Archive.org.
12. ^ ^{a b} McGee, Mark Thomas (2001). Across Clack: Motion Picture Promotion and Gimmicks. McFarland & Co. p. 120. ISBN0-7864-1114-vii.
13. ^ Jones, Stacy V. (Nov 23, 1957). "Odors Added to Films and Video, Even Those of Oranges and Ham". The New York Times. p. 25. Retrieved 2021-01-05 .
14. ^ "Of Local Origin". The New York Times. September 10, 1958. p. 39. Retrieved 2021-01-05 .
15. ^ Nason, Richard (October 17, 1958). "Todd 'Smell' Film May Be Scooped". The New York Times. p. 27. Retrieved 2021-01-05 .
16. ^ ^{a b} Hift, Fred (October xiv, 1959). "War of Rival Film 'Smellies'". p. 1. ^{[ total citation needed ]}
17. ^ ^{a b c} Kirsner, Scott (May fifteen, 2008). Inventing the Movies. Createspace. pp. 45–46. ISBN978-1-4382-0999-ix.
18. ^ ^{a b} Crowther, Bosley (December x, 1959). "Screen: Smells of Red china". The New York Times. p. 51. Retrieved 2009-03-19 .
19. ^ Gilbert 2008, p. 159.
20. ^ Arneel, Cistron (December sixteen, 1959). "Film Reviews: Backside the Great Wall". Variety. p. half dozen.
21. ^ Gilbert 2008, p. 161.
22. ^ Gilbert 2008, p. 162.
23. ^ "Pre-Holiday Slump Bops B'mode Simply 'Abner'-Stage Sock 86G; AromaRama Tall $33,400; 'Petticoat' Wow 185G". Variety. Dec 16, 1959. p. 11.
24. ^ Drobnick, Jim, ed. (2006). The Smell Culture Reader. Berg Publishers. p. 360. ISBN1-84520-213-9.
25. ^ López, Daniel (1993). Films by Genre. McFarland & Co. p. 293. ISBN978-0-89950-780-4.
26. ^ "Number 73". www.paulmorris.co.uk.
27. ^ "It's Walter'due south World in the Baltimore Sun Times". November 17, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-04-06 .
28. ^ "'Spy Kids' Scent-Scope Expects Kids To Aroma Forth". Huffpost Arts & Civilisation. October xvi, 2011. Retrieved 2014-07-eleven .
29. ^ ^{a b} "Movie Enhanced with Internet-based Fragrance System" (Press release). NTT Communications. April xi, 2006. Archived from the original on 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2021-01-24 .
30. ^ Anderton, Ethan (June 24, 2011). "'Spy Kids 4' Hitting Theaters with an All-New Class of Odour-O-Vision".
31. ^ Bloxham, Andy (October 21, 2010). "'Olfactory property-O-Vision' Tv set developed by Japanese scientists". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 2013-04-02 .
32. ^ Hodson, Hal (March 29, 2013). "Odour-o-vision screens permit y'all really smell the coffee". New Scientist. Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd. (2910). Retrieved 2013-04-02 .
33. ^ "Regal Cinemas, UA & Edwards Theatres: Motion picture Tickets & Showtimes | Majestic Theatres". www.regmovies.com.
34. ^ "Total Theatre List | Imperial Theatres". www.regmovies.com.
35. ^ "Best ever April Fools' pranks". The Times. March 30, 2007. Retrieved 2021-04-23 .
36. ^ "CHILDREN IN Demand: Odour-o-Vision". BFI Film and TV Database. Archived from the original on 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2009-12-xvi .
37. ^ "Smelly Television". Cartoon Network. Archived from the original on 1999-05-08. Retrieved 2012-12-28 .

Bibliography [edit]

• Gilbert, Avery Due north. (2008). "Hollywood Psychophysics". What the Nose Knows . Crown Publishers. ISBN978-ane-4000-8234-6.

Farther reading [edit]

• When Roses Won't Practice, Electronic mail a Fragrance
• Smellovision'southward coming to the big screen

External links [edit]

• SMELLIT could someday bring Aroma-o-vision,
• Hollywood Clack, The Belknap Drove for the Performing Arts, University of Florida
• Timeline of Influential Milestones and Important Turning Points in Film History
• Film History of the 1950s, The Greatest Films
• Museum of Hoaxes, Smellovision
• Various Scratch cards (german)
• The scents of Grease Film (2018)

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smell-O-Vision

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