This silent footage shows a party thrown in honor of the premiere of the Mr. Magoo Show, apparently held at Pt. Mugu, the Naval Missile Test Center located north of Los Angeles. It likely dates to 1960. A Regulus II missile is shown in target drone configuration (:38), with the Mr. Magoo logo painted on the missile. Stephen Bosustow, a founder of animation company UPA and the creator of the Mr. Mugu Show, is prominently featured and seen at 1:39 standing next to the missile. At 1:52 he pretends to be painting the missile. At 2:34, a sign for the Pacific Missile Range at the bottom of the missile trailer is seen, as well as more shots of the Regulus II and a bus marked “Mr. Magoo Special”. Actor Jim Backus, who voiced Mr. Magoo, may also appear in the footage. At 4:34, a wider shot of the Regulus II on its launch trailer is shown.
Stephen Reginald Bosustow was a Canadian-born American film producer from 1943 until his retirement in 1979. He was one of the founders of United Productions of America (UPA) and produced nearly 600 cartoon and live-action shorts. He is chiefly remembered for producing a string of Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing cartoons in the 1950s, three of which earned Academy Awards. He is the only film producer in history who received all the Oscar nominations in one category (1956), guaranteeing him the winning Oscar. Magoo’s Puddle Jumper was the eventual winner.
Motion picture films don’t last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we’ve worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies — including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you’d like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
