Edgar animated character

Smoking: The Choice is Yours
Walt Disney
with John Ewing

At 16 I moved to the city and worked one-on-one with John Ewing as a "tweener" and character color manager for the protagonist character Edgar. Mr. Ewing was an important mentor who taught me a lot and was kind and empowering. He later founded Freelance Animators New Zealand (also known as Freelance Graphics Ltd.), an animation studio located in Auckland, New Zealand, which opened in 1989.


Smoking: The Choice is Yours is a 1981 Disney educational animated short produced by the Walt Disney Educational Media Company. Typically, these were shown in schools, non-commercial and residential uses only. It was produced by Reynolds Film Export and animation director, John Ewing.

The film deals with problems of self-image and peer pressure that influence people to start smoking, as seen by a cowboy named Edgar, who works as a sports director and a cowboy on the Smokey Mountain Dude Ranch Resort and feels tempted by the people there, the female balloonist, Daphne Sue Simpson, guests and staff alike, such as his employer, Mrs. Hackwell, who smoke.

Characters:
Narrator, (Jack Angel)
Edgar a.k.a. Albert (Jim Gleason)
Daphne Sue Simpson (Cass Carroll)
Mrs. Hackwell (Barbara Gill)
Guests of the Smokey Mountain Dude Ranch Resort


Reynolds Export Film Co.

January 1981