Credited cast overview: Herbert M. Dawley (Uncle Jack), Willis H. O'Brien
Writing credits: Willis O'Brien, Harbert Dawley
Runtime: USA:16
Country: USA
Color: Black and White
Sound Mix: Silent
THE GHOST OF SLUMBER MOUNTAIN is the first epic stop motion picture. After Willis O'Brien created several short animated films on the subject of dinosaurs and prehistoric men. All of these short films were humorous but O'Brien wanted something more. He met Herbert M. Dawley, who had done some very primitive animation work and the backing to produce a feature length film. O'Brien worked closely with Dawley in the development of a story about a man who befriends an old hermit. The hermit then gives the man a special telescope that allows him to see the world of the past, the age of dinosaurs. O'Brien developed new techniques to animate the dinosaurs and make them as realistic as possible for the time. The finished product was the GHOST OF SLUMBER MOUNTAIN and it was 3,000 feet in length or about 90 minutes. GHOST premeired in New York City at the Strand but when it was released for general distibution, all references to O'Brien were cut and Herbert Dawley took all screen credit including the animation sequences. He also butchered the film and cut it down to 520 feet. The rest of the footage is believed to be lost forever. It is beleived that some of the footage was reused in a second feature released by Dawley called ALONG THE MOONBEAM TRAIL, which follows two boys who travel to the moon and find it inhabited with prehistoric creatures. That film is also lost.
What remains of GHOST OF SLUMBER MOUNTAIN is entertaining and it's sad to realize that because of Dawley, O'Brien's first feature will probably never be seen. In attempting to create a legacy of importance as a film producer and animator, the only legacy that Dawson really has to his credit is one of a theif and the man responsible for destroying what could have been a film classic.