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I still say that the age of a film is when it was MADE
Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was Mickey. It's pretty common to have several films in production simultaneously. Especially in the 1920s, when a lot of equipment was rented. They would do a big swat of artwork, then rent a registration camera and shoot for a period of time. Process the film, rent a Moviola or whatever for editing, decide what to add, and repeat.
Nobody can really say over what period of time that those films were made. Even the dates for pre-release showings are largely based on people's recollections, since there would have been no contract for an audience test.
If you snoop around, you'll notice that there is no date given anywhere (that I have seen) for a pre-release showing of Steamboat Willie. That doesn't mean that there was no audience test, just that no one has bothered to try to find out.
It makes too good a story to say that everyone is wrong about the order of the early films.
Release date is verifiable, because there are contracts, canceled cheques, and other records that will give the dates. Without that, all you have is the memory of people who were around at the time.
-rcv-
Kid Bugs
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