It's time to look at more of my favorite Christmas cartoons.
First up is a Popeye cartoon from the legendary Fleshier Studio. The Fleshier Brothers were the first to bring Popeye to the screen and this is one of the earliest Popeyes. In fact it is the fifth one. Though Dave Fleshier like always is the credited director it is often times believed that the first animator listed did much of the directing as well. In this cartoon that man is Seymour Kneitel, who was studio owner Max Fleshier's son in law. He would also be in charge after the Fleshier Brothers were fired and the studio was renamed Famous Studios. This is a funny cartoon, with some excellent background work. So enjoy from 1933, Seasons Greetinks!.
Next up is another Popeye cartoon this time from Famous Studios. It was directed by Izzy Sparber, who was one of the most prolific Famous Studios directors. It was written by Jack Mercer, the voice of Popeye. This is a very entertaining cartoon that is among Famous Studios best Popeye cartoons. So from 1955 here is Mister and Mistletoe.
Next up is a cartoon from the Van Buren Studios. This studios films were distributed by RKO until RKO got the rights to distribute Disney cartoons, later. This is important to mention because this cartoon was made to be showing on the opening night of the RKO Roxy theater, later to be renamed The Rockefeller. The theater opened in December 1932. This is why the theater at the beginning of the cartoon Santa Claus gives us the theater. This is to make the theater seem like a Christmas present to the people. This is also the cartoon that introduced the Van Beruen studios new cartoon star, Cubby Bear, who is a thinly disguised Mickey Mouse copy. This was not uncommon for the studio. In 1931 the studio was sued by Disney for making cartoons with two mice characters who looked just like Mickey and Minnie. This cartoon was believed to be released in 1933 for a while yet thanks to Film Historian J.B. Kaufman, and others we now know when and for what it was originally released for. It was thought this way because Van Beurn would release it to other theaters in 1933, but it played first in 1932 as part of the opening of the RKO Roxy. This charming cartoon was directed by Mannie Davis, who would later become one of Terrytoons most prolific directors. This cartoon was appropriately titled Opening Night and here it is.
As I have mentioned in a previous post Only Yesterday is the only Studio Ghibli film not to be readily available to American audiences. However it is finally going to be released in the U.S.. It will be released theatrically nation wide on February 26, 2016, and will later be released on Blu-Ray and DVD. It will however have a U.S. premiere showing in New York on January 1st. So be excited my fellow Studio Ghibli fans, I know I am.
In honor of Thanksgiving, today we are going to look at three cartoons about Turkeys.
Our first film is a great Looney Tune cartoon staring Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and a turkey. One thing you may notice is that the credits credit under writing was The Crew. This was of course referring to the whole Warner Brothers cartoon writing department, but the main writers for this cartoon were Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce. This great cartoon was directed by Chuck Jones. Chuck Jones is one of the main names involved with changing Daffy Duck from his early wild unhinged version that Bob Clampett, and Tex Avery used into the later more greedy self-preservationist version. Here he has Daffy in a transitional period where he is a little of both (or a lot of both), honestly this transitional period is one of my favorite versions of Daffy. To explain a joke that has confused many cartoon fans, when hiding in the snowman, Tom Turk says about Daffy "Quisling". This is a reference to a Norwegian Prime Minster who made a deal with the Nazis. Anyway from 1944 here is Tom Turk and Daffy.
Tex Avery's MGM cartoons are considered by many (including myself) to be some of the funniest cartoons ever made. Our next film shows why this is very well. This cartoon was written by Frequent Avery collaborator Heck Allen. Heck Allen was a writer on many of Tex Avery's best cartoons. Aside for writing cartoons he would also write many western novels, often under the pen names Will Henry, and Clay Fisher. He used these pen names because he was afraid MGM would not be happy with him moonlighting. Allen often times overlooked his own contribution to these cartoons, feeling that Avery just turned his basic ideas into the great films they became. So from 1945 here is Jerky Turkey.
Our last Turkey Toon is another MGM cartoon. This time directed by Hugh Harman. Hugh Harman had helped found the Warner Brothers cartoon studio in 1930, along with his partner Rudolph Ising. Hugh Harman directed all the Looney Tunes cartoons until he and Ising left for MGM in 1933, where they would play an important role in founding the MGM cartoon studio. The music for this cartoon would be provided by Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals. This is the groups only foray into animation. They did work on 5 live action films though these included the features, One in a Million (directed by Sidney Lanfield, and staring Sonja Henie), Hit Parade of 1941 (directed by John H. Auer, and staring Kenny Baker), Always in My Heart (directed by Jo Graham,and staring Kay Francis), Tramp, Tramp Tramp (Directed by Charles Barton and staring Jackie Gleson), and the short Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica School (directed by Jean Negulesco and staring themselves. So from 1940 here is Tom Turkey and His Harmonica Humdingers.
On this day, in 1940, a star was hatched. This star was Woody Woodpecker. Walter Lantz (his creator and producer) liked to tell the story of who him and his wife, were taking a vacation in Sherwood Lake for their honeymoon. There they were annoyed by a woodpecker, and Walter's wife, Grace Stafford, suggested he turn that woodpecker into a cartoon character. This story was very close to the story of the cartoon the woodpecker first appeared in. That cartoon was an Andy Panda cartoon called Knock Knock.
Besides Walter Lantz and Grace Stafford there were more people responsible for Woody's creation. Two very important names were writer Ben Hardaway, and voice artist Mel Blanc. Both had worked on a Looney Tunes cartoon called Porky's Hare Hunt. This cartoon featured a prototype for Bugs Bunny, who more closely resembles an early Woody Woodpecker than the later Bugs. However Ben Hardaway's nickname was Bugs, something that lead to that character's name. Mel Blanc liked to tell the story of how he would walk down the halls of his high school, doing the Woody Wodpecker laugh never knowing he would later be paid for doing that. Mel Blanc would later sign an exculisive contract with Warner Brothers and had to stop doing Woody's voice, but he did voice Woody for the first few years. After leaving Woody would in fact be voiced by Ben Hardaway, and later by Grace Stafford.
The first cartoon was a huge success, and the woodpecker was giving his own series. Today we are going to look at the first of these cartoons, appropriately titled Woody Woodpecker. This cartoon was directed by Walter Lantz himself.It is written by Ben Hardaway and Jack Cosgriff (who wrote many cartoons for both Lantz and MGM). One of the animators was Alex Lovy, who would later become a Woody Woodpecker director, and even later a Looney Tunes director, and a Hanna-Barbera Producer. Another animator, was Laverne Harding, one of the first female animators to work for a Hollywood studio. So from 1941 here is Woody Woodpecker.
Tomm Moore is working on a new feature film. Moore has directed two of the great masterpieces of recent years, The Secret of Kells, and Song of the Sea. If you are a lover of animation and/or film and you haven't seen these, then why are you reading this when you can watch them right now.
His new film will be called Wolfwalkers. Will Collins, screenwriter for Song of the Sea is already signed on to work with Moore on this film. Moore will be working with a co-director on this film. The co-director will be Ross Stewart, who had been a concept artist on Paranorman, and Moore's own Song of the Sea.
Moore says that the film will be based off of Oliver Cromwell’s belief in taming Ireland by killing the wolves. It is said the story will center around a young lady named Robyn. Not much more is known yet but I'm excited to find out more. Tomm Moore is one of my favorite modern directors and I have no doubt that this film will be a great experience whenever it is complete. Enjoy this peek at the art style though.
Today we are going to look at some films, involving the Hubley family. John Hubley had been a Disney background artist working on films like Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi. He would leave during the Disney strike of 1941, and became one of the founders of UPA. There he would direct the first Mr. Magoo cartoon. However he would be blacklisted during the Cold War era for his communist beliefs. He would then create his own studio called Storyboard. His partner would be his wife Faith Hubley. Faith had not had a career before this, but this would be the beginning of a great career for her. Animator Shamus Culhane wrote in his autobiography, Talking Animals and Other People, that he felt Faith brought a lyrical quality to these films. This is true, the films they made together are beautiful and remain unique in the world of animation, and even film today. The 3 films we are looking at today, have the voices of their own children. They would record a conversation of their kids and than build an animated cartoon around that.
Our first film for today is an Oscar nominated cartoon and a great work of art in it's own right, 1968's Windy Day. This was built around a audio recording of John and Faith Hubley's daughters, Georgia and Emily Hubley at play. Those familiar with the indie rock band Yo La Tengo, might know Georgia Hubley as the drummer for that band. Emily would later be the associate producer and one of the animators on her mom's only solo directorial feature film, The Cosmic Eye. She would also have her own career in animation, directing such films as the feature length, The Toe Tactic, and the shorts ThePigeon Within, Rainbows of Hawai'i, and The Girl with Her Head Coming Off. She would also be the animation designer and an animator on the animated segment in Hedwig and the Angry Itch. Windy Day is a lovely film. The dialog between the two girls is very charming. Towards the end of the film the conversation turns quite profound and beautiful. This is a great reminder of how much more intelligent kids can be than we we give them credit for. The whole film is lovely though and the whimsical animation fits the kids conversation perfectly.
Next is another film that was based around a recording of Georgia and Emily at play this film is called Cockaboody. The whole film was animated by a woman named Tissia Davis. Who would also work with the Hubley's on the feature length animated documentry Everyone Rides the Carousel, and with Faith and Emily on The Cosmic Eye. She had previously been an animator in France working for directors like Jean Image. The animation ranges from Whimsical to more realistic depending a the mood of the dialog (a great device). The kid's conversation captures perfectly the feeling of childhood. Overall this 1973 film is another lovely film from these four Hubley's and another work of great art.
Last is the earliest of these films, Moonbird from 1959. This film centered around an audio recording of John and Faith Hubley's sons, Mark and Ray Hubley, at play. Mark Hubley would later become an animator, working on two of his parent's films, Dig and Voyage to the Next, and would be a layout artist on two Hanna-Barbera TV shows, The Smurfs, and Monchhichis. Ray Hubley would become an editor on live action films such as Scarface and Dead Man Walking. The animators on this film will included one of John's fellow UPA directors, Robert Cannon, who had before joining UPA than the Hubley's studio had worked at Warner Brothers as an animator (as part of Chuck Jones' unit), and on Disney's feature length Melody Time (also as an animator). The other animator was an animator who began and spent much of his career with the Hubleys, Ed Smith. This is quite an imaginative and fun film and it won the Oscar for best animated short film.
No, you did not read the title wrong. Someone actually bought the rights to Blazing Saddles and than decided to make a film with none of the same characters, a completely different setting, and be kid friendly. On top of that the only person who worked on the previous film that is going to work on this one is Mel Brooks, who will probably do nothing but a brief cameo. On top of that this film will somehow have a big name voice cast attached, including Samuel L. Jackson, George Takei, Ricky Gervais and Michael Cera. What kind of world are we living in? I hate to judge a film before it's released, but Blazing Saddles is a classic of film comedy, and this sounds like an insult to that classic. Hopefully it will surprise me but I doubt it.
This film will the first feature film released by the Mass Animation studio. It will be co-directed by Chris Bailey, a former Disney animator who worked on such films as The Lion King, Hercules, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, and Oliver & Company, as well as directing the Mickey Mouse short Runaway Brain. He would after leaving Disney he would become the animation supervisor for the first two Live action/CGI hybrid Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and both Live/CGI hybrid Garfield movies. The other director would be another former Disney animator Mark Koestier, who animated on such films as The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunch Back of Notre Dame, and Trazan. After leaving Disney he would work as a storyboard artist for Dreamworks on films such as Kun-Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. This will be Koestier's first time directing. It will be produced by former Sony Pictures executive Yair Landau, Mass Animation Producer Susan Purcell, and co-director of The Lion King Rob Minkoff.
Hopefully this will surprise me but for right now it seems like an unnecessary add on to a great film.
In celebration of Halloween, today we are going to look at some more creepy themed cartoons.
Our first film will be a classic Donald Duck cartoon called Trick or Treat. This cartoon is directed by one of Disney's greatest short directors, Jack Hannah. Jack Hannah was one of the two directors to add more slapstick energy into the Disney shorts (the other was Jack Kinney). Many of Hannah's shorts (while maybe not to the same level as say Looney Tunes, or Tom and Jerry) where pure slapstick romps, and very funny cartoons to boot. He specialized in directing cartoons with Donald Duck and Goofy, and he introduced audiences to the characters of Chip and Dale. Jack Hannah was probably the greatest Disney director to never work on a feature. However his shorts have as much life and energy, and are just as great of films as some the classic Disney features. He would go on to direct at the Walter Lantz Studio, starting in 1960, and directed some quite enjoyable shorts there (though not up to his Disney films). Notice that Witch Hazel is voiced by June Foray in this cartoon, this will come into play when I discuss our next film. So enjoy one of my favorite Halloween cartoons.
Our next film is another time June Foray voiced Witch Hazel. this time for a Looney Tunes cartoon staring Bugs Bunny called Broomstick Bunny. This not the first Warner Brothers cartoon in which Witch Hazel appeared, but the first one in which Foray voiced her for Warner Brothers. In the previous Warner Brothers cartoon with Witch Hazel, Bewitched Bunny, she was voiced by Bea Bernadette. (Spoiler: In this film Witch Hazel takes a beautiful potion and is transformed to look like June Foray herself.) This film was directed by animation legend Chuck Jones, who had directed the previous Warner Brothers Witch Hazel cartoon. Chuck Jones had a knack for combining subtle humor with not so subtle humor, and it is perfectly shown here, where even little facial expressions can get big laughs(a trademark of many of Jones' films). There would be two more Witch Hazel cartoons in the future, A Witch's Tangled Hare (directed by Abe Levitow), and A Haunting We Will Go (directed by Robert McKimson), both of which June Foray would provide her voice. I don't not know how two studios got to use the same character, especially with the same voice but enjoy the cartoon, it is quite good.
Last for today comes a classic Fleischer Brothers Popeye cartoon that actually scared me as a little kid. This film is Shiver Me Timbers. This is an early Popeye, and this is evident by that fact that William Costello is providing his voice here. Costello was the sailor's first voice. However the success went to his head, making him be replaced by Jack Mercer. Jack Mercer would add even more charm to the character by ad-libing a lot of dialog. Mercer started as an inbetweener at the studio, but his love of doing imitations is what lead him to be the sailors voice, because one day the Fleischer brother heard him do an imitation of Popeye. Though Dave Fleischer is credited as the director, much of the directing was done by William Bowsky, and this is usually true of the top credited animator on Fiescher cartoons.
Because Halloween is coming up, I am going to share with you some great theatrical cartoon shorts with a spooky theme.
Our first film is a classic Disney cartoon. This is the first Silly Symphony cartoon. As much as Walt Disney loved Mickey Mouse, he wanted to be known for more than just Mickey cartoons. Carl Stalling, Disney's current musical director (later the musical director for Warner Brothers' animation department) came up with the idea of doing a series of musical based shorts. He came up with a rough idea of skeletons dancing to music. That idea would result in this film. The majority of the animation of this cartoon was done by a man named Ub Iwerks, who was at this time Disney's right hand man (he also co-created Mickey Mouse with Walt). Ub was one of the greatest animators to ever live, though when he was called away to head his own cartoon studio, he films would suffer from his lack of story and gag sense. However he would come back to Disney as a special effects man, where he made great advances combining live-action with animation with such films as The Three Caballeros and Mary Poppins. This film was directed by Walt himself. Distributors were originally worried about releasing a cartoon that they considered too gruesome, and did not want to release the film at all. However the cartoon ended up being a huge hit. A man named Joesph Barbera was in fact inspired by seeing this cartoon in theaters to go into the field of animation. So from 1929 here is The Skeleton Dance.
Our next film is everything you would except from a pre-code Betty Boop cartoon. That is because it is a pre-code Betty Boop Cartoon. This of course means that this cartoon is quite weird. Unfortunately by 1934, partly because of the production code, the oddness and pure surrealness of these cartoons faded away, but before than these cartoons were on the same level of surrealness as Bunnel and Dali's Un Chien Andalou. Though on all the Fleshier Brother cartoons list Davce Fleshier as the director, many historians now believe that the first animator listed often times took over the more traditional director duties, though Dave definitely had a big influence on these films. So this cartoon would be traditionally directed by Willard Bowsky, who was a regular animator/director at the Fleshier Studio. So from 1933, here is Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party.
Our next film is a Walter Lantz Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon. Oswald was created by a man (you may have heard of him) named Walt Disney. This was before their was a Disney studio, so these cartoons were made for Universal Studios. Oswald became one of the most popular cartoon characters of the silent era. Walt Disney wanted a raise and when approaching Universal short department head Charles Mintz, he found out Mintz wanted him to take a pay cut. Walt Disney refused and Charles Mintz hired away Walt Disney's unit, and took control of the cartoons himself. This was the reason for the creation of Mickey Mouse. However Mintz time in charge was brief. Head of Universal, Carl Leamele would fire Mintz and put Walter Lantz in charge of Universal's cartoon unit. Lantz never truly understood the character of Oswald, but his Oswald cartoons were full of enough imaginiation and just plain weirdness to make up for this. Though Lantz's first Oswald cartoons were silent films, he would usher Oswald into the talking era. This cartoon would be a parody of the 1925 silent film version of Phantom of the Opera (directed by Rupert Julian, and staring Lon Chaney). Our film is called Spooks was directed by Lantz himself, released in 1930, and has a fantastic ending joke.
Last for today comes a fairly early Tom and Jerry cartoon called Fraidy Cat. Like many of these earlier Tom and Jerry cartoons this film is bit slower than we have grown to be used to for Tom and Jerry, and designs may look a bit off. However that does not mean that this is not a charming cartoon in it's own right. It features some quite good character animation and a great joke involving a vaccum cleaner. Like all the Tom and Jerry cartoons up until 1958's Tot Watchers this film was directed by William Hannah and Joesph Barbera. The radio show Tom was listening to near the beginning was a real radio show called The Witching Hour, and the woman doing the voice you hear was Martha Wentworth, who actually did the voice for the radio show. She did many voices for animation for various studios, she also voiced Owl Johnson's mother in I Love To Singa, Porky Pig's teacher Miss Cud in I Haven't Got a Hat, The Nanny in 101 Dalmatians, Daffy Duck's Wife in His Bitter Half to name a few. You can see her in Live action in Orson Welles' The Stranger as the character of Sara. Anyway while this may not be the best Tom and Jerry cartoon, it is quite entertaining.
Again I am going to take another look at one of the most overlooked animation studios of the golden age of Hollywood animation. This is of course the Terrytoons Studio, a studio whose films I have a personal fondness for.
The first film we are going to look at is called Pink Elephants from 1937. This cartoon was directed by George Gordon, who directed a lot of Terrytoons around this time. He would also later work as a director for some of Hanna-Barbera's TV shows, such as Superfriends, and The Smurfs. This is important to bring up because of a writer on this film. This cartoon is written by a man named Joseph Barbera, who spent a very brief time working on Terrytoons. In fact I fail to find another Terrytoon he worked on. Interestingly both Barbera, and Gordon would be working on cartoons for MGM a year later. This clever and creative cartoon is definitely a highlight among Terrytoons of this period, and a good cartoon in it's own right. I do apologize, all I can find of this cartoon is a TV version that was cut for time. I do not know what is missing. Let this serve as a reminder of how important film preservation is, especially to us film buffs.
Next up comes quite an odd 1944 Mighty Mouse cartoon called The Wreck of the Hesperus. In this cartoon Mighty Mouse saves the passengers on that famous ship. This film even uses narration taken from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous poem. It was originally thought that the Terrytoons Studio would make quite a few cartoons in the same vein, but Paul Terry (studio founder) decided that audiences would rather see Mighty Mouse fighting a villain, than saving people/mice/whoever from a disaster. This film was directed by Mannie Davis, who was one of the most prolific Terrytoons director, and had worked with Paul Terry on the silent Aesop's Film Fables cartoons, before the Terrytoons Studio was formed. Though he would stay with the Van Beurn Studio (Aesops Film Fables Studio with it's name changed), until 1933 (Terry was fired in 1929), he moved to the Terrytoons studio the same year and stayed there until he retired in 1961. Davis had also worked at the Raul Barr'e Studio (on Mutt and Jeff cartoons) and the Fleshier Studio (on Out of the Inkwell cartoons) as an animator, before any of this. This film is an entertaining little cartoon, that while not a classic has it's own charms.
In 1955 Paul Terry, about to retire, sold the studio to CBS. CBS put UPA animator Gene Deitch in charge. Deitch was not at all a fan of Terrytoons' previous output, and wanted to completely reinvent the studio. He would get rid of all of the main characters including popular ones such as Mighty Mouse, and Heckle and Jeckle, and replace them with new ones. These characters included Sidney the Elephant, Clint Clobber, John Door Matt, and Gaston Le Crayon. The films would also show much more of an apparition for modern art design.The look of the cartoons would be much more stylized. A perfect example of a Terrytoon of this time is our next film Flebus, directed by Ernest Pintoff and Gene Deitch himself. This brilliant little film is much closer to a UPA cartoon than a Terrytoon. In fact it doesn't even resemble an earlier Terrytoon. However the great design work by Pintoff, Allen Swift's great voice work and the brilliant script by Pintoff, makes this a great cartoon, and possibly the best Terrytoon of the Deitch era. So from 1957 enjoy this great cartoon.
Great news to all those who love Shaun the Sheep Movie as much as I did. It is getting a sequel.
No release date is known at this time. I also do not know who will be distributing the film to the U.S., hopefully it will not be Liongate again since they did a disservice to it when it comes to advertising and letting people know this exists. Hopefully with the show being shown on Cartoon Network it will recive more advertising, though it didn't get advertising for being shown there. However I am excited no matter what, and hope it will meet the greatness of the first film (However even if it doesn't meet the greatness it could still be a brilliant movie). Directors/writers Richard Starzac and Mark Burton had talked about the idea of a sequel earlier, so hopefully the will return to direct/write this film. So be excited everyone be excited.
Great news fellow American Studio Ghibli fans. Isoa Takahata's 1991 film Only Yesterday is finally going to get a U.S. release in 2016. This has been the only Ghibli film not to be released in the U.S.. So for us American Fans this is a new page in the history of not only one of the greatest animation studios to ever exist, but also one of the greatest film studios to ever exist.
This film is going to get both a Blu-ray/DVD release and a theatrical release. This is going to be brought to us by the company Gkids. So be excited everyone, I know I am.
75 years ago today a certain wascally wabbit made his film debut. Even though the Warner Brothers' cartoon department had been experimenting with a rabbit character since 1938's Porky's Hare Hunt. That cartoon was directed by Cal Dalton and Ben Hardaway. Even though that rabbit character had little to tie him to Bugs Bunny, the later rabbit's name would come from co-director Ben Hardaway's nickname Bugs.
The first actually Bugs Bunny cartoon would be 1940's A Wild Hare. This film would be directed by Tex Avery. Bugs' first words would be "What's Up Doc". Tex Avery came from Taylor, Texas, and according to him "Doc" was a common slang term used there when he was growing up, so he used it heavily for that reason. Bugs' voice was provided by Mel Blanc, who claims that he got the voice because he was told that this would be a tough character, so he decided to combine the two toughest voices in Americia, and therefore combined a Brooklyn accent with a Bronx accent. Though Tex would claim that Bugs was based off of Max Hare in Disney's Tortoise and the Hare, though there is very little of an obvious connection. The highlight of A Wild Hare was Robert Mckimson's fantastic animation of Bugs' fake death. He would later animate a very similar scene for 1944's Old Grey Hare, directed by Bob Clampett. Tex was not very happy with the finished film, and felt that he should have put more laughs in than he did. However audiences loved the cartoon, and demanded more of the rabbit character, who would get his name in his next film, 1941's Elmer's Pet Rabbit, directed by Chuck Jones.
In his film debut The Wise Little Hen (also his voice actor Clarence Nash's film debut) he played a supporting role in a basic fairy tale based Silly Symphony cartoon. He easily steals the film. Donald's easy to recognize, but always so easy to understand voice was provided by Clarence Nash. Walt had heard Nash do voices on the radio. He was impressed and Nash came over to audition. When Walt heard him do his Duck voice, he knew that was perfect for the duck character in this cartoon. Clarence Nash would not only do the Duck's voice in this 1934 film, but he would continue doing it until 1983's Mickey's Christmas Carol.
Notice that in the previous cartoon Donald never lost his temper. His trademark temper tantrums would first appear in his second film appearance Orphan's Benefit. This cartoon would also be the first time he and Mickey Mouse would share the screen. This 1934 cartoon is in black and white, but would be remade in color (and with later character designs) in 1941.
Donald would appear in many more films (both short and feature-length), comic books, TV shows, and much more. He would soon replace Mickey as the most popular, character in the Disney shorts (partly because as a non-role model he could get away with things Mickey couldn't).
Sunday June 14, 2015, a great underrated animated classic will be on Turner Classic Movies. This classic is "Mr. Bug Goes to Town", the Fleischer Brothers second and final animated feature film. Even though this movie is often times associated with the end of the studio (Though this has been argued as being for many reasons (most commonly lack of promotion and being released on the day pearl harbor was bombed).), it is actually a very well made film and a great last hurrah for the Fleischer Studio (Popeye, Betty Boop, Out of the Inkwell, etc.).
So tune into TCM on June 14th at 5:00pm Pacific Time or 8:00pm eastern for a great animated classic that has been unjustly forgotten.
Hello fellow animation lovers. Do you wonder what Roger Allers (Director of the Lion King) has been up to lately?
Well a new animated movie will be premiering August 7th. This will be called the prophet and will be based off of Kahlil Gibran's book.
Although Roger Allers will be supervising director and directing all the bridging segments, this movie will have various directors and animation styles. Each poem from the book will have a different director and be animated in the style of their films. These directors include Tomm Moore, Joan Gratz, Bill Plympton, Nina Paley, Joann Sfar, Paul and Gaetan Brizzi, Michal Socha and Mohammed Harib.
So be ready to enjoy this film when it comes, I will be.
April 19th, 1930, what would become the greatest series of short films, and the greatest series of cartoons would enjoy it's first cartoon's first theatrical release. The series would be Looney Tunes, and the cartoon would be "Sinkin' in the Bathtub".
This film was made before the familiar characters of Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, and so on, would be created. The staring character for this cartoon was Bosko. One of the most groundbreaking things about Bosko was the use of synchronized dialog. While sound cartoons had existed before this, none of them, not even Disney, had been able to accomplish with synchronized dialog, what these Bosko cartoon had accomplished.
The Creators of Bosko were Hugh Harmon and Rudolph Ising. Both had worked with Walt Disney, mainly on the Alice Comedies, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons. After they left Walt, they constantly wanted to compete with Disney on his own terms. While these two men were great pioneers of animation, and great talents in their own right, this led them to spend much of there time trying to be as much like Disney as possible. Because of this Bosko, despite being a really likable character, was mostly a Mickey Mouse imitator, and a thinly disguised one at that. On top of that jokes were often reused from Oswald cartoons, they themselves had worked on, such as the joke of a big Bosko breaking into a bunch of little Boskos (used in this film). However despite a lack of originality in this cartoon (Besides the synchronized dialog), this film is a very fun and enjoyable cartoon, even to early Disney fans who might recognize most of this from other cartoons. This is because it is done with such talent it kind of doesn't matter how original or not it is.
This film also has animation by Friz Freling and Robert Mckimson, who later become two of the series' most prolific directors (Robert Mckimson would in fact direct "Injun Trouble" from 1969, which would be the last Looney Tunes cartoon).
On April 17th, 1937, movie going audiences were introduced to one of the silver screen's greatest stars (ask him yourself and he'll agree). This star however did not appear in a feature film that day, but rather in a short film accompanying that picture. This film was called Porky's Duck Hunt, and the star it introduced was Daffy Duck. As many film and animation historians have noted this was the character that put the looney in Looney Tunes. rarely before had a movie going audience seen this level of wackiness in a cartoon.
However Daffy's debut was not the only important historical note about this film. This cartoon also marked the first time Mel Blanc voiced Porky Pig. Previously Porky's voice had been done by Joe Dougherty. Dougherty really stuttered and unfortunately could not control it. This ate up to much film and these were short films to begin with, so not much time could be spared. So he was with this cartoon replaced by Mel Blanc, who also did the voice for Daffy.
This cartoon was directed by Tex Avery (credited as Fred Avery). Tex was known for revolutionizing the style of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. With his influence these series got away from imitating Disney, and went on to do things Disney would never do (breaking the 4th wall, exaggerated gags). With him these series and the whole cartoon industry changed.
One of the animators on this cartoon was Bob Clampett (later to become a great director). Tex told him to have Daffy exit anyway Bob could think of. His idea was to having Daffy jump across the screen "Woo-Hooing" This would of course become one of Daffy's trademarks.
When talking about animated features before Snow White, one that has to be mentioned isn't considered to be an animated film. This is the 1933 version of King Kong, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper, and staring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot. The reason this needs to be mentioned is because it is a milestone, of the use of animation being used in a live action film. In fact the character of King Kong himself is achieved though stop motion animation. The animation in this film is supervised by Willis H. O'Brian. The animation was so well achieved audiences actually thought King Kong was a man in a monkey suit. This film was a major influence on Ray Harryhausen who would became one of the masters of using stop motion animation in live action film.
The next film up is 1935's The New Gulliver from Russia, and directed by Aleksandr Ptushko. This film was a communist retelling of Gulliver's Travels. This means that the story was changed heavily to promote communist views. Many Russian films from this time period (Both Animated and Live action) were made to well promote communist Russia, or put down capitalist countries. Lenin, himself stated that cinema was their (The Communist Party) greatest tool, and Russian filmmakers took this to heart. It is argued whether this film or Tale of The Fox was the first stop motion animated feature. Tale of the Fox was completed first, but this film was realeased first. This film is very impressive visually, and a great historical watch for people interested in animation and/or world history. However the story is much less impressive and comes off as simply there for propaganda reasons. So if you want to be visually amazed or have a fascinating piece of history this is well worth a watch, however if you want a good, entertaining story, you should watch another Gulliver adaption or read the book.
1936 should have the year for the very first Italian feature length animated film. This film would have been The Adventures of Pinocchio. However this film was never released and was probably never completed. What was made of the film has been lost. This film, or what was made of it was directed by Raoul Verdini, and Umberto Spano. This would have also been the first film adaption of Collodi's famous book.
Tale of the Fox is one of my all time favorite movies, and remains one of the greatest animated works of art to this day. This film was the first animated feature from France, and not only the first stop motion animated feature film completed but also the first to contain no live action. It is directed by the great animation pioneer Ladislas Starevich, and his wife, Irene Starevich. Starevich was one of the people (Along with Winsor McCay) heavily responsible, in my mind, for turning animation from a novelty into great art. Unfortunately this was his only foray into animated features (He had directed a live action feature called "The Night Before Christmas" in 1912). However what an amazing film this is. It features a brilliantly written script based off the folk character Reynard the Fox. Released the same year (1937) as Snow White, this was heavily different from the type of animated feature Disney would pioneer. It was a very immoral tale that followed the antagonist, and treated his character with more respect than the other characters. While he is not a admirable character by any means, he is quite likable when compared to the corrupt, and hypocritical political system he is fighting. We root for him because he knows who he is and it doesn't bother him. This is also some of the best looking stop motion animation ever made, even today. The characters are real and completely readable though how the look alone. Overall this film is a brilliant work of art that still today remains just as smart, subversive, entertaining, and impressive as it must have been back in 1937.
The next film is one that still survives, yet I have not been able to been able to find. Also from 1937 this film is "The Seven Ravens", from Germany. It was directed by the brother team of Ferdinand Dahl, and Hermann Diehl, and based off the Brothers Grimm tale of the same name. This was released on December 2, 1937, the same month as Snow White, therefore it barely made it on this list.
Great news fellow animation lovers. Twice Upon a Time has been a very hard to find cult classic that has captivated many fans (well of those who have seen it) of animation, film and off-beat humor. However being able to see it is going to become much easier now. Co-director John Korty has announced that it will be released on home video this spring.
Both versions of this movie are going to be released as well. The original version and the 'adult' version. The 'adult' version was made behind Korty's back and features some vulgar ad-libs from the voice actors.
So hopefully with this many other animation fans will see this hilarious off-beat animated comedy, love it, and share it with more animation fans.
The next time William Hanna and Joesph Barbera would get hold of the cat and mouse who first cemented their names in animation history it would work out better. This show was Tom and Jerry Kids and premiered in 1990. Tom and Jerry were once again antagonists. While the violence was heavily toned down from the original shorts it was still there. The slapstick humor could not match that of the classic cartoons, but it still had it's own charm and wit. This show was a kid's show however, and not the all ages entertainment that was the original shorts. That doesn't mean this show would be torture for adults watching (as something like Dora, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse would be), in facts adults can enjoy it, however it is much more entertaining for kids than for adults. This show also featured segments staring another MGM cartoon star Droopy. As much as I love Droopy, these cartoons make you wish his cartoons were still being done by Tex Avery, and his voice was still being done by Bill Thomson (No offense to Don Messick, who was in fact a great voice actor, it just that Bill Thomson was Droopy). The Droopy segment later got it's own spin off called Droopy Master Detective in 1993.
In 1992 Tom and Jerry would make their return to the big screen in a feature length film called Tom and Jerry: The Movie. This film was produced by the company Film Roman, which was founded by animator Phil Roman, who actually worked as an animator on the Chuck Jones era Tom and Jerry. Phil Roman also directed this movie. Film Roman is also the company that bring us The Simpsons. Despite the title, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, the main problem with this film is it is not truly a Tom and Jerry Movie. Of all the revivals of Tom and Jerry, this one bares the least resemblance to the classic cartoons. In this Rescuers-esque plot Tom and Jerry help a little girl find her father, and there is little slapstick humor. This is simply not the movie fans of the cat and mouse wanted for their feature length debut. As a stand alone movie this movie is entertaining but largely forgettable. This was in fact not the first time Tom and Jerry were considered as subjects for a feature. Chuck Jones was going to make one in the 1970's, however he could not find a suitable script.
Although it has often times been called the first animated feature, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs was actually the ninth animated feature. Snow White still remains one of the most important films in animation history, and a true masterpiece. What I am doing here is not trying to take away from the importance of Snow White but rather to call attention to these historically, and often times artistically important films that deserve more attention.
The first two animated features, El Apostol (1917) and Without a Trace (1918) are unfortunately both lost films. Both are from Argentina and directed by Quirino Cristiani. Both films were political satires featuring both traditional and cutout animation. Sadly because these films are lost there is not much more to say about these films. This helps show the importance of film preservation.
In 1926 the earliest existing animated feature film was released, and it is a masterpiece. This is The Adventures of Prince Achmed, directed by Lotte Reiniger. This film was made using silhouette animation, which is animation in which the characters are only visible through black silhouette, in this movie that is accomplished through cardboard cutouts. Collaborating with Lotte Reiniger on this film are Berthold Bartosch (Who in 1932 would make a masterpiece of an animated short called The Idea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ2jRrSb5QA), Carl Kosh (assistant director on 1937's La Grande Illusion), and Walter Ruttman (director of Berlin: Symphony of a Great City and assistant director on Triumph of The Will). This film is a very loose adaptation of 1001 Arabian Knights. The animation still remains quite impressive today, and often times down-right beautiful. The story while fairly simple is engaging and entertaining. This is not just a film to view for historical reasons, but also because it is a very good movie that has held up to the test of time.
The fourth animated feature film is another lost film. This film is Peludópolis. It is another Argentinian film directed by Quirino Cristiani. This film is also another political satire. Released in 1931, this is the first animated feature film with sound.
Today we will look at more uses of classic comedy teams in animation.
If you are a fan of both Hanna-Barbera cartoons and Laurel and Hardy films, Laurel and Hardy Cartoons, should hold an interest for you. This TV series premiered in 1966. Unlike The New Three Stooges, or the Abbott and Costello cartoons, both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had died by the time this TV show was created (Laurel just the year before in fact), so neither of them provided their voices for the show. The voices were provided by Larry Harmon (Stanley) , and Jim MacGeorge (Ollie). Luckily the voices were spot on imitations. While they obviously were not as good as playing Stan and Ollie as Stan and Ollie were, they gave great vocal performances that diehard Laurel and Hardy Fans should still enjoy. It is also well worth noting that Larry Harmon was also the creator of the show. The show was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (for their own studio, Hanna-Barbera). Hanna and Barbera have rightly been called the kings of Saturday morning. In the 1950's and 1960's their company had been putting out the highest quality of TV animation of anyone in America (except maybe the excellent Peanuts TV specials). This cartoon definitely proves that point as this is an expertly made show. This series is also much closer to the original Laurel and Hardy style than Hanna-Barbera's Abbott and Costello show was to Abbott and Costello. The characters are the same Stan and Ollie that Laurel and Hardy fans love from their films. Even with the limited TV-budgeted animation many of their famous facial expressions were captured quite well. So for Hanna-Barbera fans and for Laurel and Hardy fans this show should be a treat, containing just enough of the charm from both to please both sets of fans.
Next comes a cartoon staring Flip the Frog. Flip the Frog was created by Ub Iwerks. Ub Iwerks was as close of a person came to being a partner with Walt Disney. He had in fact co-created Mickey Mouse with Walt. He was one of the great technical innovators in the history of animation, and one of the most talented animators of all time (animating nearly all of the first Mickey Mouse cartoon by himself in a record time). So it seemed natural that when he started his own cartoon studio it would be highly successful. However that was not the case. What Ub had in technical innovation, he lacked in story telling. While many of his studio's cartoons looked great, they were bogged down by boring stories, uninteresting characters and unfunny jokes. Shamus Culhane in his autobiography "Talking Animals and Other People" told a story about how Ub's idea of a joke was having an irregular number of cylinders under a car's hood. The first series to come out from this studio was Flip the Frog. This cartoon was the last cartoon of the series. Ub would later return to Disney, and make some amazing technical advancements, especially in the area of combining animation and live action. This cartoon features caricatures of three Hollywood comedy teams, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, and Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante. Keaton and Durante may not be commonly thought of as a comedy team, but they were paired in quite a few films at this time (unfortunately ones that were pretty sub-par and below both comedians' talents). So from 1933 and directed by Ub Iwerks here is Soda Squirt.
Last for today is a classic Disney cartoon. This one is full of Hollywood caricatures put in positions of classic fairy tale characters. Most of these caricatures are done by a man named T. Hee. T. Hee was a great animator who specialized in celebrity caricatures, and would later work as a writer for UPA. T. Hee had also worked on 6 classic Warner Brothers cartoons, 4 of which are full of celebrity caricatures (The CooCoo Nut Grove, Porky's Road Race, Porky's Romance, Porky's Railroad, Speaking of the Weather, The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos). He was also a writer for Disney's feature films, The Reluctant Dragon, Make Mine Music, and Victory Through Air Power. This cartoon features Laurel and Hardy as Simple Simon and the Pie Man, roles that were considered for the actual Laurel and Hardy in their 1934 film, Babes in Toyland. So from 1938 and directed by Wilfred Jackson, here is Mother Goose Goes Hollywood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2LkRqhp4Zc _Michael J. Ruhland.
In 1975, Tom and Jerry were reunited with their creators, William Hanna and Joesph Barbera. Thiis show was called The Tom and Jerry Show, or The New Tom and Jerry Show. However this reunion was cursed by something called the 1970's. This was not a good decade for television cartoons in America. TV cartoons had now been deemed as strictly children's entertainment, and parents were worried about the violence in cartoons. Why this may have not been a problem for some cartoons, it definitely was not helpful to Tom and Jerry. After all these characters's cartoons elevated cartoon violence to an art form. This was not helped by the way they decided to lessen the violence was to make Tom and Jerry friends. Another problem that plagued the show was TV's limited budget. This meant limited animation, something that worked just fine for Yogi Bear or The Flintstones, but not for pantomime characters such as Tom and Jerry. With all this in mind there still was much of an effort to make these cartoons as good as humanly possible. Therefore they didn't turn out as bad as they could have, but this was still a very disappointing reunion.
If all this doesn't sound bad enough next came the ultimate insult to Tom and Jerry. This was called The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show and premiered on TV in 1980. While on the bright side Tom and Jerry were allowed to be more violent and antagonistic towards each other, that was the only bright side. This TV series was produced by Filmation Studios, who had actually made some very fun and entertaining super hero TV shows(If you haven't yet I recommend checking them out) . The animation in this series was beyond limited. While Hanna and Barbera were able to use limited animation well, and make it part of the charm of their TV shows, here the animation gets no such luxury. The animation looks stiff, unappealing, and cheap. The characters barely move and even more rarely express emotion. The soundtrack was even worse. The music was canned and irritating. On top of that you heard the same irritating musical cues over and over, and the music rarely if ever matched what was going on on the TV screen. The voices felt as if they had been recorded using the cheapest possible technology available. They also were horribly irritating voices as well. Strangely many were done by Frank Welker (Runt on Animaniacs, Nibbler on Futurama, Fred on Scooby Doo) a very talented voice actor who gives some very rare bad performances here (His other voices though should give us more than enough reasons to forgive these very rare misses). This show was an insult to Tom and Jerry and cartoons as a whole, and I feel sorry for all the talent that was wasted (and there was actually some good talent working on this show) on this poor excuse for an animated TV show.
86 years ago today in the Thimble Theater comic strip a famous sailor man introduced himself to the American public. This sailor was of course Popeye the Sailor Man. So from January 17, 1929, here is Popeye's first appearance in comics.
Of course what many of us know Popeye for today is the classic animated cartoons from the Fleshier Brothers. Popeye made his film debut on July 14, 1933. There was not a Popeye film series at this time. When the rights to use the character were purchased, the contract asked for a trail film before a series could begin. So this cartoon is actually a Betty Boop Cartoon. Betty Boop an original character created by animator Grim Natwick for the Fleshier Studio, was the studio's claim to fame at this time, and had been put in some of the funniest cartoons of the 1930's. Betty however only makes a quick cameo appearance in this film though, so it is much like the Popeye series had already begun. The animation of Betty Boop in this cartoon is reused from her previous film Bamboo Isle from 1932. Popeye's voice at this time was done by a radio comedian named William Costello. This would soon change as I will talk about in my introduction to the next cartoon. As was typical of Fleshier films from this era much of the supporting cast are animals. This is of course something that would change in later Popeye cartoons (Yeah this is a Betty Boop, but Popeye played the main role). So from 1933 and directed by Dave Fleshier, here is Popeye The Sailor Man.
William Costello let fame get to his head. Therefore he became a pain to work with by always showing up late for recording, and other unprofessional things. Therefore he was replaced by Jack Mercer, who had done voices for the studio before. Luckily he could do a perfect Popeye impression. Jack Mercer was also a very funny person, he would often times adlib much of Popeye's dialog. Many times these adlibs would be among the funniest parts of the film. Mercer would later write some Popeye cartoons himself. Popeye was such a popular character that the Fleisher's felt his films could sustain an audience's interest for a longer length. Therefore 3 films were made that were 2 reels in length instead of the usual 1 reel. It was even thought about having him play the title role in the feature film Gulliver's Travels. This however never happened but we do have 3 great 2 reel Popeye films. From 1939 and directed by Dave Fleshier, here is Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp.
Although character's from the comics other than Popeye, Bluto, Olive Oil, or Wimpy rarely appeared in these cartoons (Even rarer when Famous Studios did the series), their were occasions when these characters were used. Such an occasion was 1938's Goonland, a wonderful cartoon that makes me wish they would have used these characters more. So from 1938 and directed by Dave Fleshier, here is Goonland.
While The Terry-Toons studio has recived the attention that Disney, Warner Brothers Animation , The Fleshier Brothers Studio, or MGM Animation, they have brought us plenty of very entertaining shorts that deserve a good look. Formed by Paul Terry in 1929 Terry-Toons has given us such characters as Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, Sidney The Elephant, John Doormat, and Gandy Goose.
Paul Terry and much of the Terry-Toons staff began their careers at the Aesop's Fables studio (Whose cartoons bore little to no relation to the Aesop's Fables stories that provided their namesake). These were shorts from the silent era that were very much a part of that time period. The however have oftentimes not dated as well as the Felix The Cat or Out Of The Inkwell shorts from the same time period. They remained silent for a good year after most cartoons had turned to sound. The early Terry-Toons were pretty much Aesop's Fables with some sound added. The cartoons have not adapted to the world of sound yet though, They are essentially silent films with a little bit of sound added. In fact some of them might have even worked better as silent films. These cartoons however do have their own charm. The following film is a perfect example of an early Terry-Toon. This also features the character of Farmer Alfalfa, who Paul Terry created back in back in 1915 for the short Down On The Funny Farm made for The Thanhouser Film Corporation. He carried this character over into his shorts for Aesop's Fables and to his Terry-Toons. The animation on the mermaid was animated by Disney legend Bill Tytla who played an important role in animating the dwarfs for Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, as well as the Night On Bald Mountain sequence in Fantasia. So, from 1933 and directed by Frank Moser here is Tropicial Fish.
Next up is an early cartoon in the career of Terry-Toons most famous star, Mighty Mouse(His 3rd cartoon in fact). Here though he is called Super Mouse as he was in his first 7 films. The name was later changed because there was a comic character called Super Mouse at this time and Paul Terry decided that it would not be right to compete with a character with the same name, You can easily see the changes in the style of Terry-Toons that occurred between this cartoon and the last film. This cartoon has stood the test of time better (not that the last one was bad by any means). So From 1943 and directed by Eddie Donnelly, here is He Dood It Again.
Last for today is one of the best and most creative Terry-Toons, The Magic Pencil. This Cartoon stars Gandy Goose and Sourpuss, Terry-Toons was found of giving their characters voices of popular actors of their day. These voices were not done by the actors themselves but were of course intimations. Gandy Goose was given an Ed Wynn voice, and Sourpuss was given a Jimmy Durante voice. Gandy's voice was supplied by Arthur Kay, and I do not know who did Sourpuss' voice. This cartoon was directed by Voleny White, who was an animator for some classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies as well as a director for Terry-Toons. So from 1940 and directed by Voleny White here is The Magic Pencil.
The next cartoon of the censored 11 is one of the great Hollywood musical films. The great musical performance of "Swing For Sale", written by Saul Chaplin and Sammy Chan and proformed here by The Four Blackbirds and Danny Webb rivals performances from any of the other great Hollywood musicals of the 1930's. This film is another classic from animation legend Friz Freling. Freling excelled at musical cartoons and even after the obligatory song numbers were no longer a mandatory part of the Merrie Melodies series he continued using music heavily in his films. Scenes from this film were later reused in the cartoon "Have You Got an Castles" directed by Frank Tashlin. However that cartoon was not included in the censored 11, and is readily available on DVD. So from 1937 and directed by Friz Freling here is, Clean Pastures.
Up next is a cartoon from another animation legend Tex Avery. Tex Avery had redefined the sense of humor and the style of story telling of Warner Brothers cartoons. Up until he came to Warners their cartoons had been very similar to those of Disney. This is not to say they weren't good (or even great) cartoons but the sense of originality that would later define them was missing. Although this is far from one of his best films at Warners it shows his style. Tex would make some of the funniest cartoons ever made both at Warners and MGM, and would play an important role in the creation of Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, and Droopy. So from 1937 and directed by Tex Avery, here is Uncle Tom's Bungalow.
In 1968 United Artists decided to pull 11 classic Warner Brothers cartoons from distribution to both TV and Home Video. These 11 cartoons were pulled because they were deemed too racially offensive to a modern audience. However these cartoons are an important part of film history and therefore world history. Therefore this author feels these films should not be banned, because our history should not be banned from us.
Our first film is the only one, on the list, released during the Harmon and Ising era of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. As I have mentioned in previous posts at this time Hugh Harmon was directing the Looney Tunes, and Rudolph Ising was directing the Merrie Melodies. This is one of Rudolph Ising's Merrie Melodies. This was the fifth Merrie Melody, and at this time Ising was trying to come up with staring characters for his Merrie Melodies. This idea though he soon abandoned and for a little while Merrie Melodies featured no starring characters. The character who stars in this cartoon is Piggy. Piggy had no personality to speak of, but in spite of that this cartoon remains quite entertaining. This film is also the only black and white cartoon from the censored 11. Those familiar with Disney cartoons will automatically notice similarities between this cartoon and the Silly Symphony, The Skelton Dance. However don't be too harsh on Rudolph Ising, at this time everyone in the animation business was coping Disney in at least some way. So from 1931 and directed by Rudolph Ising, here is Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land.
Next comes a great musical cartoon from animation legend Friz Freling. The 1930's Merrie Melodies usually featured a musical number. At this time as well The Merrie Melodies were in color while Looney Tunes were in black and white. Later the musical numbers would be dropped for the most part, Looney Tunes would be in color, recurring characters would appear in Merrie Melodies (the same ones that appeared in Looney Tunes), and there would no longer be a difference between Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. However this is a great peak at what Merrie Melodies were like at this time. So from 1936 and directed by Friz Freling, here is Sunday Go to' Meeting Time.
