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 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.
-Michael J. Ruhland
