All of us are familiar with Disney's Aladdin, but there are a surprising number of other cartoons based on similar premises.
Background on the Tales One Thousand and One Arabian Nights is one of the world's most famous collections of fairytales and folktales. It is also one of the oldest literary works. Although the story was originally published in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age, many of the stories are far older and originate from not only Arabian countries but also Egyptian, Indian and Mesopotamian cultures. The stories first became popular in the Western world after their publication into French in the early 1700s by Antoine Galland. English translations soon followed, becoming increasingly common during the 1800s. Translations have continued to be made and revised up into recent years, as scholars endlessly debate about the accuracy of their sources and interpretations. (Earlier translations made during the Victorian era tended to cut out certain stories or aspects due to their depiction of violence and sex. Not all of these stories were originally intended for children. Pretty much the same thing could be said about Grimm's Fairytales.)
For those unfamiliar with One Thousand and One Nights's basic premise, it is a frame story. Everyday the king Shahryar takes a new bride only to behead her by the next day, and then takes another. (Shahryar holds a grudge after finding out his first wife was unfaithful to him.) Eventually the vizier can no longer find any more virgin brides for the king. The vizier's daughter, Scheherazade, offers herself to be the next bride, and the vizier reluctantly agrees. Later that night after the marriage, Scheherazade begins to tell Shahryar a fantastical story. The story does not end and segues into another tale. The king becomes curious about how the tale concludes, so he postpones his bride's execution. This continues to be repeat until one thousand and one nights have passed and Scheherazade has run out of stories to tell. However, Shahryar has fallen in love with Scheherazade over the course of almost three years. So Scheherazade's life is spared and she becomes queen.
An illustration of Scheherazade and Shahryar by Edmund Dulac.
Most of the stories that Scheherazade tells are highly fantastical, involving various heroes journeying to far off lands in search of love or warriors fighting against fearsome monsters. Arguably, the most famous of these stories are Sinbad the Sailor, Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Adaptations based upon these tales range from classical pieces to role playing games. (So many works have been influenced by these tales that they even have their own Wikipedia page!) Naturally, One Thousand and One Nights has been adapted numerous times into film as well, perhaps most famously by The Thief of Baghdad (both the 1924 and the 1940 versions) and the 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). The number of animated films adapted from One Thousand and One Nights is quite high as well. The stories provide a perfect vehicle for the medium given how imaginative and other worldly they are.
A brief synopsis and review for The Thief of Baghdad (1940).
During the 1930s, animation began to evolve as artists gained more experience and companies were allowed to make cartoons on a larger budget as the medium continued to grow in popularity. With the adoption of the Technicolor process in the earlier half of the decade, Walt Disney decided to push for more realism in the medium of animation, which had practically been unseen since the earlier work of Winsor McCay. His studio was thus the first to abandon the weightless, 'more cartoony' style of rubber hose and adopted several technical innovations to allow for a sense of realism (i.e.: the multiplane camera, detailed backgrounds, refinement of the studio system). Other companies soon followed, some reluctantly, others shamelessly copying in order to survive. As a backlash to the Disney style, 'wise-guy' and wacky, slapstick cartoons also became common, such as Looney Tunes's Daffy Duck and Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker. Short comedic cartoons were also common outside of Disney due to the financial risks that other companies faced in making feature length animated productions.
Disney Leads the Way
"The Tortoise and the Hare" (1935), was made only a year after "The Goddess of Spring," but is far superior technically and story-wise.
While Disney's Mickey Mouse shorts became hugely popular due to their use of sound, his Silly Symphonies series had a harder time standing out as they did not feature a consistent cast of characters, each installment being based on a different popular story or folktale. In order to garner more viewers (and to deal with the loss of animator Ub Iwerks), the company bought out the exclusive rights to have their cartoons filmed in Technicolor for several years. Disney's decision proved to be a wise won, as their first three-strip Technicolor short, "Flowers and Trees"(1932), won the first ever Academy Award for a Animated Short Subject. The use of color added a splash of realism unseen in any productions before. This pushed the company to begin focusing on more believable character animation. "The Three Little Pigs" (1933) put great emphasis on creating distinct personalities and featured heavy use of character interaction through dialogue, which no doubt contributed to its off the charts popularity. Equally important was "The Goddess of Spring" (1934), Disney's first, if rather awkward, attempt at realistic human animation. Within a year, Disney had improved their draftsmanship drastically. So much that the short, "The Tortoise and The Hare"(1935) was practically not rubber hose anymore! Perhaps the best Silly Symphony short that demonstrates this is "The Old Mill" (1937), which made great use of the multiplane camera to create a sense of depth and further believability of the cartoon's environment. Animation at Disney had become fully evolved and was ready for its next stage, feature film.
"The Pointer" (1939) marks the first appearance of Mickey's 'modern' design.
Although animated films had been made before, none of them had been made by a major Hollywood studio or filmed in color. At Hollywood, many believed that no one would be able to sit through a long cartoon, as it was thought that audiences would grow bored of slapstick gags and get annoyed with the lack of realism. So when Walt Disney announced that his studio was going to produce a film based on the fairytale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, critics dismissed it, stating that Snow White would ruin his career and dubbed the film, "Disney's Folly." Fortunately the critics proved wrong. When the movie premiered in 1937, after three long years in production, it was widely praised for its marriage of cartoon physics and realism. Snow White proved that animation could be used to tackle a wider range of subjects than previously thought and set the trend for all other animated features to follow. Disney's projects then became even more ambitious. Pinocchio (1940) refined everything that was done previously in Snow White. Pinocchio is definitely a stronger film: its animation still holds up remarkably will today, it featured a more complex plot, and it is widely considered to be one of the company's finest productions. Within the same year, Fantasia was released. It experimented with a wide range of animation styles and artistic influences, separated by different musical interludes. Unfortunately, neither of the two films did very well financially due to the outbreak of WWII. Thus Bambi (1942), was the last true feature length animated film released by Disney up until 1950.
A Trailer for Pinocchio (1940).
And Others Follow
In order to stay competitive we must copy Disney!
Disney's success certainly did not go unnoticed by other studios. After the Silly Symphony shorts started to become commercially and critically successful, many companies began to put out their own suspiciously similar cartoons. Ub Iwerks, after leaving Disney for personal reasons, produced his Comicolor Cartoons from 1933 to 1936, which, while bland, did have artistic merit. Van Beuren, however, was largely ignored for its Rainbow Parade Cartoons (1934-1936), which largely came off as blunt Disney ripoffs and made a rather disappointing attempt to revive Felix the Cat. Harman and Ising perhaps made the most expertly crafted cartoons outside of Disney after leaving WB. Their Happy Harmonies(1934-1938) failed to be successful, but still have small sect of appreciative fans to this day. The Fleischer Brothers were reluctant to enter the 'Silly Symphony' fray, but did so with their Color Classics (1934-1941) due to executive meddling. Columbia Pictures is perhaps the most forgotten Disney imitator, as their Color Rhapsodies (1934-1939) tended to be very low budget, and the company lacked any longtime talented directors.
Of course, not all cartoon series released at the time outright copied Disney. However, every animation studio did begin to train their staff to animate more realistically and abandon rubber hose principles. An excellent example of this would be the artistic evolution that took place in Porky Pig's Looney Tunes shorts. Early on, his appearances were marked with less articulated character movements. Porky was initially a very fat young child, not the slimmer adult pig that he later became known as. His redesign increased the character's appeal and believability. Because Porky debuted in 1935, his cartoons rapidly dropped the physics associated with rubber hose, but still utilized exaggerated movements for humorous effects. Another example of a character's evolution towards 'realism' would be the Walter Lantz version of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Lantz first redesigned Oswald to be cuter, have more detailed attire, and a personality more in line with that of Mickey Mouse. By the 1940s, the rabbit became completely unlike his former self. He was aged down considerably, lost his black and white color scheme associated with the outdated rubber hose style, and drawn with consideration to realistic weight and proportions.
Walter Lantz's Oswald from the mid-1930s.
A more rabbit-like Oswald from the early 1940s.
Resistance to the Movement & The Screwballs Emerge
Popeye refuses to be like one of those 'bland Mickey cartoons' !
Not every animation studio was quick to abandon the wackiness of rubber hose, in favor of the 'cutesy,' detailed style embraced by Disney. Ub Iwerks did adopt color for his Comicolor Cartoons and pioneer the usage of the multiplane camera (which Disney later adopted). However, the characters in his shorts retained their exaggerated yet simplistic style, and the cartoons themselves were less sentimental and idealistic than Disney's Silly Symphonies were. The Fleisher Brothers held out longer than Iwerks did. Even though they abandoned Betty Boop after the implantation of the Hayes Box Office Code, the company kept making Popeye shorts which continued to perfect its own brand of rubber hose. Likewise, Fleisher's Superman series (1941-1942), while certainly different from Popeye, approached animation with a more graphical style than Disney, focusing more on fast paced action and drama. On the other hand, Looney Tunes began to increasingly refuse to make Disney clones. Instead, they opted for cartoons focusing on slapstick, parodying the cute animal character archetype common at the time. Daffy Duck (1937), Bugs Bunny (1940), and Bob Clampett's early incarnation of Tweety Bird (1942) all followed this trend.
"I'm wooking for wabbits."
Other companies soon did the same due to WB's success with zany and smart aleck funny animals. After leaving for MGM, Tex Avery gave us Screwy Squirrel (1944), a short lived, literally 'nuts' character who frequently messed with his antagonists' (and the audiences') minds when he broke the fourth wall. Avery also made many one shot cartoons, most notably "Blitz Wolf" (1942), which was a parody of Disney's "Three Little Pigs" and the war against Nazi Germany, and "Red Hot Riding Hood" (1943), which similarly parodied fairytale cartoons popular at the time by updating one for modern audiences. Avery's only consistent recurring character was Droopy Dog (1943), whom Avery loved to use to contrast deadpan humor with other worldly gags. Also at MGM, William Hannah and Joe Barbara created their comedic duo, Tom and Jerry, who first appeared in the 1940 short, "Puss Gets the Boot." Walter Lantz likewise replaced his cute star, Andy Panda, with the zany Woody Pecker, who debuted in "Knock Knock" (1940). Columbia also jumped on the bandwagon when they hired a Warner Brothers employ, Frank Tashlin, to create The Fox and the Crow in 1941. Even Terrytoons, the "Woolworth's of animation," managed to create a few icons such as Mighty Mouse (who started out as a funny animal parody of Superman), and Heckle and Jeckle, two wise cracking magpies.
Tex Avery was the opposite of Disney: wacky, over the top, and sometimes sensual.
What Happened to the Feature Film Outside of Disney?
Why was this film the last major American animated film to be released outside of Disney for many years?
Back in the late 1930s, the only animation studio rivaling the power of Disney was Fleischer Studios. Once Disney met great success with the release of Snow White, Fleischer decided that it had enough resources and the capabilities to do the same. Fleischer first released three Technicolor Popeye Specials between 1936 to 1939, each running around 15 to 20 minutes. The specials had elaborate animation and gorgeous backgrounds that where at the level of what Disney produced at the same time. The experience gained allowed Fleischer to produce its first true animated feature, Gulliver's Travels (1939). Gulliver proved to be financially successful even though it relied very heavily on the use of the rotoscope in order to animate its lead. Encouraged by their success and nomination for two Academy Awards, the Fleischer Brothers put out a second feature in 1941. Mr. Bug Goes to Town is now generally recognized as being the stronger film. It had the artistic merit equal to any of Disney's features, relied far less on the rotoscope, and had an original storyline to boot. Sadly, Mr. Bug proved to be the death knell of the studio despite all of it improvements over Gulliver.It was released two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. This led to the film being a financial disaster and the rest of its market was cut off overseas. Fleischer Studios could not deal with the debt and thus was shut down. It was bought out by Paramount and then replaced with the lower budget Famous Studios in 1942.
Before the tragedy of Fleischer Studios, several other animation companies considered making feature films. However, they became too scared after what happened to Fleischer, many had to deal with impending production costs, and their was that little issue called WWII. (The later resulted in many propaganda cartoons being made up until 1945.) Thus, competing studios adapted by making more anarchic/humor based shorts than Disney. To say that American cartoons during the 1940s-50s were nonexistent in feature film outside of Disney is not entirely correct though. Popular characters from short subjects did make the occasional cameo in live-action film (in a similar manner to Disney's Song of the South [1946]). Jerry made a memorable appearance when he danced with Gene Kelly in Anchors Awiegh (1945), and would later appear alongside Tom in Dangerous When Wet (1953). Bugs Bunny similarly popped up in a dream sequence in Two Guys from Texas (1948) and in the following year in My Dream is Yoursalongside Tweety Bird. Woody Woodpecker appeared in cartoon within Destination Moon (1950) due to producer George Pal being a friend of Walter Lantz.
Most non-Disney cartoons were reduced to cameos in feature film.
The only exception to this rule during the early 1950s was the stop-motion feature Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy (1954) which remains little known today, and sort of a cult oddity. Non-Disney American animated movies did not really start to appear again until 1959 (with the release of the Mister Magoo film, 1001 Arabian Nights)and did not really become common until the 1980s-90s (thanks to Don Bluth and the Animation Renaissance). Foreign features were slightly more common. China garnered much attention with Princess Iron Fan (1941), which while technically simplistic compared to American features of the time, greatly influenced future anime directors. Several European features were made as well, such as: Tintin's The Crab with the Golden Claws (Belgium, 1947), The King and the Mockingbird (France, 1952), Animal Farm (Britain, 1954), and The Snow Queen (Russia, 1957). It is also worth noting that Japan released its first significant animated production, Hakujaden, during this period in 1958, hinting at the country's future in the industry.
Overseas, a few quality animated films were made during the 1940s-50s.
What is rubber hose? Oswald the Lucky Rabbit will demonstrate for us.
The first standardized animation style to be adopted by Hollywood studios is still quite recognizable today. Rubber hose animation refers to the bouncy, rubbery way that characters were animated primarily in American cartoons during the 1920s to approximately the mid-1930s. It was not only adopted for its efficiency, but also to avoid the issue of stiffness. These cartoons featured stars with noodly limbs having little to no articulation. They had many sight gags and frequently utilized surreal plot lines. Several of these early cartoons had a good dose of adult humor (i.e: prohibition and sex jokes, mild profanity) as the Hayes Box Office Code was not fully adopted until the later half of the 1930s. Theatrical cartoons were not originally intended just for childern. Sound rubber hose cartoons also were commonly synchronized with popular music of the time. Although most were produced in black and white to keep down production costs, color began to be used in animation beginning in 1930 with the Flip the Frog short, "Fiddlesticks." It became standard by the end of the 1930s as rubber hose gave way to realism.
The Cat That Kept on Walking
Perhaps the first cartoon series to popularize the rubber hose style, was Felix the Cat, created by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer. Debuting in 1919 in the short "Feline Follies", Felix was the biggest cartoon star of the silent era. The character's happy-go-lucky but short tempered personality, ability to use his wits (or magical tail) to get himself out of difficult situations, and fourth-wall jokes made him a hot commodity. So hot, in fact, that other funny animal characters modeled after him became the norm. Felix eventually became overshadowed by other series, however, due to difficulties switching over to sound. By 1930, audiences had moved on. Felix, however, would arise to popularity again when he was re-invented (made more 'kid friendly') for TV audiences in 1959. The cat may be a former shadow of his glory days, but still regularly appears on merchandising.
In 'Feline Follies' Felix is far more angular. He was designed to be cuter and easier to draw by Bill Nolan in the mid-1920s.
Some sketches of Felix's later design.
The Fleischer Brothers
Another major Hollywood player was Fleischer Studios. Although the company eventually went under due to financial troubles in the early 1940s, its importance to the animation industry can not be stated enough. The two Fleischer brothers, Max and Dave, made their first big break with the character Koko the Clown in their Out of the Inkwell series (1918-1924), which was notable for its very surreal humor (which became pretty much a norm for all rubber hose Fleisher productions) and use of the rotoscope. The Fleischers were also among the first of animation studios to experiment with musical interludes in their Song Car-tunes and Screen Songs (1924-1929), and invented the 'follow the bouncing ball' technique.
The company's first major sound cartoon character was Bimbo the Dog (1930), a rather foolish character who often wound up in bizarre or life threatening situations and had a weakness for attractive women. Speaking of which, Bimbo would quickly become eclipsed by his girlfriend, Betty Boop, who was modeled off of the popular flapper persona of the time. After Betty Boop's cartoons were forced to tone down their innuendos and humor by the Hayes Code, she in turn was eclipsed by another star: Popeye the Sailor, who first appeared as a guest character in 1934. In this regard, Fleischer Studios was rather unique, as their biggest stars were not funny animals, but human characters.
Betty Boop and Bimbo in 'Snow White' (1933). It's perhaps the best example of how bizarrely creative rubber hose animation could be at times.
"I yam what I yam."
Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks
Walt Disney and his partner Ub Iwerks first entered the animation business in 1921 when they opened their Laugh-O-Grams Studio located in Kansas City. However after facing financial difficulties, the two men left for Hollywood. Here Disney and Iwerks continued to produce their successful shorts, The Alice Comedies until 1927, which featured the adventures of a live-action girl (portrayed by Virginia Davis) in 'Cartoon-land.' Alice was then replaced by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who proved to be even more successful, but Disney lost the rights to the character after less than a year, due to conflicting interests with producer Charles Mintz.
Neither of the men were discouraged. Iwerks drew up Mickey Mouse for Walt, and Disney decided to synchronize the third Mickey cartoon with sound (Steamboat Willie, 1928) and let's just say the rest is history. Shortly after, Disney began producing Silly Symphonies, which relied less on dialogue and more on musical interludes to tell various stories, many of which were based off of popular childern's stories or fairytales. The Silly Symphonies were stand alone shorts and became the first major Hollywood cartoons to utilize Technicolor beginning in 1932, with "Flowers and Trees".
Disney may have lost his rabbit, but his mouse ended up doing better anyway.
Ub Iwerks's 'Hell's Bells' (1929) shows how Disney mastered synchronizing sound to its cartoons.
However, Ub Iwerks would later leave Disney for a period of time, due to conflicting interests with Walt and feeling overburdened with work. On his own, Ub was less successful, but still managed to produce some memorable series, such as Flip the Frog (1930-1933) and Willie Whooper (1933-1934). Ultimately, Iwerks lost finical support and did contract work for other studios before making amends with Walt and returning to Disney. To this day, Iwerks remains largely overlooked for his enormous contributions to animation.
Ub Iwerks's expresses his dissatisfaction at Disney in this drawing.
Oswald, Walter Lantz, & Charles Mintz
Meanwhile...what happened to Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit? Charles Mintz ultimately ended up handing over the character to Walter Lantz at Universal Studios. Walter Lantz long had been in the animation industry, beginning in 1924 when he made his half cartoon / live-action Dinky Doodle series at Bray Studios. Lantz's Oswald, by Mintz's demand, was far more cheaply produced than Disney's version. Initially, Lantz put Bill Nolan in charge of the Oswald shorts. Nolan's Oswald was the most surreal version of the character and also included a young Tex Avery on its staff. After his Pooch the Pupfailed to garner audience's attention, Lantz would take over the Oswald series himself. Lantz's version of Oswald changed the character even further from his original incarnation. The rabbit largely lost his mischievous streak, was aged down, and given a more childlike persona.
Walter Lantz's 'cuter' version of Oswald.
Charles Mintz likewise went on to produce several series for Columbia Pictures before he passed away in 1940. Although not the first to adapt the comic-strip character Krazy Kat to animated form (there were numerous earlier attempts), Mintz's version is perhaps the best known. Mintz inherited Krazy Kat's film rights from Winkler Pictures in 1929. His Krazy Kat was the first to utilize sound and ran for ten years, but was criticized for being to much like Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse, and unlike the original strips. Mintz also hired three former Fleshier animators (Sid Marcus, Art Davis, and Dick Huemer) in 1930. The first project given to the men was to create another funny animal character. Toby the Pup was the ill-fated result. The series only generated 13 shorts, half of which are lost today. Perhaps, this was because Toby failed to stand out from the crowd, resembling Fleischer's Bimbo, and even starring in a cartoon suspiciously similar to Disney's Steamboat Willie. However, Toby's cartoons were expertly crafted and are highly sought out by collectors today. Fortunately, the threesome did manage to hit the nail with their next project, Scrappy, which managed to run for just as long as the Krazy Kat cartoons. Scrappy, although largely forgotten today, was rather unlike any other popular cartoon series of the 1930s in a few ways. Instead of an animal, its star was an average human boy. (Well, average expect for the fact Scrappy had a massive head.) Scrappy was frequently about Great Depression related problems, but put in a humorous light. Likewise, his cartoons were one of the very few series made at the time that focused on a child's perspective of the world.
The first and most famous Scrappy short, "Yelp Wanted" (1931).
Warner Brothers Gets Looney
When most people think of Looney Tunes, they think of the likes of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Tweety Bird. However, the series's history goes all the way back to 1929. After seeing the success of Disney and others, Warner Brothers decided that they should jump into the fray and use animation as a way to promote their musical library. The company hired the duo Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising, who formally worked for Disney and Mintz, to create them a star to rival the fame of funny animals belonging to other companies. Harman and Ising went the other route at first, with Bosko, a caricature of an African American boy. Although Bosko may not be very politically correct in some regards today, he was a generally positive character who was capable of solving his own problems. (Harman and Ising also replaced his stereotypical 'blackface' voice, with a falsetto one in later cartoons). Bosko's series was so popular that his creators quickly abandoned their Mickey look-alike, Foxy, after only three cartoons. Harman and Ising's other, less frequently featured characters created for Warner Bros were Piggy (a short lived replacement for Foxy), and the one-shots, Goopy Gear and Freddy the Freshman.
Bosko was Warner Brother's first cartoon hit.
Unfortunately, for the rest of the Warner Brothers staff, Harman and Ising left the company in 1933 and took the rights of Bosko with them. After a dispute over budget costs with Leon Schlesinger, the two left for MGM. The company attempted to deal with their major loss in the meantime by producing cartoons staring Buddy up until 1935. Buddy was basically a bland, whitewashed version of Bosko and is largely forgotten today. After Buddy failed to appease audiences, long time employee Friz Freleng directed the cartoon, "I Haven't Got a Hat." It introduced the studio's meant-to-be new star, Beans the Cat. However, a certain stuttering pig stole the show, and Beans was retired after only nine cartoons. The pig's name? Porky, of course.
Paul Terry and Van Beuren
Paul Terry had a very long career in animation, spanning from 1915 all the way up to 1955. Like many early animators, Terry began work as a newspaper cartoonist, and became inspired to bring his work to life after seeing Winsor McCay's "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1914). In 1916, he was offered a job at the Bray Studios, were many of the other people in this article also began their careers. Here, Terry created his most enduring character, Farmer Al Falfa, a cranky and bumbling old man, who often fell victim to ridicule of the antics of barnyard animals or while trying to impress women. Terry's early work was of exceptional quality for its time. He pioneered the usage of cels in order to speed up production and keep costs down, and even a young Walt Disney admired his work.
However, Terry was unhappy with his tenure at Bray Studios and left after producing only 11 cartoons. In 1920, he entered a partnership with Amadee J. Van Beuren. Here the two began a series called, Aesop's Film Fables, which stared Farmer Al Alfa and a wide menagerie of cartoon animals. Initially, each cartoon would end with a moral that often had little to do with the rest of the film (which became sort of a running joke). While the series was popular early on, the production costs of the studio began to slide and Terry's work began to look less refined in comparison to other cartoons of the period. In 1928 Terry directed "Dinner Time", the first sound cartoon, released a month before Disney's "Steamboat Willie." However, "Dinner Time" was widely dismissed by critics (and Disney himself) due to its cruder animation and poorly synchronized sound. Ultimately, Terry and Van Beuren split their relations in 1929 and Terry would go on to create cheaply produced, but often fondly remembered series such as Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle.
The sad thing about Paul Terry is that he made high quality shorts early on, but then resorted to producing cheaper cartoons in order to survive.
On its own, Van Beuren Studios did not last as long. The first series the studio made stared Waffles the Cat and Don the Dog, who came off as generic funny animals, with little personality of their own, and acted as vehicles to take the audiences on odd adventures to far off lands. They were quickly replaced by Tom and Jerry(1931-1933), which tended to come off as a low budget version of Bray Studio's earlier Mutt and Jeff cartoons (1916-1925). Pretty soon, Van Beuren realized that in order to stay competitive, they would have to increase the quality of their cartoons. Eventually, Cubby Bear (1933-1934) emerged as the company's new star, before he too was replaced in order to make way for Hollywood's newest novelty, color cartoons. This reflects American animation's next phase: an age of 'Technicolor Realism' pioneered by Disney.
Although a bit of a Mickey Mouse ripoff, Cubby Bear was definitely an improvement over Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry (No not the more famous cat and mouse duo.)
Not all cartoons are instant hits. For certain reasons, some characters fade into the obscurity of time. During the Golden Age of Animation (1930 - early 1960s), theatrical shorts featuring funny animals were all the craze. Several later-to-be-famous animators initially had trouble standing out of the crowd or establishing successful series. Below are five cartoon characters that never managed to be widely successful, but are never the less important to the history of animation.
1. Foxy (1931, 3 shorts)
It's Mickey and Minnie Mouse! ....No, wait.
Early on, the Looney Tunes had a hard time competing with the likes of Disney and the Fleisher Brothers. Their first mildly successful star was Bosko, who is rarely seen today due to being a caricature of an African American boy. He was created primarily to showcase popular songs in the Warner Bros. library, and to be animated in synchronization to the music.
In 1931, ex-Disney animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising drew up a new potential star, Foxy. The series's first cartoon, "Lady Play Your Mandolin", was the first cartoon in the Merrie Melodies canon. Foxy and his girlfriend looked almost identical to Mickey and Minnie Mouse, save for their bushy tails and pointed ears. Foxy was far more boisterous than Mickey however. He had a noticeably deeper voice and was shorter tempered. His second cartoon "Smile Darn Ya Smile" is notable for having its theme tune featured in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). Foxy's last cartoon, "One More Time", was his best. It featured an original story with Foxy as a traffic cop in a crime ridden city.
Just smile, dagnabbit!
Foxy was retired in less than a year. His failure to be unique enough from other cartoons at the time taught Warner Bros an important lesson: Don't copy other companies if you want to stand out. He was later replaced by Porky Pig (1935), and other more popular Looney Tunes characters soon followed. Foxy and Roxy would later appear, along with Goopy Geer, as guest stars in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode, "Two Tone Town", in 1992. They also acted as the basis for the main characters in the Animaniacs (1993).
2. Pooch the Pup (1932 - 1933, 13 shorts)
This was the cartoon that was meant to save Lantz's studio.
Walter Lantz is best remembered today for Woody Woodpecker and Chilly Willy. His studio at Universal was actually established many years earlier, in 1929, when he inherited Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks) from Charles Mintz. While Oswald continued to be successful enough to keep Lantz's staff busy, Walter wanted to create his own original character in hopes of striking gold. Thus, he put Bill Nolan in charge of the Oswald cartoons and began to direct a new series, Pooch the Pup.
Pooch the Pup did not have too much personality of his own. He was sort of the everyman character common at the time, acting as a vehicle for sight gags and Hollywood parodies. Pooch's appearance would change drastically over his ill fated career, perhaps in an attempt to try to save the character. In his earlier cartoons, Pooch was depicted as a small white terrier. Lantz would later redraw him to be more generic, resembling his own Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and, even more so, Fleischer Studios's Bimbo. Currently, only two of his cartoons have been released on video so far, "King Klunk" and "She Done Him Right", making him practically invisible to audiences today. Although Pooch never became popular, Lantz and his crew (including a young Tex Avery) gained valuable experience while working on the series and would move on to create bigger, better things.
Pooch's best known cartoon is a parody of King Kong.
3. Gabby Goat (1937, 3 shorts)
Porky Pig's original comedic foil.
As mentioned earlier, Porky Pig was Warner Brother's first run away hit cartoon character. In 1937, Bob Clampett created Porky a sidekick for the cartoon "Porky and Gabby" (which is notable for being directed by Ub Iwerks). Gabby Goat, voiced by storyboard artist Cal Howard, was a very temperamental and grumpy character whose personality constantly clashed with Porky's mild manners. Despite his constant complaining about others, Gabby proved to be very incompetent, often causing his own problems. Gabby's second cartoon, "Porky's Bedtime Story", was the first Looney Tunes short to be directed by Clampett and was successful enough to be remade in 1944, as "Tick Tock Tuckered" (with Daffy Duck instead of Gabby). Gabby's final appearance was in "Get Quick Rich Porky", although it was originally planned for him to appear in "Porky's Party" (1938).
Gabby's last cartoon.
Gabby Goat was scrapped because audiences failed to find him funny. Some were even offended by his abrasive nature. Daffy Duck was used as his replacement and would later go on to become Bugs Bunny's rival. Apparently, Gabby is rumored to be returning on The Looney Tunes Show, but that is yet to be confirmed.
4. The Fox and the Crow (1941 - 1950, 24 shorts)
An uppity Englishman encounters a smart arse con artist. What could possibly go wrong?
Not many people remember Columbia's Screen Gems cartoons, which is understandable because many of them were very bland and low budget in comparison to the output of other studios from the same time. However, Frank Tashlin managed to give the studio its saving grace. He created Fauntleroy Fox and Crawford Crow as a comedic duo for the cartoon, "The Fox and The Sour Grapes". The short proved to very successful, so much so in fact, that the Fox and the Crow soon became Columbia's biggest stars. Animator Chuck Jones was particularly impressed. He used the short as an inspiration for his Roadrunner and Willie Coyote cartoons. The fox's hellbent intent to steal the grapes and his wacky schemes certainly reflected in the coyote's personality. The short was also one of the first to use creative blackout gags.
Tashlin's "The Fox and the Sour Grapes."
The next twenty shorts, while somewhat variable in quality, managed to be entertaining enough. (Perhaps this was because Tashlin did not return to direct, leaving Bob Wickersham mostly at helm.) The series's strength came from its leads with opposing personalities. While Fauntleroy remained as gullible and cheerful as ever, his refined personality could just as easily break down into maniac rage after being pestered by Crawford. Crawford Crow would not always win in every cartoon, though, which made the the series very funny and unpredictable. Arguably, the best cartoons from this point of the characters's career were "Woodsman Spare the Tree" (1942), "Room and Board" (1944), and "Unsure Runts" (1946).
Yet, the success of The Fox and the Crow was not enough to save the Screen Gems cartoons. Eventually, the studio was shut down in 1946 and Columbia replaced it with a new studio established by Disney strikers, UPA. The Fox and the Crow was handed over to UPA in order to test its abilities. UPA took the bold approach of using stylized, limited animated animation contrasted with detailed backgrounds for their cartoons, launching the 'cartoon modern' era, which remains influential to this day. Long-time veteran John Hubley directed all three The Fox and the Crow shorts that UPA produced for Columbia, "Robin Hoodlum" (1948), "The Magic Fluke" (1949)", and "Punchy de Leon" (1950). UPA's venture proved to be fruitful. Their first two The Fox and the Crow shorts were even nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short. However, the duo was ultimately abandoned by UPA, in favor of using their own non-antromorpic characters. The Fox and the Crow was left to the comic book realm, were it persisted for several more years, until 1968. Truly it is a shame that these short lived but very influential cartoons remain rather obscure to the general public today and all have yet to be been released to home video.
Hubley's "Punchy de Leon."
5. Screwy Squirrel (1944 - 1946, 5 shorts)
He's the nuttiest cartoon character ever created!
After co-creating Bugs Bunny and making several other contributions to Warner Brothers, Tex Avery left the company in 1942 establishing his own cartoon studio at MGM. He made several innovative one shot cartoons characterized by positively zany, fast-paced humor, some of which would probably alarm more conservative parents today. He meet his biggest success with the cartoon, "Red Hot Riding Hood" (whose protagonist would later be the model for Jessica Rabbit), and his Droopy Dog series, notable for its deadpan witticism. In hopes of replicating his success with wacky cartoon animals like he did at Warner Brothers, Avery came up with the idea of a literally insane character for the cartoon "Screwball Squirrel."
Screwy Squirrel was about the most anti-Disney a cartoon could get in the early 1940s. Screwy was loud, brash, and could be quite violent at times. He often antagonized Meathead and other dogs with little to no provocation. In his debut, he even beats up a stereotypically cute squirrel, stating to the audience, "You wouldn't have liked that cartoon anyway." Screwy was often very unpredictable and frequently broke through the fourth wall. In "Happy-Go-Nutty," Screwy's cell door is left open and he walks out, looking around the mental ward. However, he then closes the door and saws his way out. For his last three cartoons, "Big Heel-Watha", "The Screwy Truant" and "Lonesome Lenny," the squirrel was redesigned to look even goofier and given a more lanky appearance. The later was particularly notable for being a parody of George and Lenny, from Of Mice and Men. It also ended with the implication that Screwy was crushed to death by the dull witted dog based off Lenny. ("I used to have a little friend, but he don't move no more.")
Screwy Squirrel being, well, screwy.
Screwy Squirrel was killed off as joke, because Avery apparently wasn't that fond of him. He was ultimately abandoned in favor of Avery's other, slightly more sane characters. However, Screwy has gained somewhat of a cult following recently. This is likely due to changing tastes in humor over the years and the fact that the character's cartoons played frequently on Cartoon Network for a while. As an April Fool's Day joke in 1997, Cartoon Network even ran the short, "Happy-Go-Nutty," twenty-four seven. Screwy was also mentioned in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and acted as a template for the character Slappy Squirrel on the Animaniacs.
Animation's history spans over one hundred years. People have long been fascinated by the illusion of movement. Many film enthusiasts are aware of this history and can name several innovative breakthroughs (like the development of the zoetrope, cels, xerography, and CGI). Even the average person is aware of influential works such as Steamboat Willie (1928), Snow White (1937), Astro Boy (1963), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), and Toy Story (1995). Yet, there are many works that are just as historically important which are often sorely overlooked. Below, listed in chronological order, are just a few of such animations from various countries over the years.
1. Koko the Clown (1918-1929): Early Usage of the Rotoscope and Revolutionizing Animation
A typical Koko cartoon.
Koko was the first cartoon star of the Fleischer Studios (famous for Popeye, Betty Boop, etc). These cartoons were among some of the first to use animated characters interacting with live action actors. Max Fleischer himself, would often appear at the start of the shorts and draw Koko and his dog sidekick, Fitz, into being. Often Koko and his dog would get into trouble, go on adventures in far away lands, or play a prank on their creator. The series was also the first to use the technique of rotoscoping, the tracing of live action footage, for more realistic human animation. Like many of the early animated shorts of the time period, the setting was often very surreal and made heavy use of sight gags.
Koko was popular enough to star in a second series, "Song Car-tunes" in 1924. This series was the first to use the famous 'follow the bouncing ball' sing-along technique. Koko would later make appearances in a few Betty Boop cartoons, most notably in "Snow White" (1933) and "Ha Ha" (1934). The cartoon above is "Koko's Earth Control" (1928).
2. The Films of Ladislas Starevich: The Father of Stop-Motion Animation
One of the most overlooked animated films ever made.
Ladislas Starevich was a true pioneer in stop-motion animation. His style has been hugely influential on many directors such as Tim Burton and Terry Gilman. Starevich's attention to detail, social commentary, bizarre visuals, and fantastical plots inspired an entire generation of animators.
Born to Polish parents in Russia, Starevich had a passion for studying zoology. In 1910, he was named director of the Museum of Natural History in Kovno, Lithuania. Because he was unable to naturally photograph the lives of certain species of insects, Starevich began creating puppet animations using dead insects. His first film, The Beautiful Lukanida (1910) was the first ever to use puppet animation. He gradually started to make films with plots and relatable characters, such as The Cameraman's Revenge (1912) and The Insects Christmas (1913).
After WWI, Starevich moved to France. Here he began to create films utilizing sound and actual puppets (not insects). Two of his most acclaimed works were The Mascot (1934) and The Tale of the Fox (1937). The Mascot was an half an hour short starring Duffy, a small stuffed dog, who must retrieve an orange for a sick girl and winds up at a devil's ball. The short was successful enough to be followed by three films about Duffy.
The Tale of the Fox was Starevich's masterpiece. It was the sixth animated film ever made and the second to utilize puppets and sound (the first being The New Gulliver [1935]), beating out Snow White by eight months. It's sophisticated use of motion-blur techniques and heavy use of dialogue made The Fox a true landmark in film. The plot of the film involves a wily fox who must be trialled before the King for his constant pranks. Below is a small clip from The Tale of Fox featuring the Queen being wooed by a minstrel cat.
The animation is utterly amazing to this day.
3. Claude the Cat & Hubie and Bertie (1943 - 1951): The Cartoon Series That Broke the 'Disney' Mold.
Claude, the world's most neurotic cat.
This cartoon series marked the turning point in Chuck Jones career. Most of Jones's cartoons and other Looney Tunes of the the 1930s and early 1940s were far more 'cutesy' in nature (save for the occasional wild card by Bob Clampett). Jones shorts, in particular, would tend to come across as Disney-like. For instance, his first cartoon star, Sniffles the Mouse, was a naive and sweet character who would later fad into obscurity, in favor of more funny slapstick characters.
While Jones's early shorts were praised for their elaborate animation, audiences found them very generic. Thus, Jones created the short, "The Dover Boys" (1942), the cartoon that taught him how to be funny. While "The Dover Boys" is well remembered by animation fans today, many overlook Jones's equally important cartoon series featuring Claude the Cat and Hubie and Bertie. The series was short lasting, but very important in forming the trademark Looney Tunes style. It was one of the first series to be purposely funny, rather than cute. It was the polar opposite of typical Disney shorts. Fast paced action, physical humor, and over the top gags hence forth became associated with Looney Tunes.
The largest impact that Claude and Hubie and Bertie had on Jones was it defined his great usage of characterization. Each personality in this series is distinctively defined and believable. Claude is a cowardly and nervous, extremely sensitive to his surrounding and a pill popper. He would much rather spend most of his day sleeping without worries. However, Claude is constantly tormented by two mice, Hubie and Bertie, who try to move into his home. Hubie is the smarter of the two and comes up with schemes to fool Claude or take advantage of his fearful nature. Bertie is....not. Even though Claude is the antagonist, the audience often ends up feeling sorry for him, yet cannot help laughing at the antics of two mice.
4. Rooty Toot Toot (1952): Pioneering Limited Animation and a Bold New Style
UPA at its best.
John Hubley was an animator who formally worked at Disney. After seeing the Russian animated feature, The Tale of Czar Durandai (1934), he became inspired by its unique art style. Hubley then left Disney during The Animator's Strike of 1941. He then helped found the studio UPA (United Productions of America), famous for pioneering limited animation and cartoons such as Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing.
Hubley's "Rooty Toot Toot" best exhibits UPA's motto of 'less is more.' Each scene has a distinctive color scheme to emphasize the mood. The drawings are stylized and simple but manage to convey each character's personalities perfectly. The plot is more 'adult' than what many people think of when it comes to cartoons. (Actually, many theatrical cartoons were for more mature audiences. It wasn't until the arrival of television and parental watchdogs overacting that cartoons were deemed 'kid's stuff.') "Rooty Toot Toot" is a courtroom drama retelling the song, "Frankie and Johnny." Frankie is on trial for shooting her lover, Johnny, who was with another woman. She is defended by the lawyer 'Honest' John. With it's jazzy soundtrack, unconventional storyline, and black humor, "Rooty Toot Toot" is a truly inspired piece of cinema.
"Frankie and Johnny were sweethearts..."
5. The King and the Mockingbird (1952 - 1980): Animation as a Moving Art
A classic in French cinema.
Paul Grimault was to France what Walt Disney was to American animation. But unlike Walt, Grimault's films tended to be far more lyrical in style, satirical, and contained little to no dialogue, being primarily a visual experience. His unique style has influenced countless contemporary French animators (most notably Sylvain Chomet), and Japanese animators Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. He tended to animate simplistic yet appealing drawn characters contrasted with elaborately detailed backgrounds. Grimault's works also contained social commentary and moral issues, proving that animation can be enjoyed by any person, of any age. Early on in his career, Grimault made many widely acclaimed shorts, including The Scarecrow (1943) and The Little Solider (1947).
In the 1948, Grimault began to work on his planned masterpiece, the feature length The King and the Mockingbird (Le Roi et l'osiseau). However, Grimault lost control of the film and it was shown, incomplete and against his will in 1952. It wasn't until 1967 that Grimault got his film back, and not until 1980 that it was finally released as originally intended! (Barely beating out the time The Thief and the Cobbler's production took!)
The King and the Mockingbird is a fascinating film. Loosely based off of the fairytale The Shepherdess and The Chimney Sweep, it is the story of a very egotistic king and his rivalry with a mockingbird (who is upset with the King for shooting his wife). The King is a lonely and ugly man who finds comfort in creating large monuments of himself and is love with a painting of a shepherdess. One night, the paintings of the Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep come to life and escape. They are then pursued by the painting version of the King (who disposed the real king) and are aided by the Mockingbird. This film is a work of art and gives insight on both sides of human nature. It is absolutely criminal that the completed version was never released in the US. All we have is a worn-out public domain copy of the 1952 version.
