After talking in detail about cartoons from the Golden Age of Animation from the great Studios (Disney, Warner Bros’, MGM, Fleischer), Yesterday’s Joe is back with his favourite animated clips by… the rest. These will be kind of throwaway posts, but nonetheless there’s a few interesting things to be found. First up is Charles Mintz’s animation studio, later named Screen Gems.
Mintz/Screen Gems
A few months before his death in 1939, Charles Mintz sold the studio to Columbia Pictures and the studio was renamed Screen Gems. Columbia hired away some directors and producers from other studios: first Frank Tashlin and John Hubley from Disney, later Dave Fleischer (1942) and in 1946, Bob Clampett. By now you should know all these names. You’re all taking notes, right? The Color Rhapsodies continued until 1949. Tashlin introduced The Fox and the Crow, Screen Gems’ biggest stars.
Color Rhapsodies – Horse on the Merry-go-round, 1938
The Color Rhapsodies were still a high quality cartoon series, occasionally setting itself apart from its contemporaries with attention to detail and highly stylized backgrounds.
Color Rhapsodies – Midnight Frolics, 1938
The Fox and the Crow – The Fox and the Sour Grapes, 1941
First episode of these two popular characters. Nothing special, but pretty good.
Color Rhapsodies – Professor Tall and Mr. Small, 1943
A rare weird looking one, featuring a wacky Hitler. Not coincidentally: made by John Hubley, who left Disney unhappy with the constraints of their realistic style of animation.
Color Rhapsody – The Rocky Road to Ruin, 1943
Art by John Hubley again. You can tell this is a guy who has a whole other idea of what animation could be. He felt that animation did not have to be painstakingly realistic imitation of real life. The animation here is very limited, but perhaps more effective than what animation has generally evolved to.
Phantasies – The Vitamin G-man, 1943
Here’s a rare combination. Produced by Dave Fleischer, who had just left his own studio and directed by John Hubley. As to be expected, it’s weird as hell and the style and art carry more weight than the actual animation.
Phantasies – Willoughby’s Magic Hat, 1943
Not sure, but I suspect the same criminals at work here. Sorry, can’t find an English one.
The Fox and the Crow – Foxy Flatfoots, 1946
Bad video quality, but looks like one of the better Fox and the Crow ones.
This was a quicky. Another one coming soon!
Next up: UPA’s limited animation – Golden Age of Animation
Previous Posts:
Early stages of animation: 1920-1937 – The rise of cartoons
Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) – Golden Age of Animation
Disney’s Pinocchio (1940) – Golden Age of Animation
Disney’s Fantasia (1940) – Golden Age of Animation
Disney’s Dumbo (1941) vs. Bambi (1942) – Golden Age of Animation
Disney Cartoons 1937-1949 – Golden Age of Animation
Warner Bros’ Cartoons 1937-1949 – Golden Age of Animation
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoons 1937-1949 – Golden Age of Animation
Fleischer/Famous Studios Cartoons 1937-1949 – Golden Age of Animation
