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This is an article about the U. S. animation studio. See Bray Studios (UK) for the studio where many Hammer Horror films were created. Bray Studios is a film and television studio next to the River Thames at Water Oakley in the Civil parish of Bray, near Windsor in Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom.

Bray Productions was the dominant animation studio based in the United States in the years before World War I. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

Contents

History

The studio was founded in December of 1914 by J. R. Bray, perhaps the first studio entirely devoted to animation, and series animation at that (he was probably beaten a few months earlier by Raoul Barré's studio). Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year John Randolph Bray ( 25 August 1879, Detroit - 10 October 1978, Bridgeport Connecticut) produced the first Animation The bouncing ball animation (below consists of these 6 frames Barré Studio was in all probability the first film studio dedicated to animation (the rival for this honor is Bray Productions) Its first series was Bray's Heeza Liar, but from the beginning the studio brought in outsiders to direct promising new series. Carl Anderson, later known for the comic strip Henry, directed The Police Dog from the beginning of the company. A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a Comics artist The year 1915 brought Earl Hurd and Paul Terry; the former became J. The year 1915 in film involved some significant events Events June 18: The Motion Picture Directors Association (MPDA was formed by Earl Hurd ( September 14 1880 &ndash September 28 1940) was a pioneering American Animator and Film director Paul Terry may refer to Paul Terry (cartoonist (1887&ndash1971 American founder of Terrytoons Paul Terry (footballer R. Bray's business partner and directed Bobby Bumps, the latter was employed under duress and directed Farmer Al Falfa. Bobby Bumps was the titular character of a series of silent Animated Short subjects produced by Bray Productions from 1915 to 1923 The Fleischer brothers joined in 1916. Max Fleischer ( July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972) was an important Austrian American pioneer in the development of the The year 1916 in film involved some significant events Events October 17 - A Daughter of the Gods released - first US production with In 1919, the rival International Film Service studio folded and owner William Randolph Hearst licensed Bray to continue the IFS series, leading most of the staff of the former studio to transfer to Bray. The year 1919 in film involved some significant events Events February 5 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas International Film Service was an American Animation studio created to exploit the popularity of the Comic strips controlled by William Randolph Hearst For other people named William Randolph Hearst see William Randolph Hearst (disambiguation William Randolph Hearst I (April 29 1863 &ndash Most of these new cartoons were directed by the same man who directed them for IFS, Gregory La Cava. The word cartoon has various meanings based on several very different forms of Visual art and Illustration. Gregory La Cava ( March 10, 1892 &ndash March 1, 1952) was an American Film director best known for his films of the 1930s

Bray's goal was to have four units working on four cartoons at any one time; since it took a month to complete a film, four units with staggered schedules produced one cartoon a week for use of the "screen magazines" (a one-reel collection of live-action didactic pieces and travelogs in addition to the cartoon, that was played before the feature). Bray started with Pathé as his distributor, switched to Paramount in 1916, and then switched to Goldwyn Pictures in 1919. This article deals with the Pathé movie company For their music business see Pathé Records. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and Distribution company, based in Hollywood California. Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American Motion picture production company founded in 1916 by Samuel Gelbfisz in partnership with Broadway Of the units, one produced his Colonel Heeza Liar, one produced Hurd's Bobby Bumps, and one produced non-series cartoons, usually topical commentaries on the news directed by Leighton Budd, J. D. Leventhal, and others. The fourth unit was the one that kept changing hands. It produced Terry's Farmer Al Falfa in 1916, until Terry left. It then produced Max Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell until 1921, when he left. Out of the Inkwell was a major animated series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1919 to 1929 Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar The influx of IFS series at the same time broke up the four-unit system--in 1920 there were ten series going simultaneously, with Heeza Liar in hiatus from 1917. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar

Bray was constantly looking to expand his studio. He financed the semi-independent studio of C. Allen Gilbert to create a series of serious Silhouette Fantasies on classical themes (he actually did some of the animation work for this series). Charles Allan Gilbert (1873-1929 was a US artist and illustrator In 1917 he bought out his distributor's screen magazine to produce one of his own, moving him into the realm of live-action shorts producer. The year 1917 in film involved some significant events Events Foundation of Universum Film AG (UƒA as a propaganda film company in Berlin During World War I, he assigned Leventhal and Max Fleischer's units to create training and educational cartoons for the U.S. Army. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. These did so well that after the war Bray was swamped with orders from the government and big business to make films for them. Over a period of years, Bray moved the focus of his company from entertainment to education, putting Leventhal and E. Dean Parmelee in change of the technical department. Dr. Rowland Rogers became educational director, while Jamison "Jam" Handy was put in charge of a Chicago-Detroit branch for creating films for the auto industry, Bray's largest private client. Henry Jamison "Jam" Handy ( March 6, 1886 &ndash November 13, 1983) was an Olympic Breaststroke Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States.

The 1919 move from Paramount to Goldwyn also included a re-incorporation of the studio, now called Bray Pictures Corporation. The year 1919 in film involved some significant events Events February 5 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas The studio was putting out more than three reels of screen magazines, the educational and training films, and experimental films such as an unnamed sound-on-film cartoon by Hugo Riesenfeld. Sound-on-film refers to a class of Sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film usually but not always the same Hugo Riesenfeld ( &ndash) was a pioneering Austrian-American film composer as well as Violinist and conductor. The Debut of Thomas Cat, the first cartoon made in color (althought some claim the first animated short was made by Natural Colour Kinematograph Company, which was In Gollywog Land (1912, UK), a stop motion film in Kinemacolor who also contained live action[1]) -- Brewster Color, invented by Percy Brewster of Newark, New Jersey -- was released on February 8, 1920. Stop motion (or frame-by-frame) animation is an Animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own Kinemacolor was the first successful colour Motion picture process used commercially from 1908 to 1914 Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, United States and the County seat of Essex County. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar

The expenses quickly outweighed the revenue, and in January 1920, Samuel Goldwyn bought a controlling interest in Bray Pictures and ordered a massive reorganization. Samuel Goldwyn ( ca. July 1879 &ndash 31 January 1974) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning producer Max Fleischer and J. D. Leventhal's positions as executive producers of the entertainment and technical branches of the studio were greatly strengthened, and the company was streamlined to work more like Goldwyn Picture Corporation, with two cartoons released a week. Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American Motion picture production company founded in 1916 by Samuel Gelbfisz in partnership with Broadway The result was a massive exodus of talent, including Max Fleischer and even Earl Hurd. Goldwyn dropped Bray Pictures like a hot potato. In the wake of this disaster, first Vernon Stallings, then Walter Lantz, was put in charge of Bray's entertainment cartoons. Walter Benjamin Lantz ( April 27 1899 &ndash March 22 1994) was an American Cartoonist and Animator, best Stallings directed Krazy Kat and the revival of Heeza Liar, while Lantz directed Dinky Doodle. Krazy Kat is a Comic strip created by George Herriman that appeared in U Dinky Doodle was a cartoon character produced by Bray Productions in 1916 and is considered to be one of the first cartoon characters ever made Among the big names who passed through the studio were Wallace Carlson, Milt Gross, Frank Moser, Burt Gillett, Grim Natwick, Raoul Barré, Pat Sullivan, Jack King, David Hand, Clyde Geronimi and Shamus Culhane. Milt Gross ( March 4, 1895 &ndash November 29, 1953) was an American Comic strip and Comic book writer Burton F Gillett ( October 15, 1891 - December 28, 1971) was a director of animated films. Myron "Grim" Natwick ( August 16 1890 – October 7 1990) was an American Animator and Film director Raoul Barré ( January 29, 1874 - May 21, 1932) was a Canadian and American Cartoonist, Animator of Pat Sullivan or Patrick Sullivan may be Pat Sullivan (film producer Pat Sullivan (American football Pat Jack King (1895-1958 was an American animator best known for his work at Walt Disney Productions. Clyde "Gerry" Geronimi ( June 12 1901 - April 24 1989) was an Italian - American Animation director. James "Shamus" Culhane ( November 12, 1908 — February 2, 1996) was an American Animator, Film director, and

J. R. Bray paid little attention to the animation side of things during the 1920s, focusing instead on beating Hal Roach as the king of two-reel comedy, with the disastrous series "The McDougall Alley Kids". The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr ( January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and When this adventure failed, he slipped out of the business. The entertainment branch of Bray Pictures Corporation closed. The educational/commercial branch, Brayco, made mostly filmstrips from the 1920s until it closed in 1963. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Jam Handy's offshoot company (The Jam Handy Organization) made several thousand industrial and sponsored films and tens of thousands of filmstrips, many for the automobile industry, until it closed in 1983.

In evaluating the quality of the Bray product, there is a strong conflict between the cheap cost-cutting exemplified in the business practices of J. R. Bray contrasted with the equally-strong artistic sensibilities of the directors Bray hired, most of whom quit rather than bend to the pressure to cheapen their product. The success of Bray Productions, driven entirely on assembly-line methods, simultaneously guaranteed the survival of animated films in general and at the same time doomed them to near-extinction by the end of the silent film era.

Series produced by Bray Productions

Staff

Distributors

References

External links

William Wadsworth Hodkinson ( August 16, 1881 &mdash June 2, 1971) known more commonly as W Bold text The Big Cartoon DataBase ( BCDB) is an online database of information about Animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated
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