Color Classics was an animated short subjects series produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies. The bouncing ball animation (below consists of these 6 frames Short subject is a format description originally coined in the North American Film industry in the early period of cinema. Fleischer Studios Inc is an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City New York. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and Distribution company, based in Hollywood California. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter Silly Symphonies is a series of Animated Short subjects 75 in total produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939 As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color, with the first entry in the series, Poor Cinderella, being the first color cartoon produced by the Fleischer studio. There were 36 films produced in this series.
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History
The first Color Classic was photographed in the two-color Cinecolor process. Cinecolor was an early Subtractive color -model two color Film process based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor The rest of the 1934 and 1935 cartoons where shot in two-strip Technicolor, because the Disney studio had an exclusive agreement with Technicolor that prevented other studios from using the lucrative three-strip process. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation That exclusive contract expired at the end of 1935, and the 1936 Color Classic cartoon Somewhere in Dreamland became the first Fleischer cartoon produced in three-strip Technicolor. [1]
While they are sometimes considered by film historians to be pale Silly Symphonies knock-offs[2], many of the Color Classics are still highly regarded today,[3] including Somewhere in Dreamland (1936), the Hunky and Spunky (1938), and Small Fry (1939). Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The first film in the series, Poor Cinderella, featured Betty Boop (with red hair and turquoise eyes); future films were usually one-shot cartoons with no starring characters. Poor Cinderella is a 1934 Fleischer Studio Animated short film featuring Betty Boop. Betty Boop is an animated Cartoon character appearing in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop series of films produced by Red is any of a number of similar Colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of Light discernible by the human eye in the wavelength Turquoise is an opaque blue-to-green Mineral that is a hydrous Phosphate of Copper and Aluminium, with the Chemical Two color classics - Educated Fish (1937) and Hunky and Spunky - were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons); both lost to Disney shorts. The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year
Many of the Color Classics entries make prominent use of Max Fleischer's Setback (or Tabeltop) invention, a device which allowed animation cels to be photographed against 3D background sets instead of the traditional paintings. Max Fleischer ( July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972) was an important Austrian American pioneer in the development of the Poor Cinderella, Somewhere in Dreamland, and Christmas Comes But Once a Year (starring Betty Boop character Grampy) all make prominent use of the technique. Christmas Comes But Once a Year is a 1936 Max Fleischer Cartoon, featuring Grampy from the Betty Boop cartoons Grampy is an animated Cartoon character appearing in the Betty Boop series of films produced by Max Fleischer and Disney's competing apparatus, the multiplane camera, would not be completed until 1937, three years after the Setback's first use. [4]
The Color Classics series ended in 1941 with Vitamin Hay, starring Hunky and Spunky. In its place, Fleischer began producing Technicolor cartoons starring Gabby, the town crier from the 1939 Fleischer/Paramount feature film Gulliver's Travels. Gabby was a Max Fleischer animated Cartoon series distributed through Paramount Pictures. Gulliver's Travels is a 1939 Academy Award nominated cel-animated Technicolor Feature film, directed by Dave Fleischer
Later statuses of films
In 1955, Paramount sold all rights to the Color Classics cartoons to television distributor U.M.&M. T.V. Corp. U. UM&M TV Corp is best known as the original purchaser of Paramount Pictures ' pre-1951 shorts and cartoons (excluding Popeye and Superman) M. &M. altered the original opening credits sequences for some of the films, to remove all references to the names "Paramount Pictures" and "Technicolor", and to add their own copyright notices. Before the retitling could be finished, U. M. &M. was bought out by National Telefilm Associates (NTA). Instead of refilming the openings, NTA obscured the references to the Paramount and Technicolor names by placing black bars over the original title cards and copyright notices. Only a few Color Classics, among them, had their title cards redone by U. M. &M. , among them Play Safe, Christmas Comes But Once a Year, Bunny Mooning, Little Lambkins, and Vitamin Hay.
NTA distributed the Color Classics to television, yet allowed the copyrights to lapse on all of the films except Tears of an Onion. Many public domain video distributors have released TV prints of Color Classics shorts on home video. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone The UCLA Film and Television Archive has, through the assistance of Republic Pictures (successor company to U. Republic Pictures (also known as Republic Entertainment Inc) is an independent film television and video distribution company that was originally a movie production-distribution M. &M. and NTA), retained original theatrical copies of all of the films, which have periodically been shown in revival film houses and on cable television.
Ironically, original distributor Paramount has, through their 1999 acquisition of Republic, regained rights to the Color Classics, including owning what survives of the original elements. Lions Gate Home Entertainment (licensee for Republic, and who currently holds home video rights) has announced no plans to release the Color Classics officially to DVD. Lionsgate Home Entertainment is the home Video and DVD distribution arm of the Canadian-based Lions Gate Entertainment.
In 2003, animation archivist Jerry Beck conceived a definitive DVD box set of all the Color Classics, and tried to enlist Republic Pictures' help in releasing this set. Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is a well known animation historian with ten books and numerous articles to his After being turned down, Kit Parker Films (in association with VCI Entertainment) stepped in to provide the best available 35mm and 16mm prints of the Color Classics from Parker's archives to create the box set Somewhere In Dreamland: The Max Fleischer Color Cartoons. These "interim restored versions" contain digitally recreated Paramount titles; the U. M. &M. -modified prints had to have their title cards as well as their animator credits redone. Tears of an Onion was not included in the set, as it remains under copyright. [5]
Filmography
All cartoons released in 1934 and 1935 were produced in two-strip Technicolor except Poor Cinderella, produced in Cinecolor. Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation Cinecolor was an early Subtractive color -model two color Film process based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor All shorts from Somewhere in Dreamland on where produced in three-strip Technicolor.
| Film | Characters | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| Poor Cinderella | Betty Boop/Cinderella, Stepsisters, Prince, Fairy Godmother | August 3, 1934 |
| Little Dutch Mill | Hans, Gretel, Duck, Miser, Townspeople | October 26, 1934 |
| An Elephant Never Forgets | Animal Children, Duck Teacher | December 28, 1934 |
| The Song of the Birds | Little Boy, Baby Bird, Robins | March 1, 1935 |
| The Kids in the Shoe | The Woman in the Shoe, Kids | May 19, 1935 |
| Dancing on the Moon | Animal Newlywed Couples | July 12, 1935 |
| Time for Love | Swans | September 6, 1935 |
| Musical Memories | Old Man, Old Woman | November 8, 1935 |
| Somewhere in Dreamland | Boy, Girl, Mother, Three Merchants | January 17, 1936 |
| The Little Stranger | Mother Duck and ducklings, baby chick | March 13, 1936 |
| Cobweb Hotel | Newlywed flies, spider hotel owner | May 15, 1936 |
| Greedy Humpty Dumpty | Humpty Dumpty, Mother Goose | July 10, 1936 |
| Hawaiian Birds | Hawaiian Birds, Big City Orioles | August 28, 1936 |
| Play Safe | Boy, Dog | October 16, 1936 |
| Christmas Comes But Once a Year | Grampy, Orphans | December 4, 1936 |
| Bunny Mooning | Jack Rabbit, Jill Rabbit | February 12, 1937 |
| Chicken a La King | Rooster, Chickens, Duckie Wuckie | April 16, 1937 |
| A Car-Tune Portrait | Band Leader, Other Animals | June 26, 1937 |
| Peeping Penguins | Penguins, Mother | August 26, 1937 |
| Educated Fish | Tommy Cod | October 29, 1937 |
| Little Lamby | Little Lamby, Fox, Sheep | |
| The Tears of an Onion | Onion, Vegetable Children, Crow | February 26, 1938 |
| Hold It! | Kittens, Dog | April 29, 1938 |
| Hunky And Spunky | Hunky, Spunky, Miner | June 24, 1938 |
| All's Fair At The Fair | Elmer, Mirandy, Dogbiscuit | August 26, 1938 |
| The Playful Polar Bears | Mother Bear, Bear Cub, Other Polar Bears | October 28, 1938 |
| Always Kickin' | Spunky, Baby Bird, Hawk | January 29, 1939 |
| Small Fry | Tommy Cod | April 21, 1939 |
| The Barnyard Brat | Hunky, Spunky, Other Farm Animals | June 30, 1939 |
| The Fresh Vegetable Mystery | Carrots, Potato-Cops, Orange, Egg | September 29, 1939 |
| Little Lambkins | Boy, Animals, Father, Mother | February 2, 1940 |
| Ants in the Plants | Anteater, Ants | March 15, 1940 |
| A Kick in Time | Hunky, Spunky | May 17, 1940 |
| Snubbed By a Snob | Hunky, Spunky, Two Racehorses, Bull | July 19, 1940 |
| You Can't Shoe a Horse Fly | Hunky, Spunky, Horsefly | August 23, 1940 |
| Vitamin Hay | Hunky, Spunky | August 22, 1941 |
Notes
- ^ Maltin, Leonard. Poor Cinderella is a 1934 Fleischer Studio Animated short film featuring Betty Boop. Betty Boop is an animated Cartoon character appearing in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop series of films produced by Cinderella ( French: Cendrillon, Slovak: Popoluška, German: Aschenputtel, Spanish: Cenicienta Events 8 - Roman Empire General Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1065 - Westminster Abbey is Consecrated. 1308 - The reign of Emperor Hanazono, Emperor of Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. "There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe" is a popular Nursery rhyme. Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 3114 BC - According to the Proleptic Julian calendar the current era in the Maya Long Count Calendar started Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla. 1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the Papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes but also limits the Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Humpty Dumpty is a character in a Nursery rhyme typically portrayed as an egg. Mother Goose is a well-known figure in the Literature of Fairy tales and Nursery rhymes Mother Goose is best known in the United States, in the Events 48 BC - Battle of Dyrrhachium, Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 475 - The Roman General Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his Capital Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Grampy is an animated Cartoon character appearing in the Betty Boop series of films produced by Max Fleischer and "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hunky and Spunky is a 1938 Animated short film part of the Color Classics series produced by Fleischer Studios and Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 711 - Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by their king Roderic. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring on the feast day of Vulcan the Roman god of fire Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 392 - Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Of Mice and Magic, p. 114
- ^ Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic, p. 114
- ^ Treadway , Bill (2003). Review for Somewhere in Dreamland: The Max Fleischer Color Classics DVD. DVD Verdict. Retrieved from http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/somewhereindreamland.php on August 16, 2006.
- ^ Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic, p. 114
- ^ Treadway , Bill. Review for Somewhere in Dreamland DVD.
References
- Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516729-5.
- Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. Leonard Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American Film critic and Film Historian. 1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
External links
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