Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Cartoon History: Real Human Girl Inserted Into Silent Vintage Cartoon 1925 ... " No Way"

You thought Michael Jordan was a slam dunk

inserted into a cartoon with "Space Jam" 1996🏀. But in 1920 Walt Disney ingeniously came up with a cartoon short named "Alice Comedies". This young real girl was inserted into a cartoon animated world with Julius the cat... he looked like a version of Felix the cat to me. This was Walt Disney's first successes. The history of this cartoon series goes a little like this. Four actresses actually played Alice; Virginia Davis was the first, followed by Dawn O'Day, Margie Gay, Lois Hardwick. Alice wonders into a cartoon studio and looks at how cartoons are made, all of a sudden that night she begins to dream about the characters she saw in the studio. She sees herself inside the cartoon with all the animated characters and begins to play with them. This cartoon short and others.... I believe 26 of them, became the stage for what was to become Alice Comedies. Eventually the Alice series became some cartoon and non-cartoon characters with real people, but I'm not sure when it converted over. I'll leave a link here to help better explain the timeline of the short series' rather than my short version of this. And also, Alice eventually became "Alice In Wonderland" But I'm only here to talk about the animation cartoon version of this history./ BJ🙈🙉🙊

I have a couple of animated cartoon versions of "Alice" on the side bar.

Friday, December 24, 2021

Vintage Cartoon History: "Amos n' Andy" Animation

Remember the "Amos n' Andy" Show? but I bet you didn't know about the two cartoons that Van Beuren Studios made about the famous radio and tv series. January 12, 1926, A two-man comedy radio show “Sam ‘n’ Henry” debuts on Chicago’s WGN radio station. Two years later, it changed its name to “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” the show became one of the most famous radio programs in American history. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio show was created, written and voiced by two White actors, "Freeman Gosden" and "Charles Correll", who played Amos Jones (Gosden) and Andrew Hogg Brown (Correll). Black actors "Alvin Childress" and "Spencer Williams" took over the roles of Gosden and Carrell, the show was the first TV series to feature an all-Black cast and the only one of its kind for the next 20 years. This did not stop African American advocacy groups and eventually the (NAACP) from denouncing both the radio and tv series version. These protests led to the tv show’s series cancellation in 1953. But you say..."What about the animation cartoons"? Well, there is very little history surrounding the animated cartoons but here is what I could only round up. Van Beuren Studios produce two animated cartoons of the famous radio show in 1933 and 1934..."The Lion Tamer" and "The Rasslin Match". Both cartoon shorts were short lived, but in my in my opinion, it was because Van Beuren Studios closed shortly thereafter (1936) and the cartoons did not fare well. George Stallings was the animator assigned to these cartoons. George Vernon Stallings (No Pic) September 9, 1891 – April 9, 1963, was an American animation director and writer. He started working for Bray Productions in 1916 where he directed the "Colonel Heeza Liar" series of shorts, and the "Krazy Kat" shorts. He invented "the animation disk placed in the center of the drawing board" in the 20s. Its primary use by 1930 was as an aid in inking cels. He then worked for Van Beuren Studios from 1931 through 1934.
If you have any more history on these animated cartoon shorts or a picture of George Stallings, let me know. I have one of the cartoons on this blog below.

Enjoy ! /BJ 🙈🙉🙊

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Dynamic Duo "Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising" Animated Cartoon History

In 1927, Harman and Ising were still operating for the Walter Disney Studios on a series of live-action animated short subjects called the Alice Comedies. The 2 animators created Bosko in 1928, a not so racist black cartoon which was pretty funny,to take advantage of the new "talkie" craze, that was sweeping the film industry. They began planning and creating a sound cartoon with Bosko in 1928, before their departure from Walt Disney. Hugh Harman created drawings of the new character and registered it with the copyright workplace in 1928. "Bosco" the character was registered as a "Negro male boy" underneath the name of Bosko.

Hugh Harman and Rudolf Carl "Rudy" Ising, were both born the same month and year, August 1903. Harman died 1982 and Ising died in 1992. The dynamic duo were former film maker employees, getting their begin on series such as the "Newman Laugh O Grams", the "Alice Comedies" and "Assassin the Lucky Rabbit", helping to jump-start the Warner Bros. Cartoon Studio in 1929, which they helped get MGM' animation department off the ground also. They were conjointly the creators of Bosko, the "Talk-Ink kid", and Foxy, and also MGM' Happy Harmonies, the "Barney Bear" shorts, and much of one shot shorts, along side the associate degreeti-war short "Peace on Earth". They definitely had a significant role in shaping the events of The Golden Age of Animation. They moved around a bit from Disney to VanBuren Studio to Warner Bros. and their own studio then back to Disney, that jumping around just probably meant they were good at what they do ! At least that's what I think ! but I wasn't even born yet ! (my 2Cents worth). BJ

Saturday, December 18, 2021

The Rich Short History Of "Rainbow Parade Cartoons" 1934-1936

This is rich animated cartoons at it's best short lived, in my opinion.
Many of the Rainbow Parade cartoons were one-shot stories, but several of the films featured, Parrottville Parrots, Molly Moo-Cow, Toonerville Folks, and Felix The Cat. Commonwealth Pictures bought the Cartoons in 1941 and was later played on television. In 2021, Thunderbean Animation in association with Blackhawk films and UCLA released a collection of the first 13 Rainbow Parade cartoons from the existing master materials, updating them from 2009.

Rainbow Parade was a medley of 26 animated cartoons produced by Van Beuren Studio and dispersed to playhouses by RKO between 1934 and 1936. They were all-color medley of cartoons and the final series produced by Van Beuren Studios.

Rainbow Parade (1934-1936), which featured new cartoon characters, Molly Moo Cow, and older ones, namely Felix the Cat, and Toonerville Trolley. This was the first of Van Beuren’s series and people fail in love with the animation which achieved both recognition and success. Also, this series is considered by many writers and scholars to bring the most sophisticated and visually creative cartoons out of all Van Beuren shorts. Despite the success that Van Beuren Studios started to achieve with its series, RKO Radio Pictures studio’s distributor, decided in 1936 not to distribute Rainbow Parade Cartoons anymore, and as a result ended distributing for Van Beuren’s shorts.

Van Beuren was unable to find another distributor and was forced to close the studio in the same year. The Van Beuren cartoons were sold to Officials Films, and Commonwealth Pictures. They changed the names of some of the characters and shorts and sold them for television release and home-movie distribution.

Monday, December 13, 2021

Meet: Tyrus Wong..First Asian Cartoon Animator/ Disney

Talking about a true artist legend you might not heard about, Tyrus Wong was definitely that hands down.

Tyrus Wong (October 25, 1910 –-- December 30, 2016) was a Chinese-born American artist who lived to be 106 years of age. As a kid, Wong immigrated to America with his dad, leaving his mom and sister. Wong’s skill and interest in art emerged at an early age and his dad motivated it by having him practice calligraphy on newspaper.Tyrus participated in the Otis Art Institute on a complete scholarship, Wong worked as a janitor at Otis College. He walked for miles to attend classes. He graduated from Otis in 1930 and began working at Disney as a inbetweener. When pre-production started on “ Bambi", Wong painted several small images of a deer in a forest that captured Walt Disney attention. Those sketches became the basis for the style of the movie.

One Important Note :In the years that followed, he endured poverty, discrimination and chronic lack of recognition, not only for his work at Disney but also for his fine art, before finding acclaim in his 90s.

Soon after finishing Bambi, Wong was fired from Disney studios as an effect of the Disney animator

strike. After leaving Disney, Wong worked at Warner Bros Studios for 26 years as a production illustrator.

Later, he developed popular greeting cards for Hallmark Cards. Wong retired in 1968 however developed and made hand made flying kite's for pleasure.

Some of his popular paintings consist of Self Picture (late 1920s), Fire ( 1939 ), Reclining Nude (1940s), East ( 1984) and West ( 1984 ). Wong was included in Mark Wexler'' s 2009 documentary How To Live Forever, where he discussed his day-to-day lifestyle and his view on immortality, and in Pamela Tom'' s 2015 documentary Tyrus. For even more great history on Mr. Wong, go to the side bar of this blog and click on his picture.

Friday, December 10, 2021

The Real Betty Boop ! Was An African -American Singer ?

Well, this well known cartoon character has some history drama behind it. Esther Jones is the name of the real Betty Boop. The iconic animation character Betty Boop was motivated by a Black jazz singer in Harlem. Presented by cartoonist Max Fleischer in 1930, the caricature of allure age flapper was the very first and most popular sex object in animation. Betty Boop is best known for her revealing gown, curvaceous figure, and signature vocals “& Boop Oop A Doop”! While there has actually been debate throughout the years, the inspiration has been traced back to Esther Jones who was nick named as "Baby Esther" and performed frequently in the Cotton Club during the 1920s. Nonetheless, after the notorious Hays Code forced morality restrictions on film, the sexual and psychological undertones of Miss Boop were nearly entirely eliminated. The character was essentially relegated to a more demure profession girl in later years, yet Betty Boop remained a household name for years.

Esther was understood for using phrases like "Boop-oop-a-doop" (which would later end up being a signature of the cartoons). Yet, while the Betty Boop creators had acknowledged that Baby Esther is the real deal, the majority of people credit Helen Kane. Why? Helen Kane had in her head to take the credit. Movies soon followed Helen'' s stage success, and by 1930, she was among America's most-loved increasing stars. Her wacky flapper sex appeal and special singing design ensured that there was no one quite like Helen Kane.

BUT Helen had a trick. You see, that act that made her so special, she had stolen it, from a black singer named ... "Baby Esther". In 1928 Helen Kane made arrangements to see Baby Esther perform and carried out her act months later, Helen was performing those signature scats to adoring audiences.

Court Fight: Helen Kane lost her $ 250,000 violation claim versus the creators of Betty Boop in court because she couldn't show that her singing style, quirks and look was special. Most flappers of the 1920s and 1930s, looked comparable to Kane. She also was not able to prove any of this in court. Edward J. McGoldrick ruled in favor of the Fleischer Studios and Paramount Pictures after evaluating the proof that was given up in court. After losing the claim, Kane appealed her case and continued to pursue the Betty Boop character, and was later told by another Judge, that... being Judge Crew, that back then a voice, specifically a voice that was not her own might not be copyrighted. So what about Baby Esthers ? Did she submit a lawsuit ?... Despite being the factor that Kane's case was dismissed, "Baby Esther Jones" was never called to testify. The teenage star had returned to America after doing a trip in South America and was performing in the states at the time of the suit. Though Paramount admitted that Betty Boop's singing design was based upon Baby Esther Jones, the studio never offered her a cent for using her likeness and image in producing the commonly successful animation. The studio argued in court it did not owe settlement to Jones because she was presumed dead.

Esther Jones was quite alive and still active in show organization at the time. Paramount simply refused to offer money to a Black (Negro) performer they owed in part for their rampant successes.

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Meet Jackie Ormes....First Black Woman Cartoonist

Ormes was born August 1, 1911 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to parents William Winfield Jackson and Mary Brown Jackson. Mary was a housewife who became a single parent when her spouse passed away from motor car mishap in 1917. Jackie and her sibling, Delores Jackson, were briefly raised by their auntie and uncle as an outcome. Eventually, Jackie'' s mom remarried and the household moved to the nearby city of Monongahela. Ormes drew and wrote throughout high school. She was arts editor for the 1929–-- 1930 Monongahela High School Yearbook where her earliest efforts as a cartoonist can be seen in the lively caricatures of her school' s students and teachers. After high school, Ormes acquired her first task as a proofreader for the Pittsburgh Carrier in 1930. Ormes likewise finished freelance pieces on police beats, court cases, and human interest topics. Eventually she began to produce comics for the newspaper and established her career as a cartoonist. While she delighted in "" a terrific profession running around town, looking into everything the law would permit, and blogging about it," "what she truly desired to do was draw. Her first cartoon, Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem ran for 12 months in between 1937 and 1938. Ormes moved to Chicago in 1942. She quickly began writing periodic articles and, briefly, a social column for The Chicago Protector, among the nation'' s leading black newspapers, a weekly at that time. For a couple of months at the end of the war, her single panel cartoon, Candy, about an attractive and wisecracking housemaid, appeared in the Defender; the panel ranged from March 24 to July 21, 1945. In 1946, Ormes created the cartoon Patty Jo 'n' Ginger which ran for 11 years. This was among her most prominent comic strips.

The popularity of the cartoon caused the production of Patty Jo doll in 1947, the first African American doll based upon a comic character. With functions painted on by the cartoonist herself, the doll is now an extremely treasured item for collectors.

Zelda Jackie Ormes died in Salem, Ohio on December 26, 1985 at the age of 74. For more in depth info on Jackie, go to the side bar of this websites and tap on her picture.

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Popeye The Sailor Was A Real Person ?

Elzie Segar, the creator of the comic, happen to know a guy in Illinois named Frank “Rocky" Fiegel who inspired the character Popeye. Frank Fiegel was born January 27, 1868 in Poland. He was a retired sailor contracted by Wiebusch pub in the city of Chester, Illinois, to tidy and maintain order in the pub. He had a track record to be constantly associated with bouncing not wanted patrons out of the bar. So believe it or not he actually had a deformed left eye and he had some pretty good fighting skills. The man became a local legend. He constantly smoked his pipe all the time, so he spoke only with one side of his mouth, like the character Popeye we knew as kids; and he was toothless, Fiegel did not use spinach to get stronger but was more of a drinker, and instead of a sailor he was in fact a bartender. TOO ! TOO! Oh....by the way- they also raised a statue of Frank in his hometown.....

Elzie Segar the creator was born December 8th 1894 Chester IL and died October 13 1938 Santa Monica CA. As a young guy Segar worked as a house painter, sign painter, and motion-picture projectionist. After having many of his cartoons declined, he took a correspondence course in cartooning.He strove on a correspondence course in cartooning from W.L. Evans, of Cleveland, Ohio, in which he had invested $20. He said that after work he "" lit up the oil lights about midnight and dealt with the course up until 3 a.m."" Segar transferred to Chicago where he met Richard Felton Outcault.Outcault encouraged him and presented him at the Chicago Herald. On March 12, 1916, the Herald published Segar'' s initially comic, Charlie Chaplin'' sFunny Capers, which ran for a little over a year. In 1918, he proceeded to Hearst'' s Chicago Evening American where he created Looping the Loop. Segar wed Myrtle Johnson the very same year; they had two kids. He took his household and moved to New York and started working for King Features Syndicate.He began by drawing Thimble Theatre for the New York Journal. The strip made its launching on December 19, 1919, and featured the characters Olive Oyl, Castor Oyl, and Ham and Gravy, who were the comic'' s leads for about a decade. In January of 1929, when Castor Oyl needed a mariner to navigate his ship to Dice Island, Castor chose up an old salt down by the docks called Popeye. The Popeye character "" took the program"" and ended up being the irreversible highlighted character.The rest is history!

Friday, February 5, 2021

"Felix The Cat" Debut With Us In 1919

"Felix the Cat" is a Smooth and cool-animal cartoon character developed in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto
Messmer throughout the silent film period. A human like black feline with white eyes, a black body, and also a large smile, he is one of the most acknowledged cartoon characters in film history. Felix The Cat was a silent film which tried to move to sound in the late 20's but was not to successful and even in the 30's was short lived. Felix Came back to life in 1953 on TV in the United States and had good success. Otto J Messmer was born August 16 1892 Union City New Jersey and Died October 28 1983. He was an American animator, best known for his work on the Felix the Feline cartoons and comic strip produced by the Pat Sullivan studio. The extent of Messmer'' s role in the development and appeal of Felix is a matter of ongoing dispute, especially as he only laid his claim to the character after the death of Sullivan, who till that time had received the credit. Nevertheless, most popular comics and animation historians support Messmer'' s declare, as do the veterans of the Sullivan studio. Pat Sullivan on the other hand was born Feburary 22nd 1885 and passed away Febuary 15th 1933. Sullivan'' s involvement in the project is contested, although handwriting in the animation has actually been identified as his. " Felix The Cat"" was the very first cartoon character created and developed for the screen, in addition to the very first to become a licensed, mass merchandised character. Sullivan took the credit for Felix, and though Messmer directed and was the lead animator on all of the episodes he appeared in, Sullivan'' s name was the only onscreen credit that appeared in them. Messmer likewise oversaw the direction of the Felix paper strip, doing most of the pencils and inks on the strip until 1954. Wow!!! unbelievable.

Thursday, February 4, 2021

"Lil Abner" Created By Al Capp

"Lil Abner" Had A Long History ....About 43 years Of Success From Newspaper To Television. Created In 1934 By Cartoonist Al Capp. The Character Lil Abner Was A Handsome Built Hillbilly Who Was Always Being Chase By A Beautiful Blond... Daisy Mae Scraggs. She Finally Caught Him And They Married In 1953 And Had A Child Named "Honest Ab". Cartoon Production Started About 1944.

Alfred Gerald Caplin was born in 1909 in New Sanctuary, Connecticut as a kid of Latvian-Jewish ancestry. His dad, Otto Philip Caplin, was a entrepreneur who drew animations in his extra time. At the age of 9, he was hit by a trolley car and fell into a coma. Physicians amputated his left leg while he was unconscious. This terrible event, together with his household'' s poverty, had a strong effect on his life. He never ever got a high school diploma and regardless of studying art at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, the Pennsylvania Academy of Art and the Designers Art School in Boston, he was thrown bad luck each time because he was not able to pay his tuition. In 1933 he worked as a ghost artist on Ham Fisher's "Joe Palooka ". However, a year later he quit to begin his own series. '' Lil Abner on 13 August 1934. This soured their working relationship. For many years Fisher claimed that Capp

plagiarized his concepts and even produced supposed adult images hidden in pages of Lil Abner to tar and plume his name. When the National Cartoonists Society examined the accusation, Fisher's scam was quickly exposed and resulted in him being banned from the same organization he was the founder of. Their hatred was so mutual that even when Fisher devoted suicide in 1955, Capp felt this was his greatest achievement and a personal victory.

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

A Little History About Cartoon "Krazy Kat" and George Herriman Cartoonist Creator

First Man Of Color Cartoonist ?

Herriman was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to mixed race Creole decent, and matured in Los Angeles California. After he completed from high school in 1897, he ran in the paper market as an illustrator and engraver. He continued to cartooning and comic strips—---- a medium then in its infancy—---- and drew a series of strips up until he provided his most popular character, Krazy Kat, in his strip in 1910. A Krazy Kat daily strip started in 1913, and from 1916 the strip also appeared on Sundays. It was kept in mind for its poetic, dialect-heavy conversation; its wonderful, moving backgrounds; and its strong, speculative page designs.

In the strip's main theme and dynamic, Ignatz Mouse showered Krazy with bricks, which the naïve, Kat took a look at as signs of love. As the strip advanced, a love triangle established in between Krazy, Ignatz, and Offisa Pupp. Pupp made it his goal to prevent Ignatz from tossing bricks at Krazy, or to prison him for having done so, however his efforts were perpetually impeded considering that Krazy wanted to be struck by Ignatz's bricks. Herriman lived a lot of his life in Los Angeles, however made routine journeys to the Navajo deserts. He was drawn to the landscapes of and the region, and made Coconino County the location of his Krazy Kat strips. His artwork made much use of Native American Indians and Mexican styles and styles versus moving desert backgrounds. He was a respected cartoonist who produced a big number of strips......

Watch Video And Learn More:

The Picture Above Is Around 1922 And His Heritage Not Coming Out Until Around 1970 And He Died In 1944...More About Him Here

BJ 🙈🙉🙊

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

The Howlin Wolf

There were about 3 or 4" Howlin Wolf " cartoons made in the 1940's ....They crack me up with the eyes popping out of his head !! The girl dancing is suppose to be little red riding hood all grown up LoL😁

Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator and director, known for producing and directing animated cartoons during the golden time of age of animation. Sometimes Avery was accused Of breaking boundaries with sexual overtones at time. "Creator Of The Howling Wolf".

Avery matured in Dallas and went to North Dallas High School, where he drew cartoons for the school paper and yearbook. He finished from high school in 1926 and then studied at the Chicago Art Institute.Thinking his ambition to be a newspaper cartoonist would be simpler to recognize in California, Avery relocated to Los Angeles by 1929. Avery first job was with Walter Lantz, best-known as the creator of Woody Woodpecker, at Universal Studios. While employed at Universal, where he was given the nickname " Tex " Avery worked on the popular Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series.

Although he was only forty-five years of ages, Avery finest years lagged him. After Universal, he worked for Waterfall Studios, a Hollywood attire that produced television commercials for blue chip advertising companies that represented a variety of familiar trademark name. One of Avery better-known productions was, for Dallas-based Frito-lay, the Frito Bandito, which was greatly slammed for its stereotyped representation of Mexican Americans and eventually pulled from marketing. Avery likewise created the animated cockroaches for Raid insect repellent commercials. After Waterfall folded in 1978, Avery completed out his profession at Hanna-Barbera as an author and gag guy.

Mickey Mouse Starring In..."The Classic Haunted House"

It's hard To Get Pass Vintage Cartoons Without Having Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse Is Probably The Most Notable Cartoon Character Ever Through Out Every Generation Hands Down ! Here Is The 1929 Classic : "The Haunted House". Ub Iwerks was an American animator that work for Disney and creator of this cartoon. He won numerous rewards and multiple Academy Awards for his work. Born March 24 1901. Here is a bit interesting history you may like to know ... Ubbe Eert Iwerks was born to Dutch-American mom and dad in Kansas City, Missouri , he knew fellow staff member Walt Disney at the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio. Both were 19 years of ages when, after being laid off, they chose to open their own company. Called Iwerks-Disney Studio Commercial Artists. Disney-Iwerk they decided, sounded excessive like a spectacles manufacturer, the enterprise lasted just a month so both accepted tasks at the Kansas City Slide Business.

In 1922, when Walt formed Laugh-O-gram Films, Ub joined him as chief animator. The studio declared bankruptcy, however, and, two years later, Ub followed Walt to Hollywood.

Throughout the 1960s, Ub contributed his genius to the advancement of Disney style park tourist attractions, including it's a little world, Fantastic Minutes with Mr. Lincoln, and The Hall of Presidents. Towards completion of his life, he committed his time to the creation of innovations for the upcoming Walt Disney World task.

Ub Iwerks passed away on July 7, 1971, in Los Angeles.

Vintage Cartoons. . . And "Vintage Movies"

Vintage Notes